Stephanie's POV

A knock came on my front door and I went to open it. It was about a month since Josie was taken from me and I was still kind of sad about it. I missed that girl so much, more and more every day.

Part of me was hoping that Josie would be the person on the other side of the door, but I knew it wouldn't be. It couldn't be.

Right?

I opened the door and there was Andrew, standing with a worried look on his face and a piece of paper in his hand.

"I found this on the street." Andrew said.

"Okay? Why are you giving it to me?" I asked. Andrew cleared his throat and stepped inside. "Well...I was walking down the street and this flew out of an apartment window and landed by my feet. I read it and realized...this is one of Josie's letters to you. It said 'To Mama' on the outside."

I opened the letter, sat down on the couch, and read it, sobbing. And then I realized, this was a cry for help. Josie needed help.

"Andrew...Samantha's abusive." I said, looking back. "We need to go help Josie."

"Do you know the address?" Andrew said. I nodded and said, "I'm going to go to Samantha's apartment, you call the police."

________

I reached a small apartment building and found Samantha's apartment. But then I realized, if I knocked on the door she would never let me in. I pulled out my bobby pin from my hair to see if I could pick the lock, but then realized the door was unlocked.

Odd.

I stepped in and realized the apartment reeked of alcohol. The apartment was unkept and messy, an absolute disaster.

There were two bedrooms, one of which had the door wide open and the other of which the door was shut tight. I looked in the bedroom with the open door and there was nothing.

Which means Josie was in the bedroom with the closed door.

I turned the knob and heard a small gasp from inside the room. But for some reason, the door was really hard to open.

I took a deep breath, and with all my strength kicked open the door.

The sight I was met with was devastating.

As soon as I walked in the room, I noticed a very small redheaded thing curled up on the bed shaking and crying, wearing nothing but a black tank top and a pair of biker shorts, both of which were incredibly dirty. Her hair was messy and tangled, and there were bruises all over her legs and arms.

"Josie." I said softly, about to cry. I wanted to see my daughter again more than anything else in the world, but not like this.

"SAMANTHA PLEASE DONT HURT ME IM SORRY ILL BE A GOOD GIRL!" Josie screamed, which was clearly a reflex.

"Josie, baby, it's me. It's Mama." I said. Josie looked up at me, her blue eyes filled with worry and pain.

"Mama?" she whispered. She finally seemed to realize I was really there and started crying.

"Mama!" Josie yelled, throwing herself in my arms. I held her tightly and kissed her head, keeping her warm and safe.

"It's okay, baby. I'm here now, I'm here. Mama's here. It's okay, you're okay now. I love you. I'm here." I said.

"Where's Samantha?" Josie said. I kissed her forehead and said, "She's not here right now, but when she does get here, she's gonna get arrested. Uncle Andy called the police. He found your letter."

Josie smiled and I picked her up, carrying her on my hip. "Let's go home."

"JOSEPHINE BAILEY HARFORD! I BETTER NOT SEE YOU WRITING IN THAT JOURNAL!" I heard a woman scream. Josie yelped and jumped out of my arms.

"POLICE! OPEN UP!" came from the door.

Dead. Silence.

Josie was curled up in the corner again crying, and I was rubbing her back and trying to comfort her.

"Stephanie! Where are you?" I heard Andrew scream from the doorway.

"Andrew! We're in here!" I yelled.

"I'm trying to sort things out with the police! Josie, Samantha's getting arrested! Steph has custody again!"

"WHOO HOO!" I cheered, hugging Josie. "Come on, let's go home."

AN: I told you it would get better! Josie won't be happy for much longer though, hehe. Hope you enjoyed and catch ya later! Love you all!