Page 44 of I Found You (Wilder #1)

During the school day, I couldn’t focus on anything that I was supposed to be educating the students on.

I wanted to be happy for Jane, if it was true that she had the opportunity to go to family.

But I had grown so attached to her I hated the idea of separating from her.

When my phone vibrated on the desk, I excused myself from the classroom, telling the kids to read from the textbook while I stepped out.

At no point in my addled brain did I believe that was going to happen, but it made me feel better that I had at least given them an assignment.

I answered Kara’s call just before the voicemail picked up and started pacing up and down the hall. “Kara, thanks for calling me back. I heard that Jane might have some family interested in caring for her. Is that true?”

“Uh, um. We wanted to wait until we got the results back from the DNA test. But actually, yes, we have been in contact with a woman claiming to be the baby’s grandmother.

Her mother’s mother. Of course, we needed to validate that claim—we can’t just go handing babies over to just anyone,” Kara said with a tight laugh.

My head was spinning. I knew going into this that it was temporary. I hadn’t even expected to have this much time with Jane. I hadn’t even wanted it at the time. But now? Now, it was a completely different story. Jane was my family.

I took a few deep breaths. I needed to get my head on straight. This was a good thing. A great thing for Jane. She should be with her family.

“Have you got the results back now?” I asked.

“Why don’t I come by today when you’re home? How does four o’clock sound?”

She wasn’t answering my question. Which was an answer in itself. After I hung up with Kara, I texted Wyatt to let him know what she had told me. He didn’t respond right away, but the garage could often get loud when they were working. He would get back to me later.

I left school at the same time as the students.

Usually, I would stay a little later, organize the day’s assignments and prepare a bit for tomorrow.

I also liked to stay in case any of the students wanted to stop by to talk to me about their grades or ask any questions about the content we were covering.

Today was not that day though. I picked up Jane from daycare by three o’clock, wanting to spend as much time as possible cuddling with her.

I called Wyatt since he still hadn’t responded to my earlier text, but it rang until the voicemail picked up.

Kara’s car pulled up, and I met her at the door. She wasn’t alone. There was a woman with her wearing old, faded pajama pants and a T-shirt with holes and stains. My gaze bounced between the two of them for a moment before my manners took over. I invited them in and offered them both some water.

“Oh, no. But thank you,” Kara said.

“If I’m going to be caught drinking clear liquids, it sure as shit ain’t going to be water,” the other woman rasped. Her voice was gravelly and hoarse. Without staring, I tried to surreptitiously discern her age. She looked like she could be anywhere from forty to sixty-five.

I knew better than to judge someone based solely on their appearance.

Growing up as I did, there were times that I had gone weeks without a real shower.

And I certainly hadn’t owned any new clothes; all of mine were secondhand, mostly either too big or too small.

Something about this woman didn’t sit well with me though.

“So, where’s the baby? Like that’s what I need in my life. Another mouth to feed.”

My head snapped to Kara’s. As soon as I saw them arrive together, I figured this must be Jane’s grandmother, but I was really, really hoping to be wrong about that.

“Maeve, this is Angela Stuart. Angela’s daughter, Angie, is our Jane’s mother,” Kara said. Her mouth was pulled into a tight smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes as she spoke.

“Her name’s not Jane. My idiot daughter named her Sunshine Moon because she was high as a kite when she was filling out the birth certificate. Fucking waste of oxygen, that one. Her name would have been Angel if it was up to me.”

My mind was reeling. Was Jane’s name really Sunshine Moon? Did this woman really just say that her own daughter was a waste of oxygen? Was this what Jane… Sunshine… was going to grow up with?

“Maeve, why don’t you bring the baby over so she can meet her grandmother?” Kara asked kindly.

“I’m not going to be called Grandma. She can just call me Angela like everyone else. She ain’t special.”

I picked up Jane… Sunshine… and held her to my chest, taking my time walking back over to where the ladies were sitting on the sofa, despite it being about four steps away.

I locked eyes with Kara, who gave me an encouraging nod, and hand ed her over to Angela.

Jane immediately started crying when Angela yanked her by the arms and twisted her around to look at her.

“Oh, great. A crier,” Angela said sarcastically. “Are you giving me all her, you know, things? You ain’t going to need them anymore, right?”

“Oh, um. Sure. I can get some of this packed up to go with her. That’s a good idea so that she has some comfort and familiarity in her new environment.”

When I didn’t immediately get up and start packing, Angela started grumbling.

“You say yes, but then you just sit there not moving. It’s Sunshine’s shit, isn’t it?

Bought with the state’s money to take care of her.

They should go with her to her new home.

I shouldn’t have to waste my money on buying her shit she already has. ”

“Like, right now?” I asked, panic clawing up my throat.

Angela harrumphed. Kara answered with a note of compassion lacing her words.

“Well, yes. We have the proof that Angela is Sunshine’s next of kin, and legally, Sunshine belongs in her care.

Why don’t you take a few moments with her while Angela and I wait outside.

I’ll help you pack some of the necessities tonight, and we can collect anything else later this week. ”

Kara asked Angela to hand her the baby so she could hand her to me while I stood statue still, waiting for the proverbial feather to come and knock me over.

I held Jane to my chest and kissed her head, holding any tears at bay while I talked to her and told her how lucky she was that she had her own family now.

We bustled around the house, packing some clothes, diapers, and wipes.

She was already growing out of her bassinet, so I didn’t bother dismantling that, but I knew she would want her favorite bounce chair.

I would give Angela the portable crib as well, but I needed two hands to take it apart, and I wasn’t giving up even one second of holding Jane before I absolutely had to.

Ten minutes later, Kara came back in alone.

“Angela is waiting in the car. Are you going to be alright?”

“Are you sure this is what’s best for Jane? I’ll be fine if you can promise me that this is in the best interest of this little girl. And I’m not so sure that it is,” I told her.

“I know it seems that way, but if we have a chance to put one of our foster children with a willing and able family member, it is always considered in the best interest of the child to do so. She’s a little rough around the edges, but she’s family.

Sunshine deserves to have a chance to be brought up around her own family. ”

I knew she was right, but that didn’t make it any easier to hand Jane over to her.

While Kara was bringing her back out to the car, I gathered the bag that I packed and the bounce chair and brought them out too.

After Jane was secured in their car seat, Kara came back inside with me to help collapse the portable crib while Angela sat in the front seat of the car, talking loudly on the phone to someone.

Even inside the house, I could hear Angela telling whomever she was talking to that she was going to be getting regular checks from the state and not to worry about what she owed.

I wanted to believe it was a legitimate debt collector, but something in my gut told me that it wasn’t anything as innocuous as that.

I watched them drive away a few minutes later and had just sunk into the couch when my front door opened again.