“I know.”
“She’s strong.”
“I know.”
Her voice wobbles anyway.
I touch her hand. “You did that. You made her that way in just a few weeks. She’s going to be brilliant as well as happy, Hildy.”
She exhales slowly, nodding.
I walk her out to where Scotti is waiting, “How opposed are you to me riding with you so I can get?—"
Rolling her eyes, she cuts me off. “Game tonight.” She says it lightly, like everything is normal.
“Home before and after,” I confirm.
She pushes up on her toes and kisses me on the cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you,” I answer.
I carry that into practice, and when we head into the locker room to change for PT, my phone buzzes in my locker.
It’s Hugo Vale, a lawyer who deals with family matters, one I paid a very large amount to help me figure out how to fast-track this.
We scheduled a meeting today, before pickup.
“Everything good?” Kilovac asks.
“I hope so. You good?”
“I saw who it was.” He huffs.
“Intrusive.” I huff.
“Then fucking talk to me, man.” He grumbles, closing his locker.
“Like you did me?”
“Fair,” he sighs, “But still.”
“Better you don’t know, makes you less culpable.”
“You plan on committing a crime?” he asks.
“Hell no, I’d invite you in on that,” I chuckle.
Chapter 27
Changes
Hildy
Two days into our new routine, and I already understand why parents look permanently exhausted and constantly sentimental at the same time. Lucy is not just thriving; she loves school, and she is so happy that it brings tears to my eyes, if I allow them.
When she and Lenzin walk into the house, he looks a mix between stunned, slightly overwhelmed, and amused, but never annoyed, not even when it continues for the entire night until she passes out after two pages into a book.
“In the reading corner, we get to pick our own books, but not the big kid books yet. My new friends Nicholas, Gabriel, and Wren are three twins and own half of a big apple. They got two dads and one mom and.” She stops and looks at me. “Am I gonna have two dads?”
