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“Now, I don’t want to be presumptuous but I’m assuming this isn’t a catch-up call?” Lexi cringes.
“Uh, yeah, sorry. I kind of need some help.”
“What do you need?” The way he doesn’t hesitate to help her tells me he really does care about his niece, pity her parents didn’t feel the same way. Alexa tells him everything and by the time she has finished explaining the situation, she is breathless. “Okay, well, first thing first. The lawyer friend you have, is he representing you guys or your other friend?”
Lexi looks to us and honestly, I have no idea who Troy is working with. “I think it’s safe to say Saint will be using Troy,” Crue says.
“Okay, I’ll book a flight and be there for the court date. We are going to say that you were coerced into signing over the rights to the child. Jackson manipulated you and Nathan into signing over your rights and promised there would be no blowback on either of you.” He then continues to explain his tactics and how he plans to proceed with the case. John really knows what he is doing which helps calm my nerves.
“Thank you so much, Uncle John. Corvin and I will pick you up from the airport,” Lexi says.
“See you then, my dear,” he says before ending the call. I launch myself at Lexi and hug her tight.
“Thank you. I don’t know what we would have done without you.” She laughs and hugs me back before pulling away and pinning me with a look.
“That was the easy part. You need to find this Gary guy now,” she says.
“Don’t worry, I know where he is,” Darius says somberly from the other side of the room. Well, that shocks the shit out of all of us.
“You’ve been keeping tabs on him?” Beckett accuses.
Darius pins Beck with a scathing look. “I told you I would protect Leah and never let him hurt her again. In order to do that, I had to know where he was at all times.”
“We need to get to Gary and make sure he’ll even testify,” Crue says.
“He’ll testify, don’t worry,” Darius says as he heads for the door. Before he can leave, Corvin grips his arm and yanks him around to face him.
“Where the fuck are you going?” Corv snaps.
“To go get the cunt that came from the same nut sack as I did.” I cover my laughter by coughing.
“Not by yourself, we’re coming with you,” Beck says. Crue comes and gives me a kiss, promising to call me when they have Gary. We stand here and watch the four of them leave, it’s so strange not seeing Saint amongst them. It’s always been the five of them since the first time I saw them all in the quad. Little did I know back then that I would be welcomed into the inner circle of the kings of CHU’s homes and hearts. They were untouchable, girls would do anything to get their attention, and guys longed to be in their presence. I thought they were shallow, selfish pricks but after getting to know them, I saw how wrong I was. These guys have the biggest hearts and love harder than anyone I know.
* * *
It’s been over an hour since the guys left and the tension in the house is at a peak. The five of us sit in the living room watching some cartoon with Dawson. If you asked me what the show was about, I wouldn’t be able to tell you, I’ve been too lost in my own thoughts to even pay attention. My phone chimes with an incoming text. All heads turn to me as I pull it out and unlock it. The message is from an unknown number. My breath hitches when I open the messages thread.
Unknown
I’m bringing her home.
Below the text is a picture of a smiling baby girl, blue eyes and blonde hair with a tiny button nose. Tears immediately cascade down my cheeks at the sight of my daughter. I know without a doubt that the message is from Saint, he’s telling me that they’re okay and he’s doing everything he can to get back to us and bring our girl home where she belongs.
“Katie, what happened?” The worry in Val’s voice has me snapping out of it and swiping my tears away as I turn to face my friends. I turn my phone to them so they can see, the four of them rush toward me and fight to get a better look.
“Is that her?”
“Oh my God, she’s beautiful.”
“She looks like you.”
“Addy girl,” they all say in unison, and the love I hear in each of their voices fills me with hope. One day, when she is older, I’ll have to explain all this to her and I just hope that Adalyn will be able to forgive me for making the biggest mistake of my life.
“That’s our little girl,” I say proudly. The girl’s faces melt, Nate smiles proudly at me.
“You got this, Momma.” He may not know it, but his words have a renewed strength flowing through me. I am her momma and it’s my job to make sure she is safe.
An idea hits me then. “How would you all feel about helping me turn one of the spare rooms into a nursery for her?” That’s all it takes for Val, Leah and Nate to start throwing ideas around, Lexi looks horrified at the thought of going baby shopping. Within ten minutes the five of us and Dawson are heading out, we pile into Val’s Range Rover and head for the mall. Excitement fills me, I never got the chance to do this when I was pregnant so to be able to do it now with my best friends with me is a feeling I can’t describe. We’ve all been so fixated on the court case that none of us thought to worry about a crib, clothes, Pampers or anything.
