the guys and I emptied Blaire’s old room. We painted it grey. It matches the decorations Leyla has. There’s some furniture she needs to order, but the crib is in storage with the rest of the clothes she brought from Colorado.
“What’s going to happen after the eighteen months are over?”
“If you don’t mind walking, let me take you to my other house,” Leyla says.
The place is semi furnished, but it gives Kim an idea of what this will look like when it’s time to move out of my father’s house.
“Once the eighteen-month period is over,” Leyla explains. “This will be my permanent home.”
Kim smiles at us as we’re leaving the house.
“We called your references, the letters are on file, and I’ll add these pictures to it when I get back,” Kim states. “Once we have your profile ready, we will set it on the queue.”
“Does this mean I’m approved?” Leyla’s smile is beautiful, and I have the urge to lift her off the floor and twirl her, but I wait before I celebrate the fact.
“Correct,” Kim answers. “I think you two will be great parents.”
After she leaves, Leyla says, “Should have I corrected her?”
I ignore her question and finally take her in my arms and press her tight against me. “You’re officially on the waiting list. I mean, the queue.”
“It’s just a step,” she says. “A big step.”
In Baker’s Creek there’s a big difference between Oktoberfest and the Beer Festival. The first happens the entire month of October at the bar. The second is during the third week of October, a week after the Corn and Pumpkin Festival. Leyla has been having a blast during these past weeks. She loves fall. She’s also been counting the days until we go to the clinic for her in-vitro procedure.
My brothers and I are going to the bar at least three times a week to try the craft beers that Cameron, the owner, features at night. It’s getting easier to hang around town. Everyone is accepting us more than they did when we arrived.
Last night we stayed at the bar longer and drank more than we should have, but it was Glass for a Cause night, and we were trying to be charitable. Waking up to feed the kids is more than fucking painful.
“Good morning, sweetheart,” Leyla greets me. “I heard you were making out with Mary Beth.”
I glare at her. “I was drunk, but not that drunk.”
She grins.
“You’re not funny,” I complain, and my fucking phone rings.
When I check it, I grunt. It’s Nyx, and I wish I wouldn’t have to respond, but she’s in Colorado, and fucking Edward is trying to claim custody of her unborn child, which is ridiculous and illegal. I read the text, and she’s asking if I remember an old case. I can’t add two and two right now. The hangover is fucking killing me.
“Everything okay?” Leyla asks.
I rumble and explain to her what’s happening. She takes my phone, reads the message out loud.
“She just sent a link,” Leyla says and reads what Nyx texted me. “You need orange juice, and I’m guessing your brothers are just like you.”
I grunt again and grab my phone from her, reading the links she sent and then making sense of what she’s asking.
Pierce: I remember this case. I agree with you. It’ll be best if you leave. You could move to New York or Seattle. I can defend you in either place. Neither one will demand you to go back to Colorado. If you need a plane, I’ll have one soon. Leave now.
When Leyla reads it, her eyes widen. “You think they are going to take the baby away, don’t you?”
I nod.
“They have done that plenty of times,” I explain. “For the right amount, they make sure you get a kid. There have been cases when they don’t even pay the expenses to the expectant mother.”
I don’t tell her more about the firm. There are people who come to them asking for a kid and if they don’t have one, they find one for them. Nyx doesn’t need to know what my family does. All I need to do is keep her away and safe.
Leyla looks at me horrified.
“We’re working on stopping them,” I assure her.
“I believe in you.”
Those words are everything to me. Every time we say something like that to each other it feels as if a broken piece of our hearts melts and goes to the special place where we’re building a new heart that will keep