“How dare—”
Tilly jabbed a finger at her. “Shut it, woman. You couldn’t stand up to your husband, and you let him throw your only son out of the house. You don’t get a second chance to help fuck up another child’s life. You chose the wrong side when it came to Cris when he was a kid, and you can’t un-choose.”
When the CPS investigator arrived, Landry pulled Tilly and Cris to the far end of the room and stationed himself and Loren between them and the others.
They didn’t have to wait long. They were ushered in and as soon as they got seated, the judge called in Louisa Gonzalez for her report. Loren remained out in the waiting room with Katie.
Landry suspected if Cris’ mother gave Loren any grief that the older woman might spontaneously combust or something. He couldn’t imagine a fiercer babysitter than Loren.
Except perhaps for June or Eliza, or even Rob’s wife, Laura.
“As I’ve already told both parties,” Louisa Gonzalez said, “I see no reason to object to the original custody order as it stands. While both homes are fit homes, it would seem that Katie’s current guardians are not only doing an excellent job of caring for her, and show every indication of being able to provide that high standard of care for the foreseeable future, but they are also obviously very loving parents with a large, supportive network of friends. With all things being equal, I think the mother’s wishes should be taken into account.”
The judge nodded and turned to Santino’s attorney. “Well? What argument have you brought to me?”
“The family asks that the judge give weight to the fact that Santino Guerrero is the child’s uncle, not her cousin.”
He shook his head. “Is that the best you’ve got?”
“There is precedent to blood relatives getting priority.”
“But in a case like this, where the mother specifically excluded those same blood relatives? Remember, counsellor, the original order was not only voluntary, I talked to the mother here in this very chambers and she listed the reasons to me why she chose the guardians she did.”
“I read the transcript, your Honor.”
“Would you not agree she listed very persuasive arguments?”
“I would, your Honor.”
Landry watched Santino and realized something. He leaned in and whispered it to Dale.
Dale spoke up. “Your Honor, may I ask the petitioner a question?”
“You may.”
Dale looked at Santino. “Mr. Guerrero, where are the funds for your legal fees coming from?”
“Objection—”
“Overruled. I’ll allow it. It speaks to the ability to care for the child.”
Santino deflated. “My father. He’s the one who demanded we do this. But we really do want to adopt her.”
The judge sat back. “Interesting. So, Mr. Guerrero—Santino. If it wasn’t for your father paying for the attorney, would you have filed?”
Santino shook his head. “No, your Honor. We couldn’t have afforded it.”
Landry used every ounce of willpower he had to keep the triumphant smirk off his face.
“So why hadn’t you tried adoption before?” the judge asked.
“We couldn’t afford it.”
“Why wouldn’t your father pay for you to adopt another baby?”
“We…asked. For a loan. He said no.”
“Interesting.” He jotted down some notes. “I’m ready to render my verdict. The petitioner’s motion is hereby denied, in full, with prejudice. Mr. Waters, are you prepared for an adoption today?”
“Yes, your Honor. We filed the motion with your clerk last week.”
“Yes, I have it here. Please bring in the child, if she’s here.” He glanced at Santino’s attorney. “You and your clients are dismissed, unless you have further business with this court.”
“No, your Honor.”
As they left, the bailiff waved Loren in.
The judge stood, smiling, and walked around the desk. “May I?”
Loren looked to Landry, who nodded. She carefully handed the baby over to the judge, who expertly held her as if he was no stranger to infants.
“She’s beautiful. I deal with a lot of people, but I remembered her mother especially. Unfortunately, because of her injuries and her sad tale. I hope someone has cameras ready?”
“We sure do,” Loren said, holding her phone up. Tilly handed hers over to Dale.
The judge sat behind his desk, the baby cradled in his left arm, and picking up his pen with his right. “Then by the power vested in me by the state of California, I hereby approve this adoption, and as requested, her new name is Katherine Crista Guerrero-LaCroux.” He signed the paperwork as the pictures were taken. “Congratulations, little one. I hope your life from here on out is far better than the first couple of weeks have been.”
Landry didn’t bother trying to hide his tears as he kissed Tilly—who was crying—and Cris—also crying.
Loren took more pictures and video of them with the judge, and with Dale Waters, and then the bailiff helped take some of all of them together.
When they emerged thirty minutes later, Landry wanted to cry again at the beaming grin on Tilly’s face.
Even better, Cris’ family was nowhere to be seen.
Louisa Gonzalez, however, was waiting for them.
“Well?” she asked.
Landry hugged her. “Thank you. He approved her adoption. She is officially ours.”
“Ooh,” Loren said. “We need her picture, too!” After taking more pictures, they made their way toward the courthouse entrance.
“That’s one thing we haven’t bought for her yet,” Cris said as they walked outside.
“What?” Landry asked.
“A baby book to put all these memories in.”
“Then we’ll rectify that on the way home.”
They felt a small tremor shake the ground. In the parking lot, a few car alarms went off.
Loren gently smacked Tilly’s shoulder. “See? Told you it was a good sign.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Loren returned to Florida once the move to the new condo was completed. The three of them wouldn’t be far behind her, Cris returning first to handle some issues at the Florida office while Tilly and Landry waited for Katie’s new birth certificate to come through.
Once home, they would get her a passport so she could travel with them wherever they wanted to take her, whenever they wanted to go.
Through the attorney, Dale found out that, no, there would be no appeal. “They can’t outspend you and don’t want to try,” he said.
Their last night in LA before flying back to Florida, Tilly curled up next to Landry. “Thank you, Daddy,” she whispered.
He curled around her. “Didn’t I promise my baby girl to make this happen?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Do you ever think you’ll want to let Cris see this side of you?”
She hesitated. “Maybe one day. Not yet. This is ours.”
“Fair enough, baby girl. Fair enough.”
* * * *
An early-morning flight and losing several hours traveling east made for an exceptionally long day. Exhausted, Tilly crawled into bed, between Cris and Landry.
“I forgot how badly it sucks readjusting to Florida time. It’s easier going the other way.”
“Yeah,” Cris said. “At least I’ve got three days on you there. I’m so glad you’re home.”
She kissed him. “Ditto. I missed you. Thank you for going shopping.”
Landry and Tilly had been home less than two hours, after what felt like a lifetime away but had only been six weeks. Cris had gone out after his return, with Loren’s help, and purchased the bare necessities for the house, wanting to save the large shopping trip for when the three of them were together once more.
It was strange seeing Katie’s portable crib in what had been their guest room, but it would have been weirder had she been put in th
e playroom, equipment removed or not.
“So what do you wish to paint the nursery here, love?” Landry asked.
She sighed. “We’re not.”
He lifted his head. “No? I assumed we’d be tearing down the dungeon equipment and repurposing it since it’s a larger room than the guest room.”
“No,” she said. “We need to get this place ready to sell and go shopping for something larger.”
Landry chuckled. “How much larger, love?”
“Something with a pool and room for a hot tub. Maybe even big enough to build a little pool house.”
“Do tell?”
She snuggled tightly in his arms. “Yeah.”
“I thought you loved this house. This was your house. You worked very hard for it.”
“Mistress Cardinal worked hard for it,” Tilly said. “It was fine for us, when it was just us. We’ve had a lot of good times here, and made really good memories. But now it’s time we have a house that’s our house. Not just ours, but Katie’s, too. I want it to be the house she grows up in, the one she knows is home. One we can stay in for years, just like the new condo in LA. I want it to be the house that when she looks back on her childhood, it’s where most of her happy memories are. Where we can have our friends over for the kid-friendly parties, not just kinky ones. We can’t even host those here. We’ve never had kids here, do you realize that?”
“I never thought about it like that,” Landry admitted.
“And I want a house that’s large enough that, in case we ever decide to adopt another child, we’ve got room and don’t have to move again. The LA condo is big enough. This one isn’t. It’s barely big enough for the three of us, much less a baby.”
“When do you want to start looking?” Cris asked.
“Soon. Or we can build one.”
“We have connections with people who work for a building contractor,” Landry joked. “Max and Sean.”
“Exactly. And Seth was a contractor, too.”
Tilly thought maybe the men had fallen asleep when Landry spoke again. “I think I like the idea of building better than buying something. Unless, of course, we stumble across exactly the right one.”
“Do we get a say in it this time?” Tilly joked.
“Perhaps. The condo isn’t our primary home. We normally won’t be there more than a few days at a time. This is different. This will be our home, as you said. Not that money is a hinderance, but Dale Waters assures me that the lawsuit we’ll win for Sofia’s wrongful death will be substantial. Especially if we agree to settle out of court.”
“Lan did give me a say in the last condo we bought before he met you,” Cris said to Tilly in a teasing tone. “He’s not a complete control freak.”
“Oh, I absolutely am,” Landry said. “About the things I wish to be.”
Tilly pulled their arms around her. “So…it’s settled then? We’ll either buy or build?”
“It’s settled, love,” Landry said. “If Cris is fine with that.”
“Oh, sure. Now you give me a choice.” He chuckled before he leaned in and kissed her. “Yes, I’m fine with that.”
As Tilly drifted off to sleep, she thought about the urn now sitting on a shelf in their living room, holding the hopes and dreams of a young mother who only wanted a chance to give her daughter a better life.
All that was left of what had been Sofia Guerrero.
And everything that had made Tilly’s dreams finally come true and erased the last vestiges of the hell she’d felt trapped in ever since that horrible night when she was a kid.
Heaven lay in that urn, and Tilly would never forget it or take it for granted.
Never.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tymber Dalton lives in the Tampa Bay region of Florida with her husband (aka “The World’s Best Husband™”) and too many pets. Active in the BDSM lifestyle, the two-time EPIC winner is also the bestselling author of over ninety books, including The Reluctant Dom, The Denim Dom, Cardinal’s Rule, the Suncoast Society series, the Love Slave for Two series, the Triple Trouble series, the Coffeeshop Coven series, the Good Will Ghost Hunting series, the Drunk Monkeys series, and many more.
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