“So what’s on the agenda?” Leigh asked.
“Turning the condo’s third bedroom into a nursery,” Tilly said. “No more home office. I need everything for her. I only got the barebones basics yesterday. And we get to do this twice.”
“When we get back to Florida?”
“Yep.” Tilly settled the baby into the carrier. “Bye-bye home dungeon.”
“Well, not like you aren’t good friends with the owner of a dungeon.”
“True.”
“You know, of all the crazy stuff that’s happened in our little circle, this was never on my radar of possibilities.”
“Ditto.” Tilly stared down at the baby, already deeply in love with her.
“How’s Sir Fussypants handling it?”
“Far better than I imagined.” Tilly showed Leigh the picture she’d taken of Landry holding the baby that morning. “He’s a natural.”
“Oh. My. God. That’s like the second most adorable thing I’ve seen today, after her. Text me that, please? I want to show the guys.”
Tilly did. “I never thought ‘parental’ was a word I’d ever use to describe Lan. I mean, I know he’s good with kids. Hell, he’s like a big kid himself. But he’s amazed me. Both of them have.”
“Well, she’s Cris’ cousin. I would imagine him to jump in to help.”
“Yeah, but not like this. This is…more.” She shrugged. “What might have been, right?”
“Oh, sweetie.” Tilly hadn’t even realized she was crying until Leigh pulled her in for a long, strong hug. “It’ll be okay.”
“No baby should grow up in a shithole like that. What if we give her back to Sofia and she turns around and goes right back to one of those scumwads?”
“Then she’s a fucking idiot, and you retain custody of the baby, that’s what.”
Tilly grabbed a couple of tissues from a box on Leigh’s desk and blew her nose. “Cris said he’s in agreement that we won’t give her back unless we’re sure.”
“Then that’s something, right?”
“But is that the right thing? What if I never feel sure, and that’s because of me and not her?”
“You have two level-headed guys to help you figure that out,” Leigh reminded her. “I’m sure if they thought you were being unreasonable that they would speak their minds. Anyway, shopping. Give me five minutes to wrap some stuff up and change the peanut, and I’ll be ready to boogie.”
It was more like ten, because they had to swap the car seat base from Tilly’s car to the SUV. Once they were ready to roll, with Leigh driving, she turned to Tilly. “Where to first?”
“Baby store. The same place we went shopping for Lily that time.”
“Which one?”
“The big place.”
“Oh. That one.”
Tilly grinned. “Yeah, that one.”
Leigh backed out of the parking space. “Does Landry know how much you’re about to spend?”
Tilly snorted. “Are you kidding? He okayed it.”
* * * *
Landry and Sofia’s next stop was the probation office. Dale had called ahead to Sofia’s probation officer. They would likely have to wait for a while, but she would be in the office that morning and could see them.
Landry glanced at the back seat, where Sofia sat on the driver’s side and stared out the window at the passing landscape.
Besides her obvious injuries, worry seemed to weigh heavy on her shoulders.
He didn’t try to tell her things would be okay. Not when he didn’t even know if they would be. For all he knew, it might be him and Dale departing and having to leave her there to work her way through the legal system once more.
They had to wait over an hour to get in to see the probation officer. Carnie Nerzino was a middle-aged woman with liberal amounts of grey in her short hair. Wearing a pair of slacks and a slightly rumpled long-sleeved blouse, she looked harried and worn-out.
Landry adjusted his expectations far lower than he’d started.
Ms. Nerzino pulled up Sofia’s case file as Dale started going over what happened and produced copies of the hospital records, police incident report, and custody order.
The woman removed her glasses and glared at Sofia. “So you’re currently two payments behind on your probation fees, and you now have an attorney? Where did you get the money for that?”
Dale started to speak, but the woman held a hand up to quiet him. “I asked her, counsellor.”
Sofia stared at her hands, which lay clasped in her lap. “I called my cousin, Cris, yesterday. He hired him for me.”
The officer pointed at Landry. “You’re the cousin?”
“No, Cris is a partner of mine. Friend and business partner. We’re very close. Consider each other family.”
“And exactly where is your baby?”
“She’s with Tilly. Landry’s wife. Tilly took her to the pediatrician this morning.”
The woman put her glasses back on and stared at her computer monitor. “You gave birth to her two weeks ago?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And the guy you were living with is now in jail?”
“I…” She looked at Dale, pointed to him.
Nerzino stared at him. “Well?”
“He hadn’t bonded out yet as of this morning when I checked.”
She tapped on her keyboard for a moment. “Well, he certainly is a real winner. Did you know about his criminal record, Ms. Guerrero?”
Landry’s heart sank. He suspected where this was going.
“I tried to get away from him,” Sofia said. “He threatened to hurt me and the baby.” She pointed at her face. “This is what he did to me when I told him I wanted to leave. I was scared he’d hurt her.”
Nerzino pulled her glasses off again and rubbed at the bridge of her nose. “Why didn’t you ask for help when you were in the hospital and giving birth?”
“Because he had someone stay with me all the time. I couldn’t. I wanted to.”
The officer leaned back in her chair. “Is your cousin going to pay your overdue probation fees for you?”
“I—”
“I’ll pay them for her right now,” Landry said, reaching for his wallet. “How much?”
“I’ll give you a print-out. You can pay it online,” she said. “So where is your new address?”
Landry recited it for her as she typed it in. “But we want to look into getting her moved with us to Florida.”
“I’m confused. I thought you lived here.”
“We have a secondary residence here for business, yes. My wife, myself, and Cris, we all travel here for business, but our primary residence is in Florida. That’s where we spend most of our time.”
“Frankly, I’m inclined to revoke your probation right now and remand you to custody for putting your child at risk.”
“Ms. Nerzino,” Dale said, “I have the freshly minted court order stating that Mr. LaCroux, his wife, and Cris Guerrero are the legal guardians of the infant. They will remain so, at Ms. Guerrero’s request, until she is in a stable situation and able to care for her daughter properly.”
The probation officer tapped on her keyboard for another minute, finally shaking her head. “I’m going to need to run this up the chain,” she said. “There are multiple probation violations here. Associating with a known felon, changing residences without notification, being behind in paying your fees, endangering an infant. If I let you go without so much as a slap on the wrist and something happens—I don’t want that on my conscience. And I need to do a home visit at your new residence.”
Landry put breaking down the spanking bench in the spare bedroom at the top of his mental to-do list.
And hiding their implements under their bed in the master bedroom.
“What about transferring her probation to Florida?” Landry asked.
“I’m not going to give you an answer about that right now. Tonight, eight o’clock, I’ll be there for a home visit. You’d better have yo
ur overdue fees paid by then, too. And I want to see a solid plan, either for getting a job or going back to school.”
The woman leaned back in her chair again. “What were you thinking? One of the primary rules of your probation is not associating with criminals, and you were living with two of them? Another violation right there, you changed your residence without notifying me about it. Not to mention you were living outside the area where you were approved to be in the first place.”
Sofia tearfully nodded. “I know. I’m sorry. I’ll do whatever it takes, even if it means going back to jail. That’s why I wanted Cris to have Katie.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked. “Had you told me what was going on, I would have referred you to a shelter. Gotten you help.”
“I was really, really scared.” She pointed at her neck, where dark bruises ringed her throat, then at her blackened and swollen eyes. “I didn’t think I had options that wouldn’t get me or my baby killed.”
“I’ll see you tonight at eight. That’ll give me time to look into this further. I want to know what charges are being filed against this Monroe Cord before I make a decision.”
Sofia nodded.
Dale glanced at his phone when they got outside. “Do you want me to run you home? I won’t be able to be there tonight. But when she gets there, just let her in and let her look around, answer her questions, and call me if there’s a problem.”
“I need a rental car,” Landry said. “If you could drop us off at an agency, I’d appreciate it.”
An hour later, Landry was driving them back to the condo. Sofia had barely said two words the entire time, and had waited out in Dale’s car while Landry went in to get the car rental handled.
He couldn’t blame her. She looked horrible.
“They’re going to put me in jail,” she softly said as they parked at the condo.
“Think positively,” he said, not feeling very positive himself. “Perhaps when she sees where we live and the better position you’re in now, maybe she’ll feel more charitable.”
“I’m lucky she hasn’t revoked me before now. Monroe wouldn’t give me any money. He said if they couldn’t find me, they couldn’t make me pay.”
“Nice. Wasn’t his hide on the line, as they say.”
“I still went. I didn’t tell him. I would take the bus. The last two times I went, I was obviously pregnant and since I was passing my drug tests, she went easy on me since I wasn’t working.”
“We’ll pay the fees as soon as we’re upstairs. But in addition to the rules Tilly gave you, I’m adding another. You do not leave the condo alone until further notice, understand?”
She nodded.
“If one of us is with you, that’s fine. Otherwise, you stay where you are. We’ll investigate online classes for you that you can take either here or in Florida. Try to get you some sort of degree you can use to help you get a better job once you graduate.”
“Is anyone going to want to hire me?”
“Perhaps not a bank, but I’m sure we can find you something to do. You have to have the proper mindset, that you will succeed. It’s time for you to take decisive action to turn your life around. And another rule, you will not only have no contact with your ex, but with anyone who knows him. As of now, you have no contact with anyone we don’t clear first.”
She nodded.
“I’m sorry to be so draconian about that—”
“Please don’t apologize. I deserve it. I didn’t do very good running my own life. I’m tired of trying. I need someone to tell me what to do to fix this mess. I’ll do whatever you say. It’s the only way I can keep KC safe.”
“Do you want us to locate your family so you can contact them?”
“No. They’ll want to take her away from you guys. I want you guys to have her. I don’t want my dad raising her.”
“You’re talking as if you won’t be around.”
“I hope I am, but I keep having dreams. It started about halfway through the pregnancy. I dreamed that I died. Various ways. I thought Monroe was going to kill me the other day and make them come true finally. The doctor in the hospital, when I had KC, said that dreams are normal when you’re pregnant. But they don’t feel like dreams. They feel more like premonitions.”
“Life is what you make of it. You have the opportunity now to not screw it up going forward.”
“Unless I’m in jail.”
“Even then, I’m sure you can take classes, read books, do anything to keep your mind active until you get out. And from that point on, you move forward. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. She might do the home visit tonight and say everything’s fine, grouse at you once more to get a job or go to school, and say you can move to Florida with us.”
“I hope so.”
So do I.
Landry didn’t want to think anything else, but in his heart, he suspected there would be yet another seismic shift on the horizon, an impact with far-rippling effects.
Chapter Ten
“They have delivery, Tilly,” Leigh reminded her.
“Yeah, but I want it tonight.”
“Then bribe them. Hell, I’ll bribe them for you.” They were staring at a display of cribs. Tilly had finally decided on the one she wanted, but no way, with all their other purchases, would it fit in the SUV.
They had bought more clothes, blankets, diapers, toys, a baby bathtub, baby monitor, stroller, high chair—countless items.
On the way there, they’d stopped at the pharmacy to get the prescriptions for Katie’s supplements filled.
Leigh snagged the attention of a store clerk who assured them yes, they could deliver the crib for them that afternoon.
An hour later, they were heading home to unload everything before returning to the office. They had just arrived at the condo to unload when Landry called her.
“We’re on our way back, love.”
“And?”
“We have a home visit tonight at eight from the probation officer.”
“Dammit.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Um, third bedroom? Hellooo?”
“Right. I’ll take care of it.”
“Oh, wait. I have an idea. I’ll handle it. You stay here at the condo for the rest of the day with Sofia. The crib will be delivered sometime this afternoon. I can break that…thing down and put it in Leigh’s SUV and let her watch it for us. I have to go back to the office with her anyway to get my car.”
“Good thinking, love.”
“I have my moments.”
Landry and Sofia still hadn’t arrived by the time Tilly and Leigh were ready to leave. They got the spanking bench broken down and stashed in the back of Leigh’s SUV.
Now, the room appeared to be nothing more than a home office. The other stuff, like mats, that were in there made it appear to do double-duty as a workout or yoga area.
As Leigh drove them back to the office, Tilly laid her head back against the seat. “Twenty-four hours ago, I would have insisted you were crazy if you said I’d be taking care of a baby that wasn’t yours.”
“Who says I’m not crazy?”
“True. I think we’re all a little crazy.”
“It’s the good kind of crazy, though.”
“That’s still up for debate.” She turned to Leigh. “Am I doing the right thing?”
“What do you mean?”
“Her. Katie. Am I doing the right thing getting involved?”
“Well, while I will agree with your guys that racing in there without telling anyone what was going on or where you were going wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever seen you do, getting involved was absolutely the right call. That baby needs you guys. Obviously, her mom isn’t capable of caring for her.”
“Am I enabling Sofia by stepping in like this?”
“All that matters is you’re protecting and caring for that baby. That’s the only thing at this point that is of any importance.”
“What if I can’t let her go
later?”
“Maybe you won’t have to.”
“What?”
Leigh shrugged. “Not like you and me haven’t seen our share of fuck-ups over the years. She might decide life’s easier without a baby to take care of. You’re not responsible for Sofia’s actions. You’re only responsible for taking care of the baby.”
Landry texted Tilly just before they reached the office that he and Sofia had returned to the condo. At least they didn’t have to worry about cleaning or tidying the place up. Between her and Cris, the condo was always company-ready.
Tilly swapped the car seat base out to her car. Then she unloaded the extra items she’d bought for the baby to keep at the office. After briefly going through phone messages and e-mails, she loaded the baby and headed home again. She had stuff to do, but it’d be easier, at this point, to do it at home.
Her emotions ran the gamut from anger to worry to guilt. Not entirely convinced it didn’t make her a horrible person for hoping Sofia went back to jail, Tilly knew she’d need to talk this out with her men sooner rather than later.
Especially when taking the nightmares into account. There were times Tilly could admit she couldn’t do something alone. Those times were few and far between, but this clearly was one of those times.
She wanted her men’s input and guidance. Obviously, too many triggers in this situation meant she wasn’t thinking clearly, wasn’t being rational.
When she arrived home, Landry was seated on the couch and working on his laptop. Tilly glanced around, and he smiled.
“She’s taking a nap.”
“Oh.” Tilly set the carrier on the couch and got the baby out. She’d just awakened when they’d returned home and needed a diaper and a bottle.
Landry set his laptop on the coffee table and stood to help her.
“I’ve got this,” she said.
“I know you do, love, but I want to help. I might as well learn these skills.”
“You? Changing diapers?”
“This isn’t a case of she’s one of our friends’ babies. She’s ours, for the immediate future and perhaps longer. That means she’s my responsibility as well. I refuse to shoulder you with the entirety of the burden of her care.”
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