Reid stared at me with wide eyes. “What did she say?”
“Well, she just blushed, but then I grabbed her and kissed her, and then she punched me in the face.”
“Oh man, that must have been a really bad kiss.”
“Well, that and I pinched her ass when I kissed her. I don’t think she liked that too much.”
“So, you’re saying that I shouldn’t pinch Kayla’s ass.”
“Have you ever kissed a girl?” I asked. He turned red and shook his head. “Hey, no shame in that. You gotta start somewhere, but you don’t want your first kiss to be bad.”
“Well, how do you get to be a good kisser?”
“Practice.”
“With Kayla?”
“No,” I shook my head. “You can’t just walk up to the girl you like and ask to practice on her. That’ll make her think that you don’t really like her. Besides, Kayla’s a little old for you.”
I could tell he was thinking it over, but I hoped that I was getting through to him. The last thing I needed was for Coop to get pissed at me, but I also didn’t want to discourage Reid too much. The kid had it hard enough as it was.
“Is there anything else you want to ask me?” He shook his head. I wanted so bad for him to open up to me, tell me what was going on in his head, but without knowing what the kid had been through, I was hesitant to push too much about anything. He was already a closed book. I didn’t want him to completely shut down on me.
CHAPTER FOURFlorrie
I watched from the hallway as Alec talked to Reid about his first crush. I couldn’t help but smile at this whole thing. Alec and I had assumed that this just wasn’t in the cards for us, but here we were, parenting this kid. I tried to treat him more like a friend, worried that I would scare him off, but I desperately wanted him to be mine. It felt like he was mine. I already loved him like he was my own son. I knew that I would do anything for him, to make sure that he was always safe and happy. That was what parents did for their kids. Biology could say differently, but I knew deep down that I was his mother.
My phone rang and I pulled it out, grinning as Alec told Reid about how he kissed his crush. “Hello?”
“Ms. Younge?”
“Yes, this is she.”
“Ms. Younge, this is Rachel DeWitt, Reid’s case worker with social services.”
“Yes?”
“We’ve had a phone call from a couple in Utah claiming to be Reid’s aunt and uncle. They’re interested in meeting Reid.”
I shook my head, my heart pounded out of control. “Meet Reid? What does that mean?”
“Well, in all honesty, they’ve expressed interest in Reid going to stay with them.”
“But we have custody,” I said, panicking that this woman was about to take my son away.
“You do, but I need to remind you that it’s only temporary custody. The judge granted you custody unless a family member came forward. Now, that doesn’t mean that Reid will be transferred to their care. They have to be evaluated first and we need to verify that they are in fact related to him.”
“How did they even hear about him? And why didn’t they come forward sooner? It’s been six months since we were granted custody.”
“Sometimes these things just get lost in the shuffle.”
I highly doubted that was what happened in this situation. “So, where do we go from here?”
“Well, first I will verify that they are in fact related to Reid. If they are, the court will send a social worker out to evaluate them and make sure that they are suitable for gaining custody of Reid.”
“Can’t I take them to court on this?”
“Yes, you can, but I have to warn you, a judge will most likely side with a family member if they are suitable. If I were you, I’d talk with your lawyer immediately and find out anything you can do to strengthen your case.”
“How long will this take? I mean, how long until we know something?”
“I should be able to verify their relationship within a week. After that, it depends on how fast they get on the judge’s docket. It could be a matter of weeks or months. I’ll keep you informed of any new information I get. In the meantime, just try to relax and remember to take things one step at a time.”
“Okay.”
I barely heard her say goodbye. All I could see was Reid talking with Alec, and I couldn’t help but think about how that could all go away. He was supposed to be with us. We were the ones that found him, and we were the ones that were keeping him safe. And who were these people out in Utah? And why did they suddenly want custody?
“Hey,” Alec smiled from across the room.
I forced a smile, but he noticed and got up from where he was sitting. I walked down the hall to our suite, knowing that Alec would follow me, and headed to our room. I paced around the space, trying to figure out what we were going to do.
“What’s wrong?”
“Reid’s social worker just called.”
His face hardened and he crossed his arms over his chest. “What did she say?”
“There’s someone in Utah that’s claiming to be Reid’s relative. She said that she has to verify that, but if they are, Reid’s case would go to the judge to consider a change in custody.”
“They can’t do that. We were granted custody.”
“Temporary custody. She said it should only take a week to verify the relationship, but after that, it could take weeks or months to get on the judge’s docket.”
“So, we’re just supposed to sit around and wait?” he asked angrily.
“We have to call the lawyer,” I said, moving for the door. I needed to get to work. I couldn’t just sit around and talk about this. The faster
