Leah smiled as the children chattered on to her, their voices warming her heart. Seeing them always did. They were so innocent and happy. And they loved her, just for being her. It brought a smile to her face and a happiness that she couldn’t quite put into words. She glanced at Meredith as she talked the twins down, putting a kiss on both of the twins cheeks, chuckling when Logan wiped his away. “You heard your mother, presents later.” she said, standing up to her full height. She turned to Meredith and smiled. “Well that’s my job isn’t it? I spoil them and you get my rotten goods later.” she said with a laugh before Meredith pulled her into a hug. “I’ve been… good.” she told the woman, not even sure what that word meant at the moment. Was good truly having no control over your own life and safety? She followed Meredith into the kitchen and gave the twins a mischevious grin as Meredith set them loose. She laughed and reached into her bag. “Alright, alright you two, since you said please.” she chuckled, pulling out a red firetruck and a stuffed bear, handing them respectively to the two siblings. “There you go. I hope you like them as much as I did when I was younger.” she said, ruffling the twins hair before they ran off, shouting thank yous as they did.
Leah went back to Meredith, sipping the glass of lemonade she poured. She glanced at Meredith as she asked about her situation. “It’ll be handled. Peter believes that I can file some kind of suit against them if I compile enough evidence, but I’m not so sure.” she told her, looking down at her drink. “Me against Dexter’s lawyers?” Leah frowned at hearing that Meredith talked to her father for her. She knew how hard that must have been, from the stories Meredith had told her. “Mer… I’m so sorry.” she told her. “You should have never had to do that for me.”
Watching as the twins ran off to go play with their new toys, Mer smiled softly at Leah. “They love you” she then laughed and took a sip of her lemonade before turning back to the more serious conversation. She sighed “I don’t think the law is exactly trustworthy right now, Dexter’s got almost every cop and lawyer under his thumb. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had managed to corrupt the judges too. Unfortunately the law isn’t on our side anymore…” She thought about how sad that sounded. Her children were growing up in a world where even the law couldn’t be trusted. “I don’t mind, don’t be sorry. He’s still my father and I should probably keep better tabs on him anyway” She gave her friend a sincere smile and looking her in the eyes “I would do anything to protect you, you are much apart of my family as anybody even more so than either of my parents ever were.” She paused for a moment to make sure Leah knew how serious she was. “Now, we need a plan. You can’t rely on the corrupt lawyers. There’s got to be something we can do” She tilted her head to the side thinking for a moment before her attention was turned to the sound of one of the kids crying. She sighed and looked back at Leah “Well maybe we can do this later”
With a small laugh she made her way over to her crying little boy. “What’s wrong Logi Bear?” She kneeled down to check him out, seeing that he cut his finger. “What did you do? Shhh its not that bad baby” She kissed his forehead but before she went to go get a bandaid she noticed a strange haze take over the air around her. Her fingers and toes went numb first until then it took over her vision. She felt like somebody had drugged her, panicked she went down on all fours “Leah I can’t see” Meredith tried to keep her breath steady. She could hear Logan crying and she could feel Amelia by her side “Are they okay? Are you okay?” Her vision was completely black and her body tingled as she tried to move “What’s going on?!”
Leah smiled as she made her way out of her apartment, ignoring the strange way her landlord looked at her. It was true, it was rather strange to see the blonde smiling so brightly, but today was different. She wasn’t dragging herself to work at a place corrupted by peopled she hated, or forcing a smile for those at PROTECT. She was going to see her best friend and her god children, three people she would lay down her name and life for. Three people she couldn’t wait to visit when she could. With her busy schedule, it was hard to free up time to go see Meredith and her children, but she finally managed to get Grant to clear a whole day for her. So yes, a smile greeted the blondes face as she waved down a taxi, her purse stocked with two toys for her two beloved god children. She gave the driver the address and sat back, watching her city go by comfortably. It was strange how at ease she felt staring up at the tall buildings. Like any New Yorker, she didn’t awe at the skyscrapers, but rather appreciated them. They were markers of her home, afterall.
Leah broke from her thoughts as the driver pulled up to the Curtis’ place of residence. She paid the driver, even adding a bigger tip that usual, and got out of the cab, tightening her bag on her shoulder as she walked into the apartment building. She took the elevator and veered towards Meredith’s apartment. She knocked on the door, smiling as she heard the excited chatter of Logan and Amelia Curtis behind it. She smiled at Meredith as she opened the door, squeezing in so the twins wouldn’t sneak past her. “Hey Meredith, you look wonderful as usual.” she greeted before turning to the children. “Sweethearts!” she exclaimed, bending down to hug the two excited twins. “How are you, loves? Been good for mommy?” The two nodded, but Leah caught the mischievous smirk on Logan’s face. Leah chuckled. “You’ve got your hands full, Mer.” she said before standing up. “Who wants presents, hm?”
“Oh come in!” Meredith took Logan’s hand in hers so he wouldn’t run off and moved out of the way. It was a pleasant sight to see such a bright smile on Leah’s face. After the way they had left things she feared Leah would be distant but as the blonde gushed over Amelia and Logan, Mer could see that wasn’t the case. The two children hopped up and down chanting yes and squealing with excitement. Meredith laughed “Okay we can do presents in a minute, lets let Aunt Leah come in first” The twins pouted and stomped adorably off into the kitchen to wait for their gifts. Mer smiled “You are going to spoil them” She leaned in and gave Leah a hug “Its nice to see you, how have you been doing?” She asked as she released her. As she led her friend into the kitchen she looked down at the Amy and Logan who had been waiting patiently “Okay you may go hound aunt Leah now” The twins clapped and ran over to Leah, tugging at her shirt. “Well don’t be rude” She laughed as they quickly bombarded her with pleases. As Leah handed them their presents, Meredith finished preparing lunch and poured both her and Leah a glass of lemonade.
Sliding the glass over to Leah, she watched as the two kids ran off to go play. “So how is the situation at work going?” Meredith asked lowering her voice just in case the children were listening. “I called my dad, he said he would look into things but he didn’t make any promises” She sighed, conversations with her father were usually one sided and brief and quite limited. Her mother still had no idea where she was and she planned on keeping it that way. She would never risk exposing her kids to such a woman, her mother was ruthless and dangerous. Yet her father still stayed with her after years of abuse. She re-focused her attention to Leah after having been distracted. She smiled “I hope things get better for you”
The loneliest people are the kindest. The saddest people smile the brightest. The most damaged people are the wisest. All because they do not wish to see anyone else suffer the way they do.
