Against the Odds (Fighting to Survive #2)(54)

When Leah returned, she had an S.U.V. full of stuff. She and the girls decided that Madison would need some things. Maybe she’s right. She came home in a better mood and for that, I am grateful. We are all stressed and worried about the upcoming court date. She smiles as she holds up several outfits, pajamas, and shoes. She also bought books, lamps, and curtains. We went online and ordered her a bedroom suite and it will be delivered next week.


The baby turned six weeks old on Friday. I celebrated her birthday by burying myself deep inside of my wife, more than once. It feels good to be with her again. When we weren’t making love, we were getting a spare bedroom ready for Madison. Not that we think she’ll be using it right away, but because we want her to have a room of her own when she comes. We want her to feel loved and welcomed.

We left Jamie’s room just the way it is. That will always be Jamie’s room. I can’t imagine it as anything else.

We have our court date scheduled for Tuesday. I’ve been working out mostly at home. Partly, because I don’t trust Drake Sinclair to do something stupid, but another reason is I worry about Leah and her depression. I’m not confident it won’t return. And the magnitude of this court hearing may be enough for the dark cloud to claim her.

On Monday, Leah takes Gracie to the shop with her. She said she has an appointment with Brooke to talk about her books, and she wants to talk to Dove about keeping her on full-time. Dove was just filling in while Leah was on maternity leave. Dove is a reporter at heart and I’m not sure the bookstore will be enough to fulfill her investigative instincts. I offered to keep Gracie, but she wants to take her to show her off.

While the girls are the shop, I go on my morning run. The court date isn’t upsetting only to Leah, it’s a lot to deal with for me. I meet Dad, Gus, and Tim for lunch and we go over my training schedule. It looks like we are all waiting for the court date to conclude. I guess they were taking it easy on me. Gus also informs me that the boxing commission didn’t find that Kennedy was involved in that assault with the girl. I have no idea how Kennedy and she settled that, but they did.

“Good, I guess that means the fight will go on as scheduled.”

“It will and I want you ready. After tomorrow, no more playing around. “I get you for eight hours a day, every day, training and I want you to focus only on the fight. The other sixteen hours in the day, you focus on the fight and do family stuff. Got it.”

“I got it.”

When I get home, Leah and Gracie are already there. My mind should be on the fight, but today, it’s only on the court hearing. It’s hard to focus on anything else. Leah and I stay in and order Chinese food for dinner. We turned off the cell phones so we wouldn’t be interrupted. Although we don’t talk about tomorrow, I know it’s the only thing we can think about. If we don’t get custody of Madison, we’ll be heartbroken and if the Sinclairs lose custody of her, they’ll also be heartbroken. There isn’t a win-win in this case.

It seems that the nurse who was responsible for this should be punished or something. With all of the heartache that she caused, something should be done.

Leah sleeps intertwined with me. I don’t sleep and she doesn’t either. Tomorrow is a new chapter in our lives.

“Are you ready for tomorrow?” she whispers with her head resting on my chest.

“We don’t have a choice, do we?”

“No, I guess not. I’m scared.”

I turn so I can look her in her eyes. “You have no reason to be afraid. Do you hear me?”

“What if we go in there and they don’t acknowledge us as Madison’s family?”

“They will. How can they not?”

“Our little girls are six years old today.”

“It’s difficult to believe. We’ll take balloons to the cemetery later today,” I say.

“And we’ll take Madison’s gift to the courthouse with us?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

The next morning Leah spends most of it in the bathroom. I can hear her dry heaving from the bedroom. When she is upset, she always gets sick to her stomach. I try to go in and offer her support, but the door is locked. I know she hates me seeing her like that. “I’ll be out in a minute, Robert.”

I look at my watch and see that if we don’t leave soon, we’ll be late. “Okay, Sweets.”

I carry Gracie downstairs where our parents are waiting. The coffee pot is brewing and the aroma fills the air. I’ve already had three cups of black coffee this morning. I don’t need anymore. I see balloons and ballerina birthday cupcakes on the counter. “It looks like a birthday party,” I say trying to smile. Today is Jamie and Madison’s birthday. We still celebrate Jamie’s birthday even though she is no longer here. Today we have two daughters born on the same day and won’t be celebrating with either of them.

“Our little girl would be six,” Tim says.

“Yes, she would have been.”

“Is she all right?” Sue asks.

“She will be. Hopefully, she’ll be down soon.” I look at my watch again.


“I should go up and check on her,” Sue says as she stands.

“I’m all right, Mom.” I turn around and Leah is standing behind me. Her eyes are red and swollen and she looks pale. “We need to leave if we want to make it on time.”