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Auggie:
Anything for you, bestie
You can pay me in treats you steal from your boy
I didn’t have a complete plan yet, but I couldn’t go through with anything without talking to Stella first. I wanted Rodney out of our hair, but he was still her husband and the father of her children. I needed her go-ahead to get him out of the picture.
I couldn’t sleep, and Luca was at work, so I took myself downstairs and knocked on Auggie’s door.
“I changed my mind. You living here is bad for my sleep,” Auggie said with a smile as he stepped aside to usher me in.
Auggie made us some tea and we sat at his table while I laid out the bits of the plan I had come up with so far.
Auggie whistled. “That’s bold as fuck. It could work, though, if we can get Arthur and Walter on board to help us.”
“You think so?”
“Greed is a powerful weapon.” Auggie shrugged. “Shit people are usually greedy as hell.”
I sat back, contemplating. The sooner I could talk to Stella, the better, so I could set these plans in motion. The only problem was if I got her hopes up and things fell through.
As soon as 5 AM rolled around, I went back to my apartment to call her, knowing she would be awake and getting everything ready for the early drop-offs.
“Luna? What’s up? You don’t usually call this early.”
“Would you like some company? I can help you get ready for the day.”
“Sure,” Stella said, confusion in her voice.
“I need to talk to you about something really important, and I feel like it would probably be better in person than on the phone.”
“Good or bad?” Stella asked.
“Possibly a good way to deal with a bad thing?”
“Well, get over here fast so I don’t have time to stew on how ominous that sounds.”
“Leaving right now.”
I dressed quickly and hauled ass to Stella’s. It was still dark out, but her lights were on and I could see her bustling around through the window. She glanced up and waved at me as I climbed out of the car. I met her at the open door.
“So what’s going on?” she asked as she pulled me into a hug.
“Do you still love Rodney?”
She stepped away, completely taken back. “That’s a complicated question. I don’t know. Why?”
“Because I have a plan and I can’t do it if you still love him.”
She raised an eyebrow and dragged me into the kitchen, where she sat me down at the table and poured me a cup of coffee from the fresh pot on the counter. “Explain.”
“Do you think you and the girls would be better off if you had sole custody?”
“What on earth are you planning?”
“I could be completely out to lunch, but if everything lines up perfectly, I could get Rodney out of our lives. I don’t think he’s good for the girls, and I don’t think you do either. I want you to have your house, I want you to have the power to take care of your children without him interfering, and frankly I don’t want to see his face ever again if I can help it. You’re not the only one he was an ass to, Stella. And if you let me go through with this, we can try to protect Nova and Rory from having to put up with his bullshit any more than is necessary.”
Stella stared at me for a long while before quietly sighing, her shoulders dropping as she wrapped her fingers around her coffee cup. “I hate that my first instinct is to defend him, but I know you’re right. The girls take ages to adjust every time they see him. Nova’s been begging me to keep her home on his weekends, but then she cries even more at the thought of Rory being there by herself. I don’t know what to do. If you think you can help and make this less painful, I’m willing to give it a shot.”
