We settled into a schedule, of sorts. They spent three or four nights a week with us and almost every weekend. Occasionally, something kept Syndy at school late, but it was rare. She could often be found sitting at our kitchen table, grading papers or working on lesson plans. Randy and I fell more and more in love with her, Andie and Cat every day. All our lives, we had wanted children and Andie was the answer to all our prayers.
We cried when she called Randy, “Daddy” for the first time. It wasn’t long before I became “Mommy Kara,” too. We loved that little brown bundle of joy as much as if we’d been her real parents. Cat seemed to have adopted us as well. He let me take him for walks and I got plenty of looks that, for once, had nothing to do with me. One rarely sees a woman walking a bobcat.
We’d been together for three years when Syndy finally opened up to us about Andie’s father. I don’t know if she ever would have, had events not forced her hand. She’d been out late at a volleyball game; it was about 11 PM when I heard her key in the lock. She came bursting in, clutching Andie, and with Cat following her. She was crying hysterically and it was upsetting Andie and Cat dreadfully. Randy sat and held her on the sofa and I got Andie in bed. I held her until she was calm and she drifted off, the sleep of the innocent overtaking her.
I went to the kitchen and made Syndy a cup of hot chocolate. When I took it in, she was sobbing and Randy was looking up at me with sad and helpless eyes. I got a warm washcloth and cleaned her up while she sipped her chocolate and Randy petted her. We finally got her calmed down enough to speak.
“He’s found me!” she broke down again.
“Who, baby?” I asked. “Who’s found you and made you so upset?”
“Him,” she sobbed. “Andie’s father, Marcus.”
“Why does that upset you so much,” Randy asked her. “Wouldn’t it be good for Andie to know her father?”
“No, you don’t understand,” she wept. “He’s evil! I think he’s the devil, Randy. He… he… did things to us, to me. Oh, God, what am I going to do?” Her sobs became a wail.
“Honey, you’ve got to talk to us,” I pulled her head to my breast and held her like a baby. “We don’t know anything about this. You’ve never told us anything. We didn’t want to push you, but you’ve got to talk to us now. We won’t let anything bad happen to you or Andie. You’ve got to trust us, Syndy.”
“I do,” she could hardly get the words out. “I hoped he’d never find us and the nightmare would just go away. We’ve been so happy and I’ve felt so loved and safe, but he’s found us.”
Randy held her face in his hands and made her look in his eyes. “Syndy, stop being afraid and talk to us,” She calmed down and the story came tumbling out.
She had been a wild child. She met Marcus when she was 17 and fell in love with that “bad boy” thug image. They had an on again off again relationship all the time she was in college. He was into some really bad things, drugs, crime, the usual things stupid young men think are glamorous. She got pregnant and things fell apart. After Andie was born he became abusive, took her to clubs and let other men use her. He got her into bondage and sexual torture and a downward spiral into degradation began. She had been desperate to keep their relationship and gave in for a while. Finally, a counselor at school had helped her escape from him and she spent the next two years getting healthy. Marcus went to prison for drug trafficking and weapons charges and she had moved to Texas, and then here. The nightmares had begun to fade. Then she became part of our lives and she told us that her life had become something she’d always dreamed of but never thought she’d find.