"You okay?" Colby asked as I got back in the car with Juniper's teddy bear.
It was now wet since I washed the blood off of it in the sink since I didn't want Juniper to see her favorite bear covered in blood.
"Yeah. Here, love." I said and reached back to give the bear to Juniper. "Where are we going?" Sam asked with a yawn.
"We're gonna drive for a while then we're gonna stay at a hotel." Colby explained and started to pull out of the driveway.
I had to admit that I was close to breaking down again, feeling the anxiety of knowing we were leaving and being open to the public.
Everyone knew where we were and they could always be watching us.
I trusted Colby with my life and I knew the kids did also.
We drove for a while before Colby pulled into the parking lot of a nice looking hotel. "I'm gonna go get us a room, wait here." Colby said and looked over at me.
"Okay." I said quietly and looked back to see that Juniper, Sam, Carter, and Maisie were fast asleep.
"Jen, I'm so sorry." I said quietly as she shook her head. "It's not your fault, Julia. I know it feels like it, but you aren't at fault." She said as I sighed.
"If I was more careful this wouldn't have happened." I said and looked down at my swollen wrist.
"I promise I will make things right." I said as Colby came back with a cart for us to put our stuff on. I got out of the car so I could get all the kids up and situated.
I would need help carrying Juniper in since we also had Maisie but I assumed Colby would grab one of the girls.
"Carter....Sam..." I whispered and shook their shoulders gently as Jenna helped Colby get everything out of the car. "Where are we?" Carter mumbled as they both slowly woke up.
"The hotel. You just have to get up to the room then you can sleep." I said and started unhooking Maisie's carseat so I could bring her upstairs.
I knew she would probably be waking up soon to eat but I wanted her to at least be upstairs before she did.
Once our stuff was packed onto the cart, Colby grabbed Juniper and we made our way up to the room.
I wasn't expecting anything fancy but in true Colby fashion he got the biggest and most luxurious room possible.
"Goodnight guys." I said to the three older kids as they each found their own rooms. "Goodnight, Jule." They all mumbled then went into their rooms while Colby brought Juniper to hers.
"Looks like it's just us." I said to Maisie as she began to fuss. "I know you're hungry. Let's let you eat." I said then brought her to the master bedroom so I could feed her.
I sat on the bed and closed my eyes, trying to calm myself down from the terrifying night we all had.
"How's our girl?" Colby asked as he came into the room with the basinet and Maisie's stuff. "She was hungry." I said quietly and kept my eyes on her.
"I bet. She was sleeping really well in the car." He said as I nodded. "She usually does." I hummed as he set the basinet up.
"Did you wanna talk about it?" Colby asked after a moment of silence. I shook my head, keeping my head down.
I just wanted to live in this moment.
A quiet moment where I was feeling my sweet daughter.
I didn't want to talk about what happened because it would make it all the more real. It would remind me that there was always going to be violence and fear in our daughter's life.
