AllFreeNovel
Share Us
How is he my voice of calm rationality right now?
We don’t need a title. It was never anyone else's business.
It only matters that Willow understands who we are to her, and I smile at her mother.
To her credit, her mother looks between us and back at Willow for a long minute as our awkward silence lingers, before she takes Willow’s hand and smiles.
“Let’s go see our little girl.” Mrs. Martens leads Willow out and we follow, but stay behind when they get to one of the rooms.
“Would you like to meet her?” Willow looks hopeful and Shane shuffles beside me.
He’s nervous.
“We’d love to.” I thought it would be a long time before we got to see her daughter and my stomach does a few flips as I try to mentally prepare myself for what she will look like.
I school my features, worried she will be hooked up to a number of machines. Or what if she looks like him?
It doesn’t matter really.
She belongs to Willow and Willow belongs to us.
Willow opens the door and enters, circling the bed and taking a seat beside her daughter and everything hits me when I see her.
A beautiful little girl, the younger yet spitting image of Willow when she was in high school but with lighter hair and Shane taking a deep breath beside me.
The nurse stands from the other side of the bed and Willow’s mother mutters her thanks for sitting with her when the lawyer showed up.
“She’s taking the new medication really well. I overheard the doctor talking and she has a few more tests, then it looks like you get to take our little superstar home.” The nurse smiles at Annie, then Willow before leaving the pair to catch up.
I stand in silence, listening to Willow talk to her little girl. The smile stretching across their faces is unrestrained.
“Guys. This is Annie.” Willow leans back and Annie lifts her teddy bear to show us with a giggle.
I wave and Shane steps forward to get a better look.
“Annie, these are—” Again, she’s lost but I know why and it doesn’t bother me like it did earlier.
“Friends—of your mom’s.” I answer for her and wave.
Annie goes back to her toy and Willow combs her fingers through her hair.
I catch Mrs. Martens looking at the both of us, and I think Willow doesn’t give her mother enough credit. She doesn’t look worried or ashamed of her daughter. In fact, I see the same love on her face as I see on Willow’s when she looks at her daughter.
Unconditional.
I excuse myself and step into the hall, followed closely by Shane who hasn’t said a word since we entered the room. He looks choked up by the whole exchange.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I glance at the one-word text message that shows on my lock screen.
“What are you thinking?” Shane asks.
I look around the ward for a minute in silence as I process our next steps then I make eye contact with my friend.
“I’m thinking he brought this on himself.” I lift my phone to Shane and show him the message from Tray.
Tray: Done.
They now have Dale and he threatened to take Annie away from Willow. He needs to provide a DNA test to prove he has rights.
