Chapter 43 - Parents
"Did you find something?" Cat asked Trey hopefully. She could feel Kayla tense up while they waited for an answer.
"Yes, I found your parents, Kayla. They still live here in Sacramento and have been looking for you for the past three years. They're on their way here now. Are you ready to see them?" Trey was happy that Kayla was comfortable with Cat, but he knew she may not be ready for her parents yet.
Kayla looked up at Cat, who could tell she wasn't sure how to answer. Cat understood her weariness. She was worried that her parents would blame her. How could they love her when she didn't love herself?
"Will you stay with me if I see them?" Kayla whispered into her ear.
"Yes, I'll stay with you." Cat smiled, grateful Kayla had a home to go to and a family that wanted her.
"Okay, I'll see them when they get here. Can you ask the monster catcher to come in with them? I want to make sure no monsters sneak in." She looked up at Cat pleadingly.
"Trey, Kayla will see them, but she would like you to be here as well." Cat winked at him when she saw his surprise. She would have to remember to tell him later that she had dubbed him the monster catcher. If only Kayla could see him change into Atlas, then she would really feel safe.
"Alright, I'll come in with them." Trey left after giving one last look at his mate, holding the frightened girl on her lap. He was thinking his kitten was one of a kind when he heard footsteps behind him. It was Valerie, and she didn't look good.
"Hey, Trey, where's Cat? I'm not really getting anything from the children I've talked to. They'll nod and shake their heads, but no one will tell me their names or talk to me. They're all extremely traumatized." Valerie was on the verge of tears from the condition of some of the children she'd seen.
"Cat's still in the room with Kayla. Get this, not only did she get Kayla to talk, she got her to tell her about how she was kidnapped three years ago and who her parents were. I've located them, and they're on their way here now." Trey could tell Valerie was stunned by this news.
"Wow, that's truly amazing. Cat was right; it does help to have someone speak to them that has been in their shoes. You have a beautiful young woman in there. Make sure you don't do anything to mess this up." Valerie smiled up at the young man whom she loved like a son. She could tell that he and Cat were more than mates. Just being in their presence, you could feel the love between them.
"You don't have to worry about that. I would die before I let something separate us." Trey hugged her.
"I'm going to go and see if I can get any of these kids to open up. If I don't have any luck, maybe we can have Cat help, but I don't know about having her do it today. This one may be draining for her, and I think we should spread it out." Trey nodded; he agreed he didn't want to overwhelm Cat too much all at once.
"Kayla's parents should be here soon. Once Cat can leave Kayla, I'm taking her home. We can come back in the morning and start working on the others. I have Marc looking into missing children to see if any of the other kids have been reported missing. It may help if we can find their parents."
"That's a good idea. I want you and Cat to stay in the pool house for as long as you want. I know it was only supposed to be until they caught Leo, but I like having you both there. It's refreshing not being alone while Roger's working." Valerie wouldn't mind if they stayed permanently, but she knew they would eventually want their own place.
"Thank you. I think we'll stay there for a while because I like being close so you can work with Cat. It seems to be helping." Trey knew Cat was ready to find their own home, but he was hoping to persuade her to hold off and stay at the pool house for now.
Valerie gave Trey one last hug and then went back to the children. Trey sat down outside Kayla's room. He refused to be more than a door away from Cat. There was no way someone was going to get to her again. He turned when he heard someone coming and stood up. From the looks of it, Kayla's parents had arrived.
"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson?" Trey held his hand out to them.
"Yes, are you the detective that called us about our Kayla?" Asked the man, who was about a foot shorter than Trey with sandy brown hair and dark brown eyes. Next to him, his wife was shorter than her husband, with shoulder-length blonde hair and blue eyes. Kayla looked just like her.
"Yes, I'm detective Galloway; please call me Trey. As I said on the phone, we've found Kayla. I want to warn you, though, that she has been through a lot. The man who kidnapped her had been abusing her. She won't say yet to what extent, but from how she looks, we believe it was both physical and sexual. I know you want to run in and hug her, but you can't do that. Kayla will be scared of you because she hasn't felt love or kindness in a long time. My girlfriend Caterina, who is also a nurse, is in there with her now, and Kayla is responding to her. So when we go in, just be calm and go at her speed, okay?"
Trey felt his heart ache as her parents began crying. He understood they were crying in relief at finding their daughter but also because of everything that had happened to her while she was missing.
"Alright, detective, I mean Trey, we'll take it slow with her." Her father answered. Trey led them over to Kayla's door and knocked. He heard Cat say come in, so he peeked his head around before opening all the way. Kayla was still sitting on her lap, and Cat nodded at him to come in.
When Trey walked into the room, followed by Kayla's parents, he heard them gasp in surprise at their daughter's condition. She was covered in bruises and looked like she hadn't been well-fed, but she was alive. Trey looked at them, and they were crying as they stared at her.
Kayla was also crying but not leaving Cat's lap. He could feel the heartache and despair from both sides of the room. Cat had tears running down her face, and Trey felt his eyes getting wet.
Cat whispered something to Kayla, and the girl nodded. They slowly stood up and walked over to Maggie and Chuck while holding hands.
"My name is Cat. I've been talking with Kayla since she was rescued. She has been hurt in many ways, but she's not ready to talk about all of that. Kayla will need you to respect her boundaries and go at her pace. Please don't rush her; it will only hurt her." Cat hoped she was getting through to them, and she felt she was from how they were listening to her.
"Thank you. How do you know so much about this? Do you help kids like Kayla a lot?" Maggie asked through her tears, looking between Cat and Kayla.
"No, but what happened to Kayla happened to me too. So I understand how she feels and what it will take to recover." Cat didn't want to go into detail, but she figured they deserved to know why Kayla was comfortable with her and not them right now. Maggie nodded her understanding as she looked at Cat with compassion.
"Thank you for helping Kayla."
Cat looked down at Kayla and smiled. She leaned down to whisper in her ear.
"Do you think you could hold your mom's hand? If it's too soon, it's okay. I only want you to do what you feel comfortable with." Kayla looked at Cat and then over at her mom. Looking back at Cat, she nodded as her tears fell.
Cat and Kayla walked the few steps to Maggie, and Kayla looked up at Cat again. Cat nodded and saw her take a deep breath. Kayla slowly reached out and took her mom's hand. Both Kayla and Maggie were crying as they held hands.
"Is it okay if I step out for a few minutes? I'll be right back, okay?" Cat saw fear in Kayla's eyes, but then she looked back at her parents, and it passed.
"Yes, but please come back." Kayla said very quietly.
"I will. I promise." Cat squeezed Kayla's hand before she and Trey walked out of the room.
As soon as the door was shut behind them, Cat fell into Trey's arms, crying. She couldn't take it anymore. She'd been keeping her personal emotions locked up while talking with Kayla. However, when she saw Kayla's parents, she had an overwhelming feeling of loss for her mother. She hadn't wanted to break down while in the room.
"Are you okay?" Trey was worried because of the gut-wrenching sobs she was having. He felt something more was going on than just her experience with Kayla.
"This is going to sound selfish, but when I saw Kayla's parents, it made me miss my mom. So much so that I had to leave the room before I lost it. I have nothing of hers to remember her. No pictures, mementos, nothing, and it hit me while we were in there." Trey held her tightly while stroking her hair the way she liked.
"How about I try to find you a picture of her? Also, will you let me see if I can find out if you have any more family members?" Trey hoped Cat would let him do this for her.
"Do you really think you can find a picture of her after all these years?" Cat was astonished. She had never even thought to look.
"I won't promise anything, but I'll look. Actually, I'll have Marc and Ellie help me with this; they're good at this type of stuff." Cat dried her tears and stood on her tip toes so she could pull him down to her.
"I love you so much. I don't know what I ever did right in my life to deserve you." Cat kissed him and didn't care if anyone was watching. She needed her strong werelion right now.
Cat returned to Kayla's room a few minutes later and was pleasantly surprised to see her sitting on the bed. Her parents were in chairs, and she was holding both of their hands. As soon as she saw Cat, she jumped up and ran over to her.
"Thank you for keeping your promise to come back. I feel much better now." Cat hugged her and looked into her eyes. She could see a little light coming into them.
"I'm so glad you're feeling better. Just remember that you are in control, okay? No one will force you to do anything you don't want." Kayla gave her a tiny smile.
"Okay. Thank you."
"Is it okay if I go home now? I'll be back first thing in the morning, but I think you need to get some rest. I'll give you my phone number, so if you need to talk to me, I want you to call me. I don't care what time it is; if you need me, call me, okay?" Cat reached into her purse and pulled out a small piece of paper, writing her number on it. She handed it to Kayla, who stared at it with wide eyes.
"I can call you? You can go home with the monster catcher. Make sure he keeps the monsters away from you, too, okay?" Kayla was holding the piece of paper tightly in her hand. Cat looked toward Maggie and Chuck.
"If you need to talk to me, you can call too. I don't care what time it is, day or night." Cat was surprised when Maggie jumped up and came over to hug her. At first, she froze and felt panic rising in her chest. She wasn't comfortable with anyone other than Trey and Valerie touching her. However, when she felt Maggie crying, she calmed down and slowly hugged her back.
"Thank you, Cat, for being so wonderful. I don't know what would have happened to Kayla if you weren't here." Maggie pulled back and looked at her with a small smile.
"You're welcome. I'm going to go now. I'll be back in the morning." Cat was trying to hold in her tears, but they spilled over.
She and Trey waved at Kayla and her parents before walking out. As they headed to the front door, Cat was silently crying. When they got to the truck, she suddenly remembered they had come with Valerie.
"Where's Valerie?"
"Roger picked her up a little while ago. Let's get home, so we can get some rest." They drove back to Granite Bay in silence, both lost in their thoughts. Cat's were on Kayla, and Trey's were on Cat. He was so proud of her.
