50. Sunny
Chapter 50
Sunny
“ S unshine… do you want to come down for some food? My mother’s here,” Blaze said as he popped his head into the playroom, where Luka was having the time of his life. The guys had been busy with a DIY project, so I had been reading to Luka and playing with him when he got bored of sitting still for too long.
“Food for Ka?” Luka asked excitedly. His vocabulary was rapidly expanding, but he still couldn't quite say his name properly. Even though I should have corrected him, it was so darn cute.
“Sure.” I nodded. “Hey, baby, want to go see Nana Marion?” I asked as I scooped him up.
“Nana Ma?” Luka asked as we padded down the hallway.
As we rounded the corner into the kitchen, he caught sight of Marion and the rest of our pack sitting at the kitchen island, drinks in hand.
“Sunny! How are you, my dear?” Marion asked as she rushed up to me. “I'm sorry, that's such a stupid question. Of course, you're not doing well.” She frowned, pulling back.
“We're taking it day by day. Right now, I'm just happy to have him home,” I whispered. Luka was staring at Marion, like he was trying to figure out what he made of her.
“Hello there,” Marion greeted warmly.
“This is Daddy Blaze’s mama,” Blaze said as he pointed to his mother.
“Dada Blaze mama?” Luka asked in an adorable, confused voice.
Marion laughed. “I'm guessing the concept of anyone else having a mama is a bit much for his little brain right now. Don't worry, my sweet genius, you'll know soon enough. I can already tell you’re a smart one! I saw all the block towers you made in the hallway!”
Luka perked up at that work. “Blocks!” he declared happily, wriggling in my grip. Given his ever-growing size, when he decided to get wriggly, it was becoming harder and harder to hold on to him. Thankfully, Rune was already halfway toward me, sweeping the baby out of my arms and throwing him lightly in the air.
“Shall we go get your blocks, little man? That way, Mama and Nana Marion can catch up,” he said, going over to the play corner that was in sight of the kitchen, so they could still take part in the conversation.
Once I wasn’t holding a baby, she pulled me in for an even tighter hug. I sagged in her grip. There was something about a hug from a mother that was sorely needed.
“Now…” Marion turned to Walker. “Be a dear and make us some coffee. I think we could both use a shot of whiskey in ours.”
A laugh escaped my chest. “Ah, Marion, I knew I loved you for a reason.”
Twenty minutes later, after we had gone through pleasantries and asking each other about the normal things, Marion turned to me with a small smile.
“So… I suppose I need to update you guys a little bit about what’s going on?”
We all nodded.
“I would appreciate that,” I said, glancing at Luka, who was happily playing Godzilla on his block tower.
Marion reached forward, grabbing my hand and holding it tightly. “So, a few things have happened. My lawyers have assured me that Gregory won't be seeing the light of day for a long time, but it may be a few months until he goes to trial. In the interim, restraining orders have been filed, and he can’t go near any of you.”
“Why do we need restraining orders? He's in a jail cell?” Walker asked with a frown.
“Oh yes, he is, and he's not getting out anytime soon, but it can help your case down the line if it's needed. In an interesting turn of events, Gregory's family has disowned him. So, even if he did get bail, he couldn’t afford it.”
“They sound like the kind of people who only care about themselves,” I said.
“That they are. They didn't want to be linked to the scandal that is their child, so they have completely disowned him, and Gregory can't even use the family lawyer. If this goes to trial, which I doubt it's going to, he's going to have to use a public defender.”
A giggle escaped my chest. Gregory, a public defender? “I'm pretty sure he would rather jump off a cliff than use a public defender.”
Walker smirked. “Well, if he did that, he would be doing all of us a favor.”
Marion hummed in agreement. “You know, I never would wish death upon someone. But Gregory? I feel like the loss of him would only benefit society.”
From her, that was scathing.
“As long as he can't get to us, that's all that matters.”
“He can’t. I also got my lawyer to file some paperwork for you, Sunny. Now if I'm being too forward, do say and I will get it changed, but I took the liberty of having Luka’s birth certificate changed—you only need to sign. It just means that Pack Landry is now listed as his father.”
“Oh, I’ll happily sign that,” I said, bobbing my head eagerly. We had discussed changing Luka's last name with the lawyer a while ago.
Marion's face broke into a beaming smile. “Perfect. Once that is filed, that will weaken Gregory's claim even further. Not that he has a claim in the first place, but I think the more we can discredit him, the better. Now, there is also news involving a certain police officer.”
“Officer Hilton?” Walker asked. “That dickhead?”
Marion nodded, her smile never slipping. “He's been fired. Turns out, his family has connections to Gregory's family, and he failed to do his job properly the day Gregroy took Luka. When Hilton was questioned about it, apparently he said he knew the family and that they were a good family, so he just went along with what they said.”
I grimaced. “How anyone could think they're a good family is beyond me.”
Marion cocked her head. “I think when he said good family , he really meant wealthy family. I have my suspicions that they might have paid him off to ignore some of Gregory's indiscretions during his youth.”
“That's not uncommon in wealthy families,” Blaze said. “Though I was never that lucky. When I fucked up and did some property damage as a kid, Mom made me clean it by hand for weeks.”
“If you make the mess, you clean it up,” Marion said primly.
“Well, we can't say that it didn't work. You turned into a decent man,” I pointed out.
“I know,” Blaze whined, making us all laugh.
As our laughter trailed off, I turned back to Marion. “So, it’s over?”
She nodded. “Gregory and his family are disgraced and can’t go near you. Luka is officially registered as the child of Pack Landry. And the officer that mistreated you will never be able to work in public service again. Now, all that's left to do is look after that sweet baby boy,” she said, turning to Luka with a happy smile.
“Mama! See blocks down!” he declared happily.
“I think we can do that.” I sighed quietly before raising my voice so Luka could hear me. “Good building, baby!”
Logically, I knew that we weren't going to be disturbed again, but the tightness in my chest didn't fully ease. It was going to take a long time for me to get used to the new normal.
Once I finally did, though, our life was shaping up to be something amazing. Knowing that the guys were willing to go so far to protect our child did something to me. Something good. It was a level of comfort knowing that I wasn't on my own anymore.