“Kaden has questions.” She wasn’t sure how much he and Kimber knew about the man who fathered them. “How much do you want me to tellthem?”
Sarah took a shuddering breath. “All of it.” Her whisper was harsh—full of pain, fear, andanger.
“Are yousure?”
Tears fell freely. “Yes. I wouldn’t have chosen this, but they need to understand exactly how dangerous heis.”
“Even what he did to you?” She didn’t like that idea. Didn’t understand the purpose of telling thekids.
“Use your best judgment. But tell them why he went tojail.”
“Okay.” Relief flooded through her. Thank God. She hoped she would never have to tell them exactly what kind of monster their father was. “We need to talk about theirguardianship.”
“I took care of it right after I was diagnosed.” Her voice had grown weak and her lids drooped. The conversation had taken a lot out ofher.
Guilt shimmied through Denise, but she needed to start making arrangements for the kids. “I’ll talk to Mom and Dad about the best time to transition the kids. Might be best to wait for the summer since it’s only a few months away.” That way they wouldn’t start a new school when the year was almostover.
Sarah fought to keep her eyes open. “You, Denise. You’re theirguardian.”
“What?” Shock slammed into her, knocking the breath right out of her chest. “Sarah, that’s not a good idea. Mom and Dad are the bestoption.”
“You’re the best option.” Her voice was surprisinglystrong.
“Sarah—”
“I love your mom and dad—more than my own parents—but they’re too old to take care of an eight- and nine-year-old.”
“I’m not equipped to take care of them. I don’t know how to be a mom.” Shit, some days she had a hard time taking care of herself. It’d never crossed her mind that her parents wouldn’t get custody. They were making room in their house for K-Squared. That was theplan.
Sprocket put her nose in the back of Denise’s knee and pushed. Her left hand fell to her dog’shead.
“You’ve been doing it for the past threemonths.”
“That’s a temporary arrangement so they wouldn’t have to move schools in the middle of the year,” sheargued.
Sarah’s eyelids fell again. “Now it’s permanent. I’m giving you the best of me.” Her voice faded and she driftedoff.
Denise palmed her forehead and stood. What was Sarah thinking? There were still periods she struggled to make it through the day. How was she supposed to do that with twokids?
Sprocket all but sat on her feet and stared up at her. “Rawr rawr.” She sounded like Scooby-Doo.
Her wet nose pushed at Denise’s hand and she scratched her behind the ear. “I’m not freaking out girl, but…fuck.”
A soft knock sounded before the door opened and Sarah’s doctor peeked her headin.
Denise moved to the door and stepped out of the room, holding the door for her dog. “Morning, Dr. King. She just fellasleep.”
“Good. She needs to rest.” She slipped her hands into the pockets of her whitecoat.
Do they learn that stance in medschool?
“Nadia said she had a smallepisode.”
Guilt played at the edges of her mind. What a cluster. “Yeah. I had to give her some bad news.” Dr. King gave her a stern look. “It was something she needed to know, Doc. I wouldn’t have told herotherwise.”
“It’s important that she not becomeagitated.”
She stared over the doctor’s head, down the long hall. It wasn’t going to be much longer. That’s what she was hinting at.Wow, she’s short.The errant thought popped into her head. She needed to focus. And not on how she felt like a giant standing next to the petite doctor. “Howlong?”
