He heard a noise. He wasn't sure what it was or whether it had been his imagination. A minute of silence passed and he went back to sleep. He heard the noise again and this time sat up. The Mayor turned on the light and jumped at the sight of Lily standing in his bedroom. Lily was standing two feet away from the bed and had her arms crossed with her usual self satisfied smile on her face.
He couldn't tell how she'd gotten into his house and was less sure how to get her out. He got out of bed and prepared himself for a confrontation; it was because of him that Lily had ended up in a locked room in Crazytown. So far Lily hadn't moved or said a word; he grew increasingly anxious as minutes of time passed by. He hoped that Lily would do whatever she wanted to do to him and leave Stephanie be. He grew sweaty with anxiety and he was sure he was trembling. Lily seemed to sense his fear and her smile grew, she uncrossed her arms and took two steps forward.
The Mayor took two steps back and found himself up against the wall.
Lily closed the gap between them.
The Mayor was really scared now.
Lily raised her hand.
He waited for the inevitable blow.
She placed her hand softly on the bald portion of his head, "You're not worth the bother." She whispered in his ear and left.
It took some time for the Mayor to move. He was extremely shaken and recovering his senses he ran to Stephanie's room. He breathed a huge sigh of relief when he saw she was sleeping peacefully, she hadn't been disturbed. After searching the house several times over the Mayor satisfied himself that Lily had gone and went back to bed. He tried to sleep but no avail; the best he managed was a light doze.
Robbie tended to Robyn for the third consecutive time that night. He was surprised at his seemingly unending patience with her. If she'd been anyone else he would have severely reprimanded her by now. Resting Robyn in her crib he turned as he heard a noise. His heart almost stopped forever when he saw the familiar form of Lily standing in the shadows. He was glad he'd placed Robyn safely in the crib as he was sure he would have dropped her.
Robbie fought as hard as he could against a fainting fit but his efforts were proving in vain. The last thing he heard before the darkness overtook him was Lily's harsh, resonating laughter.
"Wakey wakey." Said a voice breaking through to Robbie's consciousness. Robbie looked up and instantly remembered what had happened; he was in no way prepared for what he saw.
Lily was holding Robyn. Lily waited until she had Robbie's full attention, when she was satisfied she did she did something no person with warm blood running through their veins would do.
She dropped Robyn.
Sportacus didn't feel right for some reason, it was as if trouble was there but it wasn't enough to register to his crystal. He'd looked over Lazytown with his telescope several times but in the darkness he could see hardly anything. When he listened he could hear nothing. The silence didn't make him feel any better and his uneasiness continued. Something was happening somewhere. Without warning a letter zoomed through the floor of the airship and Sportacus grabbed it, opening the capsule he read these words, 'Lily was here.' Without reading who the note was from Sportacus ran to the door and left the airship. The cold air assaulted him as he fell through it on his way to the ground.
"Sportacus, I'm so glad you're here." The Mayor walked up to him and told him what had happened. He'd decided to tell Sportacus after trying to sleep for half an hour and thinking it best he should know.
"Do you know where Lily went?" Sportacus asked, concerned.
"No I don't. She could be anywhere."
Sportacus was about to answer but his crystal blared into life warning him of trouble. Within a few seconds he knew where the trouble was and ran at top speed to get there. He was headed in the direction of Robbie's lair; the Mayor followed but struggled to keep up. Both men were full of dread about what they might see when they got there.
It took several attempts for Sportacus to get the hatch open. It had been locked from the inside and wasn't budging. Once the hatch was open the two men wasted no time in entering the lair via the pipe. The Mayor gasped when he spied Lily and almost fell to the ground in shock when he saw Robyn in her arms. As far as he could tell at the distance between them Robyn wasn't moving, tears welled in his eyes at the thought that Lily would sink so low as to kill her own daughter.
An anger stronger than any he'd felt before raged inside him. Lily had wronged him and everyone else for the last time. Sportacus clenched his teeth and stood at full height, Lily would not escape this time. At this display of aggression Lily's smile grew to extraordinary proportions. She slowly walked over to the pair, her every step echoing round the room. She kept her eyes fixed solely on Sportacus. Sportacus was more than ready for any attack on him or the Mayor Lily made. Lily stopped three feet from the two and looked back, for the first time Sportacus and the Mayor saw Robbie. He was slumped against a wall, his skin was deathly pale and his eyes were open but unblinking.
He wasn't moving either.
"Poor Robbie," Lily faked a sad tone, "he didn't like the sight of me dropping his baby. He didn't stay alive long enough to see me catch the brat. It's just sleeping now. Take it."
Lily handed Robyn to the Mayor and she instantly roused bringing great relief to him.
Sportacus felt pushed to his last limit now and when Lily started walking towards them again. To his amazement she just walked past them and climbed up the pipe. He would have gone after her but Robbie was more important now. He ran over to Robbie and touched his skin, it was very cold. Sportacus was terrified that what Lily had said was true but open feeling Robbie's neck he was reassured to feel a pulse, albeit a weak one.
"Beep, let me look, ding, at that man!" Called a familiar voice and out of the pipe came Doctor Cranium.
He'd thought better of what he'd done and went straight to the place Lily was most likely to go. He'd brought with him several of his orderlies from his safe house and they had apprehended her the moment she left the pipe.
Sportacus moved to give Doctor Cranium space to treat Robbie. Within a few minutes Doctor Cranium knew exactly what was wrong with Robbie.
"It seems that, ding, Mr Rotten, beep, is in a catatonic state. It must, ding, have been brought on, beep, by the sheer shock, ding, of seeing Lily drop the baby. He'd, beep, already been severely traumatised, ding, by Lily and this, beep, was the final straw, ding, he couldn't take anymore."
"What can we do?" Asked the Mayor coming over to them.
Doctor Cranium was just about to answer when he was interrupted by Robyn crying. The sound of Robyn crying had a drastic and miraculous affect on Robbie. His eyes blinked and he slowly came back to consciousness. He moved his stiff limbs and let out a low groan when he remembered what Lily had done. The sound of Robyn didn't stop and he looked up. He was surprised to see happy faces smiling at him and Robyn in the Mayor's arms. Satisfied that Robbie could hold her the Mayor handed Robyn over. He held the precious baby like she was indeed the greatest treasure known to man.
"How are you feeling?" Doctor Cranium asked Robbie.
"Not great. Better than I did now I know Robyn is safe though."
"You're, ding, still very pale. We need to, beep, get you off this floor, ding, and into your chair. After that, beep, we'll get some food and drink into you, ding. You should be back, beep, to full physical health in, ding, a few days but I'm very much, beep, concerned with your mental health. You have, ding, suffered extreme trauma, beep, and your fainting fits worry me, ding, as did your going into a catatonic, beep, state. Perhaps for a few days, ding, a week I would suggest you come, beep, to me for some counselling or trauma therapy. I read over your case notes, I won't, beep, say from where, ding, and there are some things we need to talk about."
"Ok. If I'm keeping Robyn I understand that fainting fits aren't useful and I hate them. If you think counselling will help I'll do it." Robbie agreed.
He knew what Doctor Cranium had talked about when he mentioned case notes and it was about time he talked to someone about his time at Crazytown orphanage.
Several days had passed and Robbie was allowed to keep Robyn. Lily had been deemed unfit to be a mother both emotionally and mentally and everyone was overjoyed with the decision. A party had been held that evening to celebrate Robbie's 'victory' and welcome Lazytown's newest arrival. As for Robbie it was the best thing that had happened to him for a very long time. He'd already attended one of Doctor Cranium's suggested sessions and the weight burdening his heart had been lifted a little. Robbie hoped that after a few more sessions he would be haunted with nightmares about Mr Snail and Lily no longer. He also hoped that Robyn would grow up like her uncle Sportacus; kind, selfless and pure of heart. In ways he and Lily were both tarnished and he didn't want Robyn ending up the same way.