Morning came rather fast and it woke me with its blinding light. I had not slept well last night, for I worried about my daughter if she was safe and if my husband had awoken. To my shock, as I opened my bedroom door hesitantly, I heard not a sound coming from the other rooms of the house. I silently crept into the kitchen to see it torn to shreds. My husband was gone.

"Oh God," I breathed as one of the few maids walked in. "Go find my father, now!" I cried to her. Startled she fled from my home and dashed to my father's house a few streets away.

I slowly began to clean up the disaster area that was now my kitchen. Placing pots and pans back on their racks and any intact plate that hadn't been shattered, in its cupboard.

"What in God's name?" exclaimed my father as he walked in the front door; He and the maid were panting heavily.

"He did this... father... He was drunk and... I shouldn't have left him alone." I cried, tears streaming down my face.

My father knelt to hug me, but instead of comfort I was met by pain. I flinched away from him revealing my wounds I had received from my husband.

"He did this to you?!" my father growled as he stood me up and walked me over to the couch.

I nodded as I sat slowly down onto the cushions of the couch. The smell of alcohol still lingered.

"Where is my granddaughter?" he asked as I sat down.

"Oh God! I forgot to check on her!" I cried as I painfully dashed up the stairs, nearly tripping; my father right behind me.

I unlocked the attic to find Nicole lying in her cradle fiddling with her toy.

"Thank heavens!" I breathed as young Nicole noticed our presence, a pleased look swept over her face.

I picked her up out of her crib and held her close to me; my father was talking to her in a soft sweet voice. It was the first time she had ever seen him. A little wary of him at first, she soon warmed up to him enough to smile. I took her down stairs to feed her, laying a blanket over her and me when she was nursing. My father helped the maid finish cleaning my wrecked kitchen. As Nicole finished, my father walked in and sat beside us.

"She's so small and so beautiful." He said gently caressing one of her fragile arms as I cleaned her face of milk, "Her name?"

"Nicole." I replied, "You should hear her... Oh! her voice, it's of an angel's and when she plays with her little piano... It sounds so beautiful..."

"Really?" my father inquired, "Well she is her mother's daughter..." he smiled as he said this.

He hugged me and then gently grabbed my daughter's little hands shaking it slightly before leaving. He then got up and began to walk out the door.

He called back to me before he left, "I will find your husband and I will make sure that he does not return here until I am through with him."

He then left me and Nicole in the quiet house by a roaring fire. I got up to lock the door behind him. The maid, Nicole, and I were to be the only people in the house.

About six months have passed since that day, my husband still has not returned home, thank heavens. Nicole is growing and the house has a pleasant sense to it now.

"Nicole?" I called as I opened the attic door. I still kept her up there in case my husband was to ever pop back in.

As I opened the door I heard her banging away on her small piano again. Giggles and laughter floated amidst the beautiful notes that were buzzing about the room.

"Having fun?" I asked playfully as Nicole noticed my presence in the room.

Her red eye's gleamed in the sunlight that shone through the only window in the attic.

As I walked out of the room to go fetch her clean clothes, that's when it happened.

That was the first time she ever spoke.

"Lonely." Nicole cried out as she sat up in her cradle.

I stopped in the door way as she said it again, "Lonely."

I walked slowly over to her cradle as she said it again, "LONELY!" this time she was screaming it out.

"My word." I said, shocked as she said the word ever so clearly again.

She's only six months of age and already learning to speak.

"I see, Nicole," I said playfully, "Well you can come with me."

I picked her up gently and carried her out of the attic. I never thought that she would speak at such a young age. That was one of her many surprises that I had yet to see.

I walked into the den where the maid was warming a tub of water for Nicole. Nicole strangely loved baths, usually children hate the water, but she was just the opposite.

As I set her in the warmed water she immediately began to cackle with laughter as she saw the light from the fire dance across the water. I cleaned her up gently and as I began to dry her off the maid said,

"She's an albino, no?" The maid was foreign, from the Americas. Her accent was very prominent, Spanish I presumed.

"Yes," I replied, "Why do you ask?"

"Oh no reason," the maid replied very quickly and politely so not to anger me, "It's just I've never seen one like her."

"She's perfect." I continued.

"Yes." The maid added, smiling as I slipped a dress on Nicole whose red eyes were glimmering in the firelight.

I fed her and then slowly rocked her to sleep. Singing one of the church songs I had grown up listening to.

The sound of my voice lulled her to sleep almost instantly which shocked me greatly. With every child I've ever seen, they never acted this way. They usually cried and screamed until they tired themselves out and fell asleep. Nicole never acted this way.

I took her up to the attic and gently laid her in her crib, covering her with a soft blanket. I kissed her forehead gently and silently, crept out of her room, locking behind me. It was natural now for me to do this.

I never knew when he would return and I never took any risks of endangering my daughter. I walked down to the den and added wood to the fire. The maid went to her room to ready for bed and I fixed myself something to eat. I finished my supper and cleaned up the kitchen before finally going to bed.

That night I slept restlessly for a strong storm shook the house. Lightning streaked across the ebony sky and thunder rolled like a sea of stampeding horses. I got up and silently went to check on Nicole. I was shocked at what I found.

And the rain fell...