“Abby, really?”
“What? I’m not cutting Lou any slack. If she’s gonna take my crown, she has to do it for real! And I bet you next time we play, she will. Right, Lou?”
“Yeah! Can we play again next time?” she asked hopefully.
“Whenever you want. We’d love to have you over. These guys are boring and too grown up to play games anymore,” Mom whispered to Lou, who leaned into her tiredly with a sweet one-sided hug. Mom’s eyes got huge as she gently wrapped her arms around Lou, pressing a soft kiss to her head.
“Yes, I think game nights with Mimi are in order. As long as that’s alright with you, Sophie?” Mom asked, looking a little embarrassed.
“Of course. She would love that. I would love that,” she told them sweetly. I couldn’t help the sense of satisfaction settling within me at seeing everyone I cared about mixing together so effortlessly.
The dinner had gone off without a hitch, and Lou was asleep before we even left the driveway. I drove my girls home since they came in Walt’s car, and his house was in the other direction. I had gotten a booster seat for Lou early on, wanting to take precautions if she ever needed to ride in my truck. The idea of hurting her in any way brought me to my knees. Anything to protect her, to provide security or safety, was worth it.
After that, time seemed to move fast, but I guessed that happened when you were happy. In the weeks since, we had settled into a comfortable routine—one that included Walt, as well as my parents and siblings. My little sister took on the title of Auntlike it was a championship belt she was fighting to keep.
As Lou became more comfortable with my family, they began offering to babysit left and right, each one eager for more time with her. Lou was soaking up the attention, finally beginning to trust us and really letting loose. Sophie was starting to lean on me more as well, opening up and sharing parts of herself that were once kept secret.
There was no doubt about it; I had it bad for her. When we first met, I had been captivated by her. There was something about her I knew I wanted to experience. Now, though, it was so much more than that. She was in my blood, as vital as the air I breathed. It wasn’t just sex, either, although that was phenomenal. I craved everything about Sophie. Enjoyed learning about all her quirks and moods.
I loved how she was oblivious in the morning, walking around in a fog until she finished at least one cup of coffee. How she was infinitely patient with Lou, but heaven forbid I showed up a few minutes late with lunch. Hangry Sophie was no joke. Then again, hangry Lou was even worse. Most meltdowns could be averted by a meal or some quiet time.
Lou was amazing; smart, energetic, and so kind.How could Max willingly miss out on this?We had developed our own routine, just the two of us. Since I worked in shifts—twenty-four hours on, forty-eight hours off—I usually had a few days free during the school week. On those days, when Sophie was working, I had started to pick Lou up from school. We would spend the afternoon together, I would help her with homework, and then we would make dinner so it was ready by the time Sophie got in.
It may have seemed simple, but they were some of my most precious memories, and I had no intention of missing anything that came next. Lou always surprised me, asking me to help her with spelling one second, and the next, writing a get well card for her teacher. She told me about her days with surprising detail. I knew all her friends’ names and what the latest playground drama was.
It was one of my days off, and with Lou at school and Sophie at work, I was stopping by my parents’ house to help them move some furniture around.
“Of course we were invited, but you never want to go to those things. Usually, I give the tickets to Quinn to auction off,” I heard Ma scolding my dad as I let myself into the house.
“So Quinn has the tickets?” he replied.
“What tickets?” I asked, joining my parents in the living room and pressing a quick kiss to my mom’s cheek before dropping down in a chair.
“When Wally and I had dinner the other night, he mentioned some charity event this month that they all had to go to. We thought it might make it easier on the girls if we were there as well,” Dad offered. I understood what he was talking about. Max had been playing nice and hadn’t asked them to go to anything since the last event ended with Lou in tears and Sophie being ready to go scorched earth on his ass.
“Wally, eh?” I asked instead, pleased to know the two men were getting along.
“You wanna go to this thing or not?” Dad snapped at me, and I shut up.
He was right; I hated the idea of them having to go to some fancy event where Lou was made to be quiet, to feel small. Where Sophie was pushed to the background or required to smile and pose. I knew it was hurting Walt, too—he had mentioned it before. I wasn’t totally surprised to know he had gone to my parents for help.
“Oh, that’s a great idea! I still have the tickets, but let me just give Kelly a call. I think they offered me a table last year. I’ll get one so we all can go! Gar, text Quinn and Mason.” Mom jumped up with purpose. I knew whoever this Kelly woman was, she didn’t stand a chance against a determined Judge Lennox.
“Thank you,” I told him once Mom had left the room.
“Didn’t do it for you. Did it for them. I don’t trust her ex or his mother. From what Walt’s told me…Well, that girl needs all the backup she can get.” Leaning forward, his brow furrowed, then hequestioned me.
“Did you hear what that woman said to Little Lou last time? Told her she looked unkempt, made her cry. Who does that to a baby? Someone you’re supposed to treat as your own kid?” There was anger in his voice, mixed with pure disbelief.
“I think maybe it’s time I had a talk with both Sophie and Walt about the custody arrangements. It feels like it’s not really my place, but I hate seeing them like this. You can feel Lou get anxious and upset when she knows she has to see them. You should have seen how happy she was when he cancelled their plans last month. He hasn’t seen his daughter in two months. I just don’t understand it. Why bother with custody at all?” I had kept a lot of it in, not wanting to overstep, knowing it was already a delicate situation that Sophie wasn’t thrilled with.
The urge to jump in front of them and protect them from people who so clearly didn’t deserve them ate at me. Since I couldn’t fight all her battles for her, though, standing by her side, making sure I had both her and Lou’s backs, was the next best thing.
“Alright. We know Ma is gonna have tickets for all of us by the time she’s off the phone. Why don’t you show me what shit you want moved around?” Any anger that was on his face before was wiped away as he grinned. He stood up, and I followed him, confused as we headed to the garage.
“Tada!” he said, waving at all of our instruments, put away in their containers.
“You’re renovating the garage? What about the drum set? Lou will be so upset,” I said as I looked around the empty space.
