Chase shakes his head. “When I said she was my daughter, it wasn’t a dig at you. I just said it without thinking. When I made the decision for you to adopt her, I took that seriously. She’s ours in every way that matters, and I promise you I will never imply again that she’s not.”
“Thank you. So where do we go from here?”
“We do it your way,” he says. “We give her one more chance, but I need you to promise me if she fucks up, we’re done. I don’t want this to become a thing. I want to live my life with you and our daughter and whatever children we have in the future, and I don’t want Victoria’s shit to interfere.”
“Okay,” I agree. “She gets one more chance.”
Chase
“One chance.”
“I understand.” Victoria nods.
“Only supervised visits.”
“Okay.”
“And you will never get custody back.”
She flinches. “I know.”
“I’m only agreeing to this because my wife thinks you deserve another chance.”
She looks over at Georgia. “Thank you.”
Georgia nods. “Please don’t make me regret it.”
“I won’t.” She smiles softly, reminding me of a younger version of Victoria. Before the drugs took over her life. Maybe this will work out. Maybe Hazel can have all of us in her life. But the first time Victoria fucks up, she’s gone. And I don’t give a shit how sweet my wife is, I won’t be giving in.
“We need a schedule. You can’t be coming over here any time you want,” I point out. “To start with, once a week. Then we can add a day or two once we see it’s working out. Are you working?”
Victoria nods. “I’m working for my dad, answering the phones.” She flushes, her telltale sign she’s embarrassed about something. “They didn’t know I gave Hazel to you,” she admits. “They had cut me out of their life when they found out I was using again.”
Her parents are hardworking middle class folks. Her dad owns his own business and makes ends meet. They aren’t well off by any means, but they bust their asses making an honest living.
“How did you pay for rehab?”
She flushes a deeper crimson. “Raymond and I signed a prenup. I received a settlement in the divorce.”
I nod. “And where are you living?” Not that she’ll be taking our daughter anywhere…
“I’m renting an apartment off Cypress.”
“That’s near the college.” I know the area because it’s in my station’s zone. I’m surprised she can afford to live there on her own. She must’ve gotten a decent settlement in her divorce to Raymond.
“Yeah, it’s in Cypress Gardens. I’ve applied to go to school too. I’m starting in the summer.”
“That’s good,” Georgia says. “It sounds like you’re getting your life back on track.”
“I’m trying. My parents even seem to be coming around. Maybe one day they could see Hazel…”
“How about we focus on you seeing her first,” I note. “Then we can consider other relatives.”
As Victoria’s about to respond, Hazel yells, “Mama, up!” Both women glance at the monitor.
“Georgia is Hazel’s mother,” I say, not giving a shit how rude I sound. “You’re Victoria.” Georgia’s eyes go wide, and Victoria’s lips curve down. “You wanted to be in her life, that’s fine. But you gave up your right to being her mother. You’re a friend of… Georgia’s. Nothing more until we say so.”
“I understand,” Victoria says. “I just want to be in her life.”
“Mama!” Hazel yells. “I want up!”
Georgia laughs and stands. “I’ll go grab her.”
When she’s gone, I look at Victoria, who glances at me. “You might have Georgia fooled, but not me. Never me.”
She opens her mouth then closes it like an ugly fish out of water. “Chase…”
“I hope you prove me wrong, but I’m not holding my breath.”
Georgia walks out with Hazel in her arms. She looks around and when her eyes land on Victoria, she nuzzles her face into Georgia’s neck shyly.
“I’d rather not be around when you visit,” I say to Victoria, standing. “So, figure out which day is good with Georgia.” I kiss Georgia’s forehead then Hazel’s. “I need to get to work. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Bye, Dada!” Hazel waves, warming my heart. I grab my keys from the counter and glance at my girls one more time before walking out the door. They’re my entire life. My whole world. And if Victoria fucks with either of them… No, I take that back. When she fucks with either of them, I’m going to make sure she regrets ever stepping foot back into our lives.
I arrive at the station and find Alec waiting for me outside. “How’d it go?”
“She got what she wanted.”
His eyes turn to slits.
“Victoria, not Georgia… Although, I guess she did too.”
I walk inside and go straight to my office to check over the paperwork from the weekend. There were a couple house calls and one at the college, an electrical issue. I get started documenting everything, and am doing so when the tone sounds off. I jump to my feet to answer the call, taking down the information so we can head out. It’s a single family home that caught fire while the family was out. Turns out they left the dryer running and it caught fire—something that’s unfortunately common. The fire has us occupied for hours, between putting it out and doing damage control—the home is lost, but thankfully the family is safe and well.