Chapter 24 #2
“Hmm,” she said absentmindedly, checking a text message she’d just got from Kennedy. “DJ, make sure you get some toast,” she ordered gently, her eyes still cast down onto the screen.
DJ froze as he held the piece of toast he was already eating to his mouth. “Any more and I’ll burst.”
Gabby giggled before declaring, “Mom. You’re such a dork.”
Rosie glanced up, spotted DJ, and smiled wryly. “Sorry, baby. My mind’s elsewhere.”
Imogen banged on the tray of her highchair and exclaimed, “Rara!”
“I know, Immie,” Rosie replied, smiling down at my baby girl. “Rara’s silly.”
Mam arrived back at the table, carrying a plate laden with eggs and bacon, and sat on the other side of Imogen. “Look here, love,” she crooned. “I got you some pancakes and maple syrup. Not like that muesli shite your father got you.”
“Nana!” Imogen squealed, holding her hands up for her pancakes.
“She loved her oats,” I protested.
“It’s like eating fecking sandpaper,” Ma shot back. “What’s the matter with you, feeding the poor girl that stuff. I’ll call CPS on you. Ga’wan with you now.”
Gabby giggled, and DJ smiled at Ma, who beamed at him. “Did you eat all your bacon, Daniel love? Next time I go to Ireland, I’ll smuggle you back some of the good stuff and some Clonakilty pork sausages. They’ll put hairs on your chest.”
I rolled my eyes.
“So then,” Ma went on. “Are we all ready for today?”
Silence fell over the table, and Rosie paled as she took a sip of coffee.
“Come on, loves. No judge is going to see our beautiful family and not think for one second that we shouldn’t be together. And if he does, I’ll smack the eejit with a frying pan. Though I wish I’d already done it to that fecking father of yours. It may have knocked a bit of sense into him.”
“Ma,” I warned.
“Mrs. O’s right,” Gabby said from her spot on the other side of Rosie.
“My dad is an eejit. We’re all sitting here eating breakfast in a strange hotel when we should be back in Wyoming at work and at school, but nobody’s stating the obvious and just saying it’s my dad’s fault.
He’s a bad person for doing this. DJ never wants to speak to him again, and I feel like I’m done with him too.
One part of me wishes I never had to see him again, and the other wishes I never spoke up about Rachel in the first place, because then, this wouldn’t be happening.
If we have to go and live with Dad, it will be all my fault. ”
Rosie reached out and covered Gabby’s hand with hers.
“Don’t say that. I’m proud that you stuck up for yourself.
You can’t go through life holding in your feelings for fear of upsetting others.
What you feel is valid, Gabby. Maybe this is the wake-up call your dad needs.
Hopefully, after today, we can move on in a way we’re all happy with.
I don’t want you to lose touch with him.
I want us to be able to co-exist, and this could be the first step. ”
“There’s no co-existing, Mom,” DJ chimed. “I don’t want to see him anymore.”
“DJ,” Rosie whispered. “He’s your dad.”
“And he’s a dick. Dad’s not a good person, Mom, and he’s definitely not a good man. I don’t want to be like him. I wanna be like Donovan.”
My body locked, my eyes jerking to DJ, who sat up straight and resolute.
Ma beamed. “Well, that’s a lovely thing to say, Daniel.”
I cleared the emotion from my throat and muttered, “I’m honored, DJ.”
Rosie smiled at him. “Let’s just see what today brings and take it from there. You never know, your dad may surprise you.”
DJ’s gaze slid to mine, and his look said everything his face conveyed.
My lips twitched because it seemed DJ and I were singing from the same hymn sheet.
Evan would never change, and for that, he was about to go down.
—————
Franklin County Courthouse was a white square building that reminded me of the White House, just on a much smaller scale.
We headed inside with Gabby and DJ walking on either side of Rosie, holding onto her like she was their lifeline.
In a way, I guessed she was. The kids and Rosie were putting on brave faces, but I could tell they were terrified.
Not for the first time that day, I cursed Evan.
I’d have been lying if I said a part of me didn’t yearn to go find him, drag him into a quiet corridor somewhere, and teach him the error of his ways. Except I knew what Kennedy, Colt, and Perry had in store for him.
He was about to get shown up for the asshole he was, while also being humiliated to shit, and I knew Evan’s type; the narcissistic motherfucker needed the lesson.
We checked in and were sent to court number three, which was down a long corridor.
As we drew closer, we heard the murmur of voices and rounded a corner to see Kennedy, Colt, Freya, and Atlas already there.
Evan stood a few meters away with a blonde woman, talking to a guy dressed in a slick, grey suit, who I assumed was his lawyer.
I gave Atlas a clap on the back and shook Colt’s hand while Rosie gave the girls a hug.
The blonde—obviously Rachel—looked up, glanced at me, then did a double-take before her gaze slid toward Rosie and widened.
I wondered if this was the first time she was seeing her man’s ex-wife in the flesh.
She gave Evan a nudge, and he looked our way, and I caught his lip curl slightly as his hard stare settled on me.
The Smirk slid across my face, and both my hands slid around Rosie’s belly from my position behind her, and I pulled her against me.
Her face twisted around to look up at me, and I kissed the end of her nose.
I heard Evan’s growl from where I stood. Rachel turned to him and glared, and I had to stop myself from throwing him one of my cocky grins.
Atlas, however, wasn’t so restrained and barked out a laugh that not even Evan could miss as a dig.
Kennedy looked down at her thin, high, black-heeled shoes, smiling.
“Where’s Imogen?” Atlas asked.
“Mam took her shopping in town,” I replied. “All day in a courtroom will be too much for her.”
“Hopefully, we won’t be here all day,” Kennedy said quietly. “Perry’s out working his magic, so we’ll have some company soon.”
Atlas snickered.
Colt rolled his lips together.
DJ’s eyes narrowed at us. I could almost hear the penny drop when it dawned on him that we were up to something. The minute it did, he sent his dad a glower that made Evan look back at him in shock.
“Hey, kids,” Evan called over, but he was met with cold silence.
DJ literally turned his back on his dad, and Gabby slid closer to her mom.
Evan’s face fell, but he recovered quickly and called over, “Rosie, can we talk before the judge calls us in?” His tone was pleasant, friendly even.
Immediately, a red flag started waving, and a bad feeling unfurled inside my chest.
Rachel’s head whipped around to face Evan, her expression clearly shocked, while his lawyer leaned closer and muttered what I could only assume was a warning in his ear.
“What do you think?” Rosie asked Kennedy.
“No,” I growled.
Kennedy looked between us and grinned. “Your choice. If you say no, his lawyer could say you refused to mediate. He’s left negotiations late, but still, it wouldn’t hurt to hear him out.”
Rosie thought for a minute before turning her body into mine. “Don’t you want me to talk to him?”
“No,” I bit off.
“What if he wants to try to work something out?” she asked.
I took one hand from her waist and scraped it across my jaw.
There was no way I liked the idea of Rosie even standing in her ex’s vicinity, but a bigger part of me hated the notion of her having to go through what was about to happen. Every instinct screamed at me to tell Evan to eat shit, but wanting the best for Rosie overrode the urge.
“Go talk to him,” I relented.
“Really?”
I dipped my chin. “Really.”
She ran her fingertips over my jaw. “I’ll just be a few minutes.”
I dropped my hand and took a step back as I watched her turn toward her ex. “Is there a mediation room free?” she called over.
Evan’s lawyer jerked his chin toward a door further down the corridor.
Rosie took a fortifying breath, then in a clear, confident voice, she said, “Let’s go.”