The Little Girl and The Man

Chapter Seven

"Hello Honey! Rise and shine! Sorry to wake you so early but today is one of the many important days that you will be going through. Now, I laid one of the nice outfits I bought you on your door handle. I'm going to make your favorite breakfast but if you have any trouble, please call me and I'll come to help you, okay?"

"Okay..." The little girl yawned waking up.

"Great! Thank you." Sarah said pleasantly and left the room to go to the kitchen to make breakfast. She set out all the ingredients to make pancakes from scratch- the best way to make them she thought. She was mixing the ingredients in a bowl when she heard a little yelp and a louder bang. She turned right around to see the little girl wriggling around with the dress stuck around her head.

"Mmmphh phhh!" Said the girl. All Sarah could do was burst out laughing. Once she stopped she came over to her.

"Here, let me help you out there a bit." She bent down and with a quick tug on the dress and down it went. She looked and the girl's red face and let out a little chuckle. "A little stuck there, weren't you!"

"Yeah." Then the girl smiled.

"What did you bump? Are you okay?"

"I think I bumped my head on the doorway but I'm okay."

"Let me take a look just in case." She lifted the girl up onto the counter and examined the bump on the forehead. "Maybe a little bruising but other than that, I think you will live!" Under her breath she said, nothing people aren't used to seeing on you..."

The little girl giggled and set the girl back on the ground again. Now back to the girl she said, "Now let's finish up getting ready. Breakfast is almost done!"

"Sarah?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Can you put my hair in a braid again?"

"Of course! Now chip chop!" And the little girl went back into her room to get finished dressing.

After breakfast, they sat in the living room while Sarah was braiding her hair. "I'm gonna have to teach you how to braid before I leave!"

"Leave?"

"Yes, sweetheart. As much as I love staying here with you, today will be one of the days that will determine who you will be staying with."

"But wouldn't Daddy be staying here?"

"Honestly sweetie... I don't- I don't know. We have to see how this trial goes" she said hesitantly.

"Trial?"

"We never really did talk about what's going on, have we?"

"What's going on? Is everything okay?"

"Let's get into the car, first and I'll explain what is going on."

Once in the car and driving to the courthouse Sarah tried to explain why they were going to court. Court is never easy to explain so explaining it to a seven year old girl in fifteen minutes was a challenge Sarah had to accept. The girl took the news well. She was obviously a bit upset but who wouldn't when they learned that one of their family members may be going to jail, especially if they are the only family member they know.

Entering the courthouse, Sarah took the little girl's hand. They say down in the first row. "Now this may seem a bit boring but you got to stay still and behave. If you do, I'll take you out for ice cream. Now how does that sound?"

The little girl's eyes lit up but not because of the ice cream, coming out of the door was her father. The girl waved to him but became a little saddened when all he did was glance at her.