A New Home
3 months later
Brittney walked to the lunch table children were talking all around her Talking in their little groups not paying any attention to her as she slipped through the lunch line. A couple kids waved for her to come and sit by them as she left the line and walked past them.
It had been hard getting used to her new life here in Springfield Illinois. Kara and Chris Baker had been great she couldn’t have asked for better people to take her in. They had never pushed her in fact Mrs. Baker had made it very clear that the last thing she wanted was to replace her parents and had insisted instead that she call them Grandma Kara and Grandpa Chris instead of mom and dad. The couple had spoiled her rotten and she didn’t worry about her brother anymore when she was away from him knowing that Kara took good care of him.
She made her way to the far corner of the lunch room and sat down at an empty table. She took a sip of her juice and watched two girls at another table as they talked and laughed and she remembered Amanda and how they had done that once not too long ago. She sighed and turned back to her plate then deciding that she wasn’t hungry she reached into her bag and opened up the latest letter she had gotten from Amanda and began to read it instead.
Dear Brittney,
How are you doing? Sorry if you can not reed this. My mom is not helpin me this time. I wantd to show you a little of what I have been learnin in skhool. The writing still is hard. But I am gettin better. So how is Josef? Have you made any new frends yet? Plese write back soon. Miss you.
Yor best frend,
Amanda
Brittney scanned the page again before pulling out paper and a pen and writing her reply.
Dear Amanda
I am doing fine. Joseph is not doing to good. He cries all the time. Gramma Kara has been working really hard to take care of him. I hope he gets better soon cause I am having a hard time sleepin. I have not made any new frends yet. But that is ok I like it better when I am alone. How is Oficer Hugo? Tell him hi for me.
Best frends forever,
Brittney
As she folded the letter the bell rang and she shoved it into her backpack as she shoveled down a couple more bites of food and ran out of the room on her way to the next class.
Kara closed the door softly. Joseph had finally fallen to sleep and she was ready for some much needed relaxation. Brittney was a school and would be for a couple more hours and so the house was quiet.
She tiptoed down the stairs and flipped on the baby monitor by the TV then flipped on the TV and plopped down into her chair. But her mind wasn’t on the show. Instead it was on her son. She and Chris had quickly decided not to tell Brittney and Joseph about their older son. As long as they didn’t know about him there would be no questions about when they would get to meet him. They had also decided not to tell them about Imaginess. Earth was their home now and they had no reasons to go to Imaginess.
Kara hadn’t used her arms in over 10 years and there were only so many things you could build and repair in a small house on earth. She was human at heart if not in body and there was no possible way she or her husband could survive on Imaginess now and now there were the children to think about.
She stood and went to the kitchen to grab a glass of ice water. As she stood by the sink and filled her glass a blue jay landed on the rail of the porch and she paused and looked at it for a moment. She remembered a time about a year ago when Matthew had stood at this exact spot and told her about Linda for the first time. That of course was before she knew that Linda was an alien so she had tried to discourage the relationship not that there had been much to discourage he hadn’t seen her in 3 years. So much had changed since then and now Matthew was gone.
A small cry cut through her thoughts and she paused to listen. Joseph’s whine caught in the monitor and she caught her breath then the baby quieted and she let it out. She grabbed her glass and went back to the TV where she sat unmoving until Brittney got home.
Chris was worried about his wife. She wasn’t as young as she had once been and now she had two young children to raise again. She had been so tired lately. Joey had been sick and had barely given her a moments rest in the last week or so and he was afraid that Brittney was tiring her out mentally. It wasn’t that the girl was such a big hand full but Kara had spent so much time worrying over her that he was afraid she was going to kill herself.
He had finally made up his mind Kara needed a vacation. He didn’t care what she said he’s already made the arrangements. He had called his son early that morning and a pod would be sent for her tomorrow afternoon. She would spend a couple days on Imaginess visit with their son and daughter-in-law and then come home rested enough to take care of Joseph and Brittney again. He had even taken a couple days off work so that he could be with the kids.
He walked in the door and immediately knew that he was right about sending his wife away for awhile. Joseph was crying smoke was coming from the kitchen and Brittney had turned up the TV in order to hear over her brothers screaming.
He walked into the living room and picked up the screaming toddler from the playpen. He had talked to Linda that morning as well and she had told him that it was possible that the baby was teething. “I have 3 younger human siblings who all went through that at that age” she had told him then paused. “Listen, I know your wife had a thing against doctors which is understandable after raising Matthew but…these kids are human and Kara probably doesn’t know the first thing about human sicknesses.” Chris had agreed and told Linda that he would talk to her. Now as he picked up Joseph and stuck his finger gently in his mouth the baby calmed down and began gnawing contently on his finger.
He reached over then and turned down the TV slightly grabbed a toy out of the playpen and stuck it in the babies mouth. He placed Joseph back in the playpen and went into the kitchen.
Smoke filled the entire room and Kara was struggling with something on the stove. “Kara, what’s going on?”
At the sound of his voice Kara plopped down into a chair and began to cry. “I can’t do this anymore Christilone.”
Chris leaned down beside her and wiped the tears from her face. “Don’t say that Ki, yes you can. But I need you to stop crying long enough for me to tell you how.” Kara wiped the tears from her face and looked up at her husband. “We’re going to go order pizza while we wait for the pizza I’m going to clean up this mess and you are going to go upstairs and pack. Then when the pizza gets here we’re all going to sit down and eat dinner as a family -”
“Wait what am I packing for?”
Chris just ignored her and continued “Then tomorrow you’re going to get up and get ready and at 11:30 I’ll take the kids to the park for a picnic lunch and at noon Matthew is coming to pick you up -”
“What?”
“And you’ll spend a week with him a Linda get refreshed and then come back here. Linda said she’d give you advice for taking care of Joey since she has some human siblings so when you came back you should be ready to go.”
Kara smiled weakly “Any other time I’d protest but after today I think I need a vacation. What about you?”
“I took a couple days off so I could be there for them.”
Kara leapt up and hugged her husband. “Thank you so much Chris.”
Chris hugged her back. “Anything for you my love.”
Things went just as planned and the next morning Kara arrived at the palace in the city of Zora, Imaginess. She was escorted to a sitting room where she made herself comfortable until he son came to greet her. At the sight of Matthew she jumped up and ran to greet him. “Matthew oh it’s so good to see you. How are you?”
Matthew ran to embrace his mother wrapping 3 sets of arms firmly around her. “I’m fine mom. Come let’s sit down and we can talk.” He didn’t want to tell her that she didn’t look so good and that he was worried about her so he just indicated a chair and helped her into it before sitting down himself. He could see now why his father had been so worried and he suddenly feared for his mother’s health. I don’t care what she says he thought my mother is going to see a doctor before she leaves.
Brittney wasn’t one much to play at the park. Not anymore. It just wasn’t the same without Amanda. But Grandpa Chris had insisted they go out for a picnic lunch while Grandma Kara finished her packing and walked to the bus stop.
Brittney didn’t mind so much it was nice outside and she had remembered to grab a pen and pencil and sat down to write she didn’t get very far before Chris came up beside her and asked what she was writing. Brittney quickly turned the paper over so he couldn’t read it. “It’s just a letter to Amanda.”
“Ahhhh” he sat down beside her in the grass laying Joseph down on a blanket and gave him a toy to suck on. “You two were very close weren’t you?”
“She was my best friend.”
Chris nodded. “What kinds of things did you do together back in Georgia?”
Brittney stopped to think for a minute. “She used to come over all the time and we’d play dolls and things.”
Chris pretended to be surprised for a minute before looking around and then whispering. “I have a confession to make.”
“What?”
“I’ve never played dolls before.”
Brittney smiled for the first time in the three months she’d been with them and Chris immediately decided he liked it. “Of course not you’re a boy.”
Chris crossed his arms and pursed his lips in mock disappointment “What does that have to do with it?”
“Well boys can’t play dolls.”
“Oh they can’t? Well I bet I could be a better mommy then you.”
Brittney stood up hands on hips but she couldn’t help but smile at this ridiculous claim. “No way I’ve had way more practice then you.”
Chris raised himself to his knees so he was looking Brittney in the eyes. “Alright little lady your on the first mom who’s baby cries is the loser.”
“Deal” then Brittney turned and picked up Sally and cradled her in her arms as Chris turned and picked up Joseph who dropped his toy and immediately started crying. “Ha I win you can’t even keep Joey quiet for a couple minutes.” Chris smiled too as he picked up the toy off the blanket and gave it back to Joseph.
“Your right you win.” Then they headed off in the direction of home laughing all the way.
“I’m worried about her Linda. She’s not as strong as she used to be. She’s getting old but she refuses to see the doctor. She can’t even remember how to use her arms anymore. She’s like a child learning Imaginese things all over again.”
Linda looked at her husband as he paced across the room in front of her she had learned to read the emotion in his white eyes and could see the absolute worry even though the pupils in his eyes were nearly invisible.
“I’ll talk to her” she said as she stood and grabbed his hand and pulled herself in front of him. “I told her I would give her some tips on taking care of Joseph and I’ll insist she sees a doctor. Maybe I’ll convince her to see one just since it’s been so long.” Matthew smiled at his wife. She was tall and he was one of the few men who could look down on her. She looked up into his frosty eyes and smiled then put her arms around him and pulled him down for a kiss. The world seemed to stop and then come spinning back into focus a moment later. “I should go find your mother.” Linda stated smiling and a little breathless. She reached up and kissed him again quickly “I Love you Mattim” She said using his Imaginess name as she headed toward the door.
“I love you too Leena” She winked at him then as she slipped out the door in search of her mother-in-law.
She found her in South courtyard the monkey Tidwit was sitting on her lap eating flower-nuts and she was stroking his fur. “Kirita!” She exclaimed coming to sit beside her. Kara looked up slightly taken aback.
“No ones called me that in over 10 years even my husband doesn’t call me that anymore.”
Leena smiled. “Well you’re on Imaginess it’s only right we use your Imaginese name.” Kirita smiled but didn’t say anything. “Your son is worried about you Kiri.”
“Matthew is always worried about something.”
“Mattim is worried about your health. You haven’t seen a doctor in 21 years don’t you think you should at least get a check-up while you’re here?”
“I don’t trust doctors.”
“You don’t trust a human doctor which is understandable since they wouldn’t understand your anatomy but Dr. Utopia is an amazing doctor. And I highly recommend him. Please just go in for a check-up just so you can put your husbands and sons minds at rest.”
Kirita hesitated then nodded. “Ok I’ll do it.”
The call came two days later. The kids had just gone to bed and Chris was sitting down with a pen, paper and a notepad to organize some notes he had put together from an interview that was to run in the paper the next week. Suddenly his universal phone rang. It was someone he didn’t know with a message from his son. It told him that they had convinced Kirita to go see a doctor and the doctor had discovered some very questionable things and he requested to see him immediately. He was afraid she had received a very mild case of Quaple that had been slowly killing her over the last 10 years or so. If it had been treated sooner he might have been able to save her but now he wasn’t so sure.
Chris felt as if his heart had been crushed his wife was dying, he had sent her away to relax only to find out that she was deathly ill. He had to go see her immediately. There was no way he could let his wife die alone. He had to go see her. The only question was how to tell Brittney?
Friday, April 24, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Brittney's Story (Chapter 1)
Gunshots
5 Months Later
Richy fingered the gun beside him two shots that was all he needed one for the man and one for his little wife. Then he could take the money they had and get away. Away from his father who wished he’d never been born, away from the step mother who hated his guts, away from his so called friends who had each betrayed him one way or another, away to a place where he could finally start over.
His hands were shaking slightly and sweat was beginning to bead up on his upper lip and forehead. His vision swam slightly and he realized that the medication was beginning to wear off. Richy reached into the glove compartment – never for an instant taking his eyes off the couple – and groped for the bottle, his hand finally closing around it he pulled it out popped the cap off with his thumb and dumped two pills into his mouth downing them without water.
Almost instantly his vision cleared and his hands stopped shaking he tossed the bottle back in the compartment and slammed it shut then grabbing the gun off the seat beside him he climbed out of the car. The woman’s back was to him as she served the couple that had just pulled up and he had to force himself not to jump ahead and shoot her right now where she stood then force her husband to hand over the money before killing him as well.
The idea quickly left his mind and he continued heading toward them the rain that had been falling most of the evening nearly blinding him. It was now or never.
George had always loved the sound of his wife’s laugh and that night as the two of them pulled into Shirley’s drive-in was no exception. “A drive-in?” Rhonda complained but there was the slightest sound of laughter in her voice as she asked him. “You made me get all dressed up for a drive-in?” A light rain had begun to fall as George turned off the car and smiled at his wife.
“Come on now Rhonda,” He teased, “Where’s your sense of adventure?” Rhonda laughed. There was no one else in the parking lot and it was obvious that it had been a pretty slow night as the woman hurried up to their car and handed them their menus. As soon as she was gone George grabbed his wife’s hand and kissed it causing her to blush he smiled marveling at how beautiful she looked.
Her black curls framed her face while the rest of her hair was pulled back into a soft bun. She had always enjoyed dressing up and that evening had worn a light summer dress, a pair of heels and some of her best jewelry. And George not to be so severely outdone by his wife dressed up in a dress shirt and pants with his best pair of shoes.
The woman soon came back and they placed their orders. As she walked away again George pulled his wife to him despite curious glances from the man and woman in the store and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. Rhonda pushed him away. “George they’re watching!”
“I don’t care!” He said kissing her again and taking her breath away.”
“Your so beautiful” He stated causing her to blush again
“Stop it your making me blush.”
He smiled “I know, which makes you all the more beautiful.” Then he pulled her into another kiss before she had a chance to blush or protest.
Rhonda pushed him away a couple moments later. “Alright you, save it for later the food is going to be here soon. It was then that they heard the first shot.
Fear filled Rhonda’s veins and she shot a questioning look at her husband. “Was that –“she couldn’t finish the question for fear of the answer she’d receive.
George nodded and popped open the glove compartment pulling out his revolver and reaching for the door-latch. Rhonda grabbed his arm “George please, don’t leave me.”
I’ll be right back, Rhonda. I’m just going to check it out.” He leaned over and gave her a quick reassuring kiss on the cheek then opened the door and hurried toward the building.
As soon as he was gone Rhonda climbed into the driver’s seat and flipped the locks on all the doors. She placed checked to make sure the key was in the lock and scrunched down as far as she could in the seat waiting for her husbands return. She saw a figure run out of the building and her breath caught in her throat as she saw that it held a gun. The figure turned toward her and ran in her direction. “Get out of the car!” he yelled when he was a couple feet away. “Get out of the car.” He yelled again when she hesitated. A bullet flew the windshield hitting the passenger seat next to her making her jump into action as she fumbled with the lock and tumbled out of the car.
The man grabbed her arm and pressed the gun to her back just as George came running out of the building. The gun went off and Rhonda gasped as she felt the bullet cut into her back. She felt the man release her and her head filled with pain as she felt herself falling to the ground.
The sight of his wife falling to the ground was more painful than if the shot had torn into his own back. He watched as the man climbed into his car he sent a couple shots toward the car but the car didn’t stop and he was soon gone. Backup was on its way there was no need for him to continue.
He ran to his wife’s side her heavy breathing filled his heart with hope and dread all at once. He pulled her too him trying to pull her closer than was humanly possible. She coughed and he looked down into her searching eyes. Recognition filled her when she saw him and he tried to smile through the tears that were beginning to fall. Rhonda reached up and touched his face and he placed his hand over hers. “Don’t cry my love!” She managed through the pain. “You must take care of the children now.” He nodded rapidly the tears mixing with the rain and falling onto her face. He tried to swallow but couldn’t make it past the lump in his throat. “It’s up to you now.”
“Please don’t say that Rhonda.” He choked
“I love you, George”
“No, Rhonda, don’t leave me.”
She closed her eyes trying to focus on her breathing he watched in fear as her chest began to rise slower and slower and then not at all. Sadness filled him as he pulled her to him he wouldn’t let her go he couldn’t they would have to pry her dead body from his arms.
1 year later
Hugo kicked the apartment door open holding his gun out as he did so. “Police get your hands in the air. The man jumped to his feet hands above his head. “Richard Hendricks your under arrest for murder and robbery, everything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law you have the right to remain silent.”
“What are you talking about man I ain’t killed no one.”
Hugo glanced at his partner who was fingering the gun he had picked up off the coffee table. “Hey George this man doesn’t think that he’s killed anyone.”
George turned around and watched as the blood drained out of Rich’s face. “You, you’re the guy who shot at me that one night.”
Anger filled George and he grabbed Rich’s shirt by the collar. “you killed my wife.”
Richy shook his head. “No man I swear she was alive. I only shot her in the arm.”
“You shot her in the back and she died 5 minutes later.” George shouted into the mans face.”
“Hey!” Hugo spoke up lowering his gun to speak to his over-zealous friend, “Let’s save it for the judge.”
George nodded reluctantly and turned in the direction of the door. At a grunt from Hugo he spun back around to see Richy wrestling the gun from the mans hands. The gun went off and hit the opposite wall close to where George stood. George grabbed his gun and shot the wall behind the kid but he didn’t stop. Hugo finally got the gun out of the kid’s hands and pushed him to the floor. George shook his head. “Stupid kid did you honestly think you’d be able to get a gun out of a trained professional’s hand?”
The kid smiled wickedly “No, but I did almost shoot you and I was able to distract you long enough to get this.”
George gasped as the knife left Rich’s hand and hurled towards him he tried to move out of the way but it was too late the knife sunk into his stomach causing him to catch his breath. He watched as Rich jumped to his feet and ran out the door as Hugo ran to his side. “No Hugo you got to catch him.”
“Not until you’re bandaged up.”
“But he’ll get away again.”
“We’ll find him now we got to take care of you.”
“It’s too late for me. Take care of the children.”
Hugo nodded as his friends body went limp in his arms.
Kira juggled four mugs of hot chocolate as she walked into the living room where her husband and son sat with his new wife of about a week. She handed two of the glasses to her son and his wife and then sat and handed the other to her husband. “So how long do you think you will be staying in town?” She asked as she made herself comfortable beside her husband and took a sip of the drink.
Matthew glanced at his wife before continuing. “Well Linda wants to have an Imaginese wedding with all her friends on Imaginess. None of them could come to the wedding for obvious reasons so I promised we would have another one in the palace.”
Kira set her mug down on the coffee table and leaned forward resting her head in her hands she looked at Linda as she voiced her question. “So how long will you be stealing my son away from me?”
Linda shifted nervously as she thought of the best way to answer. “Well I’m sure you’re aware of my position on Imaginess. It’s not easy to get away.”
“Oh I understand!” Kira sad sitting back again “But you must be sure to visit especially after the grandkids start coming.”
Linda looked at her husband slightly taken aback Matthew placed his hand over Linda’s hand. “Mom we’ve talked about this Linda and I are not sure we’ll have kids. Linda’s job is way too taxing to think about having to raise a family too.”
Chris placed his empty mug on the table beside his wife’s and put his arm around her. “Don’t bother them Ki they’re just barely married for Kohath’s sake.”
“I know but if I don’t push now I may never get the chance.”
Linda leaned forward and grabbed her mother-in-laws hand across the table. “It’s not that I don’t want children Kira it’s just that my job is so dangerous I don’t think I would want to risk it. With as many people who’ve tried to kill me or kidnap me in the last 5 years it’ll be hard enough on Matthew if something happens to me I couldn’t bear to do that to children on top of it.”
Kira turned to her husband and he nodded and she turned back to her son a sudden excitement in her eyes. “The only reason I’m so curious is because your father and I have decided to adopt a little girl and boy.”
“What?” Matthew was surprised at this bit of news.
“We’re going to be lonely here without you Matthew. We need a few children around the house and since you’ve made it very obvious that it’s not going to be grandkids then we decided we’d take the next best thing. I’m retired now and these children need someone.”
“Who are they?”
“Do you remember George and Rhonda Macintosh?”
“Of course I do you and Rhonda was like best friends until they moved to Georgia 10 years ago. What happened?”
Tears filled Kira’s eyes as she nodded and Chris grabbed his wife’s hand and squeezed it. “Rhonda was murdered last year when an 18 year old kid came and robbed the drive-in that they were eating at.” Linda gasped and her hand flew to her mouth as Kira continued. “The police have spent the last year trying to track down the murderer. They finally found him in an apartment in Florida. Where George was murdered by a colleague. now their children Brittney and Joseph are orphans. Your father and I visited them during the summer right after Joseph was born and we both feel we had quite a connection with Brittney who was 9 at the time. She was very upset to see us go and wanted us to come back.”
“Surely there’s someone else who can take them? If you’re that worried about being alone you could move back to Imaginess with us.”
Chris shook his head. “No son this is our home now. We’ve lived here for 21 years we have a life here. And these children need us. The man who was supposed to take them lost his wife a couple years ago and is a police officer like George was. He doesn’t want to take her if he can find a more stable for her. Your mother hasn’t worked in years ever since her surgery and has been itching for something to do for months. So when we found out about this there was no doubt what we needed to do.”
Kira jumped in again now. “We’re going down until the funeral and are going to try to get to know the children especially Brittney. If it works out we’ll take them home with us and finish the adoption process from here.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“Then Officer Hugo said he would work it out and adopt them himself. But we’re really hoping that it will work out for us.”
5 Months Later
Richy fingered the gun beside him two shots that was all he needed one for the man and one for his little wife. Then he could take the money they had and get away. Away from his father who wished he’d never been born, away from the step mother who hated his guts, away from his so called friends who had each betrayed him one way or another, away to a place where he could finally start over.
His hands were shaking slightly and sweat was beginning to bead up on his upper lip and forehead. His vision swam slightly and he realized that the medication was beginning to wear off. Richy reached into the glove compartment – never for an instant taking his eyes off the couple – and groped for the bottle, his hand finally closing around it he pulled it out popped the cap off with his thumb and dumped two pills into his mouth downing them without water.
Almost instantly his vision cleared and his hands stopped shaking he tossed the bottle back in the compartment and slammed it shut then grabbing the gun off the seat beside him he climbed out of the car. The woman’s back was to him as she served the couple that had just pulled up and he had to force himself not to jump ahead and shoot her right now where she stood then force her husband to hand over the money before killing him as well.
The idea quickly left his mind and he continued heading toward them the rain that had been falling most of the evening nearly blinding him. It was now or never.
George had always loved the sound of his wife’s laugh and that night as the two of them pulled into Shirley’s drive-in was no exception. “A drive-in?” Rhonda complained but there was the slightest sound of laughter in her voice as she asked him. “You made me get all dressed up for a drive-in?” A light rain had begun to fall as George turned off the car and smiled at his wife.
“Come on now Rhonda,” He teased, “Where’s your sense of adventure?” Rhonda laughed. There was no one else in the parking lot and it was obvious that it had been a pretty slow night as the woman hurried up to their car and handed them their menus. As soon as she was gone George grabbed his wife’s hand and kissed it causing her to blush he smiled marveling at how beautiful she looked.
Her black curls framed her face while the rest of her hair was pulled back into a soft bun. She had always enjoyed dressing up and that evening had worn a light summer dress, a pair of heels and some of her best jewelry. And George not to be so severely outdone by his wife dressed up in a dress shirt and pants with his best pair of shoes.
The woman soon came back and they placed their orders. As she walked away again George pulled his wife to him despite curious glances from the man and woman in the store and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. Rhonda pushed him away. “George they’re watching!”
“I don’t care!” He said kissing her again and taking her breath away.”
“Your so beautiful” He stated causing her to blush again
“Stop it your making me blush.”
He smiled “I know, which makes you all the more beautiful.” Then he pulled her into another kiss before she had a chance to blush or protest.
Rhonda pushed him away a couple moments later. “Alright you, save it for later the food is going to be here soon. It was then that they heard the first shot.
Fear filled Rhonda’s veins and she shot a questioning look at her husband. “Was that –“she couldn’t finish the question for fear of the answer she’d receive.
George nodded and popped open the glove compartment pulling out his revolver and reaching for the door-latch. Rhonda grabbed his arm “George please, don’t leave me.”
I’ll be right back, Rhonda. I’m just going to check it out.” He leaned over and gave her a quick reassuring kiss on the cheek then opened the door and hurried toward the building.
As soon as he was gone Rhonda climbed into the driver’s seat and flipped the locks on all the doors. She placed checked to make sure the key was in the lock and scrunched down as far as she could in the seat waiting for her husbands return. She saw a figure run out of the building and her breath caught in her throat as she saw that it held a gun. The figure turned toward her and ran in her direction. “Get out of the car!” he yelled when he was a couple feet away. “Get out of the car.” He yelled again when she hesitated. A bullet flew the windshield hitting the passenger seat next to her making her jump into action as she fumbled with the lock and tumbled out of the car.
The man grabbed her arm and pressed the gun to her back just as George came running out of the building. The gun went off and Rhonda gasped as she felt the bullet cut into her back. She felt the man release her and her head filled with pain as she felt herself falling to the ground.
The sight of his wife falling to the ground was more painful than if the shot had torn into his own back. He watched as the man climbed into his car he sent a couple shots toward the car but the car didn’t stop and he was soon gone. Backup was on its way there was no need for him to continue.
He ran to his wife’s side her heavy breathing filled his heart with hope and dread all at once. He pulled her too him trying to pull her closer than was humanly possible. She coughed and he looked down into her searching eyes. Recognition filled her when she saw him and he tried to smile through the tears that were beginning to fall. Rhonda reached up and touched his face and he placed his hand over hers. “Don’t cry my love!” She managed through the pain. “You must take care of the children now.” He nodded rapidly the tears mixing with the rain and falling onto her face. He tried to swallow but couldn’t make it past the lump in his throat. “It’s up to you now.”
“Please don’t say that Rhonda.” He choked
“I love you, George”
“No, Rhonda, don’t leave me.”
She closed her eyes trying to focus on her breathing he watched in fear as her chest began to rise slower and slower and then not at all. Sadness filled him as he pulled her to him he wouldn’t let her go he couldn’t they would have to pry her dead body from his arms.
1 year later
Hugo kicked the apartment door open holding his gun out as he did so. “Police get your hands in the air. The man jumped to his feet hands above his head. “Richard Hendricks your under arrest for murder and robbery, everything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law you have the right to remain silent.”
“What are you talking about man I ain’t killed no one.”
Hugo glanced at his partner who was fingering the gun he had picked up off the coffee table. “Hey George this man doesn’t think that he’s killed anyone.”
George turned around and watched as the blood drained out of Rich’s face. “You, you’re the guy who shot at me that one night.”
Anger filled George and he grabbed Rich’s shirt by the collar. “you killed my wife.”
Richy shook his head. “No man I swear she was alive. I only shot her in the arm.”
“You shot her in the back and she died 5 minutes later.” George shouted into the mans face.”
“Hey!” Hugo spoke up lowering his gun to speak to his over-zealous friend, “Let’s save it for the judge.”
George nodded reluctantly and turned in the direction of the door. At a grunt from Hugo he spun back around to see Richy wrestling the gun from the mans hands. The gun went off and hit the opposite wall close to where George stood. George grabbed his gun and shot the wall behind the kid but he didn’t stop. Hugo finally got the gun out of the kid’s hands and pushed him to the floor. George shook his head. “Stupid kid did you honestly think you’d be able to get a gun out of a trained professional’s hand?”
The kid smiled wickedly “No, but I did almost shoot you and I was able to distract you long enough to get this.”
George gasped as the knife left Rich’s hand and hurled towards him he tried to move out of the way but it was too late the knife sunk into his stomach causing him to catch his breath. He watched as Rich jumped to his feet and ran out the door as Hugo ran to his side. “No Hugo you got to catch him.”
“Not until you’re bandaged up.”
“But he’ll get away again.”
“We’ll find him now we got to take care of you.”
“It’s too late for me. Take care of the children.”
Hugo nodded as his friends body went limp in his arms.
Kira juggled four mugs of hot chocolate as she walked into the living room where her husband and son sat with his new wife of about a week. She handed two of the glasses to her son and his wife and then sat and handed the other to her husband. “So how long do you think you will be staying in town?” She asked as she made herself comfortable beside her husband and took a sip of the drink.
Matthew glanced at his wife before continuing. “Well Linda wants to have an Imaginese wedding with all her friends on Imaginess. None of them could come to the wedding for obvious reasons so I promised we would have another one in the palace.”
Kira set her mug down on the coffee table and leaned forward resting her head in her hands she looked at Linda as she voiced her question. “So how long will you be stealing my son away from me?”
Linda shifted nervously as she thought of the best way to answer. “Well I’m sure you’re aware of my position on Imaginess. It’s not easy to get away.”
“Oh I understand!” Kira sad sitting back again “But you must be sure to visit especially after the grandkids start coming.”
Linda looked at her husband slightly taken aback Matthew placed his hand over Linda’s hand. “Mom we’ve talked about this Linda and I are not sure we’ll have kids. Linda’s job is way too taxing to think about having to raise a family too.”
Chris placed his empty mug on the table beside his wife’s and put his arm around her. “Don’t bother them Ki they’re just barely married for Kohath’s sake.”
“I know but if I don’t push now I may never get the chance.”
Linda leaned forward and grabbed her mother-in-laws hand across the table. “It’s not that I don’t want children Kira it’s just that my job is so dangerous I don’t think I would want to risk it. With as many people who’ve tried to kill me or kidnap me in the last 5 years it’ll be hard enough on Matthew if something happens to me I couldn’t bear to do that to children on top of it.”
Kira turned to her husband and he nodded and she turned back to her son a sudden excitement in her eyes. “The only reason I’m so curious is because your father and I have decided to adopt a little girl and boy.”
“What?” Matthew was surprised at this bit of news.
“We’re going to be lonely here without you Matthew. We need a few children around the house and since you’ve made it very obvious that it’s not going to be grandkids then we decided we’d take the next best thing. I’m retired now and these children need someone.”
“Who are they?”
“Do you remember George and Rhonda Macintosh?”
“Of course I do you and Rhonda was like best friends until they moved to Georgia 10 years ago. What happened?”
Tears filled Kira’s eyes as she nodded and Chris grabbed his wife’s hand and squeezed it. “Rhonda was murdered last year when an 18 year old kid came and robbed the drive-in that they were eating at.” Linda gasped and her hand flew to her mouth as Kira continued. “The police have spent the last year trying to track down the murderer. They finally found him in an apartment in Florida. Where George was murdered by a colleague. now their children Brittney and Joseph are orphans. Your father and I visited them during the summer right after Joseph was born and we both feel we had quite a connection with Brittney who was 9 at the time. She was very upset to see us go and wanted us to come back.”
“Surely there’s someone else who can take them? If you’re that worried about being alone you could move back to Imaginess with us.”
Chris shook his head. “No son this is our home now. We’ve lived here for 21 years we have a life here. And these children need us. The man who was supposed to take them lost his wife a couple years ago and is a police officer like George was. He doesn’t want to take her if he can find a more stable for her. Your mother hasn’t worked in years ever since her surgery and has been itching for something to do for months. So when we found out about this there was no doubt what we needed to do.”
Kira jumped in again now. “We’re going down until the funeral and are going to try to get to know the children especially Brittney. If it works out we’ll take them home with us and finish the adoption process from here.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“Then Officer Hugo said he would work it out and adopt them himself. But we’re really hoping that it will work out for us.”
Brittney's Story (Preview and Synopsis)
Synopsis:
Due to a tragic twist of fate Brittney Macintosh is left an orphan with no one but her baby brother to turn too. Her life begins to spin out of control until a sweet older couple decide to adopt not only her but also her little brother. Brittney isn’t sure what to think and the stories circulating around the orphanage only leave her more confused. It isn’t long before Brittney actually finds herself falling for the older couple and is starting to think that living here isn’t so bad. Until her new mother becomes ill.
She’s so ill that she must be admitted to a special hospital that her new father insists won’t admit children. Brittney is sure they are lying and demands to see her but her new father refuses. Determined to see her new mother one last time before she dyes, Brittney makes a desperate attempt to follow her new father. But things don’t quite turn out the way she planned and instead Brittney finds herself in as much danger as her mother.
Preview:
Richy fingered the gun beside him two shots that was all he needed one for the man and one for his little wife. Both had wronged him or so his drug-crazed head had caused him to believe. He had taken one look at them and though he had never laid eyes on them before his crazed mind told him that he had. His hands were shaking slightly and sweat was beginning to bead up on his upper lip and forehead. His vision swam slightly and he realized that the medication was beginning to wear off. Richy reached into the glove compartment – never for an instant taking his eyes off the couple – and groped for the bottle, his hand finally closing around it he pulled it out popped the cap off with his thumb and dumped two pills into his mouth downing them without water
Due to a tragic twist of fate Brittney Macintosh is left an orphan with no one but her baby brother to turn too. Her life begins to spin out of control until a sweet older couple decide to adopt not only her but also her little brother. Brittney isn’t sure what to think and the stories circulating around the orphanage only leave her more confused. It isn’t long before Brittney actually finds herself falling for the older couple and is starting to think that living here isn’t so bad. Until her new mother becomes ill.
She’s so ill that she must be admitted to a special hospital that her new father insists won’t admit children. Brittney is sure they are lying and demands to see her but her new father refuses. Determined to see her new mother one last time before she dyes, Brittney makes a desperate attempt to follow her new father. But things don’t quite turn out the way she planned and instead Brittney finds herself in as much danger as her mother.
Preview:
Richy fingered the gun beside him two shots that was all he needed one for the man and one for his little wife. Both had wronged him or so his drug-crazed head had caused him to believe. He had taken one look at them and though he had never laid eyes on them before his crazed mind told him that he had. His hands were shaking slightly and sweat was beginning to bead up on his upper lip and forehead. His vision swam slightly and he realized that the medication was beginning to wear off. Richy reached into the glove compartment – never for an instant taking his eyes off the couple – and groped for the bottle, his hand finally closing around it he pulled it out popped the cap off with his thumb and dumped two pills into his mouth downing them without water
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