for me. But then again, I got the results I was hoping for.”
I shrugged. “I can honestly say I don’t know what result I’m hoping for. I haven’t really had much time to think about that part.” Not expecting a response, I turned my attention to Uncle Tommy. “What about the order for guardianship?”
When he took a seat and clasped his hands together in his lap, I knew he was not going to deliver the news I wanted to hear. “It’s not what we were hoping for, but hear me out before assuming it’s bad news. Judge Hinkley didn’t grant you emergency guardianship because the baby will still be in the hospital when the test results are received, which will be tomorrow morning. He said it would be much easier to ensure you had custody if the test is a positive match than it would be to revoke any custody you were granted if the test isn’t a match, and I have to agree with him on that. In the meantime, he didn’t put any restrictions on her visitation. In other words, we’re going to keep this quiet, and you can continue to stay in the room with Blue and interact with her as you have been.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Will the test results really be back tomorrow morning?” I asked. I wasn’t aware they could be done that fast.
“Yes, they will. The testing process is much faster than it used to be, and now results can be delivered electronically, which is helpful in emergent situations like this one.” Uncle Tommy studied me for a few moments and smiled. “It’d make things a whole lot easier if gut feelings were admissible in court, wouldn’t it?”
I rubbed my hand over my face and let out a combination of a laugh and an exasperated sigh. “Is it that obvious?”
“It is to me, but I’ve seen the look on a man’s face after he loses his heart to his daughter many different times in my life, and this is exactly what it looks like.”
“She looks like both of us,” I murmured. “She has my eyes and mouth, but her nose, chin, and ears definitely belong to her mother.” Blue’s features were the perfect combination of mine and Heidi’s. And it wasn’t wishful thinking. I had no doubt she was mine. And I also knew she would break hearts when she got older—specifically mine.
“I hope like hell she is yours,” Copper grumbled. “Because you’re already in way too deep to simply let her go if she’s not.”
“There’s nothing wrong with caring about someone,” I argued. But I knew my feelings for Blue had rapidly developed and sailed past caring within the first hour of her being in my life.
“If it hurts you more than it helps them, it’s wrong,” he said, using a phrase our mother used to say when we were younger, and some of the older boys we played with were too rough. Instead of telling us how to respond or handle it for us, she let us make our own decisions with only that bit of wisdom as guidance.
“It won’t,” I vowed and silently hoped I wasn’t wrong.
Before I knew it, night had fallen and the steady stream of people in and out of our room had dwindled down to only me, Blue, and Copper after we said our goodbyes to Uncle Tommy and Phoenix.
“I’m going to head out too,” he started. “Unless you want me to stay.”
“There’s no reason for you to stay. I’m not good company right now, and I’m probably going to just sleep anyway.”
Copper shook his head. “You haven’t been around many babies, have you?”
“A couple. Why?”
He chuckled. “No reason.”
Ignoring whatever he was trying to rag me about, I snapped my fingers when I remembered to ask, “Did you bring one of the burners?”
“Shit. Yeah, it’s right here.” Reaching into his cut, he pulled out two and handed one to me. “Check the missed calls. The last one should be the number to this phone, which I’ll be using until our new phones arrive, which should be by nine o’clock tomorrow night.”
“Damn it. I need a phone number that’s saved in my phone.”
“Who’s is it? I’ll ask Spazz to get it for you.”
“Sloane,” I started and realized I didn’t have a clue what her last name was. “Fuck, I don’t know her last name. I met her at the bar a couple of nights ago.”