44. Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter forty-four
N ick walked into the holding area, Aria right behind him, where Stacy’s father was locked up. Karl sat at a scarred table with his lawyer, knowing exactly why Nick was there. Nick had spoken to the lawyer yesterday, letting him know that he’d planned to speak to Stacy and offer her a life with a family who would protect and care for her to their dying breath.
I’m going to be a father.
That thought had run through his mind a thousand times since yesterday. Thoughts of what that meant crowded his mind, the awesome responsibility weighing on him, but not deterring him in any way. He welcomed the job. He wanted it. He was excited to see Stacy grow into herself.
He thought about all the things they could do together. School functions. Camping trips. Visits to his family. Little things like having breakfast and dinner together, grocery shopping, doing homework, watching movies, and introducing her to new things. A whole life where he was Dad and she was his little girl. Which meant he’d have to make time for those things by prioritizing her and Aria. How could he not when he wanted to be there for all those things.
He couldn’t wait to have her with them, to take her to school, to teach her how to do things, to kiss her skinned knees and banish the imaginary monsters from her nightmares. He couldn’t wait to be there for her firsts, whatever they might be, like riding a horse. He’d be the one to walk her down the aisle to the person she loved.
But first, she’d be the flower girl at his and Aria’s wedding.
“Should I be worried that you look so damn happy?” Dark circles and two days of beard scruff didn’t help Karl’s wrinkled, gaunt face. The man looked like he’d been rode hard and put away wet.
Nick stepped into the tiny room, holding Aria’s hand, noting two of the three lights overhead were burned out. This place felt oppressive and dreary. Nick took the lead, because he’d been there to help Stacy take her father down for what he did to her. “You’re going to thank me for what I’m about to tell you, because you owe Stacy after what you did to her. This will not erase the pain and suffering you’ve caused her; it won’t even get you her forgiveness. But maybe…just maybe…she won’t hate you every day for the rest of her life. One day, she might even have a kind thought, that you did this for her, to make her happy, and then she’ll go on with her day and probably never think of you again, because she’ll have people in her life who matter. Who take care of her. Who love her so much, the thought of ever hurting her breaks their hearts.”
Karl looked to his quiet lawyer, then glared back at Nick. “What do you want?”
“I want you to relinquish your parental rights and allow me and my fiancée to adopt Stacy. We will help her through this terrible time, help her to heal, all while we give her the love and family she deserves.” Please say yes, you prick. Do this for her. Nick wasn’t leaving until he got that yes, no matter what.
Karl perked up. “And you’ll drop the charges?”
Of course that was his first thought. Selfish asshole.
Karl grinned at his lawyer, who didn’t say anything.
Aria practically growled under her breath.
This was Nick’s show. He’d already spoken to the lawyer and had him draw up the papers on behalf of his client. All Nick needed was his signature. Was that too much to ask for his daughter? To do one good thing for her ?
Nick narrowed his gaze on the dirtbag. “You broke the law and that little girl.”
Karl winced. But that tiny bit of remorse wasn’t enough.
“You don’t get a free pass. But this is your chance to do something selfless. For her. The question is, are you man enough to do it? Do you deserve that title of father? Will you sacrifice for your only child, simply to give her a better life than the one you brought her into?” Nick stared him down, daring him to be the selfish prick he’d always been so Nick could hurt him. Oh, how he wanted to punish the fuck out of this asshole.
But he also hoped that Karl would finally, for once, do the right thing by Stacy.
All he had to do was find that one shred of decency inside him.
Karl sat back heavily in the plastic chair and hung his head. “I never meant for this to happen.”
Nick’s hands clenched into fists. “Bullshit. You knew what you were doing when you handed her over to that deviant prick. You knew what he wanted and you hand-delivered her to him without a thought to the damage he’d inflict. You were supposed to keep her safe. You were supposed to protect her. You were supposed to take a bullet for her and you didn’t. You betrayed her in the worst possible way. You did it to save yourself an ass-kicking you more than deserved. And all for what? Money. A forgiven debt. A lifetime of nightmares and pain for her.”
Karl crossed his arms on the table, laid his head down on them, and silently wept.
Nick rolled his eyes at the lawyer, who simply shrugged. The court-appointed lawyer probably saw this shit all the time. People being regretful after the fact. After they’d ruined someone else’s life with their careless deeds.
Nick sighed, just trying to get through this without sinking to Karl’s level and doing something he’d regret if it cost him adopting Stacy. “You let her go once. All I’m asking is that you do it again, only this time for the right reasons. Aria and I can give her the life I hope you once thought you wanted for Stacy. A home. A mother and father who would do anything for her. An extended family of aunts and uncles and cousins. Grandparents who will spoil her, not look the other way when she’s being abandoned and hurt.”
Nick gave Karl a moment to think about that, to imagine the life Stacy could have. “You know this is the right thing to do. Make it easy on her. For us. Because even if you say no, I will still make it happen. It will just take longer to get her out of foster care and permanently placed with us. Don’t put her through that, Karl. She needs you to do right by her this time, to show her that she matters.”
Karl’s tearstained face rose. “What if she thinks I abandoned her again?”
“You’ve already done that. You’re going to be in prison. Who will take care of her? Strangers? Or me, the guy who saved her. The man she trusts, despite what all those other monstrous men did to her. She’ll have Aria, the sweetest, kindest woman you will never see again. She loves that little girl. She will be the one to show Stacy how to be a strong woman. She will bake her cookies, hug her when she’s happy and sad, she’ll cheer for her at every school event, sport, and dance recital. Whatever Stacy decides to do, we’ll be there.”
Aria hooked her arm through his and hugged him tight.
Karl looked straight ahead, his gaze desolate, and bobbed his head.
Nick’s frustration grew. “Is that a yes? You’ll sign the paperwork? You’ll let her go, so she gets what she needs and deserves?”
Karl raised his bloodshot eyes to Nick. “I knew the second I gave her up, I’d never get her back, even if I found her again. I knew what I’d done would make her hate me and never want to be with me again.”
Nick seethed. “But you did it anyway.”
Anguish drew lines across his forehead. “I didn’t want to. But I couldn’t see another way out.”
Nick barely refrained from shaking the guy. “Give her this way out of the mess you made of her life. She needs it. She deserves it. I promise you, Aria and I will give her a good life. One where she feels safe and loved. One where she can forget the past and truly start over.”
Karl gathered himself and leveled a steadier gaze on Nick. “Does she know her mother passed away while she was gone?”
“No. I don’t think now is the time to tell her.” Nick hated the idea of giving Stacy more bad news.
Karl nodded. “We hadn’t seen her in years. She didn’t reach out when she got sick. Maybe she felt like I do, that she didn’t deserve Stacy after she’d left her.” Karl let out a heavy sigh. “So much loss. So many mistakes.” Tears dripped down his ruddy face. “Okay. I’ll sign the papers.”
Nick let out a huge sigh of relief. “Thank you for making this easy. I don’t want her in foster care longer than she needs to be.”
“Me either.” Karl took the pen his lawyer offered.
The lawyer held up the papers. “Do you understand that by signing these, you relinquish your parental rights? That you will no longer legally be responsible for Stacy, or have any rights to make decisions about her life, that you in fact want Aria Wilde and Nick Gunn to be her legal guardians, until they marry and legally adopt Stacy and assume all the rights of parents?”
Nick raised a brow at the stipulation the lawyer had added. It didn’t matter. They were weeks away from their wedding.
“I understand. Yes. I want him and Aria to adopt Stacy.” Karl looked up at them. “It’s what my little girl wants, right?”
Nick nodded. “We spoke to her yesterday. She was very sure, otherwise we would have given her more time to decide.”
The lawyer set the papers down in front of Karl. “I also spoke to her by telephone before I arrived. She confirmed, she would like to live with Aria and Nick. Forever, she said.”
Nick’s heart beat faster and melted all at once. She’d be theirs. Forever.
Karl glanced at Aria’s engagement ring. “Are you getting married soon?”
“A few weeks from now,” Aria confirmed.
The lawyer put his hand on Karl’s shoulder. “Agent Gunn is fast-tracking this process. I just thought you’d want some assurance that what he says he and Aria will be to Stacy actually comes to fruition.”
Nick relaxed, letting Karl and the lawyer see that he didn’t have any reservations about meeting the terms. “I love Aria. I know my life is with her. That’s why I moved to Wyoming to be with her. We want Stacy home with us as soon as possible. After everything she’s been through, we want her to have a place she knows she’s safe and that’s hers.”
Karl took the pen and signed the documents. “Thank you, Agent Gunn. I know you’ll do right by my Stacy. But maybe you or your girl could do something for me.”
Nick tensed. “What?”
“Send me a picture of her once in a while. Tell me how she is. So I know she’s doing okay. That she’s happy.”
Nick relaxed. “We will. If you agree to let her decide if and when she sees you again.”
Karl nodded and signed the papers. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do this.” He pushed the papers to Nick.
He took them in hand, feeling like he won the lottery. “I want to do this for her. Thank you for making me a dad. I don’t take that lightly. I mean to be the best one I can be.”
Karl nodded. “I believe it.”
“Thank you,” Aria said, standing to leave.
“Teach her to stay away from gambling men like me.”
Aria stared right back at him. “I won’t have to. She’ll see how Nick treats me and she won’t settle for anything less than someone who looks at her like she’s their everything.”
Nick pulled her to his side and kissed her forehead.
They left with what they came for, ecstatic and hopeful, leaving the past behind for a brighter future as a family.
He headed out of the depressing building with the love of his life at his side and toward his car and his new life with Aria.
He couldn’t wait to call Stacy and dialed the second his ass hit the driver’s seat. He cranked the engine just as she answered the phone.
“Did you get it?” The anticipation and stress in her voice made him smile. She wanted this as much as he and Aria did.
“I got it. You’re ours. Or at least you will be once a judge signs off. Guardianship should go through in a couple of weeks. The adoption in about six months.” Maybe he could get it faster. He knew a couple of judges. Neither of them wanted to make Stacy wait to be with them a second longer than was necessary.
He had a lot to do and very little time to do it.
Luckily, he was still on leave from the FBI.
“I can’t wait to go back to school.” Stacy sounded excited about all of it.
“Soon,” Aria replied. “Until then, keep working with the tutor they lined up for you, so you can catch up. I know you’ve been working hard and passing all your tests.”
“I like school.” She hesitated, then admitted, “I miss my friends back home.”
Nick frowned, sad for her. “I know you do, sweetheart, but you’ll make new friends in Wyoming. Aria already started the enrollment process by getting your records from your old school sent to the one in Wyoming. You can start as soon as we move you to our new home.”
Stacy sighed. “Maybe it’s better to start over somewhere new, Anne says. No one will know what happened to me. I can just be me. No one will stare at me or say bad things.”
Nick’s heart couldn’t take her unhappiness and trepidation about others judging her. “You know what happened isn’t your fault, right?”
“Yes. But I still did it.”
That softly spoken confession tightened his chest. “No. You were forced to do it. That’s different. You didn’t have a choice.”
“Yeah. Still. I miss Nicole and Emma and Toby.”
“You get to visit with them during group therapy, right?” He’d set that up for them before he moved to Wyoming.
“Yes. And Nicole has her own phone, so she’s called a couple of times just to talk.”
“Well, that’s nice. See, you haven’t lost touch with them. And Aria and I will make sure you can contact them anytime you want.”
Stacy seemed satisfied with that and asked, “About my room…the bedroom that looks out over the back garden.” The one closest to the primary bedroom.
Nick figured it made her feel safe to be closest to them.
“The flowers are so bright and cheerful. And I love the bench seat in the window. I could sit and stare out the window all the time. It would feel like being outside.”
Scratch Nick’s first thought. She wanted to feel like she had space and freedom. After being locked in a cellar for so long, she deserved the prettiest view and feeling like she wasn’t closed in.
“Anything special you want for the room? Besides a dog.” He foresaw a trip to the nearest animal shelter in his future.
“Books, so I can read by the window.”
Aria leaned into his side so she could talk through the speaker. “I’ll get you a bookcase and you and I will go to the bookstore and pick out books together.”
“I’d like that.” The enthusiasm was back in her voice. “Anne says it’s time for me to do homework.”
“Okay. Keep working hard. We’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Bye, Aria. Bye, Nick.”
“Bye, sprite.”
Stacy giggled when he called her that nickname. He’d be sure to call her that again if she liked it so much.
“Talk soon.” He hung up and thought about how much his life was about to change.
He and Aria would have to start a whole new routine.
“When she moves in, I can get Stacy up for school in the morning, while you sleep in.” He pulled out of the lot and kept talking as he drove them to the airport, so they could fly home. “Maybe you can pick up Stacy after school and get her settled at home. We’ll need a babysitter. Or maybe Stacy could hang out with Lyric while she’s on maternity leave, or stay with your parents at the ranch after school. They’d love to dote on their new granddaughter.”
He turned to her. “The more I think about her with us, the more I want it.” Excitement fluttered in his gut and made him anxious to move things along as quickly as possible.
Aria smiled so big he couldn’t help but smile back. “They’d love that. I can’t wait go shopping and get her some new clothes, everything she’ll need for school. I want everything to be ready for her when she gets here. I want her to see how much we want her to feel at home.”
“She will, because she knows she’s wanted now. She knows we’ll take care of her and keep her safe.”
Every person deserved that, and Nick aimed to make sure Stacy felt it for the rest of her life.