Claudia prayed that Lily was as perfect as she hoped, because she wanted to win the bet she had made with her husband. Claudia kissed her husband and baby goodnight. "I love you, Sonny." "I love you, too. Ready to lose our bet." "Oh don't you worry I am not going to lose, our daughter is perfect." They both laughed before long all three were fast asleep.
Claudia woke up to her daughter crying. She picked the tiny baby out of the bassinet. "Hey it's okay little one." she whispered. She saw Sonny open his eyes, "Hey Sonny can you help me I'm still getting used to this changing thing?" "Yea sure. This is once." Together they changed the baby and Claudia fed her. "Wow can you imagine if there had been two of them?" "Yea that would have been very hard." "She's already back off to sleep," she told Sonny then she whispered to Lily, "You can only wake up one more time use it wisely little one." Claudia couldn't fall back asleep, she didn't want her baby to cry.
She watched both her husband and her baby sleep soundly. Then she watched the sun rise, it seemed more beautiful then usual. It was eight-thirty before Sonny opened his eyes to see his wife up on the balcony. This worried him since last time she tried to jump. He got up quietly and walked out to her. She looked calm as a tear slid down her cheek. She heard Sonny and turned to face him. She smiled, "Hey is Lily up?" "I don't think so. Are you okay?" "Yea, I um was just thinking." "What were you thinking about?" She pulled and twisted her hair, "I uh was thinking about my father and what her did to me when I was little and how I wished my mom had been there to protect me. Like I will be for Lily." Another tear ran down her cheek.
Sonny pulled out the chair for his wife, "Tell me please." "I will just let me check on Lily. Oh by the way you get to wake up with her at night." She walked into their room and when she returned she held Lily in her arms. "Our little princess was just laying there." Sonny smiled, "Are you sure you want to tell me?" "You're my husband and should know. When I was about four my father started losing it I guess. He never liked me, but this is when he started to hate me. So my mother used to have to go to the 'store' every day, I guess that's where he sent her. He would come to my room and find whatever he could and would beat me with. My mother would come in my room and make him stop for just a little bit so I could run." She stopped, because her crying made it hard to breathe. Sonny held her hand.
"I would go hide anywhere I could find that was different from yesterdays spot. By the time he had found me, he had a metal rod that he would hit me with instead. One time he found a needle and he started to stab me with it. When I was six he met Maria, but she didn't want to be with him. He got rid of my mother and played the single father thing and that didn't work." She stopped and tried to focus on Sonny who was blurry from the tears in her eyes. She looked at Lily who was asleep, again.
"Keep going." Sonny said. "Well he took his frustration out on me by sexually abusing me." Sonny started to cuss, "That b*****d, I am going to blow his f***ing head off!" "Sonny stop, I survived didn't I?" "Yes, but how could a man do that to his daughter? I can't even imagine touching any of my kids like that." "I know, but he did. Now I guess you understand me a little more, not many people know what he did to me." He grabbed her free hand, "Thank you for telling me this. I do understand the way you were more, now." "Were? Are you saying I have changed?" "Yes you have for the better. Lily made you better." Claudia looked at Lily, "Well thank you, little one. Since daddy over there likes the new and improved me better."
Claudia giggled at Sonny's expression, "That is only a little bit true, not much." Claudia laughed, "It's okay. I didn't like myself much back then." She cradled Lily, "I like myself more now." Lily cried, Sonny reached out for her. Claudia gave her to him and he changed her diaper. "How long were you up after you put her back down?" Sonny asked her after he was done. "I didn't fall back asleep. I didn't want to hear her cry, so yeah." "Claudia you have to sleep." She shook her head, "No I don't, I feel perfectly fine."
"Hey Claudia do you want to take Lily to the park?" "She is a week old Sonny, she should stay inside." "Okay." They all sat on the couch, watching TV when Claudia's phone rang. "I'll get it." she said as she handed Lily to Sonny. "Hello. Who is this?" she asked into the phone.
"It's your father Claudia," he paused, as fear hit Claudia left and right, "I want you to pay for killing my grandson and don't worry all three of you will." he hung up. Claudia walked over to the couch and looked at Sonny with fear burning in her eyes. "What's wrong?" He asked, "Who was it?" She inhaled deeply, "That was my father, he blames me for our son's death and said that we were all going to pay." "It's gonna be okay. I will protect you." "Sonny he'll go after Lily, that's how he know he can hurt me, and that way he can kill two birds with one stone." "Wait Lily is gonna pay, too." "He's a twisted man Sonny, just take Lily and run. I want to handle him."
"Claudia I am not running. For better or for worst, right?" Her tears ran down her face, "Sonny, he'll do whatever he can to torture me, before he kills me. I can't lose either one of you, I don't know what I would do. You both have to leave, go somewhere he doesn't know about. Please if I lose you two there is no reason for life. I love you both too much." "I can't leave you, not anymore. Before I loved you maybe, but now, no." She put her hand on his face to wipe the tears that were coming from his own eyes now, "You have to go somewhere safe." "I agree on one thing, that Lily needs to be somewhere safe." Sonny told her. "Where is she gonna go if we're not going to be with her?" Sonny's eyes glistened with an idea.