"I think this is it," I mumbled, looking down at the piece of paper, which I wrote Katelynne's address on, then back up at the house. I was not sure what I was expecting, but it truthfully wasn't this – an average house. It did not look any different from the others on this street and not suspicious at all, meanwhile inside was a mother whose love for her additions beat the love for her child.
We pulled up a few meters away from the building and quickly went over the plan, while still in the car.
"Vic," I turned to the man next to me, who sat in the driver's seat," you're staying in the car. Call us if you think something bad is going on, but you can drive away if you really have to. No matter what, just don't get caught."
Vic and I did not talk much after Gerard and Frank arrived at our apartment. It wasn't so much because of awkwardness, but rather confusion – mainly from me. Vic was gay and he was already aware of that, whereas I was only discovering my possible bisexuality now. And this was not the best time for such a big change.
What Vic and I did was not kissing; it was making out. And without a gentle kiss from him, how was I supposed to know if, at the time, I was not only thinking with my dick? Every time I he touched me, or even looked at me, it was like I won a million dollars. Did that mean that I liked him? Did he like me? I needed to stop and focus on the task at hand.
"Frank," I twisted towards the backseat, where the short man and his boyfriend were situated, "you're keeping watch of the backdoor. Make sure no one except us come in or out of that house."
Vic, Gerard and I decided that it would be best if Frank received the easiest job. He was the smallest and probably weakest out of all of us (even with my girly build) and we did not want him to get hurt, so all he had to do was guard the back door.
"Gerard," I faced the last of my friends, "you and I are going in. We have to be as quiet as possible. All we need to do is find Copeland. She'll probably be asleep but, if she wakes up, we have to make sure that she doesn't cry or make much noise, because Katelynne will probably be asleep too and this will go a lot easier if we don't wake her up too."
One by one, we silently filed out of the car. I was the last one and, before I could exit the vehicle, I felt a hand latch onto my arm. I snapped my head in Vic's direction, just to be softly met with a pair of lips on mine. My breath caught in my throat and a wave of ecstasy almost made my body implode on itself. Wings were ruthlessly beating against the walls of my stomach and I had never felt this way before. However, as suddenly as it started, the kiss ended and left me craving more.
"Be careful, Kells," Vic whispered and I could have sworn that I screamed, on the inside, when he used that nickname. I had noticed that, over time, Vic's voice held less and less strain and misery. Was he finally accepting his life the way it was? Maybe he was becoming like me and looking for the small thing, which brought happiness, rather than the big picture, which showed grief.
I wanted to give him some words of assurance, but unfortunately I was speechless. Silence seemed good enough for him though, as he shoved me out of the car and towards the impatiently waiting pair.
The moth-drawing street lamps were our only source of light and they illuminated just enough for us to be aware of our surroundings. The three of us speedily made our way towards the two storey house and snuck around the back, trying to make as little noise as possible.
Out of the four of us, Vic was the only one who knew how to pick locks (due to his shady past), but he had to stay in the car so, while we were still at our apartment, he vaguely taught Frank how to do it.
We reached the backdoor in no time. It was significantly more difficult to see, as the glow of the lamps did not reach this side of the house and we had to rely on our own unadjusted eyes to guide us. Luckily I brought a torch, because I knew that this would happen, and shone it over the door's lock in order for Frank to see.
While the short man was doing his job, I looked up at the house. From the front, it looked like all lights were off however, now I could see that one room was still lit up. I sincerely hoped that it was not because Katelynne was still awake. That would be a disaster.
After a few agonisingly long minutes, Frank managed to difficultly get the door open. Gerard and I rushed inside and while doing so, decided in whispers that it would be best to check the room with the light on first. We were currently situated in a kitchen, which did not look to be in a good state.
The sink was overflowing with unwashed dishes (some shattered) and the counters were littered with plates of half-eaten food. It seemed that something had been spilt onto the floor, as it was very slithery and easy to slide on. Most of the food, which had not been eaten, was rotten and disgusting, causing a revolting stench to invade my nostrils.
Frank closed the door behind Gerard and I, as we did not want any outside noises to give away the fact that we were there. From what I saw while standing in the back garden, the room which had the light on was to the left of our current location. And so I walked down the short hallway, which connected to the kitchen, and cautiously opened the first door. What I saw made me want to throw up.
"Gee," I called, not caring about the fact that I was being loud, because it did not matter, "I found Katelynne."
And there she was, in all her glory, passed out on the living room floor with a face covered in white power. If I did not know any better, I would have thought it was flour. The cocaine rested on the short coffee table, in small and uneven piles, and there was a lot of it. Empty bottles and cans of alcoholic beverages were carelessly thrown around the room. Also, the horrid smell of smoke (and probably other substances) was very prominent in the single room. This made it hard to even be present there.
Katelynne herself looked like a trainwreck. She wore nothing but an extremely loose tank top and shorts, which looked three sizes too small. All of the hairs on her head seemed dead and dark, thick rings framed her eyes, likely due to the drugs and lack of sleep. Good thing she was getting that sleep now though. I bit my lip and averted my gaze away from her. Pathetic.
If this was the state she was in, I dreaded finding what Copeland was like. Justin had assured me that she was alive, because apparently one of his co-workers was Katelynne's friend and visited her often so he got all of the information from there. Just thinking about my baby girl being in the same house as this failure of a woman made me concerned.
I was quick to find out that the source of the light, which I had observed through the window, was the TV. It was still on and was playing an irrelevant, ancient soap opera, while cutting into static once in a while. Katelynne probably fell asleep, while watching the TV channel, and forgot to switch it off.
A weight was lifted off my shoulders, knowing that Katelynne would probably be out cold for a few more hours and waking her up would be difficult, so we did not have to be very on-edge anymore. I could not bear to stay in that room any longer, so I re-entered the hallway and went in search of a staircase, as bedrooms were usually on the upper floors.
I easily found one and travelled upstairs, with Gerard staying on the ground floor. The upper part of the house was not as trashed as the lower. Everything was a lot more organised and almost seemed untouched, except one door which was slightly agape unlike the others. They were firmly closed and looked uninviting.
I advanced towards the ajar door and pushed it further open to reveal – what I assumed was - the master bedroom. Children's toys were sloppily sprawled over the floor like mines on a battlefield. And, just like in the kitchen and living room, there seemed to be plates of half-eaten food on all of the surfaces, however here it was done on a much smaller scale. At least Katelynne fed her... The lamps on both of the bedside tables were switched on, creating a dim glow which I did not notice form outside, as the blinds were drawn.
But what caught my eye was the child, sleeping in the oversized bed.
I gasped and the largest of smiles glowed on my face, as I saw the brown tuft of locks from under the covers. I slowly approached the king sized bed and silently sat on the edge. Biting my lip in anticipation, I slowly lifted the sheets off the girl's face and sighed in content. Softly I ran my fingers through her hair, which was much longer than I remembered it. She looked so peaceful and harmonious, like there was not a care in the world.
I finally did it. I found my daughter.
Not wanting to wake her up, I lifted Copeland's sleeping form from the bed. I could not believe this was happening. I had missed her so much and now that she was here, in my arms, I felt completely content with everything. It was like the cocaine addict was not passed out downstairs; the police was not after me and my close friends – or maybe even more than friends, in one case; I had not been in jail for four months. Instead, I was just here with my daughter.
Breathing in her child-like scent, I carefully stepped out of the bedroom, with her small weight still in my arms, and carried her down the stairs to where Gerard was waiting. I knew for certain that I looked like I had just won a million dollars, but that was not the case, because reality was much better: I had just been reunited with the most important person in my life and I could not be happier.
Seeing as there was no danger in the house, Gerard had retreated to the backdoor where Frank was. They looked up with hopeful eyes, as soon as they heard my footsteps and, just like me, Frank gasped when he noticed the child. From what Gee had told me, the shorter man loved kids so Copeland would have some nice company. I did not know Frank as well as I knew his boyfriend, but I still trusted him a lot. After all, I would not be here without him.
After a few mindless words, we got rid of all evidence that we were here (except the missing child, of course), not that there was much, and returned to the car where Vic was waiting patiently. He seemed surprised, probably expecting us to come running out with an entire SWAT team chasing us but, then again, I anticipated something quite similar too.
Vic was nearly as elated as I was, to see her, and, if he wasn't driving the car, he would have probably been holding her, just for the sake of feeling her touch. Everything was cocooned by a peaceful silence, until I felt the small body in my arms start stirring in her sleep. My grin grew even wider, almost splitting my cheeks. A yawn escaped Copeland's lips and her large, brown eyes slowly started to open until she could fully see me.
"Daddy?" She croaked out and I heard Frank squealing in the backseat, at the sound of her voice.
"Yeah, it's me," I whispered, unsure of whether I would be able to keep it together even for the sake of her.
"Where are we?" Her small voice was still hoarse from sleeping.
"We're in a car, on our way to somewhere safe," I assured her, running my fingers through her greasy-yet-still-lovely hair. Copeland yawned lowly and shifted in my grasp until she was standing on top of my lap, with her blue dress cascading down to her knees.
"Who is that?" Cope whispered to me, although it was loud enough for everyone in the car to hear. Her attention was trained on something behind me and I glanced back to realise that she was observing the two males in the backseat.
"That's Uncle Gerard," I informed her, pointing to the mentioned man, then did the same to the other, "and that is Uncle Frank."
They gave Copeland warm smiles and it was obvious that it took all of Frank's self-control to not force her out of my arms and keep her as his own. Gerard was right about him loving kids.
"And who's that?" The child asked, thoughtfully gazing to the side at the last man in the car. Before I could answer and explain, the male beside me did it instead.
"I'm Vic," he glanced at Cope and offered a small smirk, next he extended his hand towards her. She hesitantly placed her tiny one in his and lightly shook it, with a shy smile on her lips. Vic mirrored her expression, but quickly took his palm away and turned back to the road as he probably wasn't keen on causing a car accident. That would definitely increase our chances of getting caught up to 100%.
Copeland turned back towards me and just seeing her face made me want to squeeze her. And that is what I did. I embraced her tightly, like I was never going to let her go, and she hugged me back.
"I missed you so much," I murmured and could not stop my voice from breaking. I sniffed slightly, as a veil of tears washed over my face. It was embarrassing to cry in front of my friends, and I finally knew how Vic felt when he broke down before me a few months back, but I loved my daughter more than life itself and those emotions were showing by flowing down my cheeks.
"Where were you all this time?" Cope's face was buried in my shoulder, but I still managed to hear her. I noticed that her speech had improved and she was quickly learning to talk in longer and more complex sentences, than last time I was with her. She was always a fast learner and I was so proud of her for trying this hard.
"I had to go away for a while," I explained softly and made the story a lot more child-friendly than the reality, for her sake, "but I'm here now and everything is fine. We're together. I'll keep you safe, I promise."
We soon pulled up in front of our apartment complex and the streets were deathly silent, with the casual stranger walking passed. Making our way down to our current place of stay, we paid extra attention to the amount of noise we were making, as we did not want any of the neighbours to get suspicious of the fact that we escaped from jail and kidnapped a child.
Being in the apartment; locked away from the dangers of the outside was a relief. Before going on the mission to retrieve Cope, we had decided on where everyone slept. The apartment was large and had two bedrooms, so Gerard and Frank would obviously share one.
Vic and I were completely fine with occupying the other one together and I was actually looking forward to sleeping in the same bed as him. It was like kissing him had opened my eyes and I was not held back by the pressure of having to be straight, and I was not so focused to my previous failed relationship anymore.
We were parting ways for the night, and Copeland would be sleeping with Vic and I which meant that I would have my eyes of her at all times and I could keep her safe. This demolished any chances of things happening between Vic and I, because the little girl was oblivious to the situation between Katelynne and I, and I did not want to give an entire explanation about why I was kissing Vic and not her.
Just as Gerard and Frank were about to leave the living room, I called out after them without thinking.
"Please don't have sex on that bed!"
Gerard snorted at my comment and rolled his eyes, whereas Frank blushed madly and adorably hid behind Gee's arm. He could be so cute sometimes, but looks were deceiving because, from the many stories that Gerard had told me, I learned that Frank could pound someone into the bed so hard they would not be able to walk on the next day.
"Daddy," a small voice started, from the arms of Vic, "what's sex?"
My eyes instantly widened and I almost choked on the water that I was drinking, having to place the glass down and even out my rapid breathing. Shit!
"I'll tell you when you're 30."
Chuckling, Gerard and Frank exited the room and Vic and I did the same, after switching all lights off. The room we were sharing was slightly larger than the other one, but both were very old-fashioned. Paintings of animals embellished the walls, which were decorated with peeling, floral wallpaper. Antique furniture stood tall on the traditional, patterned carpet; and the out-dated bed sheets were beautified with designs of nature.
We had no clothes for Copeland yet, and her dress was dishevelled, so we forced Frank to allow her to wear one of his shirts which he brought with him, seeing as he was the smallest of us. The shirt was still like a dress to her and reached far beyond her ankles, but it was better than wearing one of my shirts which she would be swimming in.
Vic, Cope and I got into bed with her between us, after I called up Justin to tell him that we had her. Although it was reaching 5 am, he did not fail to pick up the phone. Also, he informed me that the police had been to check his apartment and we were lucky that we left earlier.
As I lay in bed, tired but wide awake, I felt a muscular arm drape over the sleeping Copeland until it reached my waist, which it wrapped around. I smiled to myself and I could feel my cheeks reddening, but I liked it this way. It made me feel safe and helped me get to sleep, in no time.