Both of the children quickly walked up the basement stairs and opened the door. They were standing in the living room. Tommy saw that his mom and dad were standing in the middle of the room with Kimberly's mom. All of them were yelling at her father.
"We told you to watch the children!" yelled Jan.
"You said that you wouldn't be going to work!" shouted Caroline. "When we come home, you aren't here. And neither are the kids."
James saw Tommy and Kimberly standing by the basement door. He noticed that they left the basement door open.
"The children are fine," interrupted James. "They are standing right here. I think they've been in the basement."
"What were you doing in the basement?" asked Jan.
"Ed left us here early this morning. We locked all of the doors and windows,"explained Tommy. "I remembered that the basement is a walk in basement. Kimberly and I tripped over the last three stairs. We passed out due to fright. We have been down there all day."
"I'll take the kids upstairs and get them ready for bed," suggested James.
James took Tommy and Kimberly upstairs. He stayed up stairs while they took their showers. Kimberly put on a white pajama set with pink flower and Tommy put on a pair green camouflage pajamas. Both of them went into Kimberly's bedroom. James got out a cot for Tommy to sleep on and he tucked Kimberly in bed. He went down stairs and warmed up some left over pizza. James got a tray and put two paper plates down. He gave each of them two pieces of pizza, a cup cake, and a small bottle of sprite. After James got everything on the tray, he took the children their dinner. He sat in the room while they ate.
"Daddy, what's going on?" asked Tommy.
"We aren't too happy with Ed. When Caroline got home, she noticed Ed wasn't here. She couldn't find you two anywhere," explained James. "She called us and we left work early. We came here to look for you. When we got here, Ed was here already here."
"When we woke up, we heard all of you yelling at Kimberly's dad," confirmed Tommy. "What's going to happen now?"
"I don't know," admitted James. "When your mother and I got here, Ed wasn't being very nice to Caroline."
"Are you going to stay here tonight?" asked Kimberly.
"We're going back home," answered James. "But, Tommy is staying here with you."
"Will you come back tonight?" asked Tommy.
"We will if we are needed," answered James. "Both of you will be fine. Tommy, I need you to be a brave boy for Kimberly. She is going to need you tonight. Can you do that?"
Tommy noticed Kimberly looked like she was at the point of tears and was scared. Even thought they were only seven, they were really sharp kids. Both of them knew everything about each other and they could both sense when there was something wrong. After the kids finished their dinner, James turned out the lights.
"Daddy, will you turn the light back on?" asked Tommy.
James turned the light back on. Tommy grabbed his pillow and crawled into Kimberly's bed. She moved over to make some room for him.
"I'm going to stay close to her tonight," stated Tommy.
James turned the light out and shut the door. As soon as James left, Tommy moved closer to her. He rolled over on his side and wrapped his arms around her. Tommy noticed she was crying. There was flash light laying on the night stand. Tommy picked up the flash light and turned it on. He walked over to the other side of the room and grabbed a box of tissues. Tommy climbed back in bed and put the box of tissues between them.
"I can't sleep," whispered Kimberly.
Tommy rolled over on his side. He moved his pillow closer to Kimberly. Tommy pulled her close to him. He wrapped his arms around his best friend.
"I'll hold you," promised Tommy. "No one will bother you. Everyone knows that if they lay a hand on you, they will be sorry."
"It's because you threatened to beat up the kids who were bullying me," smiled Kimberly. "They know you take karate and have a black belt."
"That's why they leave you alone," remarked Tommy.
Kimberly put her arms around Tommy. Both of them were using the same pillow. They quickly fell asleep. An hour later, Tommy's parents came up stairs to check on them. They walked into the room and saw both of the kids were asleep. Jan noticed they were hugging each other again.
"Do you think we can leave?" asked Jan.
"I think we can," answered James." I think Tommy has everything under control."
"They are lucky to have each other," stated Jan. "He loves her so much."
Both of them quietly left the room and shut the door. Tommy and Kimberly slept peacefully. Around midnight, Kimberly heard a loud noise. She quickly woke Tommy up. They got out of bed and went into the hall way and sat next to the stair case. Caroline and Ed were still fighting.
"I trusted you to watch them," declared Caroline. "What were you doing all day?"
"I was out with friends," answered Ed.
Tommy and Kimberly remained upstairs and out of sight. They were listening to the argument.
"This is why we're having more sleep overs," admitted Kimberly.
"Kimberly, I think hear them talking more," whispered Tommy.
"Caroline, I'll make things up to you," explained Ed. "I can take Tommy and Kimberly on a trip with me."
"If you didn't watch them today, I can't trust you to take them out of town," yelled Caroline. "You wouldn't watch them. Something could happen to them. You weren't at the hospital when Kimberly was born and you didn't go see her, while she was in the hospital. You've missed all her birthdays and you are never home on holidays. I think she is already beginning to suspect we are having trouble."
The kids heard Ed throw something against the wall. They knew it was something glass, because they heard it shattered. Ed began to come up the stairs. Tommy quickly grabbed Kimberly and they went back into the bedroom. They left the door open just a crack, to see what was going on. Ed went into his bedroom; a few minutes later he came out with suitcases. He went back down stairs. The two children left the bedroom and stood by the staircase.
"I'm leaving!" declared Ed.
"I'm filing for a divorce tomorrow," answered Caroline.
They heard Ed slam the door. Caroline came upstairs and went into the bathroom. A few minutes Caroline, came out of the bathroom with her hand bandaged. She picked up the phone and called Jan.
"Yes, Jan, the children are okay," answered Caroline. "Ed and I are getting a divorce. He got really violent before he left."
Tommy and Kimberly moved closer to Caroline's bedroom. Caroline had Jan on the speaker phone. Both of them were able to hear the whole conversation.
"Where are the children?" asked Jan.
"In bed sleeping," answered Caroline. "Ed threw a lamp against the wall. It made a loud noise and shattered."
"That was the loud noise," whispered Tommy.
"I bet it woke the kids up," stated Jan. "You should go check."
Caroline opened the bed room door and saw both of the children sitting outside the door.
"They are up," replied Caroline. "What should I tell them?"
"Just tell them the truth," suggested Jan. "They probably saw Ed leave."
"I'll get off the phone and talk to them," said Caroline. "I'll call you back."
Caroline got off the phone. She told Tommy and Kimberly to go back to Kimberly's room. Both of them crawled back into Kimberly's bed. Caroline turned on the bed and sat at the foot of the bed.
"What happened?" asked Kimberly.
"There are going to be some changes," answered Caroline. "Your father and I are getting a divorce. You may not see him very much, because I'm getting a restraining order."
"What's that?" asked Tommy.
"It is a court document. It is a written statement that says a person has to stay away from certain people," explained Caroline. "Tommy, you're mother and I talked. This includes you as well. Ed has to stay 250 feet way from you,Kimberly, your parents, and me. If he comes near any of us, he'll got to jail. He wanted to take both of you on a trip. But, we don't think he was telling the truth."
"He threw a lamp," interrupted Kimberly. "We heard it shatter and we heard you tell Tommy's mom. And we saw you go into the bathroom. It looked like your hand was bleeding."
"I got cut on the glasses, when I was cleaning up the mess. I wanted it to be cleaned up before morning," replied Caroline.
"Yes," admitted Caroline. "That's why I was on the phone with Jan. We were talking about what was best for you and Kimberly. Tommy, we may be moving in with you and your family. Your mom is giving me the guest room. We talked about where Kimberly's room would be. And we decided that you two are going share a bed room."
"When are you moving in?" asked Tommy.
"It hasn't been decided yet. I'm wanting to see what the monthly bills cost this month," answered Caroline. "If I can't make ends meet, we'll be moving in with you."
"Are we still having sleepovers?" asked Kimberly.
"Every night," answered Caroline. "However, when you have sleepovers, your parents and I will be in the same house. Jan doesn't want me and Kimberly alone. She's afraid Ed may come back. Tomorrow, I'll be sleeping at your house. Then the following night your parents will be sleeping here."
"Where are they going to sleep?" asked Kimberly.
"I'll be sleeping the guest room at Tommy's house," explained Caroline. "And your parents will be sleeping in the guest room here, when you spend the night with Kimberly."
"What about Kimberly?" asked Tommy.
"Both of you will be in the same bedroom," answered Caroline.
Caroline had the kids go back to Kimberly's room. The two children crawled in the bed and Caroline tucked them in. She left the room and turned out the lights. Tommy and Kimberly got comfortable, but couldn't go back to sleep. They were still in shock over seeing Kimberly's father leave. But they were glad that they were going to get to have sleepovers every night.
