Chapter 4 #2
I threw myself against the back of the chair and dropped my head into my hands.
This is not happening right now.
“I’m just not understanding why they wouldn’t choose their family for this,” Ivy expressed. “Why not their parents, who would know exactly what to do here? Isn’t family the only people who could be guardians?”
“Guardianship isn’t limited to family members,” Mr. Grant said.
“Friends can be appointed if parents believe they are the best choice. Your friends made this decision with a lot of thought, I assure you. When we drafted their will, they were thoughtful and deliberate about every detail. They spent two days deciding on guardianship. They wanted you two.”
Ivy and I glanced at each other and held our stares.
All the color had drained from Ivy’s russet brown skin. I was pretty sure I looked just as pale.
“They entrusted you with their most precious responsibility, and that decision wasn’t made lightly,” Mr. Grant continued. “And legally, this document I’m holding gives you the authority to act as parents would.”
“Wow,” I exhaled, emptying all the air I had with that word as I dropped my head forward and into my hands.
Ivy let out an audible breath and ran her hand down her face. “What kind of legal steps do we need to take now?”
“What?” I popped my head up out of my hands. “Ivy.”
“What?” She focused on me.
“You can’t be serious,” I said low, even though it didn’t matter who heard us.
“We should at least know how this will all work.” Her chin began to quiver, her eyes filling with tears. “No?”
“Well, first,” Mr. Grant started, waiting for our attention to return to him, “you’ll need to formally accept the guardianship. We can take care of the paperwork today if you’re ready.”
I shut my eyes and held them tightly closed.
My heart was racing so fast at this point—faster than any moment on the court while trying to block a shot. Sometimes the block was successful; other times, a failure. And that was okay. I could learn from the failure and do better in the next game.
But that was a game. This was not.
“Babies are expensive,” Ivy muttered. “I make a good living, but that’s just for me. My apartment is small as hell—”
“There are also forms here to transfer the property in Greene Gardens into your names, as I mentioned,” Mr. Grant interjected.
“Kendra and Tyrell set up a trust fund for their baby, which you both will manage. The funds will cover his daily expenses, healthcare, education, and other needs. Detailed instructions and stipulations are outlined here,” he added, gesturing at the document now lying on the table.
“I cannot believe they did all of this and told us nothing,” Ivy muttered.
I swallowed the knot in my throat and straightened my back in my seat. “And if we find this isn’t something we can handle?”
There was silence in the office for a beat.
“Yeah,” Ivy finally said. “If we decide… I mean, if we find that we can’t do this, what then?”
Mr. Grant shut his eyes and tilted his head forward, inhaling a deep breath.
“It’s a significant commitment; there’s no question about that.
If, after some consideration, you feel you cannot fulfill this role, we can petition the court for a reassignment of guardianship.
However, such changes are generally seen as a last resort.
I advise you to consider all factors seriously and possibly seek counseling to help with this transition. ”
I turned to meet Ivy’s gaze, finding her head lowered and her eyes focused on her manicured nails. She appeared to be visibly digesting the information, her fingers tapping against her lap.
“Why don’t we take a short break, yeah?” Mr. Grant suggested with a nod.
He glanced behind us at Carla and raised a brow before focusing back on us.
“I can prepare the initial paperwork, and you two can have a moment to discuss privately. We can reconvene in, say, fifteen minutes? Or if you feel you need more time to think outside of this office, the most I can offer is to reschedule our meeting for twenty-four hours from now.”
I pressed my hand to my mouth and slowly ran my palm down my beard. I never understood what people meant when they said they felt the walls were closing in during their times of panic. I found out exactly what they meant that day.
Because not even twenty-four hours seemed like enough time to decide what to do here.
A baby? Parents? What?!
I didn’t know the first thing about babies. I was an only child. I grew up in a loving household, but shit, I always had my freedom. I never had to babysit anyone. I had no experience in this area—like, at all. There was no way I would be able to take care of a baby. No way.
Babies hadn’t been on my radar. I thought Tyrell was crazy when he said that he and Kendra were purposefully working on having one shortly after they got married.
To me, children were little beings that consumed time and energy. I’d made up my mind years ago that they weren’t for me. And now here I was, about to inherit one?
Shit.
“Can we get longer than twenty-four hours?” Ivy inquired.
Mr. Grant sucked in air through his teeth. “The thing is, Kendra and Tyrell’s son has been in the NICU for four days already, which is fine because he’s still under observation. He was delivered via c-section and with no health issues, so the monitoring was simply precautionary.”
Mr. Grant lifted the document he’d been reading, placed it into the folder he walked in with, and closed it, folding his hands over it.
“He is feeding well and has been ready for discharge for a few days now, but given the circumstances, the hospital’s social services department has been coordinating with my office to understand the timeline for guardianship.
He could go home as soon as today, which is what the hospital would prefer since he is feeding and growing appropriately.
Keeping him there longer would present a problem.
So, with this in mind, twenty-four hours to make a decision would be ideal and reasonable in this scenario. ”
Ivy and I glanced at each other.
“I have to make copies of one of these documents to give to you.” Mr. Grant rolled his chair back on its wheels. “I’ll give you two a few minutes to discuss timing, and when I return, you can tell me what you two want to do.”
Ivy and I were left alone shortly after, our attention on everything but each other.
“What the entire fuck is happening right now?” she whispered, and I wasn’t sure if she was asking herself or me.
The biggest decisions I’d had to make in life were what college to play for and whether to enter the NBA draft. I thought that was as hard as life would get for me. I never expected this. Losing a best friend, and him leaving me his baby? This was insane.
I squeezed my eyes closed and lifted my fingers to pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to calm the headache building.
“What are you thinking?” Ivy asked.
“I’m thinking… what the hell were Kendra and Tyrell on when they named us guardians, and how can I get that drug too? Because I sure could use it right now.”
Ivy stared at me for a beat before snorting a laugh, which turned into a giggle. I couldn’t resist laughing in response.
After a while, we were quiet again, and Ivy sighed as she leaned back in her seat. “This is all so damn sudden and crazy. Us? Why would they choose us?”
I blew air through my lips. “Questions that need answers.”
Ivy sighed. “But who else does their baby have?”
“Their grandparents.” I sat up in my seat and turned to face her. “Somebody else. Shit, anyone else.”
Ivy nodded in agreement but then started shaking her head. “Let’s just think about it.”
“Think about it?”
“Yes.” She nodded, her eyes scanning mine. “Let’s take the twenty-four-hour break Mr. Grant mentioned to think about it and decide.”
A part of me wanted to push back on even that. I was pretty sure that not even twenty-four hours would be enough time to decide if I wanted to take on the responsibility of raising a child.
Because essentially, that was what Ivy and I were being tasked with—raising a damn baby.
I released a heavy sigh and forced myself to nod anyway. “Aight, whatever. Let’s take twenty-four.”
* * *
“How about next week?” Vanessa asked in my ear.
Just the mention of the following week sent a pang to my gut as I pulled open the restaurant door. The entire reason I’d even taken her call was to distract myself from thinking about next week. Shit, distract me from thinking about right now.
I stepped inside and into a quieter atmosphere filled with soft jazz and murmurs around the room.
“Next week is the funeral for my friends,” I mumbled as I greeted the hostess with a nod.
“Oh, shit,” Vanessa whispered. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s cool,” I assured. My attention moved to the hostess. “My party is already here. Ivy Pressman.”
“Oh,” Vanessa said into my ear. “You’re… meeting up with Ivy?”
“This way, please,” the hostess said with a smile, gesturing with her arm for me to follow her.
“Yeah,” I said to Vanessa. “We’re meeting up to discuss something.”
“Like?” Vanessa pushed.
I sighed. “Not right now, Vanessa. Please.”
She released a weighted exhale into the phone, making my eardrum vibrate.
The restaurant, Gotham Grill, was quiet at this hour. Only a few people sat at tables spaced out from one another. They spoke low, their voices blending into whispers beneath the soft music playing. The lights were dim, and each table held a cluster of tea lights floating in bowls of water.
I hadn’t told Vanessa about the meeting at the estate lawyer’s office or that I could possibly be taking on the role of a guardian to a newborn baby.
Her life as a stylist and socialite made me hesitant to disclose something like that.
I didn’t think she’d understand, and we didn’t have that kind of relationship.
Our thing was all about fun, and there wasn’t anything fun about babies. At least, not to me.