𓂻
Imogen Halstead (age 25)
Word count: 1505
Tw: mentions of domestic violence/abuse.
Jays POV
I'm sat on the couch, alone, watching Star Trek to amuse myself. We finally ended a long case today, and I couldn't be more content. We got two families back together after their children were abducted three years ago, if that's not a happy ending I don't know what is.
I pause the TV when I hear the doorbell ring. I told hailey to go see her mom tonight... why's she here? As I approach my front door I don't even peer through the peep hole, instead I open the door to see who's there. My mouth drops open...
"Imogen..." I grab the door to sturdy myself. My sister is stood in front of me, bloody and bruised, whilst holding my nephew in his carrier. However, I've only met my nephew twice... when he was born and last summer. My mind is overwhelmed right now. I haven't seen Imogen and her child in over a year, neither has Will, and we haven't even spoken to her over the phone. She's been like a ghost for the past year. I look down to see that her hands are shaking, and tears are rolling down her face.
I reach down and take the carrier from her hand, letting her in as I carry my sleeping nephew into the kitchen and place him on the table. I turn right face Imogen, "what the hell happened?" I step forward. She shoots me a terrified look, one I never want to see again, "Alex..." she whispers. My heart clenches and my stomach flips as she walks into my arms.
"I had to get out of there... before he hurt teddy too" she sobs into my chest and I swear, I don't recognise my sister. She's different... she's timid, small, anxious, smaller, I don't know what to say. She sobs painfully and I hold her tight, "what happened...?" I help her sit down. She looks down at me, "he found the old family pictures I kept of us, he said he didn't like that i still remember a life with you guys. I'd had enough of his bullshit, so I called him out on it. He ripped the pictures up, then I told him I was leaving and taking teddy with me. He didn't like that..." she holds her arms out which are covered in scratch marks and blood.
"Has he ever done this before?" I wipe her tears away. She pauses, "not like this..." her voice wavers. My heart drops, "he's hit you before?" I stand up. She keeps her head down, "I thought he was a good guy, jay..." she admits. I shake my head, "I knew I never liked him, I should've never let you move in with him" I pace the room. She holds her hand up and signals to teddy, I notice that he now just woke up. I walk over to where teddy is laying down, "how old is he now?" I unbuckle him and pick him up. Seeing him again makes my heart warm and fuzzy.
"Six months" she speaks hoarsely. I smile, "hey bud, remember me? I'm your favourite uncle" I brush a finger over his cheek, "he has your nose" I look down at my sister. She smiles as much as she can, "so far he has your stubbornness, he hates bath time" she chuckles. I smile, "that's my boy, causing havoc already..." I feel him relax into my arms. I notice Imogen looking rather defeated, "I don't know what to do anymore" she admits. I walk over to my couch as she follows, I make a cage of pillows on the fluffy rug so teddy can't roll away and set him down. I turn to face her, "you're gonna move in with me, I'll have someone collect your belongings. We'll file a restraining order and press charges, and if you want to... we'll take him to court" i cup her face.
She nods, "I couldn't keep living like that..." she sniffles. I smile sadly and help her sit down on the couch, "when did this start?" I use the baby wipes from behind me to start wiping the dry blood from her face. She nods and tilts her head to the side to let me help, "ever since he found out I was pregnant. We never talked about kids, he didn't really want any. So when he found out that I was pregnant and wanted to keep it, he was pissed. I thought we could've talked it through. He had other ideas..." she sighs as teddy makes some inaudible noises.
"We spent the whole duration of the pregnancy trying to avoid what life would be like after the baby came. I brought up the idea of starting the nursery when I was seven months along, and he punched a hole in the wall. He started to become more aggressive, until teddy arrived. The day he was born, it was like he flipped. He was back to his old, loving self and I thought everything would go back to how it was" she continues. I nod for her to carry on, "things started getting better for the first two months. Alex started helping out, and I really thought teddy had fixed our relationship. I thought we were a family again. But I guess being a father takes more effort than he expected" she grabs a wet wipe to clean her arms.
"Teddy would spent most nights crying, waking us both up. At first he would offer to check on him, but then the offers turned into orders. Then he started yelling at teddy for waking him up, and I couldn't raise a child in that house any longer. I needed out, and then tonight happened. I didn't know who to go to, and you were the first person I thought of..." she wipes her tears away. I nod, "it's okay, you made the right decision. You and teddy are safe now, I promise. We're gonna work through this and I swear you'll never have to see him again. I'll put his ass in jail..." i scoff. I always had a funny feeling about that man... boy even.
"It doesn't look like you need stitches" I add as I inspect the cuts on her face. She nods, "thanks, can I take a shower?" She sighs tiredly. I nod, "yeah, second door to the left" I point to the stairs. She smiles and stands up, checking on teddy, before walking up the stairs. Once I hear the water running I wipe my tears away. How the hell did this happen? And why didn't she contact us for help? But I suppose all of these theories in my mind are most likely easier said than done...
I hear teddy squeal as he tried to crawl over the pillows I built around him, "what're we gonna do with you? You're so big now..." I pick him up as he pinches at my face. I smile, "you're like a little sumo" I prod his belly. I notice that she hasn't brought a bag with her, although I'm pretty sure I did see her car outside. Maybe it sun there.
~
A short while later, I'm still playing with my nephew as I carry him around like an aeroplane, who knew babies could be so fun? But now Imogen is with us, "why didn't you ever call? We could've helped you get out of there sooner..." I sit down as teddy screams happily, making me stand up to play aeroplane with him again. Imogen smiles as I zoom around the living room with him, "he smashed my phone many months ago, he threatened me when I went to buy a new one. I was scared of what he'd do if I didn't listen. Don't think I didn't think of calling you and will, I thought about doing it every night" she sighs.
I nod, "i understand, this isn't on you..." I groan as I lift teddy around the light. She smiles at the happy glare on her sons face, "it's on him" I can't even say his name. He isn't worthy of one. Teddy let's put a huge burp and I take that as my sign to stop, "alright mister, don't be sick on me now..." I hand him over to my sister. She smiles and brushes the brown hair out of his eyes, why is this kids hair so long already?
"He's got moms eyes..." she points out. I nod, because he does. I smile, "well he definitely doesn't look like him, thankfully"I sigh. She nods. How did life get so messy?
"Things will get better, I promise..." I smile and squeeze her knee. She sighs and rests her head on the back of the couch. She looks much better without blood everywhere, but I can see that she's scared of telling will tomorrow... I promise, things will get better Imogen.
