A couple of weeks later, Laura and her husband stormed into the school. They were demanding to pick up Sara right then and there. Seeing their somewhat intoxicated state, Mr. Grissom worked hard to keep them at the office as opposed to going down the main hallways of the building.

"Ms. Theresa, can you please go into my office and call extension 91 and extension 20?" Mr. Grissom said, giving her the codes to call 911 and to alert the other classrooms to avoid the office.

"Why can't she call from here? There is a fucking phone right there." Sara's father said as he raised his arm to point at it, causing him to sway a bit."

"Well, this phone is only for calls on the outside line. To reach your child's classroom, we have to use one of the phones that are for that purpose."

"Why can't we go down there ourselves?"

"That is a safety measure we have in place to protect the children, ALL the children."

A few stressful minutes later, Jim Brass pulled up in his police cruiser. He had already called for backup because he wanted the safety of the children and staff to be top priority.

He walked in and went straight to the office, having been to the school the week before to talk to the children about safety.

"Hey there, what's going on today?" Jim said warmly to the Sidles who were still in the office, becoming more frustrated as more time passed.

Sara's father slurred out, "This stupid jerk won't let us go down there and get our little brat!"

He calmly replied, "Now, what's the rush?" Looking at his watch, "I see it is only about 11:00. She is probably just sitting down to lunch."

"So, who cares? She is always so picky! She never eats at home!"

"That is right, Jim. And children can become very cranky and irritable when they are hungry and have a change thrown in their schedules."

"Like I said, who cares?! Sara is always such a pain in my ass." He said as he started to stand, stumbling. Laura reached out to steady her husband. He shook her off, causing her to stumble and fall.

"Take it easy there. Sir, have you been drinking this morning?"

"Yeah, what damn business is it of yours?"

"You seem a bit unsteady on your feet there. What did you drink this morning?"

"I only had a couple of beers."

Nodding to the other officers who had arrived, Jim said, "Why don't we step out to my car, so we make sure that it is safe for you to drive?"

"Fine! Come on, Laura! Let's go."

Both Sara's father and mother failed the Breathalyzer tests. After Jim placed both of them under arrest, he went back into the school to let Gil know. "This little girl, does she have someone who can pick her up? If she doesn't, you will probably need to contact Social Services." I actually ran their names and both have warrants out on them. It'll probably be tomorrow before they get out."

"I'll take care of it. Thanks for your help."

"Anytime."

Gil walked down the hall to the cafeteria and motioned for Catherine to come out. "Catherine, there was a problem with Sara's parents. They came in here and appeared to be drunk. They wanted to take Sara, but I called the police."

"Oh my goodness!"

"The officer found out they both had warrants out. They'll be in jail until at least tomorrow. I looked in Sara's file. She has no one else listed. I was thinking, since you are a licensed foster parent, that perhaps you could take her in."

"That shouldn't be a problem."

Catherine walked in and asked Sara to come with her. Once they were out of the cafeteria, Catherine kneeled to get down on Sara's level. As she looked into Sara's deep brown eyes, she herself had to fight back tears.

"Sara, your mom and dad came to pick you up from school."

"But…it's only lunchtime, Ms. Catherine. School is not finished!" Sara said, as she became more upset. Tears were forming in her eyes. "I don't want to go! We haven't been to the library yet. You know that is my favorite part of school."

"Sara, you don't have to go. Remember when we talked about making good choices so that we can stay safe?" Sara nodded. "Your mom and dad had made some choices that would have made it hard for them to keep you safe. So, Mr. Grissom had them go away."

"But, Ms. Catherine, Laura and daddy will be mad! They might try to hurt you, like they do when they are mad at me."

Catherine sat down on the floor and helped Sara to sit down beside her. "They won't be able to hurt me. Part of Mr. Grissom's job is to protect everyone here. Tonight, they will spend the night somewhere so that they don't hurt you."

"They won't?"

Catherine shook her head. "How would you like to come and spend the night with me?"

"Umm…it'll be okay, I guess. Can Morpheus go too?"

Catherine smiled. "Of course!"

Fear suddenly filled Sara's eyes. "But, Ms. Catherine…what if…. what if I have an accident and wet the bed? Laura always makes me put on a diaper or sleep on the wet bed without my clothes on." Sara started sobbing. "Laura says… 'If you want to be wet, then you can lay in it!"

Catherine wrapped her arms around Sara and rocked her. She whispered, "It'll be okay. Just like it is here at school. Does Ms. Catherine ever make you put a diaper on?"

"No. You always tell me that I am a big girl and even big girls have accidents some times."

"That's right."

"You promise, Ms. Catherine?"

"I promise. It'll be okay."

That day at naptime, Catherine heard Sara whispering to Morpheus. "We are going home with Ms. Catherine. She said it was okay because mom and dad made some bad choices and have to have a timeout so I can be safe. You have to help me be brave, Morpheus."