“This’ll do.” She shrugged. “It has to be smooth anyway or I can’t wear it at work. A lot of the other nurses up there are wearing those silicone ones that you can get for cheap on Amazon.”
Travis’ eyes locked on mine, and I understood in a matter of heartbeats what he was wanting.
He wanted her to have a real wedding where he could walk her down the aisle. He wanted her to have a ring, and he wanted her to have everything she ever wanted.
I gave him a slight nod.
“So, now that’s settled,” Wolf grumbled. “Let’s talk about the shit that Eerie’s pulling.”
I’d rather eat dirt that a cow had just pissed on than talk about Eerie.
But, unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury of ignoring this.
Not after today and the things that she’d said.
“When’s the court date?” Hannah asked.
“Two weeks from today. I had the lawyer call today and move it up. That’s the first possible day that he can do it. So we have until then to get any and all shit on her that we can find that we might be able to use against her when she tries to sue for sole custody,” Reggie murmured, walking into the kitchen only to appear long moments later with three beers in one hand, three wine glasses in the other, and a bottle of wine underneath her arm.
I took the beers and the wine, and she carefully set the glasses down, and I twisted the cork out of the bottle and poured three hefty glassfuls.
“There,” Reggie said as she handed everything out.
Travis took a seat on the fireplace hearth and leaned forward with his hands on his knees.
“Tell me about the doctor. I feel like he’s the weak link,” he murmured.
“Doctor’s been fired pending an investigation, he may or may not lose his license,” Dad said. “I have a couple of friends looking into it, hopefully nailing his ass in the process.”
That actually excited me to hear.
“Has he talked?” Travis asked. “Said why he helped her?”
“Nope,” Dad said. “It’s in his best interest to keep his mouth shut, and I highly doubt that he’s stupid if he’s a doctor.”
“So does Eerie face any charges?” I questioned. “Can we do anything?”
“It’s not looking like we can,” Dad admitted. “Honestly, all she did was get implanted with an egg that was already her property. At least, that’s what she’ll say if it ever comes down to filing criminal charges. It sucks, boy. It does. But who was in the wrong legally was the doctor and the company that did the implanting.”
Fuck.
“You could sue her, though,” Hannah suggested. “You’ll probably win, too.”
“This is such a fucking nightmare,” I muttered, throwing my arm over the back of the couch.
My hand encountered Reggie’s shoulder, and absently I played with a tendril of hair that had fallen down from her bun. Curling my finger around it, I wondered what, exactly, I was going to have to do to get custody of my own kid.
“What do you think the chances are I’ll be given sole custody?” I asked curiously. “My lawyer’s very open. She says that, sadly, the fathers still don’t have as good of a chance at winning custody because everyone still thinks that the baby is better off with its mother.”
“I think that you keep playing all your cards right, and you still have a really good chance,” my mother said softly. “Make sure that we mention everything that she’s done incorrectly. Bring attention to her plights. Find something to exploit and do what you can. But, just sayin’, you might have to deal with shared custody. She’s his parent, whether you want her to be or not.”
I knew that. Which was why I hated it.
Dealing with Eerie for the rest of my life because of Dare was really, really going to suck.
Reggie leaned into my hand and I curled my fingers around her neck, massaging it lightly.
She groaned and leaned into my hand farther, and I turned back to look at my parents.
They were both staring with small smiles on their faces.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing,” they both said in unison. “Nothing at all.”
“Now, let’s talk visitation.” Mom turned to Hannah. “Let’s go visit tomorrow.”
“You can’t come in just yet,” Reggie said. She looked over at me with worry clear in her eyes. “After his setback today, we want him to get a little stronger. But, I assure you, as soon as he’s able to have visitors, I’ll let you know. The second I’m aware of it.”
They spent the next thirty minutes talking about Dare and cooing over pictures on Reggie’s phone—who surprisingly had quite a few photos—while Travis, Dad and I went out onto the front porch to talk some more.
“How are you really?”
Travis’ question startled me.
“I’m okay,” I admitted. “Surprised. Excited. Pissed off.”
“You’re having feelings for my girl,” Travis continued.
I looked Travis straight in the eye and said, “I’ve always had feelings for your girl.”
Travis didn’t look surprised in the least.
Dad snorted loudly. “We know that, nimrod. You’ve only been fighting so hard against it that you couldn’t see it. You and Reggie were so fucking convinced that you hated each other that neither one of you took a step back and thought about why you were so hell-bent on hating each other. There’s a fine line between love and hate, and y’all crossed into the love category a long time ago. Both of you really love to hate each other, though, so neither one of you were willing to admit your feelings. We knew you had it bad for each other. It was only a matter of time before you figured it out for yourself.”
I didn’t know what to say to that.
“You think she has those kinds of feelings for me?” I asked.
We hadn’t lied about why we’d gotten married. We didn’t lie to our parents, no matter how much easier it would’ve been had we just lied about it.
“I think that my kid loves you so much that
