Tears Don't Fall | ✔️

[3] Tears Don't Fall

"You're a life saver. Thank you so much," she replied to me.

"You're welcome," I answered.

[Maci's POV:]

That night, I changed Zelda into her pajamas and we went to go sit with Jaden on the front porch swing. "How'd you find her?" I asked Jaden.

"Uh, Jason kidnapped her. And.  .  . Well, the police officers were searching for her. And they found her in Jason's room. Jason was about to rape her."

"Not my baby. Oh, hell no! At least she's okay. And she's safe at home with her family."

"Mm-hmm."

I cuddled my daughter closer to me. "Mommy loves you so much. And don't you ever dare runaway. Mommy loves you too damn much for you to get hurt."

"I promise, Momma. I never runaway," she whispered to me.

I kissed the top of her head. "Well, Maci, I better get going. I'll see you tomorrow in school," Jaden replied.

"Okay. Bye," I replied to him.

"Bye."

I watched him leave. Once he was gone, I carried Zelda upstairs to my room and laid her in my bed. I shut the overhead light off and turned the lamp on. Going into my bathroom, I stripped down to my birthday suit and stepped in the shower.

After my shower, I put my pajamas on and crawled in bed with Zelda.

That's when I noticed a silhouette standing in the corner of my room. Scared as ever, I grabbed the baseball bat I kept beside my bed and positioned myself, ready to kick someone's ass. The silhouette moved into the moonlight and that's when I realized it was Jason. "Jason, what the hell are you doing here?" I snapped as I dropped the bat.

"I want custody of my daughter!" he hissed. "Because apparently this is the big secret you've been keeping from me for these five years."

"You don't get any damn custody on MY daughter because apparently you were absent the first five years of her life!" I yelled back.

"I get damn custody on MY daughter too because she's MY daughter also," he yelled at me.

Standing up, I picked Zelda up and hid in the closet. I dialed Jaden's number. After two rings, he picked up. "Hello?"

"Jason's in my room," I whispered. "And he won't go away and I'm starting to freak out! I need help!"

"I'm on my way. Just stay tight."

"Okay."

I hung my phone up and held onto Zelda tight. Ten minutes later, I heard my bedroom door bust open. I heard someone yelling, someone punching the wall, and then I heard loud footsteps. Within a few seconds, the noises died down. Someone opened the closet door and I noticed Jaden was standing right there. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome."

He bent down and took Zelda's sleeping body away from me and laid her down in my bed. He then turned to me and embraced me in a hug. I didn't complain about it. I just wrapped my arms around his waist. It's been five and a half years since I've had someone care for me like this.

{Thursday, August 5, 2010}

After we dropped Zelda off at school the next day, we drove to school. We pulled in the school parking lot and got out of Jaden's truck. We walked into school, not really speaking to each other.

The morning was a dread and I couldn't wait until lunch. Finally at lunch, I sat with Jaden P., Jaden H., Kayla, and Kasheka.

Unfortunately today I didn't eat much of my lunch. I just pushed my tray away and rested my head on the table. Kayla turned to me. "Maci, are you feeling okay?" She put her hand on my forehead.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a lot on my mind," I whispered.

"Like?" she asked.

"I don't know. Just thinking about where Zelda and I are going to live. My mom wants me to move out of the house by this summer, but I don't have enough damn money yet."

"Oh."

After school that day, we went to go pick Zelda up from school. She came running out of her classroom and ran into Jaden. He bent down and picked her up. "Momma! Momma! Guess what?!" she yelled at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Momma, today in school the class throwed me a welcome back party! It was so fun! I got have three cupcakes."

"Very cool."

Her teacher, Mrs. Johnson, came over. "Hi, Miss Ryan."

"Hi, Mrs. Johnson. How was she today?" I asked

"She was excellent. We threw her a welcome back party."

"That was very sweet of y'all."

"She enjoyed it. We were glad to have her back today."

"Well, she's glad to be back."

Mrs. Johnson smiled at me.

When we got back home, Zelda ran inside. I set my bookbag on the porch and sat in the swing, while Jaden sat beside me. "Everything okay? You acted weird at lunch and now you're acting weird again."

"I'm fine. Just a lot on my mind. That's all," I answered.

"Oh."

I rested my head on his shoulder. "Oh, about yesterday, Maci, I called the cops they came out and arrested Jason. So, Jason's behind bars and they said he's going to be behind bars for two years at the least."

"Thank goodness, I so do not want him to come near Zelda. At all."

"Well, he shouldn't."

[Jaden's POV:]

This time she didn't answer. I peered down at her and noticed she was drifting off. "Maci, do you want to go inside and lay down?" I whispered.

"Mm-hmm."

"Come on."

I picked her up bridal style and carried her inside and upstairs to her room. Entering, I gently laid her down and covered her up. "Sleep tight," I murmured as I kissed her forehead.

When I got back downstairs, Zelda hooked herself on my leg. "Daddy, play with me!"

She just called me Daddy, but I'm not her daddy. 'Oh, shit, I don't know what to say.  .  .'