Surviving Him by Dawn Keane Read Free Book Online

down to the floor, he kept up his string of punches and kicks over and over.
    “Please, just let him kill me and get it over with already!” I screamed to the heavens from inside my broken, aching head.
    I would try and cover up my stomach in an attempt to protect the baby, but he kept on and on.
    “Don't you fucking lie to me, you fucking lying bitch!”
    It didn't matter what I said he kept persisting. He wouldn’t even let me up for the toilet.
    “Piss yourself, bitch.”
    I did in the end.
     

 
    The water from the shower sprays down my back, bringing me back from my daydream. I could stay there all night, but my girls need to get washed and changed for dinner soon. It is getting near six pm; we are staying here overnight and heading back home to Manchester tomorrow morning.
    “Mum.” Kayleigh knocks on the bathroom door bringing me back from my horrible past I wish I could erase from my mind.
    “Shit.”
    I grab a towel off the rail, and I drip water all over the bathroom floor. I get my ass back into the room to get ready.
    “What have you two been up to?”
    “Reading a really great book called gangster granny.”
    Kayleigh didn’t even look up from her kindle.
    “It’s so funny, Mum, you should read it. Mrs Wallace from our old school told me about it; the title says it all. I’m only a quarter of the way in but I love it already.”
    “Sounds excellent. What are you doing Amy? Come and give me a cuddle.”
    Amy jumps up and wraps her little arms around me.
    “I’m just colouring in my colouring in book. Look.”
    Amy holds up her princess book showing me a brightly coloured Cinderella.
    “Oh, Amy. That’s a beautiful picture.”
    They are both still so excited about being in Edinburgh, but have been winding down.
    “Come on girls. Get in the shower and we will make our way downstairs for dinner.”
    “Wow, this is amazing! They have put on a good spread.”
    And more birthday cake for the girls.
    “It’s brilliant. I can’t wait to try some of that cake. It looks like chocolate cake, and I’ll have plenty of room left in my belly.”
    I settle in my seat after the most impressive dinner, a glass of white wine and a massive piece of birthday cake. I wrestle with my conscience; It’s only right that I share it, but my greedy taste buds are telling me that sharing is overrated.
    I sink back into my chair; I flick through my phone, checking my Facebook page and uploaded some of the photos I had taken of the girls in their gorgeous outfits. I also check out what my friends have been up to. Taking a sip of my wine I scan the room. It isn’t busy, just a few people that must be guests here. They sit quietly at the other end of the room, on a large brown leather sofa. There is low lighting with lots of wooden tables filling the space; artwork hangs on the soft cream walls; the paintings are of famous landmarks in Edinburgh castle. Arthur's Seat is the main peak of the group of hills in Scotland, that forms most of Holyrood Park. It is a beautiful painting of the castle at night, all lit up, and of Holyrood palace. It is a striking old building, like a castle, but it is indeed a palace with its grand entrance. The pillars surround the door, its old brickwork much like Edinburgh castle. I have never been there but would love to one day.
    “Mum, thank you so much for today and bringing us up here. I do miss living in Scotland. We have had a great time.”
    Kayleigh and Amy both love the beautiful little town we had lived in and where Amy’s dad still lives. I miss it, too.
    “I know you miss it, sweetie, so do I. But you know why we can’t be here, not now that your dad knows where we had been living.”
    “But that’s not fair, Mum. We should be able to live where we want to.”
    She said it with such a forlorn expression in her eyes that my heart broke just a little.
    “Hey, we will get back here again soon.”
    I reach out to my sweet girls and wrap them both in my arms, cuddling them