Author's Note: I took a while to update this one but I got writer's block on this story. Very happy to note David is the father on the show too. A very good thing I think but it's a boy in the show so I got that bit wrong. Oops. Though Maya called him 'Alex' which is short for Alexander. Amazing!

Chapter Thirty-Six

Sitting at home in her living room with John, a frantic knocking was heard at her front door. The man told her he would answer it. Opening the door, he expected it to be a relation of David or Amba. Though it wasn't, it was Maya herself with the two children. She panicked and came back before twenty-four hours passed. John telling them to get in now, Amba looked generally scared. Thankfully Erica was too young to understand a thing as the baby was fast asleep in the pram. Henrietta looking at them in shock as they returned...

"Please mother...I didn't mean to do this but you kicked me out so I just wanted to scare you all for a bit, I'm sorry! But it's been less than twenty-fours hours so it's okay" Maya began to ramble.

The truth was she was scared of going to prison for a long time. She took the children on a train and ended up as far as Manchester before retreating back. Maya was never going to harm them, she just wanted to scare David and her mother however the thought of going to prison for years was enough to deter her from continuing. Though of cause, Amba still felt scared because she didn't know where Maya was going to take her. Her "daddy's friend" explained nothing. Henrietta could barely look at her daughter right now so she just ignored her, turning her attention to the scared little girl Amba.

"Amba...Why don't you sit at the table and I will make you something to eat?" Henrietta suggested.

"I want my mummy" Amba managed to say.

"Yes I know...My friend will phone her for you, don't worry"

John didn't catch onto the meaning for a few seconds. As he stood there, only to realize he was the friend..."Oh yes, I will" John quickly confirmed.

"It's been under twenty-hours" Maya spoke up again.

Her mother just breathed in slightly, she wasn't going to lecture her while children were present. She paused slightly before telling her in a quiet tone, as not to scare Amba anymore then what she is already...

"It may be under twenty-four hours but you still took two children without permission...You are going back to prison" Henrietta quietly hissed.

"Please...I wasn't thinking straight, please don't let me down again. I just wanted to spend some time with Alexandra"

"Her name is Erica" Henrietta corrected her however it did touch a nerve regardless.

"Please mother, I'm sorry; I just don't want to go back to prison. If you get me off, I promise I will never do anything like this again. The court case was coming up and I panicked...please, don't tell them anything, Ethan got into my head. Don't let me down again"

Maya was purposefully bringing up past events to play on her mother's emotions. John had put the phone down by this point, a tearful Priya didn't believe him on the phone. Her brother Jai was driving over there right now with her and David. Henrietta just looking between everyone as she told Maya to go in the back-garden to wait...

...

Not long after, a car pulled up outside. Henrietta managed to calm Amba down as she gave her some shortbread biscuits and put on some cartoons for her on the television. A banging on the door was heard, making John go and answer it again. A tearful Priya pushed past him and burst into happy tears when she seen Amba. It was around midnight by this point, she was gone all day and night. David breathing a sigh of relief as he looked down upon Erica, she was fine. Priya giving Amba the biggest hug she thinks she ever gave her, Jai was the first to speak out...

"So what happened? You better come up with a good explanation...We have all been going out our minds with worry because of that thing you call a daughter" Jai hissed.

He was filtering his language due to children being present. Priya briefly looking up however she was just overjoyed to see her daughter. The woman in question was told to hide in the shed in the back-garden, Henrietta was covering up for her after all. John looked towards them and began to tell some false tale...

"It wasn't kidnap or anything, Maya panicked because she wanted to see her daughter...She didn't think she was doing anything wrong because Erica is Amba's sister" John spoke up, trying to water down what happened.

Though they weren't having that.

"She didn't think taking two children was wrong? That sounds like Maya all right...Now where is she?" Jai demanded to know.

"She ran away as soon as we opened the door" John insisted.

"Oh...That's telling isn't it? Do you have any idea how much hurt she has brought my family in the last few hours?!"

"Of cause we do! We were worried too, our granddaughter went missing too!"

"Nah...She's not your granddaughter, never are either of you two ever seeing her again" David spoke up.

Priya wiping away the rest of her tears by this point. Henrietta was rather silent, she couldn't defend this. Though she was going to do something she never thought she would do and that was try and lower her daughter's sentence through her contacts. She chose to defend her basically despite what she was.

"David, you can't ban me from seeing my own grandchild" John argued back.

"Watch me! You're pathetic...As for you Henrietta, I really believed you cared about morals but you clearly don't otherwise you would have spoke up for the children" David spoke up, turning his attention to her.

"I understand not letting John see her but don't ban me, I beg. I would have defended you in court" Henrietta cried.

"Just stay away from me and my daughter...Your whole family is toxic. Now if you don't mind, we got to get the girls back home and tell the police they are back. I hope Maya gets locked up for good this time!"

And with that, David began taking his leave as he grabbed onto the pram. Priya carrying Amba to the car as if she was a three year old toddler. The five year old child only too happy to rest on her as she missed her mummy so much. Jai was the last to go as he turned back towards them, telling David and Priya he would be there in a moment...

"Just know if I find out you been protecting the woman who kidnapped my niece, I will be back and I won't hesitate to smash your house to pieces!" Jai snarled before spitting on the floor.

He understood how it feels like to lose a child for an entire day and night, it's one of the worse things in the world to not know whether your child is safe or not. His son Archie went missing not that long ago. So he was taking this seriously, with one final glare; Jai made his way to his car. Driving his sister and the others back to Emmerdale.

...

"They are gone now so you can come out" Henrietta called out to Maya.

The woman in question nervously making her way to the shed window. Expecting this to be some trick. Though they really were gone, her mother really was intent on defending her this time. Maya bringing up childhood memories did that however she knew it was wrong to use her position in law to make this happen. Maya opened the shed door, she looked as rough as she what she felt like on the inside.

"Thanks...I really don't want to go prison again, besides I didn't do anything wrong. They are back now" Maya began.

"Don't thank me...not ever. I hate having you as a daughter but I will defend you because that's what mothers are suppose to do. Aren't they?"

"I won't let you down, it's just that you kicked me out and I panicked. I only wanted to see my own child again, you understand that?"

"Yes...Now just go inside with your father, I got to make a few phone calls"

Only pausing for a few seconds for she didn't trust her. Who will she ring? John standing at the side like a lost soul. He felt ashamed too despite not showing it, he understood what she did was wrong. He was heartbroken over David banning him from seeing Erica again, he knows he won't get the chance again. He lost that chance when he chose to defend Maya despite what she was.

...

TBC