Chapter 25
Chapter twenty-five
“The police called.”
Vance slid off the barstool at my announcement and stalked to where I was standing in the hallway. “Did they find out who broke in?”
“They did. And apparently, I wasn’t even the target. They meant to break in next door but confused the apartment numbers.”
I wasn’t going to mention my drug-dealing neighbor. I wasn’t surprised someone had tried breaking into his apartment. If only they’d gotten the number right.
Vance took a deep breath, his fists clenching and unclenching. “There is no way you’re moving back there. If you can’t imagine staying with me, I’ll rent you a house. I want you to be safe. I want the girls to be safe.”
I knew I couldn’t go back to the apartment. I wouldn’t feel safe there anymore. There was only one place that made me feel safe.
“I don’t want you to rent us a house.”
Vance prowled closer, his face pinched in exasperation. “I know you can take care of yourself. But there is nothing that I want more than to be part of your life. To have the honor of taking care of you and the girls. So let me at least do this one thing for you.” He took my hand in his. “Please.”
“You don’t have to rent us a house because it would be a waste of money when we can stay here.” His eyes went molten, and my insides twisted. “I’m still worried we won’t work out.” His eyes narrowed, and I narrowed mine back. “But you show us every day how much we mean to you.”
“Just so we’re clear, you’re not moving out again.”
A burst of laughter erupted from me. “That works for me. And besides, there’s no way you’ll get the girls to ever leave.”
“Good.” He punctuated his statement by pressing his lips to mine.
There was a crash upstairs, and then Addy released a war cry, followed by Elana calling her a poo-poo.
Releasing Vance to break up the fight, I looked at him over my shoulder. “No take-backs.”
He met my grin with one of his own. “Never.”
Once I’d broken up the fight, I dragged them to the living room, which had become our favorite place in the house.
“So, girls, Vance and I have something to tell you.”
Addy jumped up on the couch, eyes shining with excitement. “Am I getting a little brother?”
Well, this escalated quickly.
“Ladybug, no jumping on the couch.” I waited for her to sit down again. “And no, I’m not pregnant.”
Vance chuckled and took my hand. “Your mom agreed to move in with me.”
Addy’s face fell, and Elana began to cry.
Okay, that was definitely not the reaction I envisioned.
Scooting closer, I hugged them. “What’s going on? I thought you loved it here?”
I hadn’t once thought that they wouldn’t want to live here.
Addy wiped her eyes, nodding. “We do love it. And we want to live with you, not Dad. Tammy always tells us that we need to eat less. But I’m always hungry. And not for plants.”
“Then what’s the matter? This means that you get to live in a big house and you each have your own room.”
Elana scooted back, her wet eyes blinking at me. “So we can stay here too?”
Taken aback, I gaped at her. “Why in the world would you think I’d move in with Vance without you?”
“But Vance said that you’re moving in with him. Not all of us.”
Vance dropped onto the floor, kneeling in front of the girls. “I’m so sorry, keiki, that’s not what I meant at all. And your mom would never move anywhere without you. So, of course you’re included. Always.”
They jumped at Vance, almost tackling him to the ground. “So we can live with you and Vance?”
He didn’t hesitate for even a second before replying, “Absolutely.”
Crisis averted, the girls released him.
“Can I get a TV in my room?” Addy asked.
“Adelaine,” I warned.
She threw her hands up and rolled her eyes. “Fine. I was just asking. Don’t get all angry.”
Addy and Elana raced up to their rooms because walking like a normal human wasn’t even a thought in their heads yet. My knees screamed out in pain watching them race up the stairs.
“I spoke to Malena right before you called. She’s taken everything to your ex-husband’s lawyer. If they agree to a deal, we don’t have to go to court.”
“How likely is it that they’d agree?”
“Very likely.”
I hated that my ex was such a shithead to the girls, but at the same time, it might be what pushed this over the line for us. “Do you think he’ll agree to sign adoption papers?”
“I’ll do everything in my power to make it so. And so will Malena, Keely, and Thad. You forget how many people you have on your side. And we’ve all been working to make sure you never have to worry again about losing the girls.”
I turned to Vance, overwhelmed and ready to burst if I didn’t let at least some of my feelings out. “I love you.”
He pressed his lips to mine. “I love you too. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“Well, then. Ditto.”
Another laugh that made my toes curl. “Don’t ever change.”
It was my turn to kiss him, but this time it wasn’t brief. This time it was all tongue. It was all heat. It was all-consuming. Proven by the fact that someone tugging on my shirt was what made us break apart.
Elana looked at us with big eyes. “So you are getting married.” Already moving on, unperturbed by the possibility, she climbed onto the couch next to Vance and leaned against him. “Can we go in the pool?”
He wrapped an arm around her, hugging her into his side. “If it’s okay with your mom, I can take you.”
Tickling my youngest, I pretended to think about it. “I don’t know. I mean, the water is so nice and warm. And there are all those pool floats that need to be used. So I guess it would be a good idea to get in the water.”
Cheering, Elana slid off the couch, then raced up the stairs, yelling out to Addy, “We get to go in the pool.”
I reluctantly left Vance’s lap and stretched. “All right, I guess I should find out how great your pool is.”
He slapped my butt and shot me a heated look. “I like this plan of yours.”
The rest of the afternoon was spent in the water, spending time with the kids and not worrying about what might happen next.
Reality crashed back into our world the next day.
It was after Malena’s meeting with Cockalorum’s lawyer.
And after the girls had finished school.
Malena had come over, saying they didn’t respond at all during the meeting, only asking for documents and proof.
Then they said they’d get back to her by the end of the day.
Which was now. The end of the day. And still no word.
Vance had taken the girls to the supermarket with him, since I was acting a little unhinged. He’d described it as giving me some time with Malena, but we both knew he didn’t want the girls to catch on that something was wrong.
Malena threw a piece of bread at me, and I watched in horror as crumbs landed on the floor. “Stop cleaning. You have someone who does it for you once a week. You’re going to polish the varnish off the furniture.”
I picked the bread up off the floor, dropping the rag clutched in my hand on the dining table. After throwing the wasted food in the trash, I grabbed the vacuum and removed the crumbs, the whole time locking eyes with Malena, daring her to say something again.
She threw up her hands in exasperation. And now that I’d started, I might as well do the whole downstairs. I was almost done when I saw Malena jump off the couch in my peripheral vision.
Turning off the vacuum, I stood frozen, watching as she answered the phone.
I couldn’t hear anything since I was too far away, but my feet didn’t seem to want to move closer. I was glued to the floor, my eyes on Malena.
She didn’t give anything away, not even a tiny smile or a thumbs-up.
When she finally hung up, she didn’t move for a moment. My feet finally came unstuck and I ran to where she was standing, looking at me with wide eyes.
“Was that—”
She nodded.
“And what—”
She threw her arms around me.
I burst into tears.
“Am I losing the girls? I can’t lose the girls.
I can’t. I’m moving them to another country.
I can’t tell you which one because then you can’t give up the location if anyone tries to torture it out of you.
I have to pack. And how am I going to tell Vance?
He can’t come with me. He has a successful career.
Maybe he could visit. So I can’t go too far. But then—”
Malena forcibly removed my arms from around her since I’d been holding her so tight she probably couldn’t breathe. Had she even heard a word I’d said? I might have to repeat myself.
“Shut up, you lunatic. I’ll circle back later to you insulting me by believing I would give up any information if I were tortured. But first things first: That was your ex’s lawyer. They went through the documents—”
“Tell me if I get to keep the girls.”
I stopped tapping my foot and looked at her, unblinking.
“You get to keep the girls.”
I jumped up and down, screaming. Then I promptly burst into tears. And then I laughed, because why not add manic cackling to my day?
“How?”
The word was garbled, but we’d been friends long enough for Malena to understand what I’d asked. “Apparently, Tammy is a fitness influencer, and she can’t afford any bad press. Your ex agreed to let you adopt Addy, and your current agreement regarding custody will remain in place.”
I shook out my hands and took a heaving breath. This was it. I got to keep my girls. I’d never have to be scared that Cockalorum would change his mind and take them away from me ever again.
I slipped when I did another little jump and landed in a heap on the floor. Rolling around the carpet, imitating a turtle on its back, I kept chanting, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Rita came rushing in, holding a knife in one hand and a glove in the other. “What happened? Did you fall over? Should I call Mr. Moore?”
I shot an apologetic grin at a gaping Malena, who was probably now reevaluating the life choices that led her to become friends with me. When she still didn’t say anything once I’d calmed down, I was getting worried. “Did I squash you?”
When she scratched her nose with her middle finger, I knew she was fine. “I’m just wondering if you had a stroke. And to be clear, this was mostly Vance’s doing. He wouldn’t stop until he had every speck of dirt on your ex he could find. Did you know he cheated on two exams in college?”
Once Rita was happy that nobody was going to die, she disappeared without a word. Probably debating whether she should hand in her resignation.
After making sure it was safe for me to be on my own, Malena left. Too giddy to sit still, I made my way to the kitchen. This called for cake.
I startled Rita, who had been getting a dish out of the oven. “Can I help with anything, Ms. Porter?”
“I want to bake a cake. Do you have an easy recipe?”
I swear I saw her wince, but she recovered too quickly for me to tell for sure. “I’ll help.” She pulled out a thick folder. “How about apple pie?”
“Can we do something with chocolate? I’m not sure the kids will eat apple pie.”
She searched through the pages. “Ah, yes, I have flourless chocolate cake. It’s delicious.”
“Perfect.”
We gathered all the ingredients—or rather Rita gathered them and I watched—and then she measured everything and I was allowed to turn on the mixer and lick the bowl.
The girls and Vance returned while I was licking batter off my finger. Addy rushed up to us, taking the bowl out of my hands. “Are you making cake?”
She didn’t wait for an answer, just put her head in the bowl and licked the sides.
Elana grabbed hold of the bowl, pulling it off her sister’s head. “I want some too.”
Leaving the girls to fight it out, I rushed up to Vance, a huge smile on my face. Leaning in so they wouldn’t hear, I told him my news. “I get to keep my babies.”
He pressed his lips to mine, then enfolded me in a tight hug. “That’s great news, ipo.”
“Thank you so much for everything you’ve done. Malena told me that this was all your doing. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”
“This does not require any repayment. I love you, and I would do anything to make you happy.”
“I love you too.”
He rested his cheek against mine. “I do have an idea how you can repay me, though.”
I laughed, liking where this was going. “Do tell.”
Elana shoved between us, her face and hands coated in cake batter. “Can we go in the pool?”
Chuckling, Vance ruffled her hair. “Sure.”
The girls ran off to get their swimsuits, and Vance left to get changed.
I sighed. Another perfect day. Something that seemed to happen a lot when I was with Vance.
I finally got my happily ever after, the deluxe version.