Mine
Fiona
“You’re all anyone is talking about on The Street.” Hope sits down next to me on the picnic table.
Great. “That was all supposed to be a secret.”
Hope snorts. “There are no secrets here. This place is one big soap opera. We should call it Willow Street Lives…or maybe The Ever-Changing Lives of the Women of Willow Street…no, that’s too long.
The Street of Change. Days and Nights of Willow Street.
” She shakes her head. “The girls and I will have to brainstorm some more. But every girl is demanding Dyce train them so they can stand up to the bad guys.”
“Hope, I didn’t do it alone.”
She grins. “I know. Dad carried you out of there. The two of you are in love. Nonna said you’re going to get married soon.
Can I be your maid of honor? Daria and I could do it together.
We could get matching dresses and walk down together.
I don’t think Dad is going to have a best man because Uncle Gabe won’t do it. ”
“Honey, it’s not that he won’t. It’s that he can’t. He needs a lot of therapy before he starts walking again.”
“Still.” She pouts. “I could have pushed him down the aisle. How are we going to work on finding him a wife if he’s living in this weird rehab center in the middle of nowhere? Uncle Antonio hates the idea. He wants Gabe to get a therapist to come here.”
“That’s not how it works, Hope. Doctors of that caliber have to help more than one person at a time.”
“Dad could pay the doctor whatever to come take care of Uncle Gabe personally. Maybe Nonna and I could find him a beautiful physical therapist. She could move into Uncle Gabe’s house, and they could fall in love.”
“You’ve been reading way too many romance novels, young lady.”
“I know, but wouldn’t it be romantic?”
“And illegal.”
She waves her hand. “Details. No one cares if you’re in love.”
“Doesn’t he already have a therapist at the rehab center?”
“Details.” She sips her hot coffee. “Did you know Cammie and Raid are still flirting with each other? They need to start dating.”
“How did your dating drama go?”
“Horrible. None of my tricks are working. He still won’t date me.”
I bet Max loves that.
“Nonna won’t help me come up with a plan. She said to respect his wishes too, and waiting until I’m older wouldn’t be a bad thing. Now I’m thinking of dating someone else.”
WHAT? “Why? I thought you loved him.”
“I do. But I’m a teenager, and I wanna date. I wanna go to prom, not with my cousin or one of my friends. I wanna make out with someone at the movie theater. I want to go on a hayride.”
“There are hayrides in Urbium?”
“Don’t ruin the vibe.” She glares at me.
“Sorry.” I’m really not.
“I want to hold someone’s hand as I walk down the hallway at school. I want to sneak a kiss when my teachers aren’t looking. So maybe I should have all those experiences, and then when he decides he’s ready, we can start dating.” Hope wants him to notice her.
“You can do that. And it will probably be fun. But if you do that, all those firsts will be with someone else. And when you’re finally together, you’ll wish they were with him.”
“Do you wish your first kiss was with my dad?”
“More than I could ever say.”
“When you’re married, do you mind if I call you mom?”
Whoa. Where did that come from? “Is that something you want? Because even if I married your dad, I wouldn’t be replacing your mom in his heart or yours.”
“I know that. My dad will always love my mom, and now he’ll always love you.”
“Well then, I would love to be called mom.”
“Yay!!! That means you’ll totally be on my side when I try to convince Dad to let me date.” She gives me a wicked smile as she takes a sip of her coffee.
“Not totally. But I might be able to help soften the blow a little bit. But you should rethink this plan of yours.”
Hope tips her head to the side and tugs on a curl. “I’ll think about it. Maybe I should just ask him what he thinks of the idea. That might be enough.” She pops up. “Thanks.”
Paisley comes running around the corner, stopping hard in front of me. “She’s back. I knew it. I knew she was coming back.”
“Who?” I ask.
“Dash’s mom. Security just let me know she walked onto the street.”
What? No. I turn to Hope and see the shock on her face.
“She can’t be back. Dash belongs with us.” Hope steps forward. “She can’t be back.”
Paisley looks at me.
This is what I was worried about. “Dash is currently with Emilia. I’ll call her. And take care of everything.” How do you take care of a child who’s about to be crushed?
Paisley nods.
I shoot off a text to both Emilia and Max, then turn to Hope. “Honey, this is a good thing.”
“No, it isn’t. Dash belongs with us. He was meant to be my brother.”
If only the world were that easy. “Let me ask you a question. Don’t you think Dash deserves a life with his mother?”
“What if she’s a drug addict? What if she doesn’t take care of him? Dash is really smart. He needs someone who recognizes that. Who is going to teach him sign language and coding?”
This is my fault. I let them get attached to a little boy who wasn’t free. A boy who Paisley knew was going to be reunited.
My heart hurts along with Hope. A little part of me wanted him to be part of my family.
But this is the right thing for him.
Knowing that doesn’t seem to make any difference. “We’ll make sure he’s safe.” That’s part of Paisley’s job, and she does it well.
Hope falls into my arms, crying.
She just lost a brother that she never truly had.
Losing him hurts…
***
“What do you mean Dash’s mother is back?” Emilia storms around to the back of the bakery with the baby on her hip. “Max was supposed to be arranging his adoption.”
“She came back for him.” Paisley hasn’t called yet, but it’s only a matter of time.
“Well, she can’t have him. She just dumped him and walked away. He’s ours now.”
Emilia’s definitely where Hope got her stubborn streak from.
“This was just the reason Paisley gave him to me, and didn’t put him in the system yet. Our goal is to reunite families. Give them a safe place to raise their children. To give Dash the best home possible.”
Emilia glares at me. “I know that. But not Dash. He belongs with us. Maybe I can convince her.”
That woman could convince the sky to turn purple. “Is that really what you should do?”
Emilia stares at me for a long moment. “Why did you have to have the biggest heart of all of us?” She gives Dash a squeeze and hands him to me.
“Bisnonna, no.” Hope runs into her great-grandmother’s arms and cries.
Dash reaches up and places a hand on my cheek. It’s as if he knows what we’re saying.
“Everything is going to be just fine, little man. You’re going to end up in a good home, happy and loved.”
My phone rings. Paisley’s name pops up.
This is it. I’m going to bring him back to his mom.
But all I want to do is cry alone with Emilia and Hope. “Hello.”
“Dash’s mom would like to talk to you.”
She probably wants an update before she takes the baby. “We’ll be right there.”
One step in front of the other.
We’re going to do this. I leave the two women crying and walk down the street as a sports car zips up.
It stops in the middle of the street, and Max hops out, leaving the door open.
“Now. It’s happening now?” He runs to me.
“Yes. I’m bringing him to his mom. She wants to talk to me.”
“How? How can you stand there and give him away?”
I blink. “I told you once. He deserves the best. It doesn’t matter how much it hurts. Or how my heart feels like it’s being torn out of my chest. This isn’t about me. This is about what’s best for him. And growing up with a mother who loves him is the best.”
“You’re sticking your hand in with the cobra again.”
Huh?
“And this time it has fangs. I love you so much.” He leans in, and his lips land on mine hard, demanding.
Dash pats our faces with a giggle of glee.
“From now on, we’ll do the hard things together.” Max takes my hand in his.
Those words crack my heart in two and let me know we’ll be okay because we’re doing it together.
Paisley rushes to the door as we walk up. “Good, I’m so glad you’re both here. Tallulah wanted to talk to the person caring for her son. She’s in my office. Here, let me take Dash. You two can go right in.” Paisley lifts the baby from my arms.
It takes everything in me not to snatch him back.
Max wraps an arm around me.
We can do this.
There’s a child waiting inside for us. She can’t be more than thirteen or fourteen. The bruise on her face tells a story I’ve seen far too many times.
Max’s body goes tense next to mine.
“Hello, Tallulah. I’m Fiona, and this is Max. We’ve been taking care of Dash.”
The girl shrinks back. “Is he okay? Has he been eating?”
“Dash is perfect. He’s eating, sleeping, and growing. He’s a very happy baby.”
She smiles. “That’s what Paisley said. She said a lot of things. Like the paper they put in the bassinet. Is it true? Can you make me safe like you made him safe?”
My heart breaks. “It’s true. The moment you set foot on Willow Street, you were safe. No one will hurt you here. We’ll protect you and your baby.”
Tallulah sighs.
“I’m sure Paisley told you what’s available to help you raise your child—”
“She did. But I don’t want to raise him.
That’s not true. I’d love to be able to raise him.
But I’m not old enough. I’m barely ready to be a teenager.
There’s no way I can take care of Dash the way he needs.
The way he deserves. And by the time I’m old enough to take care of him…
” She shakes her head. “It would be wrong to make him wait to have a stable home and family. Dash shouldn’t have to wait.
Paisley said you two might be open to adopting him. ”
My head can’t process the words she just said.
“We are,” Max answers.
Tallulah nods. “Could I ask one thing of you? Paisley mentioned this thing called open adoptions. It’s where the child knows who their parent is.
And sometimes the parent gets updates and stuff like that.
I’d like one of those. I just want to know he’s okay.
I won’t get in the way. I just want him to know that I love him and wanted him to have the best life. Would that be possible?”
“We’d love that.” Max’s body relaxes for the first time.
“Good. Paisley said we can get the paperwork done quickly, but that you would keep taking care of him until it’s done.”
“We will.”
“Good.”
Paisley walks in with Dash in her arms like she was listening at the door.
She probably was. “I thought you might want to give Dash a hug before we take you over to the doctors.” Paisley walks over to Tallulah.
***
An eternity later, we step outside, with Dash on Max’s one side and me on the other. “Tell me that happened. I didn’t just dream it. We get to keep Dash.” My life never works like this.
“We get to keep Dash. Forever.”
Tears fall… “Tallulah doesn’t realize what she just signed up for, does she?”
Max grins. “Nope. But that kid looks like she could use some love. And our family is just the right group to give it to her.”
“Should we warn her about Emilia?”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Max kisses my forehead.
“We did the hard thing.”
“We sure did. Now we get to do the best thing.”