“Baby, what can I do?” I said, walking over to her and putting my hands on her shoulders. She looked up at me, the tears floating in her eyes. I could see how desperate she was to hold them at bay.
“Make it so I can keep him. Make it so she goes away. Just make this all go away.”
I clasped her to my chest, thinking that she would release the tears, but nothing happened. She just wrapped her arms around me and held me tighter than she ever had before. I could feel her need and desperation at that moment. Her pain was at the surface, and my own wasn’t far behind. I knew how she felt because I felt it too. I wanted to keep our little family intact. I wanted to make sure Bobby was safe, and I knew that Susan couldn’t guarantee that. She had been doing drugs and drinking since we were teenagers. I wanted to believe she could change and things could be better, but the bigger part of me was scared that it would be putting Bobby back into the same situation. I didn’t want that for him. I didn’t want him to go through the pain, the embarrassment and the trauma that Susan was weaving for him. He deserved better. He was a good kid. He had so much potential. Potential which Susan’s actions could tarnish and destroy.
Susan wasn’t a bad person, but she’d made some really bad choices in her life. As we stood there, holding on to each other, fearing the loss of our precious Bobby, Susan entered the room. I saw her first. Reese still had her head buried in my chest. She seemed too scared to look up. I gently separated myself from Reese, taking her hand and walking us over to the sofa.
Susan and her counselor took a seat on the nearest sofa, and Reese and I sat down in the chairs opposite them.
“Hello, my name is Nancy Thompson. I’ve been Susan’s counselor here at the center. Thank you for coming.”
“Hi,” Reese said, looking everywhere but at Susan.
“Hi, Nancy. You look good, Susan. I’m glad you’re getting the help you need,” I said, trying to make the situation as comfortable as I possibly could.
“Thank you for coming, Reese,” Susan said, her eyes lasered on my girl. I didn’t like how she was targeting Reese. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. I was ready to get in the middle, anything to protect my girl from more pain.
“No problem,” Reese said, finally looking at Susan.
“I want you two to adopt Bobby and become his legal guardians,” Susan blurted, without any warning. I was taken aback by her statement, not sure what to make of it. Reese looked stunned but also as if she’d been handed a miracle.
“Pardon?” Reese said.
“I’m a mess. I’ve been everything but a good mother. He deserves better. I know Elliot is a good man. He turned out really well considering the father he had. If anyone can fix the damage I’ve caused my son, it’s him. But a boy needs a mother, and I want that to be you. I see how excited Bobby gets when he talks about you. He loves you, and I know you care about him. So if you’ll do this, I’ll sign the papers.”
Reese jumped from her chair, hurling herself at Susan, embracing her like they were long-lost friends. New tears poured from her eyes, but this time they were from joy.
“Yes! Yes!” Reese shouted.
“I have one request.” Sussan said, looking Reese in the eyes. “As long as I maintain my sobriety, I would like to have a relationship with him. I don’t want him to think I don’t love him. I do. I love him so much, but I’m sick. This disease makes me incapable of taking care of him.”
“Of course. I would never dream of ending your relationship with Bobby. As long as you are sober, you can see him any time you want,” Reese said, smiling sweetly at her. She then looked at me, her eyes filled with so much love and joy.
“We’ll take good care of him,” I said, my eyes never once leaving my girl.
Chapter 12
“We’re so lucky,” I hummed, sliding across the seat of Elliot’s truck as we left the rehab.
“Us and Bobby,” he replied, hands on the wheel as he steered us back home. My smile was bursting off of my cheeks, my body running a fiery circuit of blissed out happiness through all of my veins.
I shifted in my seat, suddenly feeling every single sensation as I looked across the cab at the man that I would be raising a beautiful boy with. Susan was right when she’d said there’d be no better man to raise a boy like Bobby. Hopefully, in healing Bobby, Elliot would find some peace of his own, as well as the family he’d never truly had.