Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 125866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
I wanted to go for the jugular now.
So, for the last month and a half, we’d endured grueling interviews with both our lawyer and Marshall’s. His, of course, tried to pin outrageous accusations on us and trap us into admission — including saying that we abandoned Sebastian for a weekend of partying in Denver over the summer.
However smart his lawyers thought they were, ours was smarter. We were compiling text messages and photographs, and Madelyn was prepared to make a personal statement in front of the judge. We were going for full custody, for stepparent adoption, for everything.
As confident as I was that the judge would see Marshall for the monster he was, it still killed me to see all the stress of the trial wearing on my future wife. She was worried, and nothing I said or did would calm her. She wouldn’t rest easy until we had a ruling, and she knew her son was safe with us.
We were just a few weeks from the court date now.
As if she could sense my thoughts, Madelyn blinked, frowning a bit before her eyes caught mine from across the room. I winked at her with a smile and mouthed need anything?
She smiled in return and shook her head, holding up her hot cocoa like it was all she needed in this moment. That, and a nod toward where Sebastian was clutching his gut in a fit of giggles after he missed jumping on an alligator as Donkey Kong, and now Holden was tickling him and saying he ruined the mission.
“Here, Dad. Practice time,” Clay said, jolting me back to the group. I blinked and set my beer down just in time to have my arms filled with a warm baby boy, who was content for the moment, but looked ready to scream for Giana’s boob any second now.
“Think we have a future safety on our hands here?” I asked Clay, adjusting Atlas until we both were comfortable. He was so fucking cute, it wasn’t fair. Even this small and new to the world, I could see he had Clay’s dimple and eyes. His hair mirrored Giana’s — full and curly already.
“Psh, nah,” Clay said, waving me off. “QB.”
“He’s going to need Uncle Holden to show him how to throw a spiral, then,” Holden called from the living room. “God knows you won’t be able to teach him.”
“Got the arm of one of those blow-up noodle dudes in front of the car lots,” Braden chimed in, and then he started waving his arms over head and bending in odd directions to illustrate as we all laughed.
“Har har,” Clay said, unamused.
“Hey, Dad, can I FaceTime Nana to see Titan?” Sebastian asked, nearly colliding with my legs as he slid over to me in his socks.
I double-checked with Madelyn in a glance across the room, and once she nodded her approval, I told him he could. I dug into my pocket for my phone and offered it to him before letting him take over. He knew what to do, and he ran back to his bedroom with the phone already ringing.
“What about him?” Leo asked when Sebastian was gone. “Think he’ll want to play?”
“Maybe. He’s been soaking up everything about the game since I started teaching it to him. He mentioned wanting to try playing this summer, but it’ll be up to Mama Bear over there,” I said, nodding to Madelyn.
She was making her way toward us with three empty mugs in her hands. She dumped them into the sink before looping her arm through mine that wasn’t holding a baby.
“We’ll see,” she said. “I’m not a huge fan of the whole concussion aspect.”
“None of us are,” Mary agreed.
“It’s getting safer each year, with new tackling penalties and helmet advancements. But, yeah, it’s always a risk,” Leo admitted. “Then again, so are most things in life. I mean, that lizard the kid has could climb out of his cage and eat his face off.”
“It’s a gecko, not Godzilla,” I deadpanned.
Leo threw his hands up. “I’m just saying.”
Mary rolled her eyes, and then pulled Madelyn to the side. “Oh! I’ve been meaning to ask you, I want to add a little bit of you to my tattoo shop. I’ve got a pole for Julep, books for G, local art for Riley. I was thinking we could incorporate some of your writing, if you’re open to that?”
“Oh, yes!” Giana called from the couch. “I love this idea!”
Madelyn was flushing a bright red as Mary tugged her away, and I savored that blush, that smile, that woman who was now such a crucial part of my life I knew I couldn’t exist without her.
I hadn’t heard from my parents since the phone call where I told them I knew what they did.
Not that I expected to, but I guessed a small part of me held onto hope that perhaps at least my mom would have shown up at my door to explain, to apologize, to try to be a part of my life.