Swinging her legs back and forth on one of the dining chairs in Demi's kitchen Amanda asked, "When is Mummy Vic coming home, it's her birthday soon you know?"
Demi looked apologetically into Amanda's sad brown eyes. She has Danny's eyes and seeing her so upset made her feel like crying. "We don't know when she is coming home princess, the police think your Mummy Vic has done a terrible thing."
Looking agitated Amanda began to swing her legs a little faster as she whispered, "Do you think they will send me back to my real mother if she has to stay in jail?"
"Of course not, that is unless you want to go back and live with her?"
Amanda looked down at the floor and frowned, "No, I miss Mummy Vic, she doesn't get angry at me like my other Mother - why couldn't we talk to her at the court? Then sitting up straighter she said excitedly, "I know, we could take your car and go see her now?"
"Maybe another day, how about we have some ice cream while we wait for your dad to get here." she said ruffling the young girl's hair.
Amanda jumped to her feet and smiled as Demi spooned some ice cream into a bowl and watched her disappear outside with it. With a sigh she put the ice cream away, she couldn't help but feel terrible; her heart was breaking over what was happening.
It was so surreal - now she was back at her house, around all of her familiar things, it was hard to believe any of this was really happening to them. Then she remembered the court case and feeling sick with fear after getting off of the phone with Danny after he had called her in desperation from the hospital. And the the police taking Victoria away in cuffs. It was all just so hard to make any sense of.
Demi was glad she took Amanda home, having Amanda stay was a small god send really. Things between her and Ben had settled down a lot, he was acting as though the fight they had on the fateful morning never even happened. They had hardly bickered since she threw beer at him when Danny had come to tea. Considering the circumstances she had stuck her head in the sand again to keep the peace between her and Ben for everyone's sake.
Even with everything that was going on there were still unanswered questions that niggled in the back of Demi's mind, what really happened to Emily? The doctors at the hospital said she had shaken baby syndrome, and Victoria's lawyer had come so close to suggesting there was a chance Danny could have hurt Emily when they were at court.
Demi drummed her fingers on the kitchen bench she knew them both so well, and it didn't look good for Victoria. At first when it all went down Demi had wanted to believe that it was all a misunderstanding, but after the first day in court, the first time she had heard any of the details, she just didn't know...Victoria must have done it, she sounded guilty.
As she tied her apron and pulled out some potatoes to peel and chop for dinner the phone rang, it was Ben's work number; since Amanda was outside she pressed the loudspeaker button so she could keep on peeling.
"Ben, is everything alright?
"Yeah, I just rang to see how things went at the courthouse today,"
"Victoria was on the stand, it doesn't look good for her, some pretty awful stuff come out that I didn't even know about and we were friends."
"I guess you really never know a person, even your best friend."
"No I learned that lesson the hard way, you can't trust anyone, it seems..." Demi stopped herself, there was no point in causing an argument, so she changed the subject, "she lied on the stand...Ben I don't get it, everything was perfect, she was just what Daniel needed after his last relationship. How could she give him back the power to fight for custody of Amanda, take her in as her own, then do something like this to her own baby?"
"Do you think Daniel did something?"
"No, I don't think so... I just don't know, maybe she is still sick, anyway tomorrow Danny goes on the stand, god only knows what's going to happen."
"What does Daniel have to say about all of this?"
"He is due here any minute to see Amanda, maybe I can get some answers from of him before I have to learn what's going on from court."
"Demi, don't be too hard on him!"
"Oh for god's sake Ben, I wasn't," sniffed Demi defensively.
Ben suddenly sounded distracted and in a far off voice he said quietly, "Sure honey, look I have to go, I was just ringing to tell you that I won't be home till late, I have a big meeting with the blokes upstairs tomorrow for the car yard's new advertising campaign and I haven't even looked it over, I'm not even close to being prepared for them."
"Ok, see you when you get home then," the line went dead and Demi dropped the knife she had been chopping - letting it clatter on the bench and picking up the phone from its cradle she pressed the red button on the receiver ending the call.
With one hand still clinging onto the receiver and the other holding herself steady on the kitchen bench she had a sinking feeling come over her, it was the second time this week he had worked late, just when they seemed to be getting on a little better.
"Dear god, don't let him be cheating on me again, not now with everything else going on," she whispered quietly.
-------------------------------------------------------
Well, do you think Ben is cheating? You bet your sweet ass he is! You will hear all about the other woman in Ben's life next chapter!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to like and leave a comment :)