Phoebe Grey

5

ana

i quickly get upstairs and go into the bedroom and see amelia's tiny body being engulfed by the large bed.

"baby?" i ask and she rolls over to face me. i can see the fear in her eyes. "mommy" she starts to cry and extends her arms. i get over to her and pick her up, sit on the bed and hold my little girl. christian gets into the bedroom and sits next to me and rubs her back as she cries. i feel the tears start running down my face.

i close my eyes and rest my head with hers as i lean against christian.

phoebe

my dad comes down as we're sitting in the kitchen with gail.

"so can someone tell me what happened?" he asks

"we came home from dinner. we tried to turn on the lights and they wouldn't turn on and these men got ahold of us and tried to basically kidnap us." teddy informs him.

i see my dads face tense up quickly and he slams his fist on the stone countertops and storms off.

"what's was that about?" i ask confused

"yeah why is he react like that?" teddy wonders

"you kids don't know do you?" Gail asks making the three of us look at each other.

"know what?" brad asks

"your mom had a really similar experience right when she found out she was pregnant with teddy. she came home one night and the lights wouldn't turn on. a man tried to take her until sawyer and prescott saved her." how did i not know this?

"so what youre saying is that it's the same person." teddy clarifys

"i think so or someone with relations." gail says

"ok well i'm going to bed." i say quietly and walk off. it just makes me upset that my mom had to go through something so traumatizing. i head over to the family room where i left my phone and go to head upstairs. i walk past my dads office where i hear deep yelling.

"we saw what happened last time this fucking happened, and now history is repeating itself. so i'm going to ask you again, why wasn't i fucking informed?" i can hear my dad yelling so strongly. him saying last time makes me realize he's talking about mom.

i decide to lightly knock on the door. i honestly miss my dad. we used to be so close, but we've been so distant lately and i hate it.

i lightly knock and head him "hang on, come in." he says and i slowly open one of the huge double doors.

"hey princess, what's wrong?" he asks concerned

"um dad?" i ask shyly because of the topic im about to discuss with him

"what happened?" he questions

"did mom ever get like almost kidnapped?" i stutter out

"where did you hear that?" he questions again

"gail told us cause she was telling us we need to be cautious." i admit and he sighs

"yeah it's true."

"why am i just now finding out about this?" i question concerned

"because it wasn't something either of us wanted to share." he sighs. i slowly start to get choked up and glance at the floor so my dad can't see me upset.

"well uh what's gonna happen with those uh people." i stutter

"they'll live" he remarks making me slightly chuckle "phoebe i'm going to ask you a question and i need you to be 100% honest with me." it's so hard to lie to him cause he always knows when anyone is lying.

"k." i say and try to stay calm

"he didn't touch you or anything did he?" he asks shakily

"god no." i answer very quickly and he just nods

"ok i'm just glad you and your brothers and sister are okay." he says and walks around his desk and gives me a hug. after our moment i walk out and head upstairs to my room to call it a night.

christian

after i get off the phone with the most incompetent people i have ever spoken to i go upstairs to bed and see ana awake but only the lamp on her nightstand making a glimmer of light in the bedroom.

"ana, why are you still up, it's almost 1 am." i ask

"i was waiting for you" she laughs making me chuckle. i walk to my closet and slip on sweatpants and take off my shirt. i head to the bathroom to brush my teeth. as i brush my teeth i start to think about how bad i felt for my kids for what they went through. maybe i can get them something, like something for each. a phone? no that's not good enough, they were traumatized. maybe i can get phoebe that g wagon she's always wanted. and teddy one too. and brad a whole new set of electronics and amelia has been begging for a playground. i would love to see the looks on their faces. i walk back to the bed and to my side of the bed.

"ana, i was thinking." i say. she's never gonna say yes about all this or that they don't need something like that. or that she turned out just fine without having stuff like that

"about?" she says not glancing up from the book

"i was thinking about getting the kids something cause of what happened." i say

"like what kind of something, cause christian you get out of hand sometimes with your gifts." she remarks. well this is gonna be awkward.

"well did you ever notice we never bought phoebe her own car?" i say trying to make reason

"yea- christian i hope to god you aren't looking to buy her that 140 thousand dollar car she's been asking for?" shit.

"and why am i not allowed to buy my daughter something she's been wanting?" i argue

"because christian that's ridiculous to spend that amount of money on a 16 year old, she can drive one of the cars we already have." she says back "and now let me ask you something" she says and i gesture to her

"what do you plan on getting the three other kids?" she asks looking me dead in the eye

"ana remember these are my kids too and if i want to buy them something, i should have every right to." i state. it's true if i want to spoil my kids i should have every right to.

"christian i know i just don't think it's necessary for such an extravagant gift, but whatever." she complains as she lays down and rolls over. screw it im buying the gifts.