Safe and Sound (Book 4 of "The Story of Us" series) [Completed]

Chapter 6 - This Is It

[Nick]

I couldn't sleep last night either. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Ella... or Isabella. I knew it was her. It was almost like looking into a mirror of when I was little except she had longer hair and Harley's nose. She had my smile, my ears, my hair, everything. She even had a few freckles on her nose like I have. I never imagined her looking like that. In my dreams, she always kind of looked like how Sadie is turning out to look, curly light brown hair, like a miniature Harley.

This girl, like Noah, had Carter all over her.

I just couldn't stop thinking about what the people had done to her. Sure, I didn't know all the details, but I wasn't sure I needed to. Even if she turned out not to be Ella, I still wanted to keep their asses and possibly kill them. Who does that to a little girl?

When we went to tell her goodbye, she hugged Harley tightly and tried to give me a hug, but shook my hand instead. She has trust issues and you can't really blame her.

We came back to the hotel and even though I told her not to, Harley called everybody - her family, my family, Donnie and Lisa, AJ, everybody. Apparently AJ called Brian who called me freaking out because he couldn't believe it was true. They had heard about the doctor, but had no idea it was the doctor that delivered Ella.

Harley ended up crying herself to sleep, from stress and excitement of it all. I just laid there and watched her for most of the night before grabbing my laptop, trying search for information on the people who bought her.

He had already been in jail twice before for being busted for hiring a prostitute and for possession of drugs. This had to be his third strike and he was going to be in prison for a long time. I just didn't want to imagine what he had did to her. You hear all of these awful details and I just couldn't imagine it.

I didn't want to imagine it.

"Nick, you up?" I heard Harley ask as I looked over, seeing her sit up in bed. "Couldn't sleep?"

"It's almost ten babe, you slept a long time," I said as she smiled. "No phone call yet. I called and they're waiting on the results."

"I wish they'd hurry up," she said, climbing out of bed. "I just want to know for sure and take her home and just never leave the house again," I said as I smiled at her. "I know it's her, Nick. Can you believe she knew who we were? Who I was?"

"It's crazy," I said as she walked over, sitting down next to me.

"She touched my face telling me I looked like a Barbie."

"That was sweet," I smiled, hearing my cell phone ring. I jumped up, running over to the bed, answering it. "We'll be there as soon as we shower and get ready."

"What?"

"They got the results, they want us to come down," I said, shutting my laptop. "Dual shower? We can get ready quicker," I said as she glared at me. "No funny business, I promise."

"I just want the results," Harley said, stripping off her pajamas as she walked into the bathroom.

I couldn't agree more.

[/Nick]

[Harley]

I don't think Nick and I had ever gotten dressed and ready to go somewhere as fast as we did today. We were ready to leave the hotel in thirty minutes time. The whole ride to the police station was quiet. I was scared that I had given my hopes up and it was going to come back not to be Ella.

As we walked into the police station, everybody was looking at us. Chief Roberts was standing off to the side, waiting on us and lead us back to an examination room where we saw Isabella sitting with a woman who looked as if she was from Family Services.

"Mrs. Stewart, this is Mr. and Mrs. Carter," Chief Roberts said as we shook the lady's hand. "They are the ones that requested the blood test for Isabella and have been looking for their daughter."

"I'm sorry you're having to go through this," Mrs. Stewart said as she motioned for us to sit down. "I couldn't imagine thinking my daughter was dead only to find out what you two did. That doctor should be spending life in prison."

"Hopefully he will," Nick said, looking over at Isabella. "So, did the results come back?"

"They did," she said, taking a piece of paper out of a folder. "I'm not sure how you want me to say this."

"Just tell us," I said as she smiled.

"It came back positive," she said. "You two are a match to Isabella here." I put my hands over my mouth, trying not to scream out loud. I looked over at Nick who looked like he had seen a ghost.

"What does that mean?" Isabella asked.

"It means that you're the little girl that they are looking for," Mrs. Stewart said as Isabella stared back at me.

"You mean that Nick Carter and Harley Carter are my real Mom and Dad?" Isabella asked as I nodded. "I'm the little girl that they were looking for?"

"Yes, honey, it means that they are your real parents," Mrs. Stewart said as she looked at Nick and I. "There's a lot of legal work that we need to discuss. Obviously you never gave her up and she was kidnapped. That means she's yours."

"She can go home with us?" Nick asked as Mrs. Stewart nodded. I looked at Isabella, seeing the confused look on her face.

"According to the records we got from the hospital, her name is legally Ella Brooklyn Carter, and you two are her biological parents. We checked the fingerprints with the hospital records. They match up," she said as I nodded. "Do you two want to take her out of Foster Care today?"

"Yes," Nick and I said at the same time as Isabella smiled.

"I do need to talk to one of you about the ongoing circumstances," she said, looking at Isabella and then at me and Nick. "With the investigation."

"Isabella, why don't you and me go grab a soda so the two ladies can talk," Chief Roberts said as Nick held his hand up.

"I'll go with you," he said, looking at me. I could tell he didn't want to talk about it.

"You'll be okay," Mrs. Stewart said, touching Isabella's hand. "One's a cop and one's your real father. They won't hurt you."

"Come on," Nick said, reaching out to take her hand as they walked out of the room.

"She's scared of men, isn't she?" I asked as the door shut.

"Unfortunately, it's going to take a lot of counseling and love and support for her to fully trust a grown man again," Mrs. Stewart said. "She has gone through a lot. You know the charges against the man that we thought was her father." I nodded. "Do you want to know?"

"I want to know what happened so that I can deal with it," I whispered. "So that I can help her."

"Isabella, or well, Ella, her father sexually abused her for several years," Mrs. Stewart said as I stared at her. "The first reported incident was three years ago, she told a teacher at school. We kept an eye on the situation, at one time asking him to move out of the home or we would put her in foster care."

"He went back anyway," I said as she nodded.

"We caught wind that he was involved in a child pornography ring when he communicated with an undercover agent online," she said as I looked down. He sent some 'samples' to one of the undercover cops and it consisted of photos of your daughter."

I closed my eyes, not sure if I could hear anymore.

"We pretty much went in right then and took her away from them and she has been with a very stable family since," Mrs. Stewart said. "She's a very smart girl, very kind, but timid."

"What about physically," I said, looking up at her. "Did he hurt her?"

"The doctors are fairly certain she'll never have children of her own," Mrs. Stewart said as I started to cry. "That's fairly typical of children who are sexually molested and assaulted by adults. With the right amount of therapy and love, she can lead a normal life, Harley."

"I know I should be happy we found her, but God, I feel so guilty knowing what she's been through," I whispered, trying not to get more upset. "It took me so long to get over losing her. I should have known something wasn't right."

"From what I've read about that doctor, you couldn't have known," she said as I looked at her. "They have no legal right to your daughter now. We are signing everything over to you and your husband."

"And we can take her home?" I asked as she nodded.

"You'll have to be in touch with Family Services there in Tennessee, but I think going home with her real parents is what she needs," Mrs. Stewart said. "And it's just so ironic that you're her parents. She is such a big fan. She is always singing your songs. In her bedroom at her foster home, she has a huge poster of you from when you were still going by your maiden name." I smiled. "She always says she likes the way you sing."

"I used to sing to her all the time when I was pregnant," I smiled weakly. "It's really Ella?"

"She's really your daughter, Harley," Mrs. Stewart said, reaching over to touch my hand. "I'm a fan, too and I've read what you went through and you don't know how happy I am that I could be a part of you finding her."

[/Harley]