Hurting You, Killing Me
Chapter Six:
Johnny's POV:
After the little escapade with Danielle's files, Kitty and I tried to limit our contact with Danny. We weren't thrilled with him, for obvious reasons, but frankly, it pissed me off that he kept calling us to check in on her. If he was as brave as the entire world made him out to be, he would stand up to his stupid girlfriend and come see Danielle in person. I honestly couldn't understand how he did it, stayed away from her like that. Even with her only having been in my life for such a short period of time, I still couldn't imagine just abandoning her the way Danny had.
I was angry about what he said when I talked to him, but I was more angry about the way he'd just let her leave after he'd saved her. She was only a little girl and he had to have known that Vlad wouldn't just leave her be. I couldn't see how he lived with himself, how it didn't drive him crazy thinking about all the times when she was alone and had needed him. Maybe I was just overprotective of her; I knew she had been doing fairly well on her own, but I the thought of leaving a little girl to fend for herself the way he'd done made me sick.
Kitty and I had talked it over and decided that we wanted to adopt her. Of course, though, even here in the Ghost Zone, we needed Danny's cooperation. We'd had Danielle for almost six months when we decided to go get the papers from Walker. All we really had to do was sign them, have Danny sign them, and bring them back to Walker. The Ghost Zone laws and rules were so much easier than the human world. But, of course, Danny had to put up a fight.
Early one fall morning, Ember called us to ask if Danielle wanted to go to the movies with her. Danielle didn't know it, but we'd planned this out the night before, long after she'd gone to bed.
After Ember took Danielle, Kitty and I went to Walker's jail, where we'd told Danny to meet us, alone, the night before. He was already there when we showed up and he didn't look particularly happy.
"What's going on?" he asked, standing up as we walked into Walker's office. "Where's Danielle?"
"She's with Ember. We need to talk to you about Danielle."
"Have a seat," Walker said. Kitty and I sat down in the two chairs on the left of Danny. Walker took out an envelope and pulled out a stack of papers. "Danny, Kitty and Johnny want to legally adopt Danielle. In order for them to do this, you have to sign off on it, seeing as your Danielle's only biological parent."
"What?!" Danny asked, jumping out of his seat. He whipped around to glare at me and Kitty. "You want to adopt her? You…you can't adopt her! She's mine!"
"Danny, you won't have anything to do with her!" Kitty said.
"She's still mine," Danny spat.
"She isn't yours. She's never been yours. You let her go," I said through clenched teeth.
Walker happened to speak up then, before Danny could say something dumb and I throttled him. "Danny, look, from what they've told me, you never have anything to do with her, is that true?"
Danny sat back down in his seat slowly, rubbing the back of his neck, "Well…yeah."
"Wouldn't it be best if they had custody over her, considering the fact that they're raising her?"
"Can't they have partial custody?" Danny asked in a quiet voice. If I hadn't known the situation better, had I been someone on the outside, I would have sworn that I heard desperation in his voice.
"In most cases, an adoption means that the original parent gives up their parental rights…"
"Please…?" Danny pleaded.
"I suppose…if Johnny and Kitty have no problems with it."
I looked at Kitty and she shrugged, so I spoke up, "Fine. It's not like you'll ever actually be there for her anyway."
Walker signed a few papers and then handed them to me. "You and Kitty sign here," he said, pointing to a blank line.
Kitty and I signed it; then Walker gave it to Danny. After he signed, his hand shaking as he did, Walker handed me the paper that stated that Kitty and I were Danielle's legal parents.
After we thanked Walker, Kitty and I left, but I could help but look back at Danny. He seemed so defeated. If this had been any other situation, I would have had sympathy for him, but he'd made this decision himself. It was his own fault and I couldn't worry about him, I had to do what was best for Danielle.