She would persevere

Chapter 25

We immediately saluted and ran to the other girls as we made our way to the car.
Looking back, I saw maman walking slowly next to the boys and talking softly and I smiled.
That was how I survived last time.
I had Riri and Maman with me. Two people with the most cheery positive attitude that ever existed. They always kept my monsters away. They always kept my mind occupied and they never disregarded someone in a negative way.
I would survive. I knew I would. As long as I had these two women and those three men with me.

Walking back into my own apartment a sense of serenity washed over me. The place was my space. My home. No matter what had happened here, it still felt safe and secure. I still felt warm and inviting to me.
After I let everyone in and showed them the living room and the kitchen, we all sat down.
"If you go in that hallway you'll find multiple spare rooms that you can use. Most of them have beds except for one, that I use as my closet. So you can all choose one and put away your stuff."

"Damn, Dells. This place is amazing! You lived here for years?" Lee asked.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, this is home." I smiled. I didn't dare to call it home until just a few months ago. Then I realised. I had not been here for a couple months. This feeling I had here I had not felt in months. Maybe Kiel was right. The toxicity in the house in L.A. had been pressing on me too much. I didn't not feel so alone here. I did not feel so unwelcome here. Even with the fact that I had always lived alone here. This place welcomed me. Beckoned me to enter and to never leave.

This is home.

"Isn't this place amazing? You have to see the terrace view she has. That's the huge cherry on top." Kiel recommended. Uncle Beck simply smiled and hugged me from the side. He didn't need to commend on anything. He portrayed his feelings through the hugs.

"Well, we shall let you rest and unwind, but tonight we have another monthly BBQ in the garden. Everyone is invited and cherie will show you where it is." Maman stood up and left together with Aubrey.
I put on some soft jazz music on my LP player and opened the terrace doors to let the sun and warmth fully inside.
Lee came up and hugged me from behind. "I have not seen you as happy in the last few months as now. You truly feel at home here don't you?"

I looked up at him, teary eyed and nodded my head with a smile. "Most of the memories I have are precious ones in this place and the few that were not good have always been addressed with help from those around me here. I had never wanted to leave this place. I don't regret meeting up with everyone again and meeting Teddy and Gen, but here in this place I can just be me. I don't have to worry about my emotional moments. I don't have to pretend to be okay in case someone wants to call me a 'drama queen' or thinks that I'm pretending to vie for attention. Here I am just accepted for who I am. Imperfections and all." 

"Well, I for one am very glad to see you smile again. I've missed seeing you like that. So tell me, what am I looking at with this view?" Lee commented.
I explained everything that he saw from my deck. The mall, the park and my favourite view of all. The end part of the beach, that was a walking distance from our apartment. The most amazing part of all, our side of the beach didnt get alot of people since it was further away from the pier, so most people would stay close to that. Which meant that we sort of had a private beach.

"I hope you brought your swimming gear with you, cause we are spending all day tomorrow at the beach!" I said happily. I deserved a day without the annoying interference of my mind dampening my mood.
"For now, let's go eat. I'm starving." I grinned.

Spending an entire day at the beach was heaven. Basking in sunlight and getting my tan back on track was just what I needed. Lee spent almost every waking moment with me. Even though Aubrey and I had our long sessions of girl talk and laughs he was there with us. Listening, laughing, being present. And the girl managed yet again to tick me off. She started calling Lee 'Bro' just like she did with Kiel and so I proceeded to dump cold sea water on her whilst stating that 'I wasn't sharing my brothers with her'. That resorted to a water gun fight, which we both lost.

Kiel had been spending more time with maman. They were being secretive and when I asked Aubrey she merely shrugged. Uncle Beck was the only one who was still in his butler role. Even though everyone told him to treat himself to this mini vacation, he still proceeded to make sure we were fed and had enough drinks to hydrate ourselves. Then, and only then would he relax for a bit.

"So how are you feeling about tomorrow?" Dr. Cavalli asked. Maman had scheduled another appointment for me so I could get my anxiety out with the trial being tomorrow. My hands were unconsciously fiddling with my shirt.

"Nervous. Anxious, maybe a bit scared?"
"Why do you think that? Is it because you'll be on the witness stand?"
"What if? What if she gets to go free? What if they don't find her guilty and she gets to go free? Then my father will give up custody rights again and would again give them to her? I would be forced to go with her again! I don't want that. I don't want to leave!"

"Let us look at the worst case scenario, alright? Let's say Candace gets to walk free and your father would for some unknown reason relinquish his custody rights of you again. Do you really think there is anyone in this world that would let Candace have it?"

What was he getting at? "You do know that you have an army of people around you that would make sure you're safe, right? Not only Rebecca would fight tooth and nail for you, but the two brothers that you brought are of age to take custody. They would do it, no questions asked. And if all that wouldn't work out, even I would make sure that you are happy. But even with all that I do not think that is the source of it all, is it?"

This man knows me way too well. I sighed at the fact.

"My dad promised he would be here with me, to support me. He broke his promise to me." I didn't look at dr. Cavalli. I kept my eyes on my hands that were fiddling with anything they could touch.

"You feel disappointed that he forgot the promise. You feel like you're inadequate for his attention and care. You feel like you are not enough to be granted a simple thing as parental love."

Tears escaped my eyes with every word he said. Every sentence he just uttered, he was hitting the nail on the head.
"But you should know this Aurora. Everyone is entitled to love and be loved. And just because your birth parents haven't done their job as they should have does not mean that you don't deserve it. And I believe there is one person that has already placed themselves in your hearts as a parent. And if Rebecca's husband were alive he would have taken up the other spot. So no, there will always be people that love you. There will always be someone to support you. Blood or not, family or otherwise. You simply have to look behind you."
And then he said the one thing that is the one thing in this world that couldn't be any more true.
"The blood of the covenant is thicker, then water from the womb." He ended with a smile.

I gave a teary smile back "Thanks doc." I grinned.

"So I want you to be ready for tomorrow. Candace's lawyer will try their best to make Candace seem either as the victim or that what she is being charged with is over exaggerated. Now I know that this whole ordeal will be hard on you, but you must remember, even though you survived, you are still a victim. Contemplate your answers, answer honestly and please for the love of everything don't go into a full discussion with them. I know you want everything to be corrected but the game they play in court is manipulative, so beware of the phrasing of the question. If they phrase it a certain way that you know your answers will have a negative effect, ask them what they mean by the questions and try to manipulate them by answering the question differently. That would still work in your favour."
"Have you done these things before, doc?"
The man laughed. "Too many."
"Now I want you to go home, relax and I will see you at the courthouse tomorrow, alright?"

Is everyone ready for the longest chapter I have written up to now??
I feel a double update coming out today.. Let my amazing girl come back to life!!

Love, Sarah