"Dad!" I yell as I run down the stairs, "Papa!" In my excitement I had not realized I was interrupting a serious conversation, but I did not care.
"What?" Dad asked with concern as he held Jade in his arms.
"What happened?" Papa was shocked by my shouting.
"Look!" I shove my phone screen in both of their faces, "Johnnie just sent me this news article."
"YouTuber Austin Jones sentenced to ten years in prison for soliciting child pornography." Dad reads the title of the article out loud.
"Oh god." Papa was a mixture of shock and disgust.
"They got him!" I yell in excitement, "He's finally in prison!"
"That's amazing sweetie," Dad replies, "I wonder how many other victims he had." Dad had a sad look in his face.
"Well there wont be any new ones!" My excitement could not be ruined.
"Is it alright if I tell the guys the good news?" Dad asks.
"Of course!" I reply excitedly, "I'll text you both the article.
"We should go out for icecream." Papa says, "to celebrate the good news."
"Best idea ever." I reply happily.
"You two go have fun, I finally got Jade to calm down i dont want to ruin that." He says, still with the baby in his arms.
"We'll just have to eat your icecream then." I reply, "right papa?"
"Sounds like you're just trying to get more icecream out of me." He laughs.
"Okay, lex' we'll see you in a bit then." Papa says before grabbing his keys.
Dad blows us a kiss and we wave our goodbyes.
"What kind of icecream are you going to get?" I ask as we drive to the ice cream shop, "I can't decide if i want mint chocolate chip, rocky road, or something else." I ramble.
"Those are both good options." Papa adds.
"Maybe I'll get both." I add, "one scoop of mint chip, one scoop of rocky road."
"That sounds like a great idea, maybe you should do that." Papa replies as he tries to focus on the road.
"I think I will." I say as we pull into the parking lot.
My phone buzzes in my pocket as we walk inside.
Johnnie texted me, "Bryan is trying to act like he had no idea that Austin was a pedo."
I text him back, "Bryan is such a scummy little snake."
"I'll have," papa thinks for a moment, "a scoop of just regular chocolate and a scoop of rocky road." He places his order as the employee scoops the icecream into cone for him, "and my daughter wanted a scoop of mint chip and a scoop of rocky road."
After papa pays for the icecream he pulls some cash out of his wallet and places it in the tip jar. The employee thanks him for his generosity.
We sit down at the table and I text johnnie with one hand and eat my icecream with the other. "How's everyone else doing?"
Johnnie texts back immediately, "everyone's celebrating this small victory."
"He deserved more than 10 years." I text back.
"Who are you texting?" Papa asks.
"Just johnnie." I reply with a smile before setting my phone face down on the table, "does this mean we can go back to warped tour next year?" I ask excitedly.
"Maybe." Papa shrugs.
"We can stay the whole time." I say happily.
"I'm just not comfortable with the way Kevin Lyman handled the whole situation," Papa explains, "who's to say hes not protecting anyone else?"
"But I'll have you and dad and my friends." I say innocently.
"You sure are resilient." He laughs softly, "I love that about you."
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"You're strong, you dont dwell on things for too long," he explains, "you've been through so much yet here you are, just a raw of sunshine."
I smile at him, "I have an amazing family that loves me," I explain, "i have people in my life who care about me and help me through it all."
When papa and I finish our icecream we decide to go back home.
"Maybe we can play a card game together." I suggest as we get closer to home.
"I think that's a great idea." Papa replies.
When we pull up to the house we notice a car in the drive way, parked in Papa's spot.
"Oh, I didn't know Jack was coming over." Papa looked worried.
Papa parks in front of the house before we walk up to the door. He unlocks the front door and all we can hear is the sound of Jade's screaming and crying from the living room.
She was alone in a bassinet crying her little eyes out for god knows how long. I quickly run over to her and pick her up trying to calm her down.
I look over at the stair case, an unfamiliar shirt draped over the railing.
"Um," I start, "Papa?" I begin.
"What the fuck." He mutters before running up the stairs, "What the fuck!" I hear him yell from up stairs, "Again?"
Suddenly I hear crashing sounds.
"Woah, woah, woah, it's not what it looks like." I hear Jack's voice.
Tears start to well up in my eyes.
Suddenly Jack comes running down the stairs in his underwear holding his jeans. When he sees me a look of guilt washes over his face. He uses the Jean's to block his private area. He quickly snatches the shirt off the railing of the staircase.
"Fuck." Jack mutters as he quickly tries to put on his pants, glancing back at the upstairs area.
The yelling and crashing sounds from upstairs continued.
"I'll call Zack to come pick you up, maybe wait outside." Jack says nervously.
"Jack!" I hear papa yell from upstairs.
"Sorry." He whispers to me before sprinting out the front door and getting into his car.
I took his advice and went outside holding Jade. I tried my best to cover her ears so she didn't have to listen to the fighting going on.
Today was supposed to be a good day. I let the tears fall while clutching my baby sister. I wanted a perfect family, but maybe it was never meant to be.
Suddenly a car pulls up and Zack steps out.
He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.
"God fucking damn it." He mutters.
"I'm sorry." I say through sobs.
"What?" He directs his attention to me.
"I'm sorry."
"No, no, no, you didn't do anything wrong." He explains, "do you know where her diaper bag is?" He asks.
I sniffle, "in the living room."
"I'll be right back." He states before going inside.
He comes back out holding Jade's diaper bag. "Let's go."
The drive back to Zacks house was silent.
We walk inside, I didn't even bring anything, just my phone, I dont know how long I'm going to be here.
"I heard the good news." Zack tries to lighten the mood.
"Yeah." I reply, "Papa took me out for icecream after we heard."
"Oh, that's nice." He says awkwardly.
"Yeah it was till we got home." I reply as I sit down.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asks.
"Which part?" I question, "Austin getting arrested and only sentenced to ten years, or the fact that my Dad cheated?"
Zack sighs, "Either, I guess."
"Did you know?" I ask as he sits down next to me on the couch.
"Did I know what?" He asks for clarification.
"Did you know dad was cheating?" I ask, "with Jack?"
"I-" he sighs again, "I did."
"Papa knew too didnt he?" I ask.
Zack nods his head yes.
"Why didn't he leave dad sooner?" I ask.
"I don't know." He replies, "Rian is in love with Alex," he explains, "love makes you do stupid things."
"Like cheat?" I ask.
"No, not that." He replies, "if you loved someone you wouldn't intentionally hurt them."
I look down at Jade who was calmly fast asleep in my arms.
"I guess not." I reply quietly.
"That doesnt mean your dad doesn't love you, he does, very much." He explains.
"Sometimes it sure feels like he doesn't." I reply.
"You know that's isn't true." He defends, "Alex loves you and your sister more than anything."
I start crying, "are they going to give me back?"
"What?" Zack was shocked and confused.
"Please," I cry, "don't let them put me back into foster care, no one else would want me."
"Why would they do that?" He asks.
"Because why would they want me if they aren't going to stay together.
"They love you very much they would never do that to you or Jade." He explains.
I sniffle, "at least Jade would get adopted quickly," I reply, "she's still a baby, everyone always wants babies, no one wants a teenager."
"Alex and Rian wanted you." He replies, "they still do, it broke them both so much to know that their own stupid decisions were hurting you."
"Why couldn't we have just been happy." I reply with a voice crack.
"I'm sorry, Stella." He puts his arms around my shoulders.