Nick and I - By Ashley In 2001 my Mom moved us into Parkway Villas Apartment Complex, I was 15 and pregnant with my daughter Megan. My husband Nick moved into the same complex when he was about 9. Our Moms had met and befriended each other. His sister Jennifer and his brother Johnny hung out with my brothers. My brother Luke took Jennifer to her prom, and we all pretty much watched Michael (the youngest of Nicks siblings) grow up. Nick and I hadnt spent as much time together as teens due to the fact that he had started working young to help his mother and family. When we did see each other it wasnt long. Nick & I liked each other but with his work & school, and me being a young mom while trying to finish school and work as well, acting on anything wasnt an option then. One time when I was 17 a drunk neighbor had been yelling at my younger brothers, I told him to leave them alone and told my brothers to just ignore him, that he was just a drunk, the man took a swing at me. Next thing I knew Nick and our friend Alex were in between the neighbor and I. Nick and Alex had prevented a grown man from hitting me and I didnt even know they were around at the time. Over the years I had gotten married and had my son Ethan (born 2006). My then husband, children, and I moved to Oklahoma. I had my youngest son Jake (born 2007) in Oklahoma. It was a very bad marriage and far from The American Dream. My Mom and brothers had told me updates about the Wilcox family but after the move I had lost direct contact with them like I had all of my friends from Vegas. I had heard about John getting married and having children, Jennifer going to job corps, Michelles ex husband Frank moving to Nebraska with Johnny, when James had moved to Nebraska as well, Johnnys divorce, and that Nick had gotten into security and his goals of turning it into a Police career, and other family updates. In 2010 we found out that my Mom had cancer and I came out to visit her in May of 2011. While in Vegas I had heard that Johnny was in town as well for his wedding. Nick had gotten my number from my brother when he found out I was in town, we got smoothies and caught up on the last few years. He had recently broken his wrist in a motorcycle accident. While I was in town our families had spent time together and they came to visit my Mom because at that point the cancer had made her too weak to be up, as she was on hospice, dying in a hospital bed in the living room. It was a difficult time for everyone. The Wilcox family had been close to my Mom and it is hard to see family losing their battle with cancer. We kept in contact after I left. They did all they could to help my family take care of my Mom, help them in whatever way my Dad or brothers needed even if it was just to hang out and talk, so while my Dad kept me updated on my Moms condition, I had some insight on how everyone else was. On July 31st I was texting Nick about his time at my parents earlier that day when I got a phone call from another family friend, my Mom had passed away. When I got off the phone with my Dad and brothers I sent a text to Nick that she had passed. Within a few minutes he, Jenn, Cathy, and our friend Alex were at my familys side. I made the calls I needed to and got ready to go home to help with funeral plans, be with my family, and to say goodbye to my Mom. I had tried to get my then husband to come with me and leave our sons with his parents, so I would have his support and my daughter Megan could come with us. He wouldnt come with me nor would he allow me to take my daughter (which he had no biological or other claim to) and said I had 2 weeks. I drove myself half way across the country alone, being the emotional time it was, it was one of the hardest things I had done at that point. When I got to Vegas I spent time with my family & friends while we waited for other family members to arrive. Nick and his family were a big support in this time. We had my Moms viewing at Davis Funeral Home and her funeral at the church my family and I had been active in for years The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Tropicana. Nick and Jennifer went to the funeral, Michelle was unable to get time off work to attend (something that still bothers her). I dont know how we would have gotten through my Moms death without all the support of our church family as well as family friends. During my Moms sickness, her death, and after, my Dad had gone through emotional turmoil. He had always been into working out, lifting weights, yoga, and fitness/health in general, but he had let that go. He was no longer eating meals at home but drinking protein shakes instead, he wouldnt go anywhere other than work, and had seemed to give up after losing her. Nick had been keeping me updated on my Dad beyond what he would talk about. Sometimes phone calls with my Dad lasted hours and he would call for random things, he was lonely. Nick gave him rides to work and would visit with him when he could. In 2012 my then husband (Bo) and I had made plans to move back to Las Vegas to help and be with my Dad in May when the kids got out of school for the year. In January Nick went to visit his brother James in Nebraska and made a stop in Oklahoma. He had taken Bo, my sons, and I out to breakfast and we showed him around Edmond and Oklahoma City some. It was a short visit since I was working so much and he had plans to meet with his brother. Bo had been rude to Nick even though Nick had done nothing to deserve that kind of treatment. Before Nick went back to Vegas he stopped in Oklahoma again for a couple of days, my Mom was the last person in my family to come visit me and he knew that, it was nice to have someone I knew there again other than Bo & his family who treated me like an unwanted pet. I began getting ready for the move back to Vegas, packing, yard sales, leaving work, the usual pre-move things. I talked my Dad and brothers almost everyday and they were all excited too. In May, a few days before we were to leave Bo told me we wouldnt be moving because his parents didnt agree with the move. My Dad was hurt by this, he had been counting on us moving back. A horrible event caused by Bo that led to my youngest son Jake going to the hospital was the last straw for me. I decided that I didnt care if his parents agreed or not that we were moving not only to have a better life but also to get out from under Bos parents complete control of our lives. My Dad and Megans paternal Grandparents came out to help us move and my Dad was going to buy Bos plane ticket to Vegas when he picked a date and time to fly. Instead of picking a date, he was so against leaving his parents that he filed for divorce 5 days after the kids and I left. I called Nick when I got the papers, he came over to read them, we thought his Mom might know what to do. I found out I had no choice but to hire a lawyer in Oklahoma and would have to go back with my sons for the divorce. In October, Nick helped me pack for the trip out and my Dad, Ethan, Jake, and I set out on a long drive to Oklahoma for my divorce. After I got back from the divorce Nick and I were spending a lot more time with each other and grew closer. We officially started dating on December 28th of 2012. I didnt want my kids around him much at first because I didnt want my kids to get attached to him just to find out he and I were better off just as friends. So in the first few months of Nick and Is relationship we went out and spent time together while the kids were at school, only spent nights together when they were away on visits with their Dads. Once we were both comfortable that this was more than a fling with a friend he started coming over for dinner, a movie, or he would take the kids, myself, and his brother out on an adventure. We eased the kids into the idea of Mom in a relationship with someone other than Dad. We would go to Michelles (where Nick lived) house to hang out, BBQ, water balloon fights, play on the trampoline, work on cars because Nick had gotten the boys a ride in jeep that they worked on. Jake called it his beach. One time when they were working on it Nick used a real jack to jack up the jeep so Jake could feel like he was working on a real car just like Nick and Mike do. We would go to the mountains, the dunes, the caves, the lake on the weekends, the dog park often, one night we all went out of the city to make smores and count the stars since you cant see them with the Vegas lights. We always went on family adventures & the boys looked up to Nick because he did things with them that their father never would, they looked up to Mike because he was a kid like them but an older figure. After a while Nick and his family started going to school meetings and functions with the kids and I. Nicks Mom had even given me rides to Jakes school to pick him up when I didnt have access to a car and Nick was at work. One school meeting for Jake that Nick was unable to attend Michelle, Jenn, and Cathy had gone with me. Bo and his mother had flown in to attend this meeting that Jakes team that included his teacher Ms. Hall, and various school staff had set up. They were trying to say that Jake had A.D.H.D. Ms. Hall had been pushing really hard to have him medicated for it but no professional health care provider that he had been to ever said he had it so I wasnt going to drug him just because some teacher wanted her job to be easier. I explained that I was against this form of treatment. Instead for his energy we would go on adventures as I mentioned before and he was fine. The only times anyone had any issues with Jake was when he got home from school. He would throw bad fits, throw himself down, scream, cry, hit himself, and act out until he passed out from it draining him physically. I had many problems with Ms. Hall. In March I got a call from Nick shortly after he had gone to work. It was normal for him to call when he got to work but this was too soon for him to have been there. He had gotten hit on his Harley and his foot was hurt badly. His Mom and sister went to where he was and from there took him to the doctor. His foot was broken. This started a long path for us of doctor visits, x-rays, physical therapy, and meetings with his accident injury attorney. It was torment on Nick because he had gotten the towing job that he had wanted as well as JUST been accepted to be a part of the Volunteer Reserve LVMPD force and was due to start his testing in just a week after the accident. Things had seemed like they were on the right track then there was a set back like that. After the accident and losing his towing job due to the injury we had made plans for Nick and I to go to Nebraska once the kids were with their Dads for the summer. On May 28th 2013 my brother Adam and his wife had their first child, Nick, Mike, and Michelle came over so when Megan, Ethan, and Jake got home from school we could all go to the hospital and see the new baby. None of us saw that night going the way it did though. My son Jake ended up breaking his leg, Michelle, Nick, and I took him to the hospital and the police and CPS were called, the Doctor on call said he had to make the call to Metro because there was a broken bone. We were fine with this, and saw nothing out of the ordinary and figured it was just routine. Jake would get the care he needed, wed tell them what happened, and everyone would be on their way. We were VERY wrong. All I could focus on was getting my son care, and how he was doing. I had even let him bite on my finger when I noticed he was biting his lip in pain at the hospital, that was also used against me. We gave them all the information they wanted, even took the police officer up on her offer to give Nick and I a ride back to my Dads apartment so we could get his truck, money, and clothes for an extended hospital stay if need be, we were not going to leave Jake alone, not by choice we didnt. When we got back to my Dads apartment there were more officers, officers taking pictures like out of some CSI TV show, it was crazy. Michelle, Jenn, Cathy, and Mike had been here with my older two children, fed them, made sure they had their bath/shower, homework done, and in bed. Michelle had let the officers in when she had gotten back after leaving Nick, Jake, and I at the hospital. After we got here we had to agree to one at a time go up into my room and re-enact how Jake broke his leg. We did, by this time my Dad had gotten home and when he saw me he said what the hell is going on? It looks like a crime scene here. Little did we know, thats exactly what they were setting up. I kept asking when I could go back to be with my son, told the officer that gave us a ride that I didnt want Jake to wake up alone. She just brushed me off when I tried to talk to her and it wasnt after she had asked something. The same officer asked Nick and I to step outside, outside she told us we were both being arrested for child abuse, we were shocked but didnt react (also being used against us), at no point did we yell at, cuss at, fight, or in anyway defy them. We complied with everything even after being handcuffed and patted down outside of my Dads apartment. Nick had told me dont worry, we will fix this because he knew I had never even been pulled over. On the outside I was calm and in control, inside I was breaking, I was worried about my son, just been told not only that Nick and I were being arrested, but also that my other two children were going to be removed from the home, on top of not being able to go back inside and tell our parents or say goodbye to my Dad or kids. After being handcuffed and patted down Nick and I had kissed each other goodbye and said I love you to each other, thats when we were informed that we were being taken away in the same police car, which we thought was odd. After 3 days I was released on O.R. and told I couldnt have any contact with the kids or the hospital Jake was in or anything until court. This was driving me crazy because I just wanted to know how my kids were. I was also checking online over and over to see when Nick was getting out, he wasnt released until the next day. They used the excuse his O.R. paperwork slipped through the cracks to cover their asses. A couple of days after our releases I had family court. Nick went with me in support but was not required to go. When we got there my ex-husband, his mother, Megans father, and his wife (all people who dislike me) were there waiting. I was given a pack of paperwork that stated not only did my son have surgery on his leg but after it he and the rest of my kids had been at Megans fathers house. Juans wife was fuming at me and her anger could be felt across the hall. She wasnt even close to my sons so I had no idea why she would agree to take them in other than to hurt me more. She had already been behind Juan trying to get custody of Megan after I legally went for child support. Nick has been my rock since this whole thing started. We have both lost so much : jobs, the kids, our way of life, and in some ways ourselves. We have relied heavily on each other through this dark time. I thought losing a parent was going to be the hardest thing I would have to go through. In June of 2013 Nick had mentioned marriage, I thought he was crazy with everything that was going on, the fact that I had already been married and divorced. He explained that he had said something about it to his Mom before all of this happened and if things got worse we might not get the chance. We put it off and put it off in hopes that things would go well and we could get married with the kids there, have them be a part of it. We were told that wouldnt be happening anytime soon, possibly 7 or more years, so we set the date for January 1st 2014. Since then we have had a great and strong marriage but horrible life, we miss the kids everyday, TV shows or songs they like can cause us to break down crying, even in public. Being around other children is hard, especially family functions that my kids should be at. We recently had to have a yard sale, even if we were to get them back tomorrow, it has been over a year now, their clothes wouldnt fit, and I dont even know if they are into the same toys they were before they were kidnapped. Everyday I wonder if they think about me? Do they remember me? Do they miss me? What would they do if they could see me? Do they still love me? Do they still think of me as their Mom? What have they been told? Do they believe what they have been told? Do they know that I still love them? Do they know that I miss them more than words can describe? Do they know I would fight the devil himself for them? Do they know that I would NEVER harm them or allow anyone in their lives that would bring harm to them? Do they know that I will never stop fighting for them or give up on them? Im sure I know the answer to all of these & it kills me over and over everyday that I have to live this nightmare.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Jul 2014 17:39:07 +0000
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