Impact

by Tymber Dalton

  Then again, it might be another way for Sofia to escape her responsibilities. That wouldn’t do the mother any good.

  I guess I really am a cold-hearted bitch.

  Sofia was Cris’ cousin. Tilly knew she should muster a little more charity toward the woman than she was, but that proved damned hard when she thought about the squalid conditions she found them in. Being poor was no excuse for being a slob.

  She’s not my baby.

  Tilly knew that had to be her mantra for now, but she’d also be the first person to admit it was damned hard to keep it in mind.

  When Tilly emerged from the bedroom, fully dressed, she found breakfast ready and Sofia sitting at the table. Landry or Cris had buckled the baby in her carrier and had it sitting on the floor next to the table.

  High chair, one of those kinds that will hold a carrier.

  Tilly added that to her ever-growing baby shopping list.

  “How’d you sleep?” Tilly asked as she sat down at the place setting Cris had laid out for her.

  Sofia nodded. She looked like death warmed over, her bruises looking uglier in the morning light than they had appeared yesterday. “I think that was the first decent night of sleep I’ve had in months.” Her voice even sounded weak, broken, as if no ounce of self-preservation remained in her psyche. “I’m glad she’s safe now.”

  Tilly fought the urge to blush over her earlier uncharitable thoughts. “Once the hearing’s over, it’ll be official, then you can relax even more. We’ll get you on the right path to building a good life for yourself in Florida.”

  “I wish I’d listened to you back then,” Sofia said to Cris. “I wish I’d gone with you. I was so scared of that guy. He threatened to kill Mom and Dad if I ever left him.” She stared at her plate. “He ended up tossing me out anyway. I never should have fallen for his bullshit.”

  Cris’ expression darkened. “You can’t change the past,” he finally said. “So stop thinking about it. What matters is now, and that you’re safe, and so is she.”

  “He’s right,” Tilly said. “People do really stupid things out of fear, things that make no sense to them later. Beating yourself up after the fact doesn’t change them.” A thought came to mind and it flew from her mouth before she could censor herself. “Is Katie your only child?”

  “Yeah. I managed to stay on birth control before I met her father. But he made me quit working and wouldn’t give me money to buy any at the clinic. Said he wanted me knocked up so we could get more in food stamps.”

  “Sounds like a real charmer,” Tilly snarked.

  “I wasn’t exactly upset when he got killed during a hold-up. He stupidly picked a store where the owner had a gun. Then I ended up with Monroe, and he made me do the welfare fraud thing. I think the only reason they didn’t give me a longer sentence was I didn’t have any priors, and I was pregnant.”

  There but for the grace of god…

  Tilly knew she shouldn’t judge. After her mom was killed, her own life easily could have taken a hard right hook into the weeds, leaving her no better off than Sofia.

  Only through sheer tenacity on her part, and then followed by Cris’ love, had she managed as well as she had.

  “Everyone, finish your breakfast,” Landry counseled. “Time enough later to revisit the past. For now, we have errands to run and priorities to deal with.”

  Tilly stared at Katie. “At least things should get easier from here on out.”

  Chapter Eight

  Fortunately, Dale Waters would pick up Landry and Sofia from the condo for the hearing, and then to take them to the probation office. Meanwhile, Tilly would drop Cris at work and then head straight to the pediatrician’s office for Katie’s appointment.

  And at some point that day, Landry and Cris would both rent cars.

  Even Tilly wasn’t so stubborn to realize logistically, while it would be easy to temporarily get by with one vehicle in Florida, they couldn’t in LA. Not now, when they needed to take care of Katie.

  Well, at least I don’t have to worry about TMZ coming after me for an accident. Now it’ll be a “secret baby” scandal.

  Anything that kept the attention off Lucas, Leigh, and Nick was fine with Tilly. A secret baby scandal was far better than a make-believe vehicular homicide or imaginary DUI.

  Tilly, who’d ended up behind the wheel today, pulled up in front of Cris’ office and shifted into park.

  “You going to be all right, Redbird?” he asked.

  “I think I can handle a doctor’s appointment.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “I know.” She drummed her fingers against the steering wheel. “Landry’s got the tough job. I know she’s your cousin, but how can she justify letting someone steal her baby’s formula? Why the hell didn’t she tell a nurse or a doctor or someone while she was in the hospital?”

  “I’m not excusing what she did,” Cris said. “I’m in complete agreement with you.”

  “I won’t let her have Katie back if I don’t think she’s a fit mother.” She turned to look at him. “I mean it.”

  “Again, I’m in complete agreement with you.”

  “Even if it means turning against your own cousin?”

  “Absolutely. We’re talking about a baby.”

  Tilly sucked in a long, deep breath and took her time letting it out again. “Okay. Sorry I’m being such a bitch about this.”

  “You’re not being a bitch. I love you even more for how you’ve handled this, although I wish you’d called me and not gone there alone.” He leaned in and kissed her. “Text me when you finish at the doctor’s office.”

  “Will do.”

  She watched him walk into the building before she shifted the car into gear again and pulled out into traffic.

  Dr. Rahling’s office was located in an upscale medical building complex with a gated private parking garage.

  Tilly walked into the office fifteen minutes earlier than she was supposed to and signed in on the clipboard. There wasn’t anyone else in the waiting room yet.

  The receptionist glanced at the name and then recognition hit. “Oh, you’re our urgent case.” She picked up a clipboard full of forms and rounded the desk. “Come with me. Dr. Rahling asked me to bring you back as soon as you arrived.”

  Tilly hadn’t even had time to set down the baby carrier yet. She was filling out forms when a nurse knocked a few minutes later and opened the door. “Hi, I need to get some vitals on her.”

  Tilly got Katie out of the carrier and stripped her down to her diaper, wrapping her in a light blanket so she wouldn’t get chilled.

  The nurse frowned as she checked the baby’s length and weight. “How old is she?”

  “Two weeks today, and yes, long story, she’s probably currently underweight and won’t be for long. Hopefully the court order naming me and my husband her legal guardians will be filed before I’m even out of here.” She wasn’t happy leaving Cris out, but it was easier not having to explain a third.

  As the nurse noted Katie’s vitals, Tilly gave her the short version of the story.

  “Wow. She’s a very lucky baby to have you in her life.”

  “Don’t worry, there’s no way in hell I’ll let her mom have custody of her again unless I’m sure she can take care of her.”

  The nurse helped swaddle Katie in a blanket and returned her to Tilly. “The doctor will be in shortly.”

  “Thanks.”

  One-armed, Tilly finished filling out the forms and was ready when Dr. Rahling entered the room a few minutes later. Probably in his late fifties, his formerly blond hair was mostly grey, and he had brown eyes creased enough in the corners to speak of time spent outdoors, but his skin didn’t look like leather. He either had a damn good dermatologist, or had been religiously using sunscreen and a hat.

  “Thank you for fitting us in,” Tilly said as she shook hands with him. “I am extremely grateful.”

  “My nurse said you’ve got quite the story to tell
.”

  Tilly repeated it, the doctor frowning at first, then slowly nodding once Tilly assured him she was now Katie’s guardian and would remain so for the immediate future.

  “Let’s get some lab work on her,” the doctor said. “Just to be sure there aren’t any drugs in her system, or any other issues. I’ll call the phlebotomist in here once I’m done. Now, let’s take a look at this little girl.”

  It was over an hour before they were out of there. The doctor prescribed supplements and vitamins, recommended a different formula, and wanted to see Katie back in a week. “Hopefully there won’t be any lasting effects from this, since you intervened so soon.”

  “That makes two of us, doc.” Tilly changed Katie’s diaper before getting her dressed again.

  At check-out, Tilly paid the bill with a credit card and headed back to the car. With the baby securely buckled in, Tilly texted Cris an update. She followed that with a text to Landry, who called her a moment later.

  “How is she, love?” he asked.

  “Hopefully, we intervened in time. The doctor says other than being underweight, she seems healthy. Where are you?”

  “I stepped outside into the hallway. We’re awaiting our turn in front of the judge.”

  “Everything okay?”

  “She’s rather nervous and I can’t blame her there.”

  “About seeing the probation officer?”

  “Yes. Dale and I talked alone while Sofia went to the bathroom. He warned me that there is a very good chance she will be remanded to custody when the full story is told.”

  “He’s not very hopeful, huh?”

  “No, not considering her ex-boyfriend’s arrest record. And the brother’s record. Dale looked it all up last night after taking Cris and Sofia home. He’s hoping that the probation officer will take our guardianship of Katie into account, and the fact that Sofia reached out to us for help, but he warned me not to be surprised if she goes back into custody.”

  Tilly turned her head to look back at the baby’s car seat. She couldn’t see Katie, because of the rear-facing setup, but the baby had been nearly asleep when Tilly buckled her in. She’d sucked down another bottle of formula while in the doctor’s office, making that her third of the morning. Until Katie’s weight caught up to what it should be, the pediatrician had told Tilly to feed the baby as much and as often as Katie would take it, along with the supplements.

  She clamped down on her anger. “If I tell you something, promise you won’t tell Cris I said it?” She faced forward again.

  “Of course, love. Anything.”

  “Maybe a stint in jail is the best thing for her right now. Give her time to get her head on straight. And give us time to make sure Katie is taken care of. Not to mention, one less issue to worry about with her safely behind bars for now.”

  Landry’s sigh weighed heavily on her even through the phone. “Love, she’s not our baby. Under our care, yes. But she’s not ours.”

  “Not yet,” Tilly grumbled.

  “I know you don’t mean that.”

  “No, I do mean it.” She closed her eyes, rubbing her forehead against the tension headache already threatening to set in. “You didn’t see what a shithole she had that baby in. The carrier was disgusting, Lan. The place stank of weed and cigarette smoke. Serves her right to do a little jail time to make her think about what a good mother does and does not do. Like risking her infant’s life.”

  “No arguments from me, darling, but let’s make the goal to rehabilitate Sofia so she can be reunited with Katie, hmm?”

  “She’s the one who wanted us to take Katie out of the state in the first place.”

  “I realize that. And this morning her opinion hasn’t changed. She is under no illusions that she has screwed up and committed huge errors in her thinking. Do you trust my judgment?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “Then trust me now with this. I promise you, I will not let her regain custody of Katie unless I’m firmly convinced, and we are all in agreement, that Sofia can take care of her.”

  Tilly relaxed. “Thank you,” she said.

  “Let me get back in there. I’ll call you when we’re finished. Where is your next stop?”

  She started to say the office, then she thought about it. “I think I’m going to go shopping.”

  He chuckled. “Spend as much as you wish, love. Get her everything she needs and you desire.”

  “You know me too well. Love you.”

  “Love you, too, my dear.”

  She stared at her phone for a moment after she ended the call. Yes, she lived a charmed life.

  One more call to place.

  Leigh answered on the first ring. “Well? Do I still have a pediatrician,” she teased, “or do I need to find a new one because you went aggro on him?”

  “I’m not that mean. And yes, Dr. Rahling was wonderful. We have another appointment for next Thursday morning. I wanted to tell you I’m not coming in right away. I need to go shopping first. Baby shopping.”

  “Uh, not without me, you’re not.”

  “You have work to do.”

  “So do you. The benefit of being in charge is we can change the schedule to suit us. Come here, get me and Lily, and we’ll have a girls’ day out.”

  “Well, if we’re doing that, we need to take your SUV.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I need to get pretty much everything for her.”

  * * * *

  Landry slipped back into the anteroom and retook his seat on the other side of Dale Waters. Sofia looked worried until he offered her a smile.

  “The doctor said she seems fine, and wants to see her next week. As long as she gains weight at a proper rate, he thinks she’ll be all right.”

  Sofia closed her eyes, nodding. He spotted her relieved tears and reached over to a side table for a box of tissues, handing a couple to her.

  He wouldn’t admit it to Cris or Tilly at this time but Landry felt conflicted about Katie’s presence in their lives. Not that he wouldn’t devote whatever resources they needed to taking care of her, but what the eventual separation would do to Tilly.

  It didn’t take a psychology degree to see how protective and parental Tilly already felt toward the baby. What would it do to Tilly to let Katie go back to Sofia when the time eventually came for the mother to take over once more?

  He worried it would rip Tilly’s heart out, leaving him and Cris powerless to heal her. It’d been bad enough watching the emotional anguish Tilly had suffered before deciding to go through with the hysterectomy.

  And it’s aftermath.

  Feeling powerless to help the ones he loved was an uncomfortable place for Landry. Even holding himself back while Tilly and Cris found their emotional footing with each other had taken a massive feat of self-control on his part. Not ordering the two of them to fix things and make up.

  He also knew that the only thing that mattered was making sure Katie was safe and cared for. Everything else was secondary, including Tilly’s emotions—and his own.

  When it was their turn, Landry offered Sofia what he hoped was a comforting smile. This would be the easy part. With the mother there and asking for this guardianship to happen, Dale had assured him there should be no problems.

  What happened at their next stop remained to be seen.

  * * * *

  One more relief—the hearing had gone exactly as planned, and the three of them were now Katie’s legal guardians for the foreseeable future.

  Cris set his phone on the conference table. He’d warned everyone ahead of time that he’d need to take some important texts during the course of the morning, but hadn’t elaborated why.

  Landry had already texted him the gist of Dale Waters’ warning about the probation office visit.

  Cris hated that they had to do this but Sofia had begged him the previous evening, before Tilly and Lan had returned from the airport, for them to take Katie.

  It wasn’t that Sofia didn’t love Ka
tie, because she obviously did.

  Sofia feared for her own safety, as well as her daughter’s safety.

  Unlike his father and uncle, Cris’ cousin wanted her child to have the best, to be protected and cared for. Giving Katie to them for now was the best way to protect her, and he couldn’t argue with her logic.

  It was a good thing Landry was there today. If anyone could schmooze the probation officer, it would be Landry. The silver-tongued Dom had a way about him, charm, grace, style.

  That damned sexy French accent, when he chose to use it.

  He wondered how much stuff Tilly would buy for Katie today, and if he should have asked her to wait until he could go shopping with her.

  He wouldn’t mind shopping with her for the baby.

  Katie wasn’t his daughter but he damn sure would spoil her rotten as if she were.

  Especially since she was probably the closest thing he’d ever have to a biological child of his own.

  Well, we’ll still need everything for the Florida house. I can ask Tilly to hold off on shopping for that.

  For now, he needed to drag his brain back into work mode. Otherwise, it’d be too easy to sit there and daydream about how to decorate not one, but two nurseries, one at each home.

  Or even going shopping for larger homes for Katie to grow up in.

  Chapter Nine

  Leigh squeeed. “Oh. My. God! She’s adorable! KC, huh?”

  “Or Katie. I’m not sure which I like better.”

  Leigh held the baby tucked close to her. “You might not get her back,” Leigh teased.

  Tilly smiled. “You’ve got two guys. Order another one of your own. I’m sure Lily wants to be a big sister.”

  Leigh laughed as she gently handed the baby back to Tilly. “Not right now. Not yet.” She hooked a thumb toward where Lily was sleeping in her playpen crib. “Once she’s older, I’ll give Nick his chance.”

  Leigh had overruled her two men once she learned there was a history of heart disease in Nick’s family, and had a DNA test done to see which man was the father. Lucas had done the deed, so to be fair, she wanted their next child fathered by Nick.