AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Doesn’t matter.” He squatted down in front of me, wiped a tear from my face. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.” I touched his arm, tried to summon up an ounce of strength, but fell short.
“Mrs. Quinn’s word will go a long way. Won’t hurt that you’re the widow of a soldier who died in combat. We’ll prove you’re a damn good mother.”
My brother meant well, but the words struck a new chord of grief within me.
Jack. He’d have never let this happen. But he wasn’t here. Anger and sadness tore me in two. He left me. Yet he deserved so much more than what he got.
“I’ve never been apart from him for that long.”
“Can’t we file an injunction?” Patrick rubbed my belly with one hand.
“It’s no good if we don’t have definitive proof to disprove the complaint.” Andrew and Patrick traded a look.
“I didn’t hit my child.” Desperation laced my words. Social services had believed that woman who used to be my mother over me when she was the one who’d abandoned us all those years ago. She was unfit.Not me.
“I know,” Andrew said gently. “We’ll get him back. If you need me, call. You’re more than welcome to stay with us.”
“I need to be here.”
“I’m gonna go see what other angles I can work.” He squeezed my hand.
“I want everything you’ve got.” Patrick’s tone was hard, and Andrew nodded.
We didn’t move.Not as the shadows cast on the walls were replaced by the darkness. Not even when faint strips of light from the rising sun streaked the floor.
Not a word had been spoken. What more was there to say? Blake was gone. I wasn’t sure I’d get him back. And if I didn’t, what kind of mother would I be to the baby growing inside of me?
I didn’t love one over the other. But this was a new kind of pain. A fresh opening of flesh inside of me. The kind that no person recovered from because it was too deep, too consuming.
All I could do was wait. Wait for someone else to determine my worth. Determine if my son belonged with me when I already knew that he did. He was the only good thing I’d ever done in my life, yet I was helpless to save him from those strangers who didn’t know anything about us.
“I can’t sit here and do nothing.” My voice didn’t sound like my own, but that of a woman broken who could no longer hide it.
“I know, but we can’t roll up to wherever they’ve got him and take him,” Patrick said through gritted teeth. “I want to, but we’ve got to play by their rules until we figure out a way around them.”
“How? How are we going to convince them they’re wrong?”
“Who’ll vouch for you? We need character witnesses.”
I gripped his thighs with fear. “I’m not a likable person. Nobody will take up for me.”
“I will. Your family will. But we need somebody more. Someone who isn’t related to you.”
“Ifheropinion counts, why can’t my real family?”
“In this situation, they have to err on the side of caution for the good of the child.”
“This isn’t good for Blake,” I shouted.
He caressed my stomach and nuzzled my hair. “I wasn’t finished. And you’re right. In this case, they did the worst possible thing for him.”
“What if they decide I’m unfit?”
“We won’t give them that choice.”
I slumped against him. “Sometimes it doesn’t matter. You’ve seen for yourself what the justice system can do.”
