The Fault in Her Scars [DISCONTINUED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE]

[5]

"Mom?"

"Mom?" I repeated, spinning around on my heel. "Mom? What?"

Dani gave a small sqeak and ran for Mrs Dalton, who took her in her arms and spun her around. "Dani, I can't believe it's actually you!"

Tears were starting to stream down Dani's face. "I- I haven't seen you in forever!" Then, she began hitting Mrs Dalton with her tiny fists. "How could you leave me at the orphanage? How could you just walk away like that? How could you!"

I watched the scene unfold before me with my mouth agape, unable to speak or move at all. Literally frozen with shock, all I could do was stare and listen.

Mrs Dalton caught Dani's hands in hers, kneeling before the girl and pulling her into a hug. "Hey, now, it's okay. I had to put you in there, remember? I had no money, no house, no job. The orphanage was the best thing for you."

Dani shook her head, picking Buttons up, who'd fallen to the ground during her little tantrum. "It wasn't the best thing! It was the worst! I missed you so much, Mommy!"

"It's okay, darling. I'll take you back with me, and then we can be a family together again, okay?"

Those words immediately snapped me out of my daze, and I stepped towards the two of them, quickly grasping the situation and spontaneously deciding that hostility would be the best emotion to portray now. "Whoa whoa, whoa. Excuse me? I've already adopted Dani, if you don't remember. She's mine."

Mrs Dalton stood up, the smile falling off her face as she glared at me, her five feet eight inches towering over me. "Dani is my biological child. She belongs to me!"

No no no, I can't lose Dani. Not right now, not when she was just starting to trust me. Not when we were already becoming so close.

I looked at Dani in desperation. "Come on, Dani, you want me, right? I love you."

Mrs Dalton bestowed her brown eyes -which were, oh, so much like Dani's- at her. "Dani, I'm your mother, remember? I took care of you since birth!"

I could see Dani hesitating, looking first towards her mother, and then to me.

My heart broke as her glance lingered on Mrs Dalton for just a second longer than she did to me, almost entirely affirmative that she was going to choose her mother.

And then, all of a sudden, something changed in Dami's expression, and she took a step back. "I still remember," she whispered. "I remember everything."

Something had definitely happened between them. Something that could possibly influence her choice to pick me instead.

"Come on, Dani." My cheek muscles were twitching from the anxiety as I tried to smile, holding my arms out towards her. "I'm your protecter, remember? I won't let anyone hurt you."

Dani looked torn. "I.. I don't know who to choose."

Now Mrs Dalton looked mad, taken aback that Dani had even considered staying with me. Hah, that bitch had probably expected Dani to immediately choose her. In her dreams.

"Dani is my daughter, and I will get her back. You'll be hearing from my lawyers."

Mrs Dalton gave Dani a kiss on her cheek, and I quickly pushed her towards the door. I'd won. For now, at the very least. "Well, then, I won't show you out. Feel free to drop in again, or don't. Either way, I'm going to win in the end."

I ran back to Dani, who had taken a seat on the floor and was cuddling Buttons. I didn't want to lose her, so, so bad, but would it be the right thing to do, if it was what she'd wanted? I mean, I felt like I should do whatever makes her happy, and if going back to her mom would make her happy, I probably would just send her back, but losing her would also mean losing my case study for my proving the multiple souls/schizophrenia theory, and just the thought of having to find another abandoned schizophrenic kid was exhausting me.