Co-writer: Allendiafarcrest

[Alla’s POV]

Andie’s sleeping with her head on my breast when I hear the front door open and close. A few moments later, Mariam comes into the room carrying a plastic bag and I lay my finger against my lips in a shushing gesture. She nods and comes over to sit down beside us.

Whispering, she asks, “Hi. How did everything go?”

I whisper back, “Andie was fine. We watched some anime this morning and she took her meds at noon. The cheer squad came over and visited for a little while after school. Then we watched some more anime. As you can see, she fell asleep during it.”

She nods. “Good. She needs her rest. Thank you for staying with her. She would have hated having to stay in the hospital.”

“No need to thank me. I care a lot about Andie, so I’m more than happy to do anything I can for her. I didn’t mention it, but I talked to my mom and she said that I could stay with Andie for as long as needed.”

“Thank you, that’s a huge relief. I’m quite sure she’ll be a lot happier with you taking care of her, rather than me hiring a nurse.” She holds up the bag and takes a couple of large tubes of Arnica cream out of the bag and sets it on the nightstand. “I called Dr. Ghere and she said to apply Arnica cream to her bruises. It’s supposed to help them heal faster. She also said that hot compresses and hot baths will help disperse the bruising as well.”

Turning back to us, she smiles and gently strokes Andie’s hair. “I hate to do it, but we need to wake her up, I brought home Japanese food for dinner. It’s one of her favorites. I didn’t even think to ask, do you like Japanese food?”

I grin and tell her, “I love it, so no worries there.”

“Good. I got Red Snapper sashimi, miso, mixed grilled vegetables, and steamed rice.” She reaches out and lightly rubs Andie’s back and calls out, “Andie… Come on, baby girl, time to get up.”

[Andie’s POV]

I wake up when Mom calls out to me, open my eyes and groan as I sit up, immediately wishing I was still asleep. I whisper, “Pain meds, please.”

Mom gets up, goes to my desk and gets my pills. Bringing them back with water, she hands them to me and I take them. Leaning back against Alla, I grimace.

Alla asks, “Are you alright?”

“Yes, just hurting.”

Mom gently rubs my thigh and tells us, “Come down for dinner when your pills take effect.”

Once Mom leaves, I tell Alla, “Bathroom, please.”

She tells me, “Sure,” and helps me to the bathroom where I take care of my business.

“Let’s go eat before it gets cold.” She nods, I take her arm as we slowly make our way downstairs to the dining room.

After Alla sits me down, she asks Mom, “Mariam, can I invite my mother to dinner with us?”

“Of course, we have more than enough.”

Alla smiles, says, “Thank you,” and heads upstairs to get her phone.

As Mom sets the table, she asks, “How are you feeling?”

I shrug. “Not too bad overall. The pain meds have already kicked in, but I’m still pretty sore.”

Mom looks at me with a serious expression. “Andie, the mayor talked to the DA. You father is going to be held without bond. They’re charging him with attempted murder, felonious assault on a minor, felony child abuse, and assault with intent to commit great bodily harm. The DA told the mayor the only plea deal they are going to offer is to plead ‘guilty’ to all charges and accept a sentence of 75 years with a possibility of parole after serving 35 years. He said if he pleads ‘innocent’ that the sentences will be around 200 years combined and no possibility of parole. Apparently, our DA is harsh on anything to do with child abuse.”

She walks over to her purse and pulls out one of the local papers and hands it to me. It’s already folded open to an article about his attack on me and what he’s being charged with. Tears come to my eyes and fall onto the paper as I read it. As much as I hate his views and what he did to me, he’s still my father and I do love him. Why did he have to listen to that idiotic minister? Ever since he came here my father has been changing for the worse. He used to take me to do something every weekend. That stopped soon after that idiot took over the church and my father bought into every word he said.

Looking up at Mom, I say, “Mom, I don’t want to go back to that church again. If that minister even tried to say he’s sorry for what happened to me, I’m afraid I’d punch him.”

“Don’t worry, baby girl. I had already planned for us to not go there anymore. I refuse to listen to that intolerant asshole preach his hatefulness anymore.”

I nod and say, “Good.”

Alla comes back downstairs then and says, “My mom will be here soon.”

Mom nods and finishes setting the table. A few minutes later, the doorbell rings and Alla goes to answer it. She comes back with her mother in tow.

I smile, wave and whisper, “Hi Nadia.”

Nadia pales when she sees me, stops in her tracks and covers her mouth. She looks at Mom and adamantly states, “You should have killed him when you had the chance!”

Mom calmly says, “I seriously thought about it, but it wasn’t worth the chance of Andie losing both parents… Come on, sit down. We can talk while we eat.”

Alla serves me and herself, then she sits down beside me while Nadia and Mom serve themselves as they talk. At first they talk about their jobs and other such things, but I blush when they switch the topic to Alla and my relationship. Thankfully, Nadia changes the subject soon.

“Mariam, how long is Andie going to be out of school?”

“It’s hard to say, but probably ten days to two weeks. Maybe more depending on what Dr. Ghere says.”

Nadia looks at Alla and asks, “I suppose you want to stay here and take care of Andie the whole time?”

Alla nods, swallows, and says, “Yes. She’ll be a lot more at ease with me than with some home healthcare nurse looking out for her while Mariam works.”

Nadia sighs and says, “Alright, but you’re going to have a lot of work to make up for when you go back to school.”

Alla shakes her head. “Not really, when the cheer squad came over to visit, Andie asked Mia to bring our daily school work to us so we wouldn’t fall behind.”

“Good thinking, Andie. Okay, I’ll call your school tomorrow and tell them you need a leave of absence for the next couple of weeks.”

Alla smiles and tells her, “Thanks, Mom. I really appreciate you letting me do this.”

“You’re welcome, but I still expect you to come home and see me on the weekends when Mariam is off, at least for a couple of hours.”

Alla chuckles. “What? Don’t tell me you miss me?”

Nadia grins and sarcastically says, “Me? Miss my spoiled daughter? Heaven forbid.”

Alla laughs and tells her, “I love you too, Mom.”

After we finish eating, Nadia kisses Alla and tells everyone, “Goodbye.”

Alla helps me over to the couch and hands me the remote, then goes back into the kitchen to help Mom clean up. Once they finish, they come into the living room and sit down with me. Laying my head in Alla’s lap, she strokes my hair as we watch the movie I chose.

After the movie, Mom turns off the TV and says, “Andie, can you sit up, please? I need to talk to you for a minute.” I sit up and look at her. “I called your school to let them know you won't be back for a while. About school… You two know you have to be careful?”

Puzzled, I ask, “Careful?”

She nods. “Yes, you know that if the school finds out about you two they’ll expel you.”

I say, “Oh, that. Yes, we know. We’ve talked about it already and we’ll be discreet.”

She nods. “Good. There aren’t many schools around as good as Trinity. Okay… The mayor talked to the DA today. Baby girl, you’ll be required to testify at his preliminary hearing and the trial.” I shrug and nod. I expected to have to do that. “Also, my attorney filed the divorce papers today. She is seeking full custody of you for me. Possession of the house and cars. I closed our joint bank account and opened a new one for myself. She also will be asking for a permanent no-contact order on him concerning you. I doubt the judge will want to talk to you about it, but you never know.”

“Thank you, Mom. I never want to see him again. Well, outside of court to put him away, that is.”Mom turns back on the TV and we find another movie to watch together. I lay down in Alla’s lap and she strokes my hair. Suffice it to say, I fell asleep during the movie.

I wake up to Alla calling out, “Andie?” Sitting up, I look around blearily and yawn. She asks, “Do you want to go bathe?” I nod. “Alright.” She looks at Mom. “We’re going to go bathe and then turn in for the night.”

“Me as well since I have to get up early tomorrow. I’ll see you two tomorrow at breakfast.” She stands up, comes over to me, kisses me on the forehead and says, “Good night, baby girl. I love you.”

I whisper back, “Good night, Mom. Love you too.”