Summer 1966

Sophie bit her lip and hugged her puppy closer to her as people shoved passed her and grabbed their luggage from the bus before they scurried off to their destinations. She glanced around, unsure what to do, as she had been left unattended by the lovely old lady who had offered to sit with her on the bus. Panic swelled throughout the little brunette's body, and her evergreen eyes started to tear up as she realized she was alone and had no idea what to do.

"Soph!"

She blinked and swerved her tiny head around where she thought she had heard someone call her name.

"Sophie!"

A thick muscular man with the same brown hair as hers shoved his way toward her through the bustling crowd. Sophie's heart jumped, "Daddy!" she sobbed happily as she jumped into his arms.

"Oh! My sweet girl," he cried as he held her tightly. He rested her upon his hip, "where's your mother?" he asked as he looked around the terminal. He still had a few things to discuss with her before she returned to Chicago.

Sophie frowned a little in confusion, "Mommy's home," she answered. She stilled a little as her father's grip on her tightened, and his face grimaced. Kevin set his daughter down and kneeled on the ground so she was at his eye level. "Sophie, do you mean to tell me your mother let you ride the bus alone?" he asked sharply.

She glanced down and hugged her puppy tighter, unsure if she had done something to make her father angry. That was something she had been afraid of. What if her father gets mad at her as her mother does?

"Sophie," Kevin warned sternly as he waited for her reply. Instead, he watched as his six-year-old daughter bit her lip nervously before she nodded her head, "I see," he said stiffly, "I think I need to have a word with your mother.

She grimaced at the thought of her mother getting in trouble because of her, "but I wasn't alone!" she protested quickly, "Mrs. Waverly sat with me and helped me at all the stops. She said she would have stayed with me until you came, but she was going on another bus."

Kevin frowned at his daughter, his eyes glinted knowingly, "and your mother knew Mrs. Waverly?"

Sophie faltered before she shook her head, "no, I met her on the bus. She said I looked like her granddaughter."

"I see," he said again gruffly. Kevin grabbed her raggedy bag from the bus; he glanced down at it furiously, appalled at its state.

He knew this would happen; he had known the first day he came home and found his wife screwing the neighbor while Sophie was in the front yard. He had known when he had filed for divorce and lost his fight for full custody of Sophie. His ex-wife was a vapid, selfish woman who only won majority custody of his daughter because she was Sophie's mother, and it hurt to know that she only fought for Sophie to get back at him for filing for a divorce.

He had hoped she would take care of their daughter as any proper mother would, but from the state of Sophie's bag to the fact she had let her six-year-old daughter ride the bus out of Chicago alone, he knew he would have to call his lawyer, how else had she neglected Sophie? Kevin sighed, glanced at his girl, and gave her a grin to ease her nervousness, "Come on, firefly, let's get you home," he said.

Sophie grinned up at him brightly and eagerly grasped his outreached hand.

The next day Sophie hung around her father's auto repair shop. He had supplied her with books, crayons, and paper to draw. He sat her on his office couch and coffee table and told her to make herself comfortable.

So far, she loved her daddy's new home. He had a nice small house with a pretty white front porch and a big oak tree toward the side of the house where he had rigged up a tire swing for her to play on.

Her bedroom was bigger than the one at her mother's and even had a window seat that opened into a nice trunk where she could put all her toys. Her dad had built shelve on one end of the window seat and filled it with books that he had read to her, stuffed animals, and a little lamp with a green shade.

And her bed! Her bed was so comfortable and soft that she instantly wished she didn't have to return home to her mother's, where she only had a cold cot and a dresser in a tiny room.

A loud, angry voice snapped her from her thoughts; she could hear arguing in the car bay area. Sophie bit her lip before she allowed her curiosity to get the best of her and kneeled on the chair to peer out the office window from her seat.

She watched quietly as her father stood firm with his arms crossed as he watched the shaggy-haired man rant and wave, "just fix my damn car, man!" then the man finally shouted angrily.

Her father frowned, "you haven't even paid for your last oil change Bud; I can't just keep letting you get away with free service."

Bud froze and sneered at her father before he pulled out his wallet and threw a few bills at him, "there is that enough? Dammit, man! Just fix the thing!" he growled and stormed out of the shop.

Her father sighed, combed his hair with his hand, and went into the front office; about a few minutes later, Kevin came back out. "hey, John?" he called out. A blonde hair mechanic popped his head out from the break room, "yeah?" he asked.

"Go ahead and fix Bud's car; let me know the total cost," her father said in exasperation.

John furrowed his eyebrows, "you sure?"

Her dad nodded and glanced over at the car, "yeah…jus…aw shit!" he groaned loudly.

Sophie furrowed her brows in confusion as she watched him storm over and open the door to the car's back seat where a small dark curly hair boy sat, "hey, Mr. Winston," the kid said quietly.

"Aw hell, he left him here again?" John groaned as he came up behind Sophie's dad, peered into the car, and quickly glanced back at the clock on the wall near the office, "he's probably three sheets to the wind by now," he said in annoyance.

Kevin sighed, "hey, that's fine. I wanted him to meet Sophie anyways," he responded as he gave Steven a small smile. The boy looked up at her dad and grinned before he jumped out of the car with a book in hand and followed him toward his office.

When she realized her father was leading the boy he had called Steven to her, Sophie's eyes widened. She eyed him, taking in his wild curly brown hair and hazel eyes, and quickly got off the chair to meet them at the door. She glanced at her father, who gave her a warm grin as he introduced them, "Steven, this is my daughter Sophie."

Steven gave her a sheepish smile and waved, "hi."

Sophie grinned at Steven and reached out her hand to him, "want to come and color with me?" she asked.

Steven shrugged nonchalantly, he looked like he was going to say no, but he allowed her to take his hand and drag him into her father's office anyways.

The two children sat at the small table by the couch in the room. Sophie placed the box of crayons between them and handed him some paper as Steven placed his book on the table. Sophie looked at the book, the cover looked interesting as it had a picture of a mouse and a motorcycle, but it was the fact it was a thick book she had only seen bigger kids reading which shocked her the most.

"You can read that?" she asked excitedly. Steven blushed and nodded, "uh…yeah. I'm good at reading," he answered sheepishly.

"I want to be good at reading too. But, my mom won't buy me books," she paused and chewed on her lip nervously before she glanced at him in confidence, "she won't let me go to the library either. But sometimes she forgets me at school, and I sneak over there to try and read bigger books, but they're hard" she trailed off and blushed in embarrassment.

Stephen tensed and paused from his coloring before he looked at her serious face. "Your mom forgets you too?" he asked.

Sophie's blush deepened, and she looked down at the picture she was coloring before she nodded. He watched for a moment as he felt a bond created between them.

Steven glanced at his book and smiled before he turned to her, "you know we have a really cool library here. If your dad lets us, we can go there, and I can help you read bigger books."

His smile grew wider as Sophie's head snapped up, and her wide eye glistened with excitement, "oh! Yes, please!"

Both children giggled with excitement as they continued to color and wait for her dad to finish working before they asked him to take them to the library.

Summer 1968

Sophie carefully carried her bag off the bus with her good arm. She glanced down at her left arm and frowned at the cast, worried about how her father will react. He would be angry, but she also remembered what her mom had whispered to her before she climbed the bus alone for the third time.

She bit her lip and decided to remain quiet. If she doesn't say anything, nothing bad can happen. Sophie glanced up as she heard her name. The sight of her father as he ran towards her, his happy gaze quickly turning into a worried, anxious frown as his eyes focused on her cast, made her eyes burn with unshed tears. Her eyes widened as he caught her gaze; she was afraid he knew.

"Hi, daddy," she mumbled quietly.

Kevin kneeled in front of his daughter and held her gaze, "Firefly, what happened?" he asked, concerned.

Sophie swallowed harshly as she allowed him to pull her into a hug. Once his warmth engulfed her, she allowed herself to cry.

Kevin glanced out the kitchen door of the Foreman's home and watched his daughter sit in the living room with Steven and Eric, the son of his friends. He glanced at Kitty as she placed some cookies in her oven; a frown marred her face.

Kitty was absolutely glad that Red was at work when Kevin arrived with his injured daughter. She swallowed her nausea as she thought of how she had opened the door only to see the man's terrified face.

"What you think, Kitty?" His voice jolted her out of her thoughts, and she glanced up at the man she was proud to call a friend. He stood and carefully watched her as she thought of how to respond.

Kitty frowned again and nodded as she leaned against her counter, "I think you're right," she stated softly, "from what I can see, and from how different you've said she's been acting…" she trailed off.

Kevin collapsed in a kitchen chair and leaned his face into his hands, "I know it's happening. But every time I try to get my lawyer to take it to court... nothing happens because we have no proof."

Kitty chewed on her lip as she gazed at the counter, "you have proof now," she said quietly.

Kevin choked back a sob, "I shouldn't have to have proof," he snapped at her. He shifted his head towards her, "I called my lawyer before we got here," he admitted, "he told me that unless Sophie admits to how she got hurt, then there is no way to back up my suspicions."

Kitty glared, "she has a broken arm," she hissed, "and I know I saw a suspicious bruise behind her ear! How is that not enough evidence?"

Kevin sighed and nodded his head, "apparently, there are no records of complaints except my suspicions. The neighborhood my ex lives in… let's just say, no one calls the cops," he replied. Both friends fall into thoughtful silence, unaware of a curly-haired boy listening in.

Sophie sat in her favorite hidden corner of the Point Place Library. Even though her dad acted slightly overprotective, Steven had somehow convinced him to let her go to the library. She suspected her dad knew, and as she and Steven entered the library and headed straight to their hidden corner, she suddenly felt that Steven did as well.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He held a book carelessly with his arms wrapped around his knees. His eyes were distant in thought. Sophie glanced back down at the novel she had chosen, only for her attention to be drawn back to the boy when he decided to speak.

"I heard your dad tell Mrs. Foreman that he thought your mom was hurting you," he said in a cautious whisper.

Sophie's eyes widened, her face flushed, and tears burned.

"My mom and dad are mean to me too sometimes," he admitted softly.

Sophie glanced at her best friend, shocked that he would tell her something so dangerous. If her mother even suspected that others knew, it would have been more than just a broken arm.

"But they've never hurt me like that," he finished as he glanced at her cast pointedly.

Sophie began to cry, "I can't tell anyone. If I do, mom won't let me come back here," she whimpered.

"But if you tell your dad, he can keep you here," Steven said anxiously, "I want you to stay here, Soph. I don't want you to get hurt anymore."

Sophie continued to cry even as Steven pulled her into a hug.

When Steven and Sophie reached her house, she had calmed down, and her tears had dried. She could see her dad in their garage working on a car. Sophie glanced at her best friend, who grinned and gave her a shove before he turned down the driveway to walk home.

She glanced back to her dad, "Daddy?" she called out nervously. Kevin pulled away from the car and looked toward his daughter, who stood by herself in the opening of the garage. She gazed at the ground, shuffled her feet, and chewed on her lip, obviously distraught.

He frowned, "firefly?" he prodded gently.

Sophie's head snapped up, and she suddenly rushed into his arms, buried her head into his side, and gripped him tightly, "mommy hurt me," she admitted and buried herself deeper into her father's hug. Kevin closed his eyes and tightened his arms around his daughter as she cried, "alright, firefly, I won't let her hurt you again," he promised as she continued to wail in fright.

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