They found a quiet place in a small town. The small cottage had three bedrooms. She even let the both of them pick out what color to paint their new bedrooms. She did not care what color it was as long as it was not white or brown. Austin picked out a dark shade of blue while Hannah chose a lime green color. She even let the both of the help paint the rooms. The rest of the house was different colors as well. She refused to be plain Jane. The Kitchen had a reddish color. The bathroom was ocean blue. The living room was an earth tone and her bedroom was a rustic orange looking color. The yard was a little over an acre; there was a new wooden play set in the back. Her father and Joe had come over to build it for the kids. It contained a slide and three wooden swings. There were monkey bars and even a fireman pole to slide down. Underneath were a sandbox and a picnic table for the three of them to sit at. All three had truly enjoyed it.

After a week they were completely moved in. Her father came with Joe, they had brought over a truckload of furniture and appliances that was donated to her by his work. Everyone was trying to help her out and even Martha came to help fix the place so that it would be more like a home. Her father had still not mentioned anything to her mother or her sister about her being alive. It was one of Addison's requests because she didn't want Keith to find them and ask them any questions or harm them in anyway.

Within the next week she decided to enroll them in the county school. It was Kindergarten through the twelfth grade, talk about a small school. She was informed that they would both require a physical and up to date shots and even a birth certificate. The first two requirements were easy on the other hand the birth certificate would be hard to get because they were both born in the mountains. Keith never sent out for a certificate of birth. She all ready had a social security card for them. Her father had known a man who helped them get new cards. Now her father would have to help get birth certificates as well.

Nether one of them had ever attended school and on the first day they were placed by their age. After a placement test Austin was in the fifth grade and Hannah was placed in the third grade. Jada had tried to read to them and teach them simple math and other things in the dirt of the garden. This way she was able to scribble all over it so Keith never knew she was trying to teach them.

During the Christmas break, they enjoyed playing in the snow. Joe took them out to his land and they picked out a small tree. This was their first real Christmas; Keith simply skipped over it as if it never existed. He wouldn't ever think of getting them presents and celebrating anything that had to do with God. So, Jada made sure this would be the best Christmas ever. She had asked Joe and Martha to help with the decorations while she and Hannah strung popcorn on a string to wrap around the tree. Her father came with several presents while the kids were asleep. The day of Christmas was wonderful. Presents filled underneath the tree. They had stockings that over filled with toys and candy. Both shook each gift. While Austin ripped into each gift, Hannah pulled the paper away carefully so that she would not rip the paper. Their eyes grew wide with each gift. Board games, dolls for Hannah, both had a CD player, and a playstation with two games a piece along with clothes and a pair of new shoes. It was truly overwhelming and by late in the evening both were so tired of enjoyment that they fell asleep on the couch. Jada took a few pictures to remember this day, to remember every moment of it.

Her father hugged her before he left for the night. "I didn't know what to get you." He handed her an envelope.

"You already given me something dad, more that you can ever imagine." She hugged him tight.

"I know this isn't much, but I hope you enjoy it. I'll try to swing by tomorrow. I love you Addie, I mean Jada."

"I love you to daddy."

She opened the letter, there was a card, a sheet of paper and several hundred dollars. The card was sweet and it was so much like him. She eased down in the corner chair with a cup of hot chocolate in one hand, the letter in the other. She sat and read silently, trying not to cry as he had poured out his thoughts. He told her about her sister now living in Indiana and about her two boys. He tried to explain about the divorce of him and her mother. But mostly he wrote about missing her and how he was so blessed to have her again, to have grandchildren. And that was the best present he could ever ask for. She held the letter close to her heart and thanked him for everything that he had done for her.

When March finally came so did the contractions. Thankfully Austin and Hannah were at school. Her father wanted her to go to the local hospital but she simply refused. "Why dad, I have all ready had two babies with no doctor and I ain't about to have one now." She tightened her first with the next contraction.

He called Martha and she came rushing over to help in any way that she could. Jada pushed and pushed and with the fourth attempt the baby was out with a small cry.

"My, my she is so pretty, Jada."

"A girl, a baby girl." She sighed. She knew in that very moment that she had made the right decision months ago. For she knew know that Keith would have found a way to get rid of the baby girl. She had a beautiful complexion, thankfully her hair was as dark as hers. Martha handed her the baby and she sat there and counted ten little fingers and ten little toes, It's funny that mom's do that.

Austin and Hannah arrived from school on the bus. They looked at each other and rushed inside the house, just knowing that something had to happen because their grandpa's truck was in the drive and Joe and Martha was there too. "Mamma is everything all right." They both yelled as the door shut behind them.

Martha greeted them, "Shhh...the baby is sleeping."

"Momma had the baby."

"Yes, come see." And she walked them to their mother's bedroom.

She was lying back with pillows prompt up against the headboard of the bed. She was holding a bundle so carefully tucked with a little pink blanket. The little head peered out. It had a tiny little nose and its eyes were closed.

"Mamma is it a boy or a girl?"

"Say hello to your baby sister," she whispered.

"Hello."

"Hello, what is her name momma?"

"I don't know quiet yet, why don't the two of you decide on a name."

"Okay!" both of them reached over to kiss her and ran back into the living room. Their grandpa had been sitting on the couch waiting for them to get home. "So what do you guys think about your new sister."

"She's pretty."

"Momma wants us to think of a name for her," added Austin.

"Well I hope that you choose wisely, after all it will be her name forever you know." With that he gave them a hug goodbye. "Call me if you need me."

"We will papa." And they hugged him right back. Joe and Martha left a few hours later. Martha was just determined to stay and would have if Joe had let her. But after an hour he talked her into leaving.

A little after nine, they walked in and sat down beside their momma on the bed. She was still sound asleep. The baby looked so peaceful. Jada felt the bed move and opened her eyes. "Oh! Did you come to tell us goodnight?"

"Yes, momma. But we thought of a name."

"And, what did the two of you decide on?"

"Gabriella."

"Why Gabriella?"

"Well if it was a boy we had thought about Gabriel you know the angel. But since the baby is a girl we thought Gabriella would be nice. We can call her Gabby for short."

Jada smiled. "I like it, it's a prefect name for her."

Hannah smiled and glided her hand along the baby's head. "She is like an angel momma, God brought her to us, so that we can take care of her."

"He also gave us hope momma," added Austin.

"Very well then. We will call her Hope Gabriella. What a prefect name." She started to hand her over to Austin. "Would you like to hold her for a few minutes?"

At first he hesitated and then reached out to hold her in his arms. She was so light as if he was just holding one of Hannah's dolls. But this doll was real and she moved just a little and made a grunting noise. Both of them smiled and then he handed her to Hannah.

Flowers started to bloom at the end of March and the first of April. Jada had purposefully refused to have a garden. It was a busy chore and for once she wanted to enjoy not being a slave. There were many days that she didn't think about cleaning. While the rain came they would run outside and feel the drop on their half-naked bodies, drenched to the bone. Jada would even take out Gabby and let the rain sprinkle on her for a few minutes.

Austin started to meet new friends and sometimes they would come over. Sometimes begging to stay the night. Sometimes they begged for him to go to their house. At first Jada was cautious, but then remembered what it was like to be a kid. So it became a habit every single weekend during the summer months. Hannah on the other hand did not mind her friends coming to her house but she refused to go over to their house. It wasn't that she was afraid to go, it was the fact that their dad was home and she refused to be around any man not in less it was her papa or Joe. She was scared to be around them, because that was when she thought of her father. Her father who was mean; her father who she wanted to forget ever existed.

Fall arrived and so did school. When they went back Jada decided to enroll in a community college. Even though she had a Ph.D. she would never be able to prove it. The papers and all documentation was not accessible, not to mention it would be harder for her to get since she had to change her name. She returned to school. She sat in a room filled with classmates that were younger than her. She did not mind the homework and honestly enjoyed it to a certain extent. She would drop Gabby off at Martha's and then take the kids to school and then herself. She had decided to change her field of study.

On the Friday after Thanksgiving Jada surprised the kids with gifts and took them to the local Dairy Queen. They both had smiled ear to ear even little Gabby enjoyed the cold soft serve ice cream. Austin asked for a hot fudge sundae and Hannah wanted an M&M Blizzard. Jada enjoyed a banana split and shared with Gabby.

The coldness of the ice cream tickled Hannah's lips and she laughed out loud. "This is so good momma."

Austin was so busy licking the ice cream and fudge off of his spoon that he was so content. Then he asked, "What's the special occasion mom?"

She looked up and then towards Hannah. "Do you know what today is?"

"No, momma, what day is it?" they asked at the same time.

"This is when became a new family," she smiled as tears swelled up in her eyes.

"Mom do you think dad will ever find us?" He asked as he took another scoop of ice cream.

She searched the restaurant and looked at towards the parking lot. She watched as a young couple got out of their car. In the next truck over, a dad and his little boy were climbing back in both were holding an ice cream cone, one dipped in chocolate. Everyone seemed so happy and then she looked at her children and smiled. "Honestly, I hope he never does." And that was that, they finished their ice cream. She prayed that he would never find them, for if he did who knows what would happen to her or the smiling children that gleamed back at her.

*****

The girl lay helplessly on the stone; she tried to rise up on her elbows but was suddenly pushed back down. "Please, don't," she pleaded.

The strange creature looked over her, the moon shown above his head. "What is your name?"

She started to cry. "Jessica."

He reached under his cloak and pulled out a long knife. "Your name is not Jessica, I demand you to tell me your name." He was hallucinating; she had looked so much like Addison that he truly thought it was her. The same nose, the same eyes that glistened in the moonlight, her skin so silky soft with her scent. He paused for a split second and then raised the knife in front of her eyes. "What is your name?" With the knife he cut the rope from her hands.

She started to sob even more for she was telling him the truth. "My name is Jessica."

"You're a bitch and a damn lair. That is what you are. That is all you every will be. Tell me what have you done with my children?"

"I don't have your children." As she feared for her life, the screams came louder, "You are mistaken me for someone else. Please let me go."

"Why so that you can run, run from your destiny. Hold out that lying tongue of yours."

Jessica refused to stick out her tongue.

"I said stick out that fucking lying tongue of yours." He reached down and grabbed her mouth. Reluctantly she stuck it out and he pulled it out farther. In the shadows she saw something shimmer and within a second her tongue was snipped off with a pair of garden scissors. Both of her hands cupped over her mouth as blood poured between her fingers. He laughed, "Now what do you have to say?" He cut the rope around her feet and had a mischievous laugh, "If you want to go, go." And he threw his arm up letting her know to go.

"You're going to let her go?" they all asked.

"I think I will like the hunt, don't you. I will give a good head start while all of your prepare for the feast." Within ten minutes he took off running through the woods, like a cannibal, searching for flesh. He followed the trail of blood and there she was no more than fifty feet in front of him. He pulled out his whip and as he got closer whipped the backside of her causing her to fall forward. Her head hit a tree root, blackness.

When she came to she was back on the stone, this time unable to talk, unable to move. "Where did you think you were going? I don't know why they always run thinking they are going to escape." His voice had become immoral, while the others chanted and walked in a circle. The flames blazed up to the night sky. She tried to scream but awkward sounds came out, for her tongue was cut out. The cool breeze of the night wind touched her skin; she was now naked. Her breathing became deeper and her heart pounded in her chest. She knew what would be next and as she prayed to herself the wind was taken out of her and her soul escaped her body.

They cut her into pieces and then threw her remains over a cliff for the wild coyotes to eat. "They will enjoy their feast for the night." Said Eagle.

"They shall, but now we have to keep looking for she is out there somewhere and she still has my children."

"It's been over a year. We have looked everywhere Keith," added the Snake.

The deer added, "And we have killed over seven girls already that look like her."

"And we will keep looking damn it, she is out there." He paused while wiping the blood from his knife; "I won't give up on her."

*****

The Christmas Holidays were even better this year. Each went to bed early to wake to presents full under the tree again. Jada had gotten her wish as well, another Christmas without Keith. She had worked extra hours at the café to have extra money and even took the kids out so that they could buy one present for each other. Austin and Hannah had picked presents for each other and for Gabby. She was surprised that they did not pick out toys but things that they really needed. Jada had found time between school and work to find a few extra gifts for them. After they feel asleep their papa had came over again bringing gifts to put under the tree from Santa. In the early morning hours they shook the presents and opened them, even little Gabby pulled the paper away, but she could care less what was in the packages, she enjoyed the boxes and the crinkling noise of the paper. She nibbled on everything, mainly because she was teething.

While they were eating breakfast they heard something scratching at the back door. There came a little growl. Austin jumped from the table and opened the door. A small puppy greeted him with a big red bow wrapped around its neck.

Hannah ran over to the door and grabbed the note that was attached. She read out loud. "A Christmas present just for you, please take good care of me." She jumped up and down with excitement. "Oh! Momma, can we please keep her."

Jada was shocked as well because she had no idea where the puppy had come from and then in the corner of her eye she saw her father smiling. "Yes, we can keep the puppy." The two of them fought the rest of the day over it and trying to give it a name.

Her father sat back and laughed. "Do you remember your first puppy?"

For a split second she had forgotten all out it but then remembered. "Yes, momma had a fit but you talked her into it, you had your way with her."

"I did but not anymore." He frowned.

"I'm sorry. I haven't asked you about what happened between the two of you." She sat down next to him on the couch.

As he watched the children play with the puppy for once he opened up to her. "You know your mother never wanted you to move to Atlanta."

"I know, and you told her everything would be fine. And it was. It was great; I loved living there."

"Well, she managed to live with it and then you fell in love."

"If you want to call it that."

He looked heartbroken all of a sudden and he remembered back to the day that they buried her. "We looked all over the place for you. Sent out search parties. I knew you were still alive and your mother became furious with me. She wanted me to just let you go. Then Keith came to us and said that they found your body. Said you were out in the mountains taking a hike when you fell to your death. I knew something was not quit right then but your mother just lost it. She has never been the same. She cried herself to sickness and we had to admit her to a hospital for a while. She's better now but we never talk to each other, I guess because she blames me a little."

"Why would she blame you for something like that?"

"Because I was the one to agree to let you go and for that I had to pay the price."

She reached over and hugged him close to her. "Oh, daddy I am so sorry for everything."

"It's not your fault, it's all his. I don't know why he would want to hurt you and take you away from us."

She looked down and a few tears streamed from her eyes. "He changed over the years daddy. He became something that is hard to explain. He wanted me to move and get married and I simple refused. I just couldn't."

As she cried he held her close. They were so fortunate to now have each other. To hold each other again.