The New Home ((G/T))

Chapter Twenty-Three

Kiana sits in her father's lap, holding tight onto the fabric of his shirt as they drove. Lily remained at the hospital with Abigail, but Meghan was riding in the passenger side of the car. Caleb refused to let the clerk hold onto Kiana, as he doesn't fully trust her. And they would have left Kiana at the hospital, but they needed her to identify the man as they couldn't bring him there for safety reasons.

"Daddy?" Kiana spoke softly as she nearly toppled over as they took a sharp turn. Her grip tightened onto his shirt as her small black ears pinned against her head. Least to say, she was terrified of falling.

"What is it dear?" Caleb responded, leaving his eyes locked onto the road. Anger was still boiling inside of him, and he had to do everything in his power to keep his voice calm to avoid scaring his new daughter.

"C-Can I please ride with Meghan? Sh-She can hold onto me and keep me from falling! I'm scared." She whimpered out, curling further into his stomach though she was blocked by the seatbelt which was a strange texture against her arms.

"Come on, please." Meghan pleaded softly, her soft eyes remaining locked on Kiana. She had prepared herself to catch the child if necessary. "I can promise I won't hurt her. I really promise." She felt childish pleading with him like this, but she couldn't bear to watch her get hurt again.

"Fine, take her. But I'll hold her once we get to the station." Caleb grumbled with a soft sigh, taking another turn as Kiana had just let go so Meghan could take her and went tumbling to the floor of the car.

She let out a yelp of pain as she landed on her back, bending her tail painfully to the side. The wind had gotten knocked out of her, but that's happened before with other people. She groaned as Meghan's hands lifted her gingerly off the floor, coughing as she struggled to catch her breath.

"Shh, it's alright." The woman cooed, placing Kiana in her lap and using her hands to hold her in place. "Once you identify the man this will go to court and all be over. Okay?" 

"O-Okay." Kiana whispered and closed her brown orbs tight, just wanting to get back home and maybe get a snack.

It was only another ten minutes until they arrived at the station, and Caleb took Kiana swiftly from Meghan and hurried into the large building with the clerk following close behind.

Kiana looked around the room nervously, several men and women both in police uniforms chatting, standing at the desk writing, or taking people dressed in orange back through large double doors. Needless to say, all the people in the area made her nervous.

"Caleb Marshall, yes?" A female officer walked over looking at Caleb, then to Kiana and Meghan. "These two are with you then."

"Yes, and yes." Caleb responded, holding Kiana close to his chest to both comfort her and keep her safe.

"Follow me please." The woman turned and walked off through a door, and he followed with Kiana who once again gripped onto his shirt nervously.

She led them into a small room with a large glass window, and through the window a man dressed in dark blue jeans and a black hoodie sat at a table. His eyes turned and locked onto Kiana's with a fierce gaze and it didn't take the Neko long to recognize him.

"Th-That's him!" She squealed. "H-He's the one who b-beat me and kept m-me locked up and used me a-as...as..." Tears brimmed in her eyes despite Caleb's attempt to keep her calm. "H-He's also the one who grabbed me and shot Abby!"

The officer nodded her head. "Alright, that's all we needed then. We'll schedule a court hearing and keep him in a cell. Sir, if you could fill out a few papers? Sir?"

But Caleb wasn't listening. His blood was boiling and he was sure his face should be a dark red. He passed Kiana off to Meghan and stormed into the room with a dark look in his green eyes.

Before anyone even had a chance to react, his fist made contact with the man's nose, sending him tumbling out of the chair. "Who the hell do you think you are?!" He shouted angrily. "Breaking into my home. Trying to take my daughter and shooting my oldest one!" Another punch was thrown, landing directly in the middle of his eye.

The man struggled to fight back. Caleb was certainly stronger than he looked and didn't plan on letting up. But when two other officers pulled him away, he had to give in and backed off. "You are so lucky it's not worth the jail time!" Caleb near screamed, and the man looked downright terrified. And he felt that was a good thing.

"Just fill out the papers and go." One of the officers ordered, Caleb gladly obliging as he exited the room and went back to Kiana who trembled in Meghan's hands, staring at her father with fear filled brown orbs.

"Oh, Kiana...sweetheart." His tone changed into a soft and comforting one. "Don't be afraid. I didn't mean to scare you, I just wanted to teach him a lesson." He whispered, reaching his hand out to her as a gesture to climb into his palm. It was his least dominant hand, as the other was bloody was beating the other guy's ass.

Kiana stared at his hand before looking up into his eyes. There she saw the same soft look in those dark green eyes as she had seen the day he adopted her from the store. The day she found her real home. And as a small smile crept onto her face, she climbed into his hand.