Chapter Twenty-Eight
Tania sat in a hidden corner of the common room and set aside the stack of paperwork Smokey and the others had given her.
She’d chosen this corner so Carter wouldn’t see her and throw a fit.
Now that she’s read the whole thing, even the parts she didn’t completely understand, she needed to think about it, to let it sink in for a few minutes.
She had questions and would take them in to see the others in a moment.
First, she needed to spend a little time with her son.
She’d barely seen him since her breakdown earlier and she needed a Carter fix.
Cuddling with her baby would help her remember why she was doing this, why she didn’t just give up and walk away from everything.
She stood, leaving the paperwork on the table, and made her way to the corner where Taylynn had found a big quilt and laid it out on the floor.
Carter sat in the middle playing with a multicolored plastic ring toy Tania didn’t recognize.
But then, they hadn’t been able to get any of his toys from the house, so she was glad they’d found anything he was able to play with.
“What do we have here?” Tania asked as she sat on the blanket beside her son. “Did Aunty Taylynn find you a toy?” She glanced at the other woman through her lashes, trying to gauge the other woman’s reaction.
“Aunty?” Taylynn asked after a moment.
Tania nodded.
“Raven is Smokey’s brother right? That makes him Carter’s uncle, all of the Angels are uncles now, and you’re an aunt.”
Taylynn opened her mouth, then closed it, as if she’d changed her mind about what she’d been about to say.
“I’d love that.” She looked back down at Carter, one hand drifting down to cup her belly. “But it means you’ll get to be aunty to this little one too.”
Warmth spread through Tania at the thought of having someone around to help when she wasn’t feeling good or when she was simply overwhelmed.
“Sounds good to me.” She leaned close to bump Taylynn’s shoulder with her own. “When’s the last time this little guy ate?”
“It’s been a while, but he doesn’t act hungry. I’ve been watching.”
“Has Smokey come back from the gym yet?”
Taylynn shook her head. “Haven’t seen him. Do you need him? We can send one of the guys to go get him.”
“No, I was just curious. This has been a lot. I’m sure he needs to work through some things in his head. but if you’re all right with him, I do need to go talk to Hawkeye and Dagger about a couple of things.”
“Go ahead. We’re fine. If he gets fussy, I’ll try to feed him, and if that’s not enough, I’ll go hunting for Smokey. I’ve got things handled here. Go do what you need to do.” Taylynn waved her away.
“Thanks,” she stood, went back to the table, snagged the paperwork she’d left there and headed down the hall.
There was no one in the room where they’d met earlier, so she headed to what Smokey called the command center.
The door there stood open. Pike and Hawkeye both sat in front of their computers, eyes glued to the screens.
She knocked on the open door and waited.
Hawkeye glanced in her direction, then smiled.
“Come on in. Did you sign or do you have questions?”
“I have a couple of questions, then I’ll sign.”
“What do you need to know?”
“I understand there’s no way to get around the prenup. He gets a hundred thousand no matter what, but can we stipulate that what he’s already taken counts?” She hated the idea of having to give him more. Especially since he’d already stolen more than he would be awarded.
Hawkeye blinked. “You’ve stumped me. I have no idea.”
She let shoulders droop and her head fall. She hadn’t realized how much she was hoping about the possibility.
“But I know who will know. Give me just a sec.” Hawkeye picked up his phone and hit a few buttons, a moment later she heard it ringing, as he’d put it on speaker.
“What?” came a gruff voice from the device. Pike appeared beside her, a chair in hand. She hadn’t even noticed him getting up. He set it down and motioned for her to take a seat. She nodded and mouthed ‘thank you’. Pike nodded then went back to his computer.
“Hey, you’re on speaker.”
“Fucker. Who’s there?”
“Me, Pike, and Tania.”
“Why’s the woman there?”
“Because she’s the one who has a question for you. If you’ll stop being a grumpy ass, I could tell you all of it at once.”
There was a moment of silence before the man on the other end of the line exhaled loudly.
“Fine. Tell me what’s up.”
“Tania just read through the paperwork you drew up for her. She has a question. I have to admit, it’s a good one.”
“What’s the question?” his voice turned from surly to professional. Hawkeye met her gaze and tilted his head toward the phone.
“I-I know we can’t get around the payout for Rod that’s outlined in the prenup,” She stammered at first, but forced herself to go on, “but is there any way we can say that what he’s already stolen counts?”
“Hmm. Like time served can count towards sentencing.” The voice over the phone sounded intrigued.
“It hadn’t occurred to me. I can draw it up that way then it will be up to the judge to accept it or make a different order.
I like it.” He fell silent for a couple of moments.
“Don’t sign what you’ve got there. Give me an hour.
I’ll send over an updated version with that change. Anything else while I’m at it?”
“There’s nothing in here about Carter.”
“Carter? Oh yeah. The baby. That’s because by the time that lands on the judge’s desk, the baby will no longer be legally Werners. I’ve already drawn up the petition for custody for Smokey. I think he’s already signed it?” the last lilted up as a question.
“He has. I’m watching the lab for test results. As soon as they come in, I’ll get all that paperwork in front of the judge.”
“That fast?” Tania asked, eyes wide.
“We have a few connections. Sometimes we have to actually go through the system on things. It pays to have connections and people who owe you favors.”
“Remind me not to piss you all off.”
“You have nothing to worry about, babe,” came the voice on the phone. “Not unless you betray us or Smokey. If you’re loyal to us, we’ll be loyal to you. You’re family now.”
Tania blinked. What did you say to something like that?
“I’ve been betrayed enough. I have no intention of betraying anyone, ever.”
“Then you’ll always be family. That’s good. I can’t wait to get home and meet you in person. You sound like exactly the kind of woman we need around the clubhouse.”
“Okay.” She drew out the one word as she wasn’t sure if the man on the phone was saying he liked her or if he was saying the other women here weren’t what they needed.
Hawkeye picked up the phone, spoke with whoever was on the other end for a moment then disconnected.
“That was Fletch, by the way. He’s the club attorney. He’s a little different. Social interaction isn’t his strong point. But he’s Spider’s best friend so he’s staying in Bozeman until Spider can come home.”
“Why’s Spider stuck in Bozeman?” she asked with a frown. She’d heard the name and that something was going on but she hadn’t heard what and hadn’t felt it appropriate to ask before.
“He was in an accident last month,” Pike said.
“It was bad. He had a lot of injuries but the one that’s become the most serious was a compound fracture of his leg.
He developed an infection. They had him in a medically induced coma for a while, but ended up having to amputate in order to save his life. ”
“Now he’s recovering from that surgery.” Hawkeye took over the telling. “Physically, he’s healing.”
“But physical isn’t all of us, is it?” Tania said, understanding.
She couldn’t imagine all the implications of losing a leg.
She would have a hard time with it and she wasn’t a rough and tumble, I can do anything I want who suddenly has to rely on someone or something to help him do everything.
Even bathe and use the restroom. Her chest ached as she thought about it.
“Where you headed?” Hawkeye asked.
“No where,” she said with a shake of her head.
“Maybe out into the common room. I can’t really go anywhere else, can I?
” She turned and left the room, knowing there was nothing she could do until the updated divorce petition came in from Fletch.
It gave her some time to spend with the other women.
Maybe they could distract her for a bit.
Before she made it out the door, she heard Carter fussing. A quick check of her watch told her he was likely hungry. And knowing her son, he probably needed a clean diaper too.
“Here,” she said to Taylynn as she stepped into the room. “It’s close to nap time. Why don’t I take him. I’ll take him upstairs, get him changed and fed, then lay him down.”
“I can if you have something you need to be doing,” Taylynn offered.
Tania shook her head. “I’ve got time. I’m waiting for some changes before I can sign.
” She turned her attention to Carter. “Have you been good for Aunty Taylynn? Are you ready to go up and get something to eat?” She brought one hand to her mouth in the ASL sign for eat as she said the word.
Carter tried to repeat the sign but seemed to lose interest. From what she’d read that was normal.
He was just getting to the age where most babies started to use signs, if they were taught it.
“Oh! You’re teaching him signs?” Taylynn’s eyes lit up.
“I’m trying. I don’t know a lot but I picked up a couple of e-books on baby signs and we’re working on them.
“Oh. Let me know which book, I’ll get it and I’ll help you.”
“I’ll do that, or you can pick up a different one and we can trade so hopefully we learn a little more.”
“That’s a good idea. Tell me which book not to get.”
“I’ll show you after I get him down. You going to be around?” Tania picked up the baby and settled him onto her hip.
“I don’t have anywhere else to go. And even if I did, I’m not sure I want to deal with the hassle of leaving the compound right now.”
“Sorry about that,” Tania winced, feeling guilty that none of them could leave alone or do hardly anything without a shadow. This was her fault.
“Not your fault,” Taylynn said with a wave of her hand. “It happens now and then. We’ll deal like we always do. Do you play cards?”
“Not in a long time, but I enjoyed it when I played. It’s been so long I’ve forgotten how to play or what we even used to play. You’ll have to teach me whatever you want to play.”
“No problem. We can get the girls together and have our own version of poker night. We’ll see what everyone wants to play and figure it out from there.”
Carter started fussing again.
“Go. We’ll figure this out later,” Taylynn said with a wave.
Tania headed upstairs. The longer it took her to get him changed and started feeding, the harder it would be to get him to settle. He’d had so much turmoil in the last couple of days she didn’t want to stress him any more than she had to.