Fallen Woman(85)

“Daddy, is it time yet?”

“No, sweetheart. We have another thirty minutes before we need to leave.”

“How long is that?” She had to crane her neck to look up at his face from her height. Her long blond curls waved behind her back as she talked to him.

“One episode of Dora.” He’d hoped to encourage her to watch one so she would know that when it was over, it would be time to go, but she didn’t take the bait.

Instead, she sent her brothers and sister off to watch an episode and report back to her when it was over so she could make sure Daddy was ready to go. He gave up trying to get any peace and finally picked her up and just carried her with him around the house until they landed at the kitchen table.

I thought I’d go crazy if she said his name one more time. Daddy. Daddy. Daddy. I was so excited when she learned to talk, and now I wished she had a muzzle.

“Emmy, baby. Get a sweater, and we’ll just go early. Tell your brothers and sister it’s time to leave.”

She flew out of Jase’s lap and up the stairs to find her siblings. I could hear her screaming it was time to go, and she wasn’t waiting on them. They all came back down together. They looked beautiful, and I couldn’t wait to get a picture of all six of us after the hearing.

I sat in nervous anticipation when we reached the courthouse. Hart assured us this would be fast; the judge might ask us a couple of questions, but primarily he would talk to the kids. It was a formality, and he’d never seen one denied, but it ate at me until I was chewing on my fingers.

Jase kept pulling my hand from my mouth and putting it back in my lap, but thirty seconds later, I was back to gnawing on one.

“Gia, baby, quit. You’re going to freak the kids out,” he whispered with a chuckle.

Before I could respond, our name was called over the speaker, and we followed Hart to the courtroom. The kids ran in like a herd of wild elephants, but it didn’t seem to faze the judge. He smiled brightly at them and spoke to each of them. As they clamored around his courtroom, he watched with curiosity. Once everyone was inside, Jase wrangled them all to come sit down, and the hearing started.

Hart was right. We were in and out in a few minutes. The judge commented on how well adjusted and happy all the children were, and he wished there were more young men like Jase taking roles of missing fathers. Jase was amazing with them—all of them. He loved them as though they all bore his DNA and not just his last name.

We took several pictures, one with everyone in the courtroom including the stenographer, the bailiff, the judge, and Hart. I couldn’t wait to see how they all turned out and couldn’t help but think this must be the rewarding part of the judge’s job. I could have been fooled, but he seemed genuinely excited to be able to grant all of us what we desperately wanted—full custody of Derrick and the Lane family name.

With our unit complete, until the baby came, the last piece to our puzzle was Jase’s family situation. That portion would come tomorrow, and while I wasn’t sure everything would be resolved in a day, I was sure we were on the right path.





Chapter Seventeen





Saturday morning, we lazed around the house making pancakes for breakfast and hanging out in Jase’s cave watching cartoons with the kids. I glanced around at each of them sprawled out in a chair or on the floor, Emmy in Jase’s lap, and wondered how we’d come so far in such a short period of time. I grinned at my little blonde beauty, wondering how she was going to take the news of a baby and whether she’d ever be able to share her daddy with anyone else.

We hadn’t told the kids about the baby yet but decided they should know before anyone else did, including Jase’s parents. He looked over his shoulder, through Emmy’s golden tresses before he plucked her from his lap and set her down in front of him. With the remote in hand, I turned off the television and got resounding objections from all four kids.

“Whatchu doin’, G?” Derrick still had a hard time calling me Mom, so I didn’t push. Every time he said G, I died laughing at his little southern drawl and tiny five-year-old voice with an enormous personality.

“Your mom and I wanted to talk to you guys about something.” Jase tried so hard to treat them like little adults. It was endearing, even if it wasn’t the way I would go about it. I loved that he tried so hard, and they respected him because he treated them well.

But apparently, that’s where Jase’s prepared speech ended. When he turned to me, I dropped the little adult routine. “Mommy and Jase are having a baby! You guys are going to be big brothers and sisters.” I cooed my voice the way that makes my children happy, and I got the reactions I expected from each of them.

Derrick and Trace looked at the two of us like we were crazy, scrunching up their noses and making silly sounds. “Eww. No way. We don’t want a baby.” One had echoed the other before they started talking about poopy diapers and baby throw up. Megan was thrilled to have a baby to play with, and Emmy pouted.

“Emmy, what’s wrong?” I asked her, trying to hold back my laughter.

“I’m the baby.” She crossed her arms over her chest in a huff.

“There can be more than one. It won’t change how much we love you or the new baby.”

Jase ruffled her hair and poked her in the side until she cracked a smile and began to giggle. She’d have a hard time with it, but the others would be fine. We tried to continue the conversation, but none of them were interested in talking. They all wanted to meet Jase’s parents.