ached for him, but we were still in the six weeks postpartum where sex was off the table. Besides, we also had a busy day ahead of us, and a lot to do.
“Alright, I’m going to pick up Steve from the airport while you get ready,” Mason said softly. He checked his phone briefly, staring down at it with a weird look on his face.
“What?” I asked.
“A text from Teddy. He said that the man who started the fire, the one who stabbed me, made a plea deal for a lighter sentence. He spilled everything about how your ex and King were involved. Greg is going down for even more serious charges.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Can I see that?”
Mason handed me the phone, and the message went into greater detail. Greg had also asked Jim to make sure I was in the house before the fire was set. He was trying to kill me, which is why he had kidnapped Skyler - so she wouldn’t be home when it happened. I felt uneasy and like I might throw up.
“He tried to kill me,” I said softly.
Mason wrapped his arms around me again. “Yeah, but he didn’t. And he can never hurt you again.”
The message said Greg was facing a sentence of at least fifty years. Attempted murder, kidnapping, arson… the list of crimes was a mile long. If convicted, and it was likely he would be with a key witness testifying against him, he wouldn’t get out of prison for a very long time. If ever, considering he was in his forties.
I hugged Mason close, relaxing into him. I truly felt safe when I was in his arms.
“We can start the adoption process soon,” Mason said. “We’ll look into getting a judge to rescind his rights.”
Even if things didn’t work out legally, I knew Mason would always love Skyler like a daughter. There was no denying that.
“Thank you, Mason. For everything.”
We separated and I took a quick shower. Skyler was knocking at my door the entire time. I hurried and dressed, and we both ate one a few bites of the eggs I made for breakfast. She was too excited to eat. Today was a big day for her, in many ways.
The last few weeks had been exhausting, but things were starting to return to normal. We were still staying in the rental, which we could stay in as long as we wanted. Mason was preparing to build a house on some land his brothers’ bought - a house bigger than the one we were staying in. And I got a lot of say in what the house would have. There’d be plenty of bedrooms for all of us, a lot of space for our menagerie of critters, and everything we could possibly need for a family.
With the insurance money, I was able to begin re-building the shelter, so my business was likely to be up and running again soon. We weren’t going to bother with the house, it was too far gone to salvage and we were building a better one anyway. The rental was big enough for all of us for now, with Elli and MJ sharing the room connected to Skyler’s. Or they might just end up in the master bedroom since it was large enough for two cribs in addition to the king-sized bed. We had both options set up, so a total of four cribs. All because I couldn’t make up my mind, and Mason would buy us the moon if I wanted it.
“Alright, Mason’s back. You know what that means!”
“We’re going to Calvin’s!” Skyler said, hopping out of her seat.
“Yes, get your coat on, silly bug.”
She grabbed her coat from the living room and threw it on in a flash.
“Best day ever,” she said, speaking to herself.
Ooo000ooo
“Oh hello there, Skyler,” Calvin said when he opened the door. “And Danielle and Mason too.”
He beamed at us. He seemed to enjoy our visits, said it was nice to have a child around. Said it made him feel like a grandpa, which we had told him we would love him to be an adopted grandfather to our children if he wished. He liked that a lot.
“Not just us,” Mason said, stepping aside so he could see the man he’d been hiding.
“Is that—” Calvin’s eyes filled with tears, though he tried fervently to wipe them away. “Steve?”
“Hi Calvin,” Steve said, flashing him a Hollywood smile.
I’d always thought Calvin was classically handsome, even for a man in his