T Novan: Exposure Season 4

The Fourth Season

Parental Advisory Rating: L, N, AC

Break out those V–Chips, everyone!

Credits:

Created, Produced, Directed and Written:

Fanatic and TNovan

Scenes from Last Season

I look around for my babies. They’re not in the room. No one is.

"Huh?" the guard grunts. "I thought we dropped them off here. It must have been the next room."

"It was here," Kels says, her voice flat.

"Can’t be, no one’s here. Let’s get them next door." She walks out and heads toward the next room.

"We left them here, Harper," Kels whispers, her tone now urgent.

I nod mutely. "I thought so too." I look around for another door in the room. Is there a closet? A bathroom? But, other than a window, there are no more entrances or exits.

"She took them," Kels expresses my deepest fear.

<>

He turns around and gives us a look. Great. I don’t need this right now. "Ma’am," he says, politely, surprising me. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Kels looks to me. I find my voice and try to be as calm as possible. "We brought our children here for a court supervised visitation with their maternal grandmother. The visit was scheduled to begin at 10 am and last until noon. At noon, we turned here, went upstairs with the guard and found the room empty. We had been assured that Collin and Brennan would not be removed from the premises."

"She took them," Kels adds.

<>

I kiss Kels’ hair. "Let’s go home."

"It’s not home without them."

That’s the truth.

<>

"Whatever you do, stay alive. I will find you."

<>

"I’m afraid that since no call has been made to you, it’s not completely out of the realm of imagination." Kyle’s shoulders slump a bit. "But, I swear to you, that we are doing everything we can."

"Well, everything just isn’t good enough, is it?!" I march across the room and face off with the FBI agent. "Dammit, Kyle! For all we know, she has already sold my babies. Right?" His eyes drop and I grab his arm. "Right!?"

"Kels…" Harper says softly, behind me.

I hear her voice. Someone is touching me. All of this is too much to bear right now. I pull away. "Don’t! Don’t touch me! Leave me alone. Just leave me alone! Don’t tell me any more how it’s going to be all right! It’s not all right. My babies are gone! She took them! It’s not all right. It’ not going to be all right until we get them back and that may not happen!"

<>

I sit next to Rene and she leans against my shoulder, handing me a sleeping Kelly. "Thanks," I whisper. I push back a bit of hair that tumbles over the infant’s eyes. I miss my Fuzzy. After a moment, I look at Matt. "I’ve been thinking about our discussion last night. About why Katherine did this."

"I think the woman went off her meds." He reaches out and takes hold of Amanda’s hand. I suppose to assure himself of his better choice this time around.

"I think it’s a ‘fuck you’ to you."

"Seems a bit misdirected, Harper. Why didn’t she take Claire instead?"

For a moment, I almost wish she had, but I catch myself thinking the evil thought and cast it aside. No one should go through this. No one. Especially not anyone I care about. "Because she gets two targets this way. She’s said she’s opposed to Kels being gay. She believes it to be unnatural. In fact, she urged me to take the children away from Kels. But that doesn’t make any sense. So she’s not truly opposed only to homosexuality, but she has a vendetta against Kels." I pause and try to think like the bitch for a moment. "Then she shows up in New Orleans and finds you and Amanda and Claire there. I bet in her mind, you have it all. You kept the money, the prestige, the respectability. You managed to get back Kels, after she thought she had successfully alienated the two of you for life. You remarried and had another beautiful daughter. You have it all. Except now she’s taken away your grandchildren."

"Not for long, Harper. Not for long."

<>

"First L.A., now New York. Are we ever going to find peace, Harper?"

"Yes, chér, we are. I promise you, we are."

<>

Episode One: Into the Woods

I awake with a start. The babies are crying; they must be hungry. I stumble out of bed, dodging Kam who has taken to sleeping right beside us, and head toward the bedroom door. After I am halfway across the living room, I realize that there are no babies crying.

That was in my dream.

My babies are still somewhere else. Somewhere with Mother Stanton.

Four days. It’s been ninety-six nonstop hours of pure pain. We’ve managed to sleep maybe ten of those hours. Otherwise, this pattern takes place. We sleep fitfully and awaken hearing our children’s cries.

There’s been no word. Mother Stanton hasn’t called. No demands have been made. The social worker, Melanie James, was found yesterday, trying to board a plane for Los Angeles. She admitted to helping Mother Stanton kidnap the babies but didn’t know where they were headed. Nor could she provide any information about a vehicle. The two of them had simply taken our babies away in a cab. She’s under arrest now, and I hope she drops the soap repeatedly in the showers.

Mama is asleep on the couch; Robie and Rene are staying up in Brian’s room for the time being. Papa looks up from his book. "Hey, baby girl. Another nightmare?"

I nod and scrub my face, trying to wake up more fully. "I keep hearing them, Papa."

"Go back to sleep. I’m sure Kelsey is missing you already." He inclines his head toward the bedroom door. I follow his line of sight and find my girl standing there. She’s wearing a loose, white, cotton nightgown. It reminds me that I need to make sure she eats today. I don’t think she did more than pick at her food yesterday.

I walk back and gather her up in my arms, holding her gently. I kiss the hollow behind her ear. "Good morning, darlin’."

Sleepy green eyes look up at me. "Did something happen?"

I shake my head. "Not at all. I was dreaming."

"I was too," she whispers. "I was holding Brennan, and you had Collin, and we were so happy — " she breaks off, unable to continue.

My heart breaks all over again. "We will be, chér." God, make this true.

Neither of us can go back to sleep, so we start preparing breakfast for the clan. Brian is still up at Doug’s, though he came for a visit yesterday and left Kam with us. It was hard. Kels cried the entire time they were here, and I finally had to urge them to leave. It was killing us. Brian reminds us too much of our missing children.

The smell of food gets everyone up and moving. Mama comes in and tries to take over. I wave her out. This is good for us. A task, something we can do. Something to do together. So we’re not just sitting and worrying our minds out. I am in charge of the sausage and the gravy. Kels does the eggs and biscuits.

Robie walks in, clad only in boxers and a T-shirt. "Morning," he mumbles, heading for the refrigerator. He pours a glass of orange juice and downs it in one gulp, a small amount of it trickling out of the side of his mouth. He wipes this off with the back of his hand. "That’s better." He walks over and kisses Kels’ cheek, pats me on the back and disappears from the room.

I look over and see Kels crying. "Darlin’ …"

"I’m all right," she protests, swiping at the wetness on her cheeks.

"They’re fine."

She stirs the eggs angrily. "You don’t know that."

"I do." I reach out and capture her hand. She tries to twist away at first, but stops. I gently place her hand over my heart. "Because if they weren’t, this would have stopped beating. I’m sure of it."