“What? What else did she do?” I ask nervously.
“She beat the hell out of your car. All the windows are smashed, and it’s dented up pretty good. She was peeling out in her car when I made it to the front door.” She sighs sadly. “I already called the police and Will. They are headed over. I’m going to wait for them out front, so they don’t interrupt the party.” She kisses my cheek and walks out.
“Ugh, well, I guess it’s good I needed a bigger car anyway. Since she’s most likely going to jail, what are we going to do with Katie? Do y’all know who her dad is?” I ask, looking over at the sweet little girl. You can tell she’s so much happier when her mom isn’t around. Some people just shouldn't be parents.
“From what Bodie told us, he’s no longer in the picture; took off as soon as he found out she was pregnant. I’m pretty sure she was sleeping with a married man,” Odin tells me, pulling out his phone. “I’ll call the station and see if they can find next of kin. If not, she can stay here for the night until we figure something out.”
The rest of the party went off without a hitch, and all the kids had a great time. Lochlan said it was the best party of his life; he was so happy that most of this class showed up. None of the kids knew there was ever any drama to begin with, so that was wonderful.
By the time it was over, we still didn’t know what we were going to do about Katie. Surprisingly, her mother actually packed her extra clothes so we were able to get her in something dry. We let the kids run off to the playroom while we worked on getting everything figured out and all of Lochlan’s toys out of boxes and taken to the playroom.
Three hours later the guys and I finally collapse onto the couch, as soon as we are settled; Will and Maw-Maw walk into the room. They both sit down across from us on the recliners.
Will lets out a sigh. “So we have good news and bad news. First, Victoria was arrested. Turns out she had multiple warrants out on her for stalking, battery, and a slew of other charges all in the surrounding towns. She's looking at a minimum of five years just for those charges. When they searched her house, what they found there… Well, she won’t be out for a long time.”
He looks over at us with sad eyes. “Katie had no bed or toys. It seems she has been sleeping on the floor with a sheet. She had almost no clothes, and all the cabinets and the fridge had locks on them so she couldn’t get food. Plus there were pipes and other drug paraphernalia everywhere along with tons of empty alcohol bottles.”
“Oh my god, that poor baby.” I gasp. I will never understand how a parent, especially a mother, could treat their child like that.
“Unfortunately, that’s not all,” Maw-Maw speaks up, placing a hand on Will’s knee.
“Victoria’s parents have been dead for years, and she either doesn’t know or refuses to say who Katie’s dad is. I have requested a court ordered DNA test, but until then, Katie will most likely end up in a group home as there are no open foster homes,” Will continues.
I look around at the guys, and they all catch my eye and nod. “No, she won’t. What do we have to do to get certified as a foster family?” I ask.
“Isla Claire, you have three kids and two on the way. We don’t know how long it would be, and it could be permanent. That will be too much.” My grandmother stands up and starts to pace.
“I know it’ll be a lot, but that little girl deserves to know what it’s like to be loved for once in her life, and hell, we are already going to have five kids, what’s one more? It’ll make it an even number. She’s going to need more help than what the state can provide. We can make it work, but Will,” I turn to look at the man in question. “Can we do it, legally?”
He looks off to the distance for a moment. “Yeah, I should be able to get it set up where you and Bodie are her legal guardians since you two are legally married. Let me step out and make a call really quick.” He grabs his phone off the table and walks out the patio door.
I stand and turn to face the guys. “Are you all sure you want to do this? We could always find a different arrangement.”
Bodie stands up and walks over, pulling me into his arms. “Angel, like you said, what’s one more kid to add to this chaos? I wasn’t with Victoria long, but when she brought Katie around, she was always a really sweet little girl. I would hate for her to end up somewhere just as bad or worse than living with her mother.”
“He’s right, Wildflower. We have the room, money, time, and hands to take on one, or even five, more. We can do this,” Silas agrees just as Will walks back into the room.
“Okay, I made a couple calls, and the judge agreed it would be best for Katie to stay where we know she would be safe and would get any help she needs. So Monday morning, we will go down to the courthouse and sign the papers for y'all to be her legal guardians. Now normally this would not be approved, but since your grandmother and I are well known, it was. However–”
“Is my mommy coming to get me?” a small voice interrupts from the hallway.
We all turn and look towards the hall, and all four kids are standing there. I glance back at the others. “Kids, why don’t y’all come have a seat?”
They all shuffle over to the couch and sit down, and I take a seat on the table in front of Katie. “Sweetheart, your mommy is really sick. She’s going to be away for a while to get some help. If you would like to, you can stay here. If you don’t, we could try and find you somewhere else to stay if you would be more comfortable.”
She looks so confused for a moment. “She’s not coming back?”
“Not for a while, sweet girl. Do you want to take a little bit of time and think about it, and then you can tell us what you want to do?” I ask softly.
She nods sadly. I push her blonde hair out of her face. “Do you want me to show you where you’ll sleep tonight?”
Lochlan jumps up. “Is she sleeping in my room?” he asks excitedly.
“No, bud, she will be sleeping in Vivian’s room on the pull-out bed, so why don’t we go show her to your room Vivian?” I reach out and take both girls' hands.
As we walk towards our wing, I make sure to point out the bathrooms and where the kitchen is and everything she might need to know.
When we make it to our rooms, the boys go running ahead excitedly to show Katie her new room. Vivian lets go of my hand to grab the other little girl's hand, opening the door to her room.
