AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t want her near my son again.”
“Parker, I understand that you’re dubious of her intentions, and the fact that she broke the agreement by leaving rehab before she’d agreed to gives us leverage.” He blows out a breath while I digest our conversation some more. “However, if she continues with the program now that she’s out, you will be seen as hindering her progress.”
“Hindering? I’m paying for her treatment. Surely that gives me some kind of—”
“Look.” He stops my verbal meltdown. “You can’t stop her from seeing him, however, we can have a court-appointed chaperone during visits.”
“It’s not good enough,” I snap at him.
“I’m going to set up a mediation date for custody, and that’s what we’ll put on the table. If Heather isn’t serious about staying clean, the likelihood of her accepting the terms will be slim, and it means that we can go to court with a stronger case. You cannot be seen as the bad guy here.”
“I’m not the bad guy!”
“We know that, but the law always favors the mother.”
“She’s not a mother.”
“You’re the better parent, and any judge will see that. I told you when we were drawing up the agreement that if you wanted sole guardianship, that was the time to do it. When she was rock bottom and had nothing to redeem her.”
“What kind of person would that have made me? She needed help, and it was the only way to make her take it. I tried to do right by everyone.”
“Sometimes ruthless is better than right.” The irony of his words makes me scoff. “Leave it with me. I’ll call you back Monday with a plan of action.”
Hanging up, I try to rationalize my anger, but the more I think things through, the more I want to scream or break something. Neither of which I’ll do in front of Easton.
Today should be all about him. Cuddling his monkey, he tugs at the pin on his outfit. My little boy is turning two, and all we’ve done is go to a bullshit party. It’s not good enough, and I should’ve known better than to trust Ellen to give him the best day.
“Hey, buddy.” I smile at him through the mirror. “You wanna get cake?”
“No.”
“Red noodles?” I croon back, trying to get a little excitement into him.
With a face-squishing grin, he nods back, and the tightness in my chest eases a little.
How did I ever think that I would be able to let her have him again?
Clean or not, Heather doesn’t deserve him. She may have given birth to him, but I’m the one that’s cared for him. Every time he was sick or simply upset, I’m the one that held him and stayed awake to make sure that he was all right. I’ve taken him to every doctor’s appointment.
It’s always been me that put a roof over his head and made sure he wasn’t hungry. The one time I thought I could trust Heather to do it, she used my money to fund her addiction. She’s not a mother.
All the women in this world, I wish it had been anyone but her. Someone kind and soft. Who’s tender to their core.
Summer.
All those things I said to her yesterday…I want to take them back. If there’s anyone I’m certain would make a wonderful mom, it’s her.
Once I’ve parked the car, I let Easton out. He’s happy to be home. Happy enough that he runs around in circles until he’s so dizzy he falls on his ass.
“You wanna go find Summer?” I ask him as I hold his hand and walk us toward the bar.
Even if she doesn’t want to talk to me, I know that she’ll stop to make a fuss of the birthday boy.
“Sumeeenoods?” He looks up at me in question.
“I don’t know, but you can ask her.” She’ll do just about anything for him, even eat tomato pasta for the second day running.
“Sum go up?”
