Their Escape

~9~

~9~

A week has gone by and I've been spending my time three ways. At work, with my lawyer and with Jason. When I told Jason about the phone call after his fight, he didn't hesitate about having the test done. We were told that by the time we had to go to court, the results would be back. I knew what the truth was, anyone who had seen Jason and Matty together would say the same thing, but because of everything with the hearing, I had to have legal proof. Kent said that it would look better on me with the reason why the kids and I were spending so much time with Jason.

I hadn't had anymore run-ins with Seth and I was thankful for that. I also figured that when I was told that he already had some other woman living with him, he's been cheating on me for quite some time. Not that I really cared because any feelings I might have had for him, were long gone. My feelings for Jason were getting stronger and I just wanted the divorce to be over so I can officially be with Jay and it not be frowned at. He said that he didn't care about what people thought of him just as long as we were happy.

The kids started calling him dad and I knew that it made his day when they first said it. Savannah still asked me if it was okay for her to call Jason dad and even though I told her it was, she was still kind of stand offish about it. He never treated her any different and it made her feel that extra bit special. I saw the kids smile a lot more than I ever had and I was even happier. I just wished I could relax about everything. I knew the type of man Seth was and no matter what, I was going to continue to be scared until this was over.

"What's wrong, babe?" Jason asked me. We were out for dinner and I didn't even realize that I had spaced out.

"Oh, nothing," I smiled.

"Mom, everything is going to be okay. You know that, right?" Dani asked. "Dad's not going to let anything happen to you, right?"

"No, I'm not. I lost you once, Mel. I'm not going to again. This time I know what I have to fight for," he said.

"I know but I just want everything over," I sighed.

"It will be," he assured me.

I went back to thinking about if I had done anything that could be used against me and other then leaving, there was nothing, Kent had told me that they might try to use my leaving as a part of Seth's case because I ran out without giving my marriage a chance. He said that if it did happen, he could come back that I left for not only my own safety but for my kids. He said that he also has the pictures of the bruises from when I first came to him and that will be submitted for consideration. My biggest worry though was Savannah. I knew he would try to fight me to get custody and I would not be able to stand if she was taken away from me.

For so long, it's just been my kids that has kept me living and I can't imagine my life without one of them. What was worse was, I knew Savannah would say that she didn't want anything to do with her father but because she's only eight, it would not be looked at. A child had to be fourteen before their voice mattered in a situation like this.

I was visited by the Child Protective Services twice already and they came and inspected my parents house. They approved the living arrangements for however long the hearing lasted and then I was to move out. They told me that it was okay to leave the girls in a shared room but each had to have their own closet or wardrobe. When I told Jason about what was said, he said that as soon as everything was finalized, he would be more than happy to have us move in with him.

His parents house was a four bedroom with three bathrooms. It was a gorgeous house and the kids seemed to love it when we would come over. If we did end up moving in, the girls would be happy because they could each have their own room. Jason had already made plans for us to redecorate the entire house. He said that if there was even the slightest possibility of us moving in, he wanted us to have a say so in how things looked.