“A girl of that age should not be able to get a visiting order, let alone a visiting order from the dad who abused her!” Natalie moaned down the phone. “I’m sorry,” the woman said, “but it must have slipped through the net. We will never allow him to do this again, I apologize” and Natalie let out a worried moan, “No I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be yelling, it’s just I finally got him out of our lives and then that reminder?” The woman looked at her papers and said, “I’ll retract it, want me to retract the one for Julie Anderson as well?”

“Julie?” Natalie asked suddenly even more worried and confused, “Err, yeah, retract it, thank you for your help” and the woman said “Will do, sorry for this” Suddenly, out of nowhere the woman asked, “I see you have James Neilson in your house?”. “Er yeah, why?” Natalie replied, inquisitive. “No reason, have a nice day now”. “Yeah bye” and she put the phone down and thought a minute.



One of the weirdest phone calls. “Julie had one? What the hell did she want to know about James for?” she kept asking to herself.

Natalie walked into the living room where she saw Julie sitting and watching TV. She walked over and stood in front of it. “Hey I can’t see the TV!” she moaned. Natalie hit the off switch following with a huge moan of “Ugh, what’s wrong now?”. “You have always protected me, and always needed to” Natalie said. “So you turned off my programme to do that? It wasn’t recording!”. “Julie listen to me. Visiting order?” and Julie’s eyes widened.



“I opened it and it all came back” she said. “Every moment” and she pushed her hair behind her ear, “But I didn’t want you to worry about me, you have so much to worry about with the baby and everything” and Julie wiped her tears from her eyes. “The baby isn’t going to sudden die if I care for someone else” she said. Natalie grabbed Julie and gave her a big hug. “You’ve always cared for me,” she said, “Now it’s time to return the favour”

Caitlin sat in her room getting ready for her second date, hoping it wouldn’t be being stuck in a car in the freezing cold again. She wouldn’t swap it for the world, though.

The doorbell rang and Natalie rushed to the door, yelling “I’ll get it!” and when she swung it open, Dylan was standing there and when he saw her he turned quiet and said “Oh erm… is… Cait here?” and Natalie smiled, “yeah, she’s just getting ready, come in” and she showed him to the sofa in the hall. “Sit down,” she said, “I’m sure Cait will be here soon” and she walked back into the kitchen.



Once Caitlin was ready, she walked down the stairs to see Dylan sitting there. With a shy smile, she said “Oh hey, Dylan, you’re early” and he let out a nervous chuckle, “yeah, I accounted for the car to break down and it actually didn’t for once”. They walked into the kitchen to see Natalie being all excited as she watched them. As they got outside and down the steps, James got out of his car and said “have a nice time, you two!” and he walked inside.



“Up for an eating place or just the park?” Dylan said. “Oh, just the park,” said Caitlin, “It’d be nice to just walk about and have a little enjoyment in the snow” and he nodded. “Right,” he said, “Let’s see if this thing’s going to turn on” and he turned the key with a huge VROOOOM and the engine actually started, “Yes!” he yelled, “Finally it’s bloody working, my bloody uncle must be some sort of miracle worker!”

They drove to the park to see an empty, snowy paradise. They got out of the car and walked around the snow for a few minutes, hearing the crunching beneath their feet. The snow was really deep at this point and even though it came on and off, was still snowing. They crossed the bridge to the only sheltered bench in the park and as they looked around, it was so beautiful.



They sat down on the bench and watched the snow fall around them. She felt safe with him, more safe than she had felt in a while with no idea why. “I’d love a cat,” She said out of the blue. “A cat?” he asked, confused. “Yeah, because I’ve never had one before and I always asked my dad for one and he told me no. Glad I didn’t know because he would’ve hurt it as well” and with that, Dylan turned his head rapidly in a worry and said “as well?”



“Oh sorry,” she said, “I forgot you didn’t know, don’t suppose you watch the news?” and he tilted his head and shrugged his shoulders, “Occasionally”. She took a deep breath and said, “Don’t suppose you’ve heard the story of Brian Harrison?” and he thought a moment but then his eyes widened and he said “No… you’re not her…” and she nodded, “Probably didn’t ring a bell, I’ve had my name changed to Caitlin Anderson now, used to be Caitlin Harrison” and he said “You put up with so much, the fact you’re still standing shows how much strength you have”

She brushed her hair over her ear again and shrugged, “I finally had my mother after a long sixteen years and it felt as if she could keep me up and care for her, as well as Aunt Julie” and he smiled, “I’m glad you feel safe now, and he’s in prison right?” and she nodded again.

As time passed they decided to go back to the car and into the warmth. They looked at each other a moment and then Caitlin said “It’s been fun today” and he nodded, “Yeah, it’s really nice having someone there,” and they looked at each other. The air inside the car was warm, yet inviting and they sat in it a while without driving, but in the end they knew they should get home, “Ready?” he said and she nodded, happily.



The car parked to a halt on the curb of her house. “Thanks for today,” he said, “I loved every moment” and he placed his hand on hers, sending a chill all over her body, like one when you hear amazing music, “very” she quietly said. He looked at her and whispered “I’ve never met anyone as outstanding, beautiful and amazing as you” Their eyes were staring into the others, her breath was almost stopping, they got closer and she could see the blue of his eyes like oceans, something she’d never noticed before, but as the moment became more perfect, their lips met. The kiss was unlike anything they ever felt before, it was warm but right, like electricity and it felt like the most magical thing. Her body became limp and she was lost in the kiss. As it ended they let out a breath and the view of the car and the house came back. “I’ll call you…” she said as she breathed out and Dylan replied “Not if I call you first”



She walked up the steps as Dylan drove away and in the first time for a long time, she felt complete.