Arielle slowly opened her eyes to see her mom sitting at her side, and while
she didn't exactly want her there, she couldn't find it in herself to kick her
out when she saw the tears in her eyes. Not to mention she was tired of fighting
with her. " Mom, are... are you okay?"
Ashley wiped at her tears, and nodded. " I'm just worried about you. You went
through a terrible experience."
" What about Christopher? Aren't you at all upset about..."
" Of course I am. But I... I do have some good news to give you. He called.
Taylor talked to him." She told her.
" Really? Is he okay then?" Arielle asked, a half smile on her face.
" Yeah. I believe he is. Some woman he ran into at a rest stop followed his
dad and him, knowing that he was in trouble just because she was in an abusive
relationship herself. She had watched her kids go through the abuse, and just by
looking at him she knew. She's bringing him home as we speak."
" I need to be there when he get's home. Mom, you need to..."
" No. You need to be here, Arielle." She lightly pushed her back when Arielle
tried to get out of the bed. " Honey, you just had a miscarriage. He knows, and
I am sure someone will pick him up and bring him here when he gets home. Now
calm down."
Arielle reluctantly listened to her mom. She wanted to be there when he made
it back. But she knew her mom wasn't about to let her leave. Laying back down,
she closed her eyes again. " If he is hurt in any way, I am going to kill
Brian."
" No one is going to kill him. He will go to jail, and I will get a
restraining order so that when he does get out, he can't come anywhere near
Christopher again. Or you for that matter."
" Mom, I plan to stay with my dad and Natalie. I'm not going to move back in
with you. And Zac and Kate have custody of Christopher." Arielle rolled her eyes
at her mom, annoyed that she automatically assumed she would move back in with
her.
" Alright. If you want to stay with your dad, I won't push it. But
Christopher... he is another story. I will get full custody back and he will
move back in with me."
" Just stop trying to control everything, mom! You can't. You lost custody of
him for a reason, and you need to deal with it." Arielle snapped.
" Fine. I see where I am not needed. I'll leave you alone." Ashley grabbed
her purse, and walked out of the room.
_______________________________________________
Christopher had spent the first few hours sleeping on the way home, and when
he woke up he was asked if he was hungry. Nodding his head, she stopped at the
next cafe they saw to get some food. He ordered a cheeseburger and fries while
she ordered a salad and soup. " What's your name?" He asked, sipping on the
chocolate shake he ordered to go along with his food.
She smiled. " My name is Amanda. What is yours?"
" Christopher."
" Well, I'm sorry we had to meet this way. But it is very nice to meet you,
Christopher." She shook his hand. " How are you feeling?"
" A little better. I was so scared. I didn't know what my dad was going to do
with me when he got me to Colorado."
She nodded to say she understood. " Your safe now. I promise he will never
hurt you ever again."
" Thanks for saving me."
" Your welcome, Christopher. I'm glad I was able to." She told him.
The waitress brought them their order, and they spent time getting to know
each other a little as they ate. He told her about his sister Arielle and how
his mom had left them behind when she got thrown into jail herself for hitting
someone. She listened as he told her everything, and even told him a little
about her abusive relationship and what her three kids went through. When they
finished eating, they got back on the road and she drove the rest of the way
without stopping again.
He was more than ready to be home, and couldn't wait to see his sister and
everyone else again. All he wanted was to give them all a huge hug and apologize
once again for his attitude, and that he would never be such a jerk ever again.
He knew now that he needed to change.
_________________________________________________
Kate sat at Taylor's house with her sister in law Avery, who was there
watching his kids. They were watching Beauty And The Beast, eating some pizza.
At this point, she was getting more excited at time went on. Any minute
Christopher would be walking through that door. She couldn't believe how much
she had actually missed him.
Avery looked over at her as she watched the door. " Watching the door won't
make him come through anytime soon." She laughed.
" I know. But it's about that time that he get's here too." Kate went back to
watching the movie. " I just... that kid has been through so much. Now his dad
kidnapped him, taking him away from his sister. He's got to be so happy to be
coming home."
" You think this will change his attitude towards everyone?" Avery asked,
taking a bite of her sausage pizza.
" I sure hope so." She smiled as she looked over at Wilhelmina, who was
making a mess of her face trying to eat some pizza. " You sure are making a mess
of yourself, aren't you?" With a laugh, she wiped her face down with a napkin.
All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door. Hoping it was Christopher,
Kate ran to the door and opened it. All she saw was a really mad Brian, who had
driven straight through without a single stop to get his son back. Backing up
into the living room, she told Avery to grab the kids and get out of the room.
" No one goes anywhere." Brian took out a gun, and aimed it at Avery. " I
want my son and I want him now. Where is he?"
" I don't know, and even if I did I would not tell you. He belongs with us,
not an abusive dad like you." Avery snapped at him bravely, taking Wilhelmina
into her arms.
" Avery, calm down and get the kids out of here now." Kate told her once
again, and looked at Brian. She tried to push her fears of him aside, but with
the gun it was hard.
Brian had his hand on the trigger and was about to shoot her when someone
came in and grabbed a hold of the gun. A shot rang out, but it hit the ceiling.
" Get out of here now. Christopher is at the car waiting for you. I told him to
wait there."
Kate nodded, and grabbing Ezra's hand and Penny's hands, she ran through the
door and over to Christopher. He got out of the car and threw his arms around
her. Another shot rang out, and they jumped. " Into my car now. Don't worry
about..."
Christopher didn't listen. He ran towards the house to see what was going
on. When he saw his dad, he grew scared. But he also looked in to see that River
was still in the house with Avery and Wilhelmina, who was standing there in
shock watching the scene before them as Amanda struggled to get the gun from
Brian. Not wanting to see them hurt, he ran in and grabbed River's hand. Then
looking up at Avery, he grabbed her hand to. That brought her out of her little
trance, and they made a run for it.