🌟She's Special🌟

Litigation

(My Parent's Bedroom) (The UES) (Bella's Perspective)
"What's going on? Why is Mom crying?"
"Come here, Bella." Elliot gave me a kiss.
"Why did Maria text me?"
"She has a present for you. She wants you to come over." Mom said.
"I don't wanna go. I don't like her house. It's too fancy and suffocating in there, and her son and husband make me feel uncomfortable, if I have to see my therapist after going there, I don't wanna go back."
"Which is what I said, and she's trying to make it look like-" Mom stopped and went to go wipe her tears.
"Mommy, what did she do to you?"
"Don't worry about it Bella, let's give Mom some space, let's go back downstairs, you can help me serve out dessert." Something's not right. Mom doesn't cry. The last time I saw her cry like that was at my graduation. And the time before that, it was when I said that she was the best person ever and I'd love her for all eternity.
"Text Maria and tell her you don't want to go."
"Dad, what's the holdup?" Richard asked.
"Well, my apologies!"
"We're gonna serve dessert!" I stated.
"Sweet!"
"Lizzie! Kathleen! Tell us the story you were talking about!" I'm just going to have to act normal.
"The doorbells ringing."
"Let me answer it," Elliot said.
"Okay.." I watched to see who it was.
"Elliot! I hope I'm not intruding. I just wanted to give Bella her present."
"Anna!" I ran to give her a hug.
"You're definitely not! Come on in!"
"Anna, I didn't know you were coming!"
"Your Mom invited me. She wanted it to be a surprise. Where is she?"
"She's in the restroom." Anna introduced herself to Elliot's kids and it was great. Plus, we hadn't had our time together yet , so maybe we could have it now. I dunno. I texted Maria no. She hasn't responded yet and I'm scared.
Maria: No? Why don't you want to come? I have the most fabulous present! Perfect for a thirteen-year-old. You'll love it.

Bribing me with presents, isn't it. I sighed. Mom came back down looking happy and we all talked to each other. We were acting normal. Like we were before my stupid mother ruined Christmas.
******************
December 26th, 2022 (Thursday) (Olivia's Perspective)
"Legally, she cannot get custody of Bella, unless we find out she gave up her rights under duress. I think it's best you guys leave this out of court."
"Why?"
"With her husband's resources and her way of lying, things could go south. If they believe her, she could gain rights to Bella. I know you said Elliot was going to formally adopt her."
"Yes."
"I know you want to do what's best. If anything. Let her be the one to take it to court."
"The thing is we have evidence to prove she lost her right due to abuse and neglect. Which is why I don't want her around my daughter."
"Oh, those are the circumstances. Then that makes things completely different. Bella would need to detail-"
"I cannot put Bella through that again. She's talked about her abuse enough."
"That's the best way."
"Alright. Thank you much, this means a lot to me."
"You're welcome." I hung up and sighed.
"Mommy." Leia came in and sat on my lap.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"I'm sad."
"Why are you sad?"
"Because I thought about something really sad!" Leia explained herself and I comforted her and made her laugh. If I wasn't so emotionally drained myself I'd do more.
"Mommy, I wish you weren't sad."
"I'm not sad."
"Yes, you are. You were crying. I can see it in your eyes!"
"My eyes are red because I'm tired."
"Well...then just drink coffee Mom."
"I wish it was that simple. Hey, do me a favor and call Bella for me sweet angel. Do you know where she is?"
"She's in the kitchen making cake and singing! She finished making it. It tastes really yummy. She's craving it! That means when you really wanna eat something!"
"I see. Let's go downstairs and get some cake."
"Yes! She only let me have a piece! Not even a slice." We went downstairs to see Bella wiping her eyes and eating.
"Leia told me you baked."
"Yeah. I did. But I had a generous slice."
"Woah! She had almost half the cake! That isn't fair!"
"Leia sweetie, why don't you go play with Polly? I'll get you a slice."
"Fine, but she better not eat it all! I love cake!" When Leia was gone I sat next to my daughter.
"Sad?"
"No. This episode is sad though. I looked into her laptop, there was a funeral taking place.
"So you're okay?"
"A little less than okay, but I guess."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I can see Maria stressed you out. I feel bad. It's all because I decided to visit her to be kind. I didn't know it'd become like this. I'm sorry."
"It isn't your fault. Bella, you are such a kind soul, no matter what people do, I'm glad you're so forgiving! None of the blame is on you." She shrugged.
"Is that why you're eating all of this cake?"
"Yeah. I feel guilty and a bit anxious." I put my hand over her heart and it was beating violently. She cleaned up and went straight to the basement. I'm not loving Maria right now for the way she's making Bella feel.

"Mommy, why was the man taking pictures of me and my friends?"
"I don't think we should talk about that." She hugged her doll.
"Why?" She asked quietly.
"Some things aren't appropriate..to talk about."
"Because I'm a little girl?"
"No, but I don't want you to get hurt. Let's get into bed."
"Okay. Can I go to Jana's house after dance?"
"If her Dad says it's okay. Come on, bed."

Little did she know, Maria ordered those pictures to be taken. Gosh. I just don't know anymore.
**************
The Green Residence (December 28th, 1:45 PM) (Elliot's Perspective)
I knocked on the door calmly. I was hoping Maria was home, so we could talk one on one.
"Hello?" Maria poked her head out.
"Who are you?"
"Detective Elliot Stabler. We need to speak if you don't mind." Her facial expressions showed she was aware of who I was.
"Come on in." She took me to the living room. Bella was right, it does feel awkward and stuffy in here.
"I just wanted to have a conversation with you concerning Bella."
"Oh, so you're the boyfriend of the woman who stole my daughter."
"Husband, secondly, your parental rights were terminated due to neglect. You and I both know that if this were to be taken to court, it wouldn't look good for you."
"Or you mean it wouldn't look good for Liv."
"What the hell are you implying?" I see why Liv got angry.
"I heard Bella suffered abuse at her hands."
"What are you talking about?"
"Bella was molested while Liv was there. So if you're going to be mad at me, be mad at her too." What?! This isn't true.
"You know what, how dare you accuse my wife of something as disgusting as that?! You're so damn lucky she didn't lock you up for neglect and child abuse. I don't give a damn if you're upset about the fact that she's not with you, and lying isn't changing a thing. You better stay the hell away from our kid."
**************
Our Living Room (7:30 PM) (Olivia's Perspective)
"What are you talking about?"
"She said Bella got molested while in your care."
"Oh my god."
"Is it true?" I checked to see if the kids were away.
"A couple of years ago, when Bella was about 8 or 9, we went trick or treating. Bella got excited because she saw these full-sized kit-kat bars. I told Bella not to run away, but she'd already run into the crowd to get towards the person handing out the candy. When I found her, she was upset. She said someone had touched her private area. I haven't forgiven myself since."
"But that wasn't your fault. It's not like you intentionally gave her away like Maria did. So her case makes zero sense either way. You were just as much a victim as Bella was. I'm trying to remain calm for Bella's sake, and because at the end of the day, it's her Mom. I'm going for a no-contact order."
"We weren't able to-"
"We'll be able to this time around. I'll make it happen."
"Elliot-"
"Mom? El? Can Noah and I go walk the dogs?"
"Yes, don't go far."
"Okay." When the kids left I sighed.
"Alright, we'll go for the order, but I think you should tell Bella. I'm not sure if she wants a relationship with her Mom still in the future. We can't completely burn these bridges."
"You're too nice."
"I just want to do what's best for my daughter. I also don't want you doing anything that'll jeopardize you being able to adopt the kids too. So calm down big guy."
"Someone's awfully calm."
"Someone has to be sane." I smiled and gave him a kiss.
"That was not appropriate," Leia said. She crawled into my lap and showed me what she'd been working on.
"See, that's Polly, that's Marina, and that's me! They made me a fairy! So now we're all flying together."
"That looks beautiful."
"Mommy looks tired! Like she's sleepy."
"Mommy is tired."
"But you just watched tennis."
"It's tiring." Leia rolled her eyes.
"Can we go to the park?"
"It's snowing."
"Oh." She looked at our casement windows and sighed.
"That just ruined my mood." She walked away. I still can't believe she accused me of endangering Bella.
******************
Kung Fu Tea (Noah's Perspective)
"Ryan! Stop sniffing Ace's butt." I said. Bella laughed as she handed me my drink.
"Woof!" They played together.
"Are you feeling okay?" I asked my sister.
"Yeah. Stop worrying about me."
"Well Mom and Dad keep talking about your Mom, so I just gotta ask."
"I was a bit upset but I mean it's okay."
"Do you even like, remember spending time with her?"
"Well. When I really sit and think about it, yeah. Small things. Like when we went to the park, or when she's bought me ice cream. It was when she wasn't on drugs. Then, she started doing cocaine in front of me and I thought it was kind of weird what she was doing. Then she traded my body for coke. So I mean, I'm like not mad. But I'm not happy about it."
"What do you mean?"
"Well. I went to therapy about it for years. At first, I didn't understand why she left me at the warehouse, and why I was raped. As I got older, I asked Mom questions about what she did and what happened. I got angry, and I went to therapy about it and vented. I don't have emotions anymore. I've cried, screamed, yelled, enough. There's only so much I can do."
"So you're not mad?"
"I was."
"But you have every reason to be mad."
"I know. But, I can't be bothered anymore." We started walking home. The dogs looked happy.
"You could always-"
"I know. Come on, it's cold. I don't wanna be here any longer."

To be continued~