CHAPTER 25

    Demi's POV  

    I woke up with my alarm blaring in my ear, and Mac snuggled up beside me. She rarely slept in her own bed anymore. I quickly shut off the alarm, although I had no idea how it didn't already wake her up. She's such a light sleeper. I guess that just shows how tired she really is. On our way home from Ellen we got mobbed by paps, and the minute we'd gotten settled in the van she fell asleep. I watched her sleep for a couple of minutes. Her face was angelic. All of the remains of her father's abuse was washed away. I adored her. 

      I decided to go on twitter to see how my lovatics were doing with the news. 

**NOTE; all of the usernames are MADE UP****

"@Demiizmylifexx13: Oh. my. God. What?! Demi's a mom?! Luckies 5 year old eva!" 

      There were so many of these tweets, saying how cute she is. Then...

"@abraancamadorx1; Lmfao seriously? That kid ain't even cute. She should do us all a favor and kill herself #ihateMacLovato"

   I could feel my blood pressure rising. My anger increasing. I clicked on the hashtag, beliebers, selenators, directioners and so many other people were tweeting my daughter to kill herself. Scrolling down, I clicked on a few and saw a bunch of lovatics fervently trying to reply to all of them to stop sending hate. I smiled, and scrolled down. My smiled vanished when i saw a bunch of lovatics hating on Mac. Appalled, I tapped out a tweet,

  "@ddlovato; absolutely speechless about some of things being said in reference to my daughter. She's fucking four years old and you're telling her to kill herself?!" 

   "@ddlovato; And for some of the hate to come from my "fans" disgusts me. Real lovatics know how happy she makes me." 

     I threw my phone on the bed in a huff. Mac shifted next to me and look up, bleary-eyed. "Mommy?" My anger vanished and my bad mood was washed away. "Hey baby." Mac looked up at me sleepily and the snuggled under the covers, pulling them over her head. I laughed and tried to pull them back up. A tiny arm shot out and stole my phone. I smiled, knowing just how to bait her. "If you come out, we can go to starbucks!" Immediately, Mac threw back the covers, and launched herself into me. "Really? Stawbucks?" I smiled at the adorable way she tried to pronounce 'Starbucks' "Yup! Now why don't you go get dressed, i'll be there in a second." Mac slid out of bed and went to her room, I smoothed out my hair, and pulled on highwaisted shorts, sheer black tights, heels, and my 'The Only Coke I do is Diet' Shirt. I put on some makeup, and walked over the Mac's room, standing in the doorway. 

         She stood there in nothing but her underwear, hands on her hips, surrounded by outfits. "Need help?" I said, walking in. Mac looked up at me and nodded, then turned her attention back to the clothes. "I like this one." I said, pointing to a bundle that consists of an oversized navy knitted sweater, leggings, a Burgundy Neff* beanie and a tiny pair of black vans. She nodded and started pulling on the clothes. " I'll be downstairs making breakfast." Mac's looked at me cautiously. "Yeah... you're probably right. Why don't we just get something there?" I said, giving in. 

   Mac looked especially adorable today, as she sat in the backseat looking out the window on our way to Starbucks. "Babygirl?" I had her attention immediately. "Can I take a picture of you?" Mac groaned, "Whhhhhhhhhhy?!" I laughed, literally the cutest thing EVER. "Because you just look SO cute." I did my best to put on a puppy dog face through the rearview mirror. "Fineeee." Mac crossed her arms and stared out the window, trying to act mad at me. Which didn't work for long, because as soon as I saw her peak at me from the corner of her eye, I pulled a funny face and she giggled. We drove up to the curb in front of the starbucks and I turned around, phone ready. Mac pulled up her feet, hid half of her face then put up a peace sign. I snapped the photo, "Perfect!" She just rolled her eyes. 

        On line at Starbucks, I went on twitter to post the picture and I saw the worldwide trending topics. 

#WeresorryDemi........... #LovaticsloveMac............#WeresorryMac........#stophatetoMac. 

 I smiled, and tapped out a tweet. 

 "@ddlovato; Love the trending topics!.... #Demilovesherlovatics"

Then tweeted the picture; 

@ddlovato: My lil' cutie  www.pic.twitter.com/jshfliserjbflabew" 

  Within seconds I got hundreds of replies saying how cute she was, I decided to reply to some of them. 

      "@DemetriaLuvMe; I WANT HER." 

     "@ddlovato; @DemetriaLuvMe SHE'S MINE! haha luv you!"  

    "@OhSnapItzJustin; Can I just kidnap her like she's so perfff." 

     "@ddlovato; @OhSnapItzJustin You'll have to get through meeeee! <3

   And then retweeted a few....

    "@McMaclandelrey; @ddlovato perfffff"

     "@Lovatoluvaa13; Throwinn up dem ducess" 

        Mac tugged on my jacked and I looked up. The barista was staring at me waiting to take my order. "Oh God, I'm so sorry, uhmm I'll have a grande white mocha with whip and tall strawberries and cremè frapp... Oh and two blueberry yogurt muffins" The girl looked up at me. "Okay! Uhm, has anyone ever told you that you look like Demi Lovato?" I laughed. "Well yeah, I am Demi Lovato." Her face turned bright red. "Ohmygodimsosorry" The words rushed out of her mouth. "It's okay!" "Uhm, can I get a picture? My sister is a HUGE fan.." I laughed, yeah definitely! But first..." I handed her a twenty dollar bill. "Keep the change." The girl put our cups on the order line and walked around the count and asked her friend to take the picture. "Thank you so much oh my god!" She said for at least the hundredth time. I laughed, "It's my pleasure! Say hi to your sister for me!" "I will oh my god she's not gonna believe this!" 

       We got our drinks and sat down at a quiet table. I sipped my coffee and sighed I needed this. Looking across the table, I saw that Mac was eyeing her drink warily. I remembered her last taste of starbucks, and smiled. "It's okay. It tastes good. I promise." I told her. Mac rolled her eyes, "That's what you said last time..." "Well this time i'm not kidding!" Mac slowly sipped from her drink. Once it reached her mouth her eyes opened wide and she sipped urgently. "Careful! Don't get-" Mac clutched her head and tears came to her eyes. "Brain freeze." I finished lamely when it had passed and she lifted her head up. "What. Was. That." I started laughing, its what happens when you drink something really cold too fast." Mac nodded, understanding and slowly sipped at the drink again. "Isn't it good?" She just rolled her eyes. Then, my phone rang, it was my manager.

       "Hello?" "Demi? Hi! How are you and Mac?" She said into the phone. "We're good! At starbucks right now for some breakfast. You?" I said. "Oh i'm great! But listen, People's Choice magazine wants to know if you'd be interested in doing a spread in their April issue with Mac. Kind of like a mother-daughter thing?" I thought about it, "I don't know.. Things are pretty crazy around here, with Mac's trial and her birthday coming up.. is the offer open? Maybe we could do it sometime in the fall..." I said. "Of course! They said they would understand if you declined, but that the offer is open to whenever. Just to give them a call when you're ready.." "Sure!" "Okay! And don't forget, you have aboard meeting today at 11. Try not to be late Dems," I laughed, "I can't make any promises.!" Then she hung up. "Hey Mac?" She looked at me, "I have a board meeting in an hour, did you want to come with me or go play with Aunt Dallas and Mad-Mad?" Mac's face lit up, "Mad-Mad!!" I laughed, "Well let's go!" 

____________________________________________________________________________

            I was on my way to the studio, I had dropped off Mac at Dallas' with a final warning to Maddie not to teach Mac anything bad, and I MEAN IT. When I got to the Hollywood Records building I nearly threw my keys at the valet and grabbed the ticket from him. Then was ushered inside by security.

        "Sorry i'm late!" I said as I walked into the room but stopped as I saw my two lawyers, Greg and Selene sitting there conversing with two people in suits. "Demi! You're finally here!" Greg said and walked over to me with his arms extended. Confused, I hugged him. "They're lawyers of Mac's dad. I don't know whats going on. Don't give away anything." He breathed into my hair, low and fast so that the others didn't hear it. He pulled back before it became obvious. I turned my attention to the other two lawyers. "I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met." I stuck out my hand to shake his. "Don't worry Demi, i'm sure we will become well acquainted by the end of this." I smirked. "I'm sure. But until then, it's Miss Lovato." My manager, Phil, snorted. "Miss Lovato." He repeated. "My name is Ted Dunden, and this is my colleague, Mary Kremer. We represent Mr. Rivera in his case against Mac. We hope you'll be cooperative in this situation." I nodded, "And what, exactly will you expect me to cooperate with?" "We are offering you full custody of Mac.. If you drop the child abuse charges." 

   "I already have full custody of Mac... She's MINE." My words were dripping with venom and all four of the lawyers were shocked. "Demi-" The guy said. "Miss Lovato." I snapped. "Mac was taken away from her father when he was arrested. She was not to be adopted until the results of her father's trail were clear. Mr.Rivera is willing to give you full custody if you drop the child abuse charges." "What's the difference if he is going to jail for murder for life anyway?" The lawyer smirked. "You're primary witness refuses to speak a single word, how you expect this trial to go is very different from the way it will go." Remembering what my lawyer said, I sat back in my chair and said one word. "No." The lawyer guy stood up. "Miss Lovato. I highly suggest you take this deal. My client said that this is a one time offer. And that if you don't take it right now. He will fight with everything he has to get his daughter back. And you should know that he can be very... persuasive" I stood up too, my six inch heels making me look taller and more threatening then I really am. "Well you tell your client this, I intend to do everything in my power to make sure that he doesn't see the light of day outside of a JAIL CELL. I intend to fight for my daughter harder and with more determination that he ever will. Because I love Mac more than he has ever loved anything in his entire life." My voice rose with every word until i was shouting. The lawyer was shrinking back and was against the wall now. "I'll uhm, I'll pass on the message." He said weakly and nearly ran out of the room. 

        "Fucking twat." I spat, and walked over to the wall of windows, where you could see people walking out of the building. what stopped me was the sight of the guard they had. He was tall, hulking, white and looked extremely familiar... "Max" I called, he was by my side in a second. "What's wrong?" I pointed towards the man. "Do I know him?" Max peered out of the window, then his face hardened and turned angry. "Stay here." He walked away, pulling out his cellphone. I continued to watch the man while following Max's instructions. 

      Max came back in a couple of minutes later. "Where's Mac?" He said. "She's at Dallas'. Why? What does she have to do with this? Who is that?" The questions rolled off of my tongue. Max held up a hand, silencing me as his phone rang, "Max." He stated as a greeting. His expression changed to relief, then fury. "WHAT?!" He yelled, scaring the shit out of me. "We'll be right there." Max shut his phone and began to walk away. I grabbed his arm. "Max. Tell me what the fuck is going on. Right now." He looked at me with a worried expression, "Someone tried to kidnap Mac."

     (; 

-Rachel.