Part 18

It had been a little over a month since Rachael had returned home, and while she was still dealing with some of the emotional effects of the kidnapping, Roy could see that she was indeed strong enough to cope, not only that, but she had gradually begun to talk to him about some of the things that had happened. He knew things were going to be all right there was finally a reason to look towards the future, his life was taking a good turn for once.

They had talked about moving...they both realized they needed a bigger apartment, the children both needed their own rooms, but they were thinking of more than shifting apartments..In fact they had talked about shifting to another state...Arizona. It was a move that would take him far away from the rest of his friends and family, and Rachael wanted him to really think about how he felt about that, but it was something he had always dreamed about, and it was somewhere he felt secure and at home, a safe place to settle and raise a family.

It was cold as he walked from the car to the school to pick Lian up and he pulled his jacket tighter around himself..his breath blowing cloudy puffs into the air as he walked, it was only a couple of weeks until Christmas, school would be breaking up for the holidays, and Lian was already excited about seeing Dick, Garth, Wally and Donna for their Traditional Christmas get together at Wayne manor, Roy was looking forward to it as well, The other Titans..with the exception of Dick, hadn't met Rachael and Sam yet, Roy had called Wally, but Donna and Garth had not been contactable. That wasn't unusual they all had busy lives, but Roy knew come hell or high water the five of them would get together at some stage for the holiday.

"Daddy!" Lian's excited little voice cut into his thoughts as she ran towards him.

"Hey Baby doll." He said smiling at her happy face, as he took her hand and started back towards the car. "You have a good day?" he asked happily.

Lian nodded enthusiastically. "I saw Mommy today." she said excitedly.

Roy instantly stopped walking and crouched down to Lians level...grabbing her shoulders and turning her to face him so he could look into her eye's...gone was the smile he had moments before, replaced by a look of almost panic. "What...When? " he demanded.

Lians own smile faltered and dropped, suddenly realizing her words had upset her father. "At recess...she came to the fence, she had a long coat and a big hat on." the little girl replied.

"And you went over to her?...Lian why?...We've talked about this before..You know you're supposed to go straight to the teacher if your Mother shows up...What were you thinking? Why?" Roy fired the questions at the child, oblivious to the tears beginning to well in her eye's.

"It was Mommy..I..."

"What did she say? Tell me what she wanted." Roy demanded, panic making his voice rise.

Lian sniffled "She asked if I was happy...She asked about Rachael and Sam, she wanted to know if Rachael was nice."

""What else did she say Lian?...You have to tell me everything." Roy snapped.

"Nothing else Daddy..I had to go back into school...I'm sorry Daddy..But it was Mommy...it was Mommy." she began to sob.

Her cries cut through Roy's panicked thoughts like a knife..he pulled her to him, "Sweetheart I'm sorry. Daddy's sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you." he murmured hugging her tightly to him.

As her sobs faded away, he drew back and looked at her "It's going to be okay." he said, trying to reassure himself as well as the little girl.

He kissed her and stood up.."C'mon lets go home baby." he said leading her towards the car. As he walked he glanced around, Cheshire could be anywhere..he would have to be doubly cautious until he knew what her next move would be, until then he wouldn't be leaving Rachael alone, not even for a moment.

end 18