Dawn stared at the police station doors and clutched the strap of her purse tighter. Her mom's hand on her arm made her look over.
"It's going to be okay."
Dawn nodded her head and pulled the door opened.
"Hello-" the receptionist started, but stopped at seeing the state that Dawn was in.
"Take a seat, and I'll get someone. Would you like coffee? Water?"
Dawn shook her head and walked over to the simple black chairs. The receptionist hurried off and Johanna walked over to her daughter.
"Mom, I don't have the money for all of this. A decent lawyer is going to be hard to come by." Dawn said, sighing and looked at her mom in defeat.
"Don't worry about that right now. I'll help you and Chase will be with you. Not that excuse of a father."
"Hello, sorry for the wait. I'm Detective Sears,"
Detective Sears looked to be about forty with black hair and dark eyes. The dark features were a stark contrast to his paler complexion.
"I'm Johanna and this is my daughter, Dawn. She's had a bit of trouble and we need help."
"Of course, follow me to a room."
The three were now in a room that appeared to be a type of conference room. Before the door shut another officer slipped inside, this one being a female who seemed younger with white hair and dark eyes.
"This is my partner, Detective Rivers."
Silence fell over the room as everyone was now seated. A few folders were on the desk with papers and a recorder sat in the middle of the table.
"Whenever you're ready to explain what happened." Detective Rivers said, gently as she looked at Dawn.
Dawn chewed her lip. She had to do this. She had to keep the children safe and she had to get them away from Paul.
"I need to file a restraint against my husband who will be my ex-husband soon. I also need to report domestic violence and harm to children who aren't born yet, but could've suffered from what happened tonight. I- I need a lawyer to help get custody and to get away from my husband." Dawn said without stopping.
"Okay, so your husband did this to you? The bruises that are on you?"
Dawn nodded her head.
"I'm sorry, but we need verbal replies."
"Yes."
"Are you fine with a doctor coming in and taking pictures for evidence and getting any DNA?"
"That's fine."
After the doctor had came and left another silence filled the room.
"Was this the first time of domestic abuse?" Detective Sears questioned.
"This was the first time it was actually physical."
"So in the past it was...?"
"Throwing things at me. Yelling and cornering. Hitting other things that were near me, like the walls."
"You mentioned harm to children?"
"I'm pregnant with twins. That was the cause of the attack tonight."
"Okay. You mentioned custody? More children?"
"One. Chase, my son."
"Has Chase ever been victim to the abuse?"
"No, not physically. He's probably heard the yelling and breaking of things. But he's never been harmed."
"Okay. We will help you get in contact with a lawyer and we will work on getting everything in order to charge your husband and get the restraint in place. We will also get him in here for questioning as well."
"Thank you,"
After leaving the station, Dawn and her mother went to the emergency room to make sure that the babies were okay from the events. Other than Dawn being stressed and exhausted, the babies were fine. But she was told to try to keep her stress down and to get a lot of rest.
Finally back at her mother's house, Dawn was numb as she climbed out of the car. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion and she felt like a shell. In twenty four hours, her whole world had shattered. She was going to be a single mom with three children once the twins arrived. She was mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted from everything.
"Get some rest, sweetie. I'll help out with Chase if he wakes before you in the morning." her mother said.
"Thanks, mom."
Her mother hugged her tightly. "I'm glad you're safe, baby."
Dawn nodded her head at her mom and climbed the stairs to the guest bedroom. She climbed under the covers and laid on her back looking at the ceiling with her hands folded on her stomach.
What was she going to do? Would Paul try to come after her? Was she safe? She had to keep her babies safe all three of them. How would she explain all of this to Chase? Would he be okay?
She sighed and rolled onto her side as she clung to one of the extra pillows. She could feel the tears building and the weight of today crushing her. She took a shuddering breath and blinked, but in doing so it caused her to break. She bit her lip to keep the sobs quiet and held onto the pillow. She cried for the girl she was when she had fallen in love with Paul. She cried for the love lost and the ending of the marriage. She cried from the abuse she had suffered. She cried for Chase and her twins not yet in this world. She just cried as her life fell apart all within twenty four hours and she was crying for whatever laid ahead.
Hours later Dawnn awoke suddenly and hurried to the bathroom. She barely managed to pull her hair away from the toilet as puked. Sighing, she sat on her heels and flushed the toilet. She got up and went to the sink and rinsed her mouth and washed her hands.
She stared at her reflection. Bags under her eyes, her hair a mess, her eyes puffy from the crying last night. She desperately needed to shower. She walked to the tub and started running the water and flipped the shower on. Walking back into the bedroom she grabbed her little toiletry bag she had packed and a change of clothes before walking back. She would need to go get a lot of things since she had only packed basic needs and a few sets of clothes. Yet another thing that would cost money and it wouldn't be cheap to basically start over for herself and Chase.
She stepped into the shower and sighed as the hot water ran over her. She stood under the water for a few minutes before finally starting to actually take her shower.
Now dressed in a pair of white joggers, a cropped sweater, and some fuzzy socks she tossed her hair into a messy bun and headed downstairs.
Laughter. A wonderful sound. A sound she hadn't heard much of from Chase in a while. She stopped at the entrance of the kitchen and peered in to see what he was laughing at.
Chase was at the counter with her mother. Both of them covered in flour. It looked like they were baking.
"Well what's going on here?" Dawn asked as she walked into the kitchen.
"Mom! We're baking cookies!" Chase cried, smiling.
"I was letting him pour the flour and well he lost the grip and well..." her mom explained with a smile and a small shrug.
Dawn smiled and walked over to look at the mess.
Flour was everywhere; on the floor, the counter, them. She laughed.
"What kind of cookies?" she asked.
"Chocolate chip!"
"Your favorite!" Dawn cried and tickled her son who squealed in laughter.
"You have flour on you now, momma."
"Well I couldn't let you two have all the fun. I'll help you make these cookies."
Chase smiled.
Dawn looked over at her mom who was smiling at the two of them.
"Well let's finish getting this batter made and then we can get these cookies put on the sheet and in the oven." Johanna said and clapped her hands together.
Please R&R