“I’d like that, I wish we could stay longer but Lincoln hasn’t found a manager yet that he trusts to help him at the bar,” I tell her.
“Well, maybe this summer you two can come back out this way or by then maybe things will have settled and we can take a trip to see you two.”
“We’d love that,” I reply as we walk inside their home. The men are trailing behind us, talking about the family business while carrying our bags inside.
“Your home is beautiful,” I breathe out.
“Thank you, this is where my boys grew up. Robert and I have talked about selling, but I’m just not ready to let go of our family home.” Their home isn’t pretentious, no it’s homey. You can see how much joy and love they have as a family, much like my own.
“I’m not sure I’d leave it either,” I smile warmly.
Robert and Kristine show us to our room, incidentally enough it was Lincoln’s childhood bedroom, with an en suite bathroom attached to it.
“If Lyla saw this was your bedroom growing up, she’s be so jealous. She had to share one bathroom with three of her brothers. I’m pretty sure that’s why she loves to travel so much for her job now,” I tell Lincoln.
“I can’t say that I blame her, it’s hard to believe she’s one of four children though,” Lincoln states, coming up behind me as I look into the backyard, my mind ready to have the afternoon to laze around the pool.
“Can we hang out at the pool today?” I ask him.
“Yeah, Mom and Dad would love that. Get ready and I’ll go let them know our plans.”
“Okay,” our lips graze each other’s and then he’s heading to the door, I watch him the whole way, wondering how I got so lucky to have Lincoln in my life.
28
Lincoln
Presley fit right in, just like I knew she would. I didn’t have to worry about Mom stealing her away, Presley willingly hung out with her. Which made today a day to hang out with Devon and Dad.
“You ready to deal with this?” I ask Devon as we step into the law firm our family keeps on retainer.
“Yeah, it should have been dealt with before. What about you? You’re making some big life decisions today too,” Devon replies. Dad is silently observing us, much like he did growing up.
“Oh yeah, I’m ready for Presley to have our last name. This is just the first step to ensuring her future. Next stop is a jewelry store, and this doesn’t go any further. That means not a word is to be said to Mom. You know she’ll tell Presley before I even propose.”
“You’re not wrong, Lincoln. She’s always been horrible at keeping secrets,” Dad states.
“Then let’s get this shit on the road,” Devon says.
We walk into the office, go right to the conference room. Our attorney is already waiting for us, a stack of papers at the ready.
I asked him to get my paperwork ready, in case something ever happened to me, I’ll be leaving everything to Presley and to our future family. Not that something will, but more or less a precaution. I don’t want her worried about our finances being a problem if that time ever came.
Devon on the other hand, he’s going after Stacey for a court ordered paternity test. She’s hemmed and hawed long enough. It’s been a month since he made an appointment she never bothered showing up for.
Who really knows what she’s up to, she could be going after money, or maybe Devon really is the father, whatever it is, we’re ready to get the answers.
“Robert, Lincoln, Devon, how are you gentlemen today?” Walter asks.
“We’re doing okay, ready to get this shit taken care of,” my dad answers gruffly.
“Well, let’s get to it. We’ll work on Lincoln’s since his is the easiest,” He shuffles papers and tells me where to sign. I do as he says, and it’s taken care of in just a few minutes.
“Now for the hard part,” Walter says.
“I was worried about that,” Devon runs his hands through his hair.
“We can serve her papers to get the paternity test, but and here’s the big if, she could contest it and ask to wait until the baby is born to have the test ran. I don’t know her finances, but she could lawyer up. Worst case scenario we go to court, she tells her sob story to the judge and then we still have to wait.” He gives Devon his options.
“Looks like no matter what, we have to serve her to at least get the ball rolling. What do you think Dad, Lincoln?” Devon asks.
Both my father and I nod our head in agreement, I say, “I think you get it started now, that way she can’t come back at you later on. I’d also suggest no communication unless it’s through a text or an email. Something is shady with her.”