chapter forty

"i know what i saw." lillian spoke to the officers.

"and where did you say you lived again?" one of the two officers questioned as the other took notes from his notepad.

"i don't live in this area, i was house sitting for a friend. i go on my routine walks every morning, and house sitting was obviously not going to keep me from doing that." tatums grandmother replied with ease.

"and you said the suspect was in all black attire, did you happen to see any other identification about his physical attributes?" he persisted.

"no, i honestly think it was a robbery gone wrong. but of course, that's for you to figure out. how is the boy, if i may ask?" she spoke gently with a hint of concern in her voice.

"they don't know if he's going to make it, but if he does, his family won't recognize him as the same anymore. most likely some brain injury due to the trauma of the incident, luckily he was not hit in any of the off switch areas." the cop sheepishly joked, not taking the crime as seriously as it should've been taken. the town was small and quiet, and quite frankly they didn't want to alarm the town with any of the news.

"i don't know, he was shot several times. i'm concerned for his life, is all. anything else, officers?" lillian spoke, easing herself out of the conversation.

"as long as you've given us all of the information that you know, no ma'am. you are free to go." the officers spoke in sync.

lillian nodded her head, sending a gentle smile in the officers direction as she walked back to her vehicle. lillian had received the frantic phone call from her grandson only hours prior to the officers arriving to the scene, as well as the paramedics who were called. they were both called to the scene by lillian, as she had made the plan to look as though she saw everything. she would fix anything for her grandsons, and that's just the way she would always be.

-

"raya, you need to calm down," chris spoke as he attempted to calm his wife.

"calm down, chris? really? lydia isn't here, she isn't fucking here! where else are we supposed to look, huh? she's fucking gone, chris! and somehow in your stupid little brain, you think it has nothing to do with lydias birth family!" lydias mother began to yell at her husband.

"she's not gone, raya! you just don't know how to handle situations like these! you need to think rationally, we just need to place the pieces together!" chris, lydias father, retorted.

"i don't know how to handle situations like this? what about river, chris? how did i handle that one, huh?" raya reminded him, sending the both of them into a mutual silence.

lydias parents held lots of secrets, and the largest one was the secret of lydias real parents. but, honestly, it was simple really. lydia was born into a shitty environment, and her parents decided to take her out of it. lydia was always a gentle soul, and her parents knew that they wanted her as soon as they set their eyes on her.

her parents would do anything to protect lydia, after all, she was the child that they could never have. lydia was first seen by raya, who happened to have been grocery shopping that particular day. lydia was placed in a vehicle with no windows down, in the heat of the summer as a newborn. she was in no car seat either, just simply rolling around in the front passenger seat. there were used needle syringes and small bits of garbage placed around the small infant, and raya simply took it upon herself to take lydia under her wing.

was it the right thing to do, legally? no, but raya felt that it was morally correct, and chris happened to go along with whatever his wife was thinking. however, chris wasn't there that day. lydias father had always been a hard working man, and he had always provided for the small family that they did have. it had always been raya and chris, as they fell in love shortly after entering high school. the two meshed together like butter, and they definitely were in love.

chris had always wanted a family as well, however raya was always just a tad more enthusiastic about it. so when chris had arrived home that day to the sound of faint giggles, he was ever so slightly confused. to what he remembered, atleast.

"raya?" the young chris spoke, dropping his briefcase onto the kitchen counter where he had usually set it.

"chris, hun, come see!" his wife excitedly shouted from the living room of the large house. chris followed his wife's voice, only to be surprised by the sight of a small child in his wifes gentle hands.

"raya, who is this?" he confusingly asked, placing himself next to her on the couch as she sent kisses down the babies face with small giggles coming from in between.

"this is lydia, lovey. she's ours now, chris! we have a baby, we have a family!" she excitedly cheered, gently placing the small infant onto her husbands lap. chris sent a confused glance in his wife's direction, but didn't fail to smile as the child was placed in his care nonetheless.

"but, how? where did she come from?" chris questioned, staring at the child in front of him. lydias small face sent a warming smile up to her new father, grateful to have been shown so much love.

as raya had repeated the events of the day, lydias fathers face began to fall as he heard the story. he was afraid, of course, as his wife had a child from a random vehicle in a grocery store parking lot. but nonetheless, he was grateful that she did so. lydias situation was nothing short of disturbing from the small information that they did know, and chris was blinded by his love for his new child that he had no interest in thinking about the criminal offense that had been committed by raya.

lydia was never reported as missing, though. there was never any news about her on the television, as raya would watch all news channels everyday for years following her disappearance. lydias birth family had never reported it, and although lydias new parents were confused as to why, they were extremely grateful. and unbeknownst to the two new parents, lydias birth family was grateful too. they didn't want lydia, they never did. they would set scene after scene with her, placing her in disturbing situations as if someone would come and collect the unwanted child from them. raya didn't know, but she was doing the family a favor. a huge one, at that.

chris and raya had discussed it many times, and they had multiple different plans set in place for what would happen if the law did get involved. it would be easy to explain to the officers, though. the baby was in terrible shape was she was found according to his wife, and chris trusted his wife more than anyone in the world. his wife was everything to him, and now, so was his daughter.

"you need to find out you possibly can about her birth family, raya. and you need to do it quick." chris spoke firmly to his wife.

-

"i don't really like the way you chop things, tatum," lydia spoke softly as she watched tatum prepare dinner for the two. tatum sent a smile her way before responding.

"and why is that, little?" he asked, pausing what he was doing.

"i- i'm just worried that you're going to hurt yourself, is all." lydia replied as she stumbled on her words.

tatum lightly chuckled as he corrected the way he chopped the carrots in front of him. that's what he adored about his little, she cared. at all times, she cared. when he hurt her, she cared about him. when he was silent, she was worried for him. that's just who lydia was, but the boy noticed that she had been caring more than usual.

"what if i did get hurt, little? what would you do?" he questioned, continuing to cut the vegetables in front of him.

"i- i don't know. i would be confused, i wouldn't know what to do, i don't think. i would be scared too, because you wouldn't be there to protect me." she softly spoke, as she began to prepare the dinner table for the two of them. lydia has gotten used to tatum, it was almost as if he had taken her mothers place in her life. she didn't understand that, though.

tatums heart skipped a beat, or maybe a million, because lydia was beginning to understand. he was her protector, and his tactics of scaring her had worked earlier. he loved that his little relied on him to keep her safe now, but he mostly loved that she felt genuine safety and security when she was around him now. all he ever wanted was for his little to understand, but he did not want her to understand all things. only things about himself, only things that had to do with him.

"i will always be here to protect you, little." he gently reassured her, delivering a soft kiss on her head as she began to watch over his chopping skills once more.

-

guys CHARACTER DEVELOPMENTTTTT YUPPPPP THIS IS SO EXCITING

how do u guys feel ab the small sneak peak into lydias parents & what they're currently dealing with? what's ur opinion on river & his survival rates? did u guys forget ab river?? lol

love u guys <3