HERE I AM

CHAPTER 23

Thank you guys that commented on the last chapter. The blogs for Art of Deception, Royal Eyes, Far From Perfect and Diced are all open for those that gave me your email. You have to accept the email invitation before you can access the blogs to read. Please remember to comment on them because I want to know what you guys think of the new stories. So far I have posted a oneshot, Art of Deception and Royal Eyes. Diced and Far From Perfect are up next. Notifications won't be made each time I update because most of the time I will be writing for another story. Enjoy!

"How is he?" She asked standing in the living room wrapped up in a fluffy pink blanket. 

"It's not looking too good" he replied looking at her tiny frame. Detective Harris had stopped by when he got a call from Nicki early this morning. Everyone was still in bed sleeping. 

"What do you mean by that exactly"

"We've confiscated his phone" he informed dryly. Nicki scrunched up her face.

"For what exactly? He did nothing wrong!"

"Ma'am we don't know that and until he's cleared, he won't be having any contact whatsoever with anyone." He paused before continuing. "There's something else we need to discuss also" he added. Nicki's eyes were already puffy as she didn't get any sleep last night. Scarlett had woken up numerous times throughout the night for the same reason. Her breathing seemed to be getting worse even with the treatment the doctor prescribed. In addition, she started having cold sweats early this morning. 

"What is that exactly?" She shifted her weight onto her other foot. He handed her a piece of paper. She looked at it in his hand then stared at him. "What does it say?" She asked not even wanted to read it. Detective Harris immediately opened it up and began reading.

"As of this day August 18, 2012 all personal items as well as property at 4141 S Woodhill Lane belonging to Aubrey Graham belongs to the state of California pending a fraud investigation." He looked up once he finished reading. 

"So that's a warrant?"

"Yes, which means that you guys have to leave the premises within the hour." Nicki shook her head in disbelief. This is really happening. "Look it doesn't look too good at this point for him so you guys should start making other arrangements"

"I can't believe that y'all actually believe this woman!" She walked over to him slowly. "Let me ask you a question."

Detective Harris nodded for her to proceed. "Do you think she is telling the truth?" She waited for his response. 

"Honestly no but it's his word against hers and she claims she have evidence. That's why we're doing a full investigation."

"You want evidence?" She asked walking to the freezer and pulling out a large ziploc bag. "How about you analyze this and see what you come up with." She handed him the bag before making her way upstairs to pack and wake everyone up. "Don't worry you'll be hearing from his lawyer soon. By the way, we'll be out of here shortly." With that she disappeared into the bedroom.

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"Why can't I just make a call and check up on my daughter?"

"We've been over this Mr. Graham. For the time being you're not allowed to contact anyone pending the investigation" the officer spat. Drake was being held in an interrogation room with three officers and one detective. "Now lets hear your side of all this"

Drake was infuriated. He didn't want to be here in the first place. "I ALREADY TOLD YOU MY STORY!"

"Mr. Graham calm down. Now the more you reveal to us the better your chances of leaving here soon." the detective paused looking over his notes. "Let me ask you a question" Drake didn't say anything, he just shrugged. "Have you guys ever been intimate?"

"Hell no! Is that what she told you?" 

"As a matter of fact she told us a lot of things." he took another look at his note pad and began. "She claims that you loved her and that you knew all along what she was doing regrading the fraud case against her. She also said that you told her to take your daughter and stay in Ohio while you handled business." he held up a bag filled with receipts and other stuff she led them to. 

"What is that?" Drake asked. The detective laughed and opened the bag pulling out numerous paperwork.

"Let's see what we have here, shall we?" he paused before handing him a document. "Receipts with your personal information wired to a bank account in your name, your signature is on every one just so you know"  

Drake threw the papers on the desk and ran his fingers threw his head. She clearly framed him with all her legal woes. He didn't know what to say or do because the evidence was sitting right in front of him. Feeling frustrated, he rest his head onto the table. He hoped Nicki was strong enough to handle the task he had given her because it looked like there was absolutely no way he would get out of this.

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Nicki and Mama Sandi had packed up all their belongings along with Scarlett and left Drake's house heading for her condo. Once they were all settled in and comfortable, Scarlett had stop breathing for a minute and it absolutely scared her so they immediately rushed her to a nearby hospital to get her checked out again. The doctor had diagnose her with slight apnea. She was placed on CPAP along with a different steriod to help her breathe and watched overnight to make sure her it didn't worsen before they sent her home. Luckily, she was fine and the medicine worked which was a relief to both Nicki and Sandi.

After they came back from the hospital, Nicki took Scarlett up to her room to lay her down. She had fell asleep on the car ride over. The doctor told her that she should keep a close eye on her just to make sure that she was alright. Nicki took off her shoes and laid back in the bed. She was exhausted. Sandi offered to cook while Nicki and Scarlett got some much needed rest. 

Minutes later, Nicki was still wide awake thinking about Drake. She couldn't sleep knowing that he was still being interrogated like some criminal. She hoped that the evidence she gave the detective was enough to let them set him free. Scarlett kept asking for him with each passing hour and she was running out of ideas on what to tell the toddler. She sighed facing the child as she slept peacefully. She showed no signs of distress which Nicki happily took as a sign that the medicine was continually working. She reached her hand up and rubbed her finger over the child's cheek. Nicki was lost on what to do next. The only thing she could do at this point was wait. With eyelids heavy and tears running down her face she closed her reddened eyes and succumbed to sleep.

It was getting late when Nicki was in the living room with Sandi and Scarlett watching tv. Sandi had already given Scarlett a bath right after they ate. Nicki's eyes were focused on the tv but her mind was somewhere else. Sandi took notice.

"You ok dear?" She asked worriedly. Nicki turned her focus to Sandi snapping out of her thoughts. 

"I'm ok" she lied. Sandi sighed. She knew that Nicki was thinking about Drake again. In all honesty, she was too. Her son had been gone for days now and no one knew what was going on. To top it all off, she needed to get back home to Toronto soon which meant that Nicki would be by herself with Scarlett. She didn't want to leave but she needed to be back home. She even offered to take Scarlett with her but Nicki insisted that she would be able to handle taking care of her on  her own. 

"You know I called your mother" she informed . Nicki quickly whipped her head around. 

"Why?" 

"Well, for one she called me worrying about you and for two, you could use some support right now" Nicki sighed. She hasn't spoken to her mother in about a week. Naturally, she understood why her mother would worry about her but she didn't know that her mother and Sandi had been communicating. 

"I'm gonna go call her, I don't want her to worry" she said getting up and going to her room.

Her mother was relived to hear her voice and gave her encouraging words to help he get through everything. After they ended their conversation Nicki went back into the living room and found Scarlett and Sandi playing a board game. Scarlett was laughing and being her normal self again. Nicki smiled before walking over to them.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked sitting on the floor next to them.

"Scarlett here wanted to play Candy Land" Sandi informed.

"I see"

"Nana play Candy Land with me" 

"Can I play too?" Nicki asked the toddler. Scarlett shook her head clutching her pink bunny. They played for  a couple minutes before they heard someone knocking on the door. 

It was nine at night and Nicki wasn't expecting any visitors. Sandi offered to get the door while Nicki and Scarlett packed every thing up from off the floor and placing it back in the box. She looked through the peephole to find Wayne. She opened the door to let him inside.

"Hey Wayne" she greeted with a hug before pulling away and seeing a small figure next to him. It was Lil Tune and he had something in his hand.

"Hey Mama, we heard what had happened and wanted to come offer our support" he informed.

"Well that was very nice of you guys"

"Tunie don't you have something for everyone?" Lil wayne asked looking at the boy. Tune reached up and handed Mama Sandi some roses and gave her a hug.

"Aww that's very sweet of you" she said before he walked over to Nicki and handed her roses also. Nicki thanked him before he handed Scarlett a teddy bear that was holding candy in it’s hand and gave her a rose before reaching out to hug her. He was clearly happy to see her again.

"Omg he's so cute!" Nicki said sniffing her roses and placing them down before hugging Wayne. They all sat around talking while Scarlett and Lil Tune were watching Spongebob until it was time for them to go.

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The next couple days was pretty much the same except that Sandi went back to Toronto this morning. She promised to come back in a couple days to check on them. She knew Scarlett was in good hands so she didn't worry too much but she still wanted and missed her son dearly. Things had taken a wrong turn so fast that neither Nicki or Mama Sandi had time to process it all. Nicki even put all her work on hold until all of this settled. She found herself constantly thinking about Drake. 

Lauren and Safaree came by with Simba to keep Nicki company and to get her mind off of everything. They had kept the dog when everything went down. Scarlett was excited to see him and it was likewise with the dog. He licked all over her face and they ran off to play. 

Later on they took Scarlett to the park as things with the media had calmed down drastically but Nicki still took extra protection and made sure that her body guards were there to ensure their safety. Lauren's bump was still small but now if you looked harder you could tell that she was pregnant. Nicki was so happy for them and was glad things looked like it was going well.

"So have you talked to him yet?"

"Who Drake?' Nicki asked eating her ice cream while Safaree kept Scarlett company as she played. Lauren nodded her head. "No, they won't let me talk to him and the took his phone" she informed.

"Wow, that's a shame! He's probably worried about you guys" Nicki sighed.

"Yeah, well there is nothing that we can do about it now. I gave the detective the bag that was in my freezer when Lisa drugged him. I hope they find her DNA or fingerprints on them and realize that she's nothing but a con artist and liar"

"You still had that in your freezer?"

"Yup. I'm glad I didn't throw it away too" she replied.

"Wow" Lauren paused before continuing. "Don't worry bestie, you guys will be fine. I'm sure they're gonna eventually let Drake go" she said before giving her friend a hug.

"I hope you're right"

When they finally got back home, Nicki gave Scarlett a bath remembering that she still had her arm in a cast. Safaree and Lauren left to go back home after the park so now she was once again alone. Just her and Scarlett. She gave Scarlett a snack before the settled for watching a movie in her room. She could tell that Scarlett was missing her dad by the way she stared at a picture on Nicki's dresser. Nicki felt bad. It was terrible seeing an innocent child going through so much in her young life and not being able to understand it all.

Nicki was snapped out of her trance when she heard someone knocking at the door. She wondered who it could be at this hour of the night. She told Scarlett to stay put in the bed and slipped her foot into her pink fuzzy slippers and tightening her rob. Nicki looked through the pephole to see someone she wasn't expecting to see. She opened the door and just stared not saying anything. After awhile, the person spoke up.

"Aren't you gonna let me in?"

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