AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I know the last year has been hard, but it’s time to start living life again. Your mother refused to do anything but work and raise you. She died miserable and alone—” She held up a hand when I started to protest. “She was your mom, and she was wonderful. She was. But she was also my sister, so I knew her as a woman, and she was lonely. Tired. Sad. After your dad died, she let it break her. I’m not going to let you do that. Fuck Zeke. Fuck Onyx Knight. You don’t need them personally or professionally. You can do this. Hell, you can do anything you set your mind to.”
“But Jeremy has to be my priority,” I whispered.
“Of course. But he can’t become the only thing in your life. You have me to help with the baby. It’s harder now because he’s one hundred percent helpless, but that will change before you know it. Soon he’ll be crawling, then walking and talking and feeding himself. A year from now, you’ll be in a different place in life.”
“Yeah, twice as tired from chasing him around and making sure he doesn’t kill himself.”
“I’m taking out a home equity loan,” she said quietly. “And we’re going to use the money for an attorney. Once Zeke starts paying his share—and he will, or I’ll go public—our lives will get much easier. We’ll be able to afford daycare, so you can have a break and potentially get a better job. With the baby in daycare all day, I’ll have the time to build my Eye-Lights page. We’ll also be able to afford diapers and formula, so we’re not spending all day Sunday clipping coupons and menu-planning.”
“Aunt Meg!” I stared at her. “You can’t take out a loan.”
“I can and I will. I called the bank today.”
“You don’t have a job. How will they guarantee you’ll pay it back?”
“It’s only ten thousand dollars. And I have equity in the house since I don’t have a mortgage anymore. If I don’t pay it back, they can take it.”
“But it’s all you have.” I protested.
“Zeke has to pony up,” she said. “I know you’re dreading a legal battle and you’re afraid he’ll take Jeremy from you, but that won’t happen. He’s a touring musician. With a wild reputation. His bass player has been in rehab twice in the last year—what kind of environment is that for a child? No judge will grant him full custody.” Aunt Meg had been keeping up with Zeke and the band, and while I’d found it amusing before, it was suddenly important.
“He has a family that can help.”
“Yes, but if Zeke’s family is going to raise the baby, then he’s better off with his mother.”
“People with money can twist the facts, make me look like some kind of whore or something.”
“Nonsense.” She wagged her finger at me. “It’s time, Presley. I know you were embarrassed when you tried to reach him and his manager talked to you like some kind of gold digger, but Jeremy is here now and he needs not just the money his father can provide, but an actual father. Like it or not, that’s Zeke.”
I closed my eyes.
She was right.
I’d had this same argument with myself a million times over the last few months.
It had been easy to fall back on the fact that Onyx Knights’ management would only talk to a lawyer, and I couldn’t afford one, but it was time to pull up my big-girl panties. Jeremy did need a father. And we needed money. It was as simple as that. I couldn’t imagine Zeke wanting full custody, no matter how much he hated me, but there was always a chance.
I hadn’t wanted to become a mother at this stage of my life, but now that I was one, I’d disappear and move to a remote island in the South Pacific before I let anyone take him from me.
“Let me try the management company one more time,” I said finally. “Maybe now that there is an actual baby that I can take for a DNA test, they’ll listen.”
Aunt Meg scowled. “Maybe. And we have one other option as well.”
“Which is?”
“Lexi Rousseau.”
I frowned. “We don’t want to get her involved.” I paused. “Do we?”
“Desperate times, desperate measures. She seems like a nice girl. I bet she would help.”
“You don’t even know her!” I said, laughing. “Just because she likes your videos doesn’t mean she’s nice.”
She rolled her eyes. “What twenty-something, famous rockstar watches a sixty-year-old woman’s videos? She has to be nice, or she’d be watching all those supermodel videos. The ones with the big butts.”
I snorted with laughter. “You’re killing me, Aunt Meg.”
“I let you wallow in self-pity and disappointment and embarrassment for a lot longer than I should have. It’s natural and to be expected. But those days are done. It’s time for you to get up and start living again. End of discussion.”
