Holiday Rush

Chapter 1: Holiday Rush

Nessie

"Mommy mommy wake up," little hands pushed my body desperately trying to arouse me from my sleep.

I groaned.

"Mommy wake up,"

My eyes remained shut but the relentless little girl wouldn't give up. I opened my eyes and saw Lacey, my three year old daughter, standing right in front of me. "Henry told me to wake you up. He says we're going to be late,"

I shook my head. Henry was my two year old labrador retriever service dog. He also served as my daughter's best friend. Though sometimes I questioned whether or not that was a good thing. Lacey insisted that she could understand every word he said. My daughter's odd quirk of insisting she could understand and talk to Henry wasn't just limited to him. My daughter insisted that she could understand everything the animals said. Her doctor said it was probably just a stage she was going through and that eventually she would grow out of it. I hoped so.

Lacey was right about one thing though. If I didn't get out of bed right now we would be late to the airport. My mom died three months ago. I thought I could survive out here in New York City on my own but the office of children and family services felt differently. I had just turned 17 years old when my mom died. I was a full-time student in high school. I was trying to juggle school, work, and raising my daughter but the state told me that I couldn't live on my own. They told me that I would have to enter the system and that my daughter would likely be separated from me.

I told my dad what was going on and he insisted that I come and live with him. Me and my daughter. No, he was demanding it. When my mom first died he tried to get us to come and live with him but I had refused. Now, I didn't have a choice. In a way though I was happy. Thanksgiving was coming up in less than a week and now we didn't have to spend the holidays by ourselves.

I got out of bed and got dressed as fast as I could and then I got Lacey dressed and ready for the long flight to Seattle. It would be my daughter's first time on an airplane. She was very excited. No matter what happened, that tiny little girl of mine never lost her zest for life. Meanwhile, my life had beaten me and kicked me down more times than I could possibly count.

When I was a baby I had been abandoned by my birth parents on the outskirts of Port Angeles, Washington. By the time the doctors found me I was nearly dead of starvation and hypothermia. Yet, somehow, I made a miraculous recovery and pulled through. Less than 24 hours old and I was already going through a hard trial in my life.

Once I made a full recovery I was adopted. Then, soon after that, we moved all the way across the country to New York City. When I was Lacey's age I was diagnosed with Leukemia. That was a seven-year long battle. I was in and out of hospitals all the time. I had numerous surgeries done and numerous stem cell transplants. I was finally declared cancer free when I was ten years old.

For a few years I lived a normal life like any other kid. Then one night, shortly after my fourteenth birthday I suffered a traumatic event that I was never able to really overcome. I was walking home one night when I was brutally beaten and gang raped by five teenage boys I knew from school. They were all in my freshman class. They left me in the street thinking that I was close to death. If it were not for the late-night jogger who found me I probably would have died that night.

Two months after the assault took place I found out that I was pregnant. I was shocked, mortified, and scared. My mom wanted me to get an abortion. I knew that was something I couldn't go through with though. Because despite the circumstances surrounding the baby's conception I already knew that I loved my baby and I wanted to keep my baby. When Lacey was born I knew that I had made the right decision.

After the rape I developed severe anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Every time I saw one of my rapists in school, I would have a full-blown panic attack. They would just laugh at me when they saw me. They never saw justice for what they did to me. The police said "It was all your fault. You shouldn't have dressed so provocatively and young girls like yourself shouldn't be out walking alone at night,". Those were the officer's exact words.

My mom got me into therapy and that helped. It was at my therapist's suggestion that I get a service dog to help me with my anxiety and my post-traumatic stress. Henry was a godsend. He helped ease so many panic attacks. "Come on mommy. Hurry up," my daughter ordered excitedly.

I laughed. That girl was just so full of life, love, and happiness. I dreaded the day that I would have to tell her that she was conceived in rape. Just the thought of telling her made me want to cry. But then maybe it wouldn't end up being me that told her. Because after the news I got from my doctor a month and a half ago I might not live for much longer. My leukemia had returned and there was a good chance I might not live a lot longer.

We walked outside just as the Uber driver approached us. My heart skipped a beat when I saw that it was a man driving. I clutched Henry and Lacey close to my body. I Henry behind the ears to calm myself down. I didn't need to have a panic attack in front of this man.

"Are you okay, miss?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm, um I'm fine," I felt like I was choking on the words.

As soon as I got in the car I realized in my haste that I had forgotten to take my medicine that morning. I searched through my carry-on bag and found the bottle.

"So where are you two headed?" the driver asked me.

"We are going to move in with grandpa," Lacey answered for me.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah my dad is letting us move in with him since my mom just died a few months ago. It hasn't been an easy time for my daughter or I,"

We remained pretty silent for the rest of the drive to the airport. It was very busy as I suspected it would be with Thanksgiving being only days away. But we dropped off our luggage and found our way through security pretty easily.

"Mommy! Mommy! Can we get McDonald's?!" Lacey asked very excitedly. "Sure sweetie,"

"Yes!"

Since we still had some time to kill before boarding our flight I thought why not? It wasn't very often that we ate at fast food places. I internally groaned when I saw the overpriced food. I shook my head. But seeing my daughter's smiling and happy face made it all worth it for me.

After eating breakfast we went back to the lounge area and waited for our flight. The lounge was packed with people traveling. In all of the hustle and bustle I noticed one woman looking at me. I noticed that she was a very beautiful woman with caramel colored hair, pale skin, and gold eyes with what looked like small bruises underneath them. She was sitting by herself. She reminded me a lot of Edward. Edward also had golden eyes. He also had bronze hair and pale skin. It had been years since he stopped visiting me but I never forgot him. I had always felt safe and protected when he was around. Even if he only visited for a couple of days a few times a year. The only contact I have with him now is the money he sends me every month. I never understood why he insisted on sending me money but it had seemed really important to him when I asked him about it. Now I was just grateful as it helped keep a roof over mine and my daughter's head when my mom passed away. Lacey and I went to sit down in another part of the terminal. We listened closely when they started boarding our flight.

When it was our turn I had to hold my daughter tight so she wouldn't sprint to the front of the line. People sneered at me when they saw me. "Great, a toddler and a service dog," someone said.

"Just what we need a barking dog and a screaming kid on this flight,"

I tried to find an open seat but every time I found two open spots people would put their stuff down right on the seats and look at me in disgust. "No. That dog and kid of yours will just make too much noise,"

"You can sit over here," a kind sitting a few rows back offered. I realized it was the beautiful woman I'd seen sitting by herself earlier. She had a smile on her face. I smiled weakly back at her. "Thanks," I shoved my carry-on bag in the overhead luggage.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with that," the kind woman said.

"Thanks. You're really kind,"

"My name is Esme. What's your name?"

"It's Renesmee,"

A strange look crossed her face. "That is a very unusual name," she said.

"Yeah it's a bit of a mouthful. My family just calls me Nessie,"

"That's not true mommy. I call you mommy," Lacey announced.

"And who is this beautiful little girl?" Esme smiled at my daughter now.

I laughed. "This is my daughter. Her name is Lacey,"

"Why aren't you a beautiful little girl,"

"Thank you," my daughter blushed.

"So why are you two heading to Seattle?" Esme asked me. I could tell that she was genuinely curious and not just trying to make conversation.

"To make a really long story short we have to move in with my dad. Now seemed like a good time to do it with Thanksgiving only a few days away," I explained. "Are you from Seattle or are you just visiting someone?"

"My family and I live in Seattle. I had to travel for, well, never mind. But I'm glad to be heading back home. They drive me crazy but I miss them,"

I was about to ask another question when a flight attendant came on the overheard and started explaining all of the safety procedures to us. It was going to be a long flight but at least we seemed to have made one friend.