Chapter 22 #3
Janie closed her eyes for a moment and listened to the steady beating of Hannah’s heart, its rhythmic certainty quieting the rest of the noise in her head. Conscious she could easily drift into the welcome embrace of sleep, she tapped Hannah’s chest. “Your dad’s developing quite the social life.”
Hannah chuckled. “Right? It’s starting to feel like we’ve reversed roles, and he’s just coming home for dinner and to get his laundry done. And, I don’t know, are we supposed to wait up for him tonight? Make sure he gets home okay after a night out with his new buddies?”
“I almost want you to wait on the stairs for him, tapping your watch when he stumbles in, all buzzed.”
Hannah laughed again, the rumbling sound echoing in Janie’s ear. “I talked to him earlier about the tiny house idea.”
Janie scooched around and rested her head on Hannah’s stomach so she could look at her. “What did he say?”
“He loves it.” Hannah traced light circles on Janie’s shoulder.
“He’s already researching designs and costs.
Apparently, he’s been thinking that he’ll be in the way when you come home for good and wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but he likes the idea of having his own space while still being close to the girls. ”
Janie pushed Hannah’s tank top up slightly to touch her skin. “He doesn’t want to head back to Florida then?”
Hannah entwined their fingers. “He said that place was killing him, and he’s made some fast friends here.” She frowned. “Do you want him to go back to Florida?”
“I want him to go wherever makes him happy.” Janie uncoupled their hands and gently followed the lines on Hannah’s palm.
“The girls certainly seem to love having him around, and an extra babysitter so we can have our date nights is definitely a good thing.” She kissed Hannah’s stomach, ignoring the twinge of jealousy at Hannah’s relationship with her dad.
Tom had always been kind to Janie and like a father to her, but that hadn’t negated her wish for things to be different with her real father. “When would you build it?”
“Spring, probably. Now wouldn’t be a great time to start a big project like this. But that gives us time to plan it, figure out exactly what we want, and get permits.” Hannah shrugged. “He’s also going to look at property in the area in case we can’t get the right permissions.”
“You sound excited.” Janie smiled when Hannah moaned as she dragged her fingernails along Hannah’s forearm. “It seems like you’ve enjoyed having him around.”
“I really have.” Hannah bit her bottom lip and glanced away briefly. “I guess I didn’t realize how much I missed him.”
“So at least one good thing came out of my meltdown,” Janie said and raised her eyebrows.
“More than one thing.” Hannah twirled a strand of Janie’s hair between her fingers. “Can you remember the last time we lay in bed, just talking and being with each other?”
Janie shook her head and continued her slow exploration of Hannah’s lines and contours. “It’s nice.”
“He really likes you, you know? He’s been worried about you, and he’s so glad you’re coming home.”
Happy tears edged her eyes. Her depression had convinced her she was worthless and unlovable, but her family wanted her home. “I like him too. And I’m glad he’ll still be close. The girls love him.”
“They really do.” Hannah caressed Janie’s cheek. “But I also really like the idea of it being just us in the house again. Our family. Our space. Does that make sense or does it make me a bad daughter?”
Janie laughed lightly. “I think it makes perfect sense, and I like it just being us too.” She slipped her hand under Hannah’s tee and ran her finger over Hannah’s nipple, thinking of her early morning enthusiasm to do something other than sleep in their bed tonight.
But she seriously lacked the energy to put her desires into action, and her hand stilled.
Outside, ordinary life continued. The faint sound of the occasional car passing, a dog barking somewhere down the street, the normal sounds of their neighborhood. The normal sounds of home. She snuggled in, trying to get even closer to Hannah’s body.
“We should probably shower,” Hannah said but made no move to get up.
“We should probably do a lot of things,” Janie murmured, equally immobile.
“Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow,” Janie said and shifted to the little spoon position.
“Thank you for coming home again tonight.” Hannah kissed Janie’s neck. “I know it might be a little scary, but I’m really glad you’re here.”
“Me too.” Janie pushed her butt further into Hannah’s crotch. “Even though I’m exhausted and smell like toddler bathwater.”
“You smell perfect,” Hannah said. “You smell like home.”
Janie heard the smile in Hannah’s voice and began to drift on the seas of sleep.
“You still awake?” Hannah murmured into Janie’s hair.
Janie startled, then let out a long sigh as she pulled Hannah’s arm around her. “Barely.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too,” Janie whispered and began to drift again, the exhaustion of the day pulling her under. But just as she was about to slip into sleep, her phone buzzed on the nightstand. She tried to ignore it, but it buzzed again. And then a third time.
“You should check that.” Hannah nudged her gently. “It might be important.”
All the important people in her life were tucked up safely in bed, but she reached for her phone anyway and squinted at the bright screen in the dark room. Three texts from David.
Janie’s entire body went cold. Behind her, Hannah propped herself up on one elbow.
“What is it?”
“David. He says my mother filed a motion.” Janie’s voice sounded thin and scared, even to her own ears. “He says it changes things.”
“Christ,” Hannah said, “why did he wait until this late to send a nuclear missile into our house?”
Janie dropped her phone onto the table and turned into Hannah’s arms. “He was in San Francisco for another case this week. It’s probably just the time difference.”
“What kind of motion?” Hannah asked.
“He doesn’t say.” Janie’s earlier contentment evaporated like morning mist in the early sun. “He wants us to call him first thing tomorrow.”
They lay there in the darkness, no longer relaxed, both of them wide awake.
Janie’s mind raced through possibilities, each one worse than the last. Emergency custody.
Expedited hearing. New evidence. Had her mother discovered the ER incident?
Why didn’t David just say that? Could there be something else? Something she’d fabricated?
“Whatever it is, we’ll handle it,” Hannah said.
She said the words calmly, but Janie could still hear the tension in her voice. “What if we can’t?” The words slipped out before Janie could stop them. “What if she’s made something up? What if—”
“Janie.” Hannah wrapped Janie’s hands in her own and gripped tight in the darkness. “We’ll handle it together. Let’s try to get some sleep.”
Janie turned again and snuggled back in, but as she lay there, staring at the phone, that little box of doom, and listening to Hannah’s breathing gradually slow back toward sleep, she couldn’t shake the feeling that the other shoe had finally dropped.
They’d had six perfect days. Six days of reconnecting, of hope, of believing they might actually make it through this.
And now her mother had made her next move.
Her phone didn’t buzz again to furnish her with more information, with something that would tell her exactly how bad this was going to be. The recalcitrant block of plastic and circuits lay useless now.
She couldn’t sleep. All she could think of was courtrooms, and judges, and her daughters crying for her as her mother dragged them away.