Page 27

27

Justin

I finally feel like I’m getting the hang of life with two littles. Hannah has settled back into her routine, and Miles is getting more on a daytime schedule rather than being up half the night.

Spencer: I have a Katy situation, and we need you.

Well, fuck. Spencer wouldn’t reach out if it wasn’t urgent. I stand up from the couch with a sleeping Miles on my chest. Walking to his room, I flag down Nicole, who’s playing with Hannah on the floor. Once I lay Miles down in his bassinet, I show Nicole the text from Spencer.

“Go.” She encourages me without question.

“Are you sure, Pumpkin?”

“Yes, I’m positive. I’ll call Cole and see if anyone wants to hang out. If Spencer texted you, it’s urgent. Go. We’ll be fine.” She kisses my cheek and pulls out her phone, typing a text while sitting back on the floor next to Hannah.

Justin: On my way.

I kiss Hannah and Nicole again before I leave. When I arrive at Spencer’s house, I notice all the vehicles in the driveway and wonder even more what the problem could be. Miller and Axel are here, and another truck I don’t recognize, but she’s very much not alone inside.

I let myself in and find Axel pacing and Katy sobbing into Miller’s chest on the couch. I don’t see Spencer anywhere.

Katy gasps when she sees me and screeches my name, burying herself further into Miller. I charge into the room, and Axel stops me with a hand to my chest.

“Why are you here, Justin?” Who the hell is he to question why I’m at my best friend’s house? And Katy, the teenager whom I consider my savior, is crying her eyes out, and I need to know why. Right. Now.

“Spencer told me to come. Where is she, and what’s going on?” I don’t mean to raise my voice, but my mind is everywhere now, trying to determine why everyone has such high emotions.

“I’m right here, Justin.” Spencer walks out of her room, followed by a man older than us with a beard and slightly longer hair tucked behind his ears. It’s Tucker, the cowboy she kissed at the coffee shop.

Spencer raises her hand for me to come and I gladly accept. Stepping up to her, I pull her into a hug, and she whispers into my ear. “We have a situation.”

“I’m here to help, whatever it is.”

She pulls away and looks around. “Can we have the room with Katy?”

“We’ll go wait outside to let you have your privacy, Little Miss.” Cowboy kisses her on the top of her head and offers me his hand.

“Tucker. Can I assume you’re Justin?”

I take his hand and appreciate the firm shake. “I am.”

“Well, Justin, thank you for taking care of our girls until they found us. I promise we will take good care of them for you.” He claps my shoulder and nods toward Axel.

When Miller tries to stand, Katy clings to him harder. She’s afraid of something, and the hairs on the back of my neck rise. There shouldn’t be a reason for her to be afraid of anyone in this room.

“Katy, please relax.” Miller smooths a hand over her ponytail that’s barely hanging on. She’s a disheveled mess, and my anxiety is creeping up. “It’s Justin and Spencer. It will be okay. We’ll be right outside.”

“O-okay,” Katy hiccups out. She releases her grip on his shirt, and he slowly stands.

“Go easy on her.” What the fuck is going on. I’d do anything for the two women in this room. Just as much as I’d do for Nicole or Hannah.

Katy curls herself into the smallest ball possible. Her knees hiked up to her chin, and her arms wrapped tightly around her legs, holding herself together.

“Katy?” I sit next to her on the couch and rest a hand on her knees.

Muffled by her legs, I barely understand her when she speaks. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I can’t do this alone. Please help me. Please don’t abandon me.”

“Katy, I don’t know what’s going on. No one’s told me anything but I’d never abandon you. Ever.”

“Oh god.” This I hear clearly as she pops her head out and stares at me. She turns to Spencer, shocked. “You didn’t tell him?”

“It’s not my news to tell.” Spencer reaches around and twines her hand through Katy’s. “I’m sorry I left earlier. Please know it was my own demons that I had to deal with before I could help you.”

My confusion is turning to annoyance the longer I’m left in the dark. Spencer walked away from Katy? Is that why she was hysterical when I came in?

“Can someone please fill me in on what everyone is so upset about? I can’t help unless I know what I’m working with.”

Katy’s gaze drifts to Spencer, who nods, giving her the strength to speak. Katy releases her fingers and drops her legs off the couch. Her chest rises as she inhales a deep breath, gathering her courage to tell me what’s going on.

“I’m… I’m…pregnant.” She whispers the last word, but I hear her loud and clear. She’s pregnant.

“From—”

“Yes.”

I grab her cheeks more forcefully than I mean to and quickly apologize. My adrenaline at her confession got the best of me, but I need her to hear me loud and clear.

“Katy. Spencer and I are here for you. There were no conditions put on our offer when your piece of shit mother signed you over to us. You’re ours, and we are here for you. We’ll take care of you. I owe you the debt of my life, and I’ll never forget that. What do you need from us?”

She melts into me, and I wrap her in my arms. Spencer rubs her back, and we share a long, silent conversation over Katy’s shoulder.

Half this baby belongs to her rapist. Whatever avenue she chooses, we will be here for Katy every step of the way. There’s no other choice for either of us. If I know Miller, Axel, and Lincoln as well as I think, they will be onboard as well. And as little to nothing that I know about Tucker, if Spencer is letting him be around with everyone else here, she must trust him with the same.

“What would you like to do?” Spencer asks the question that’s weighing heavy in the room.

“I-I can’t…”

“Katy, if you listen to nothing else I ever say, I want you to listen to this right now.” She turns to face Spencer and wipes at the wetness on her face. “In this house, we believe in choice. Everyone who has stepped foot in this house over the last several weeks believes in choice.” Spencer rests her hand on Katy’s stomach. “If the end of your ‘I can’t’ sentence is you can’t keep it, we’ll find a doctor to take care of it for you. If the end is I can’t get rid of it, we’ll find you the best obstetric doctor. You’re safe here. You always will be. It’s your body and your choice, and although the initial choice was taken away from you, it’s all yours now.”

I’ve never been more proud of Spencer. I’ve seen so many changes in her since Katy moved in. They’re good for each other. I know things can’t be easy for her with the guys always being here, but if she wanted them gone, they would be.

I agree with everything Spencer just said. Katy doesn’t deserve to be in this situation, but every decision she makes from here on out is hers. There’s power in choice, and I hope this can give Katy some of her power back.

“It’s also your choice when you decide.” I reach out and grab Katy’s hand. “There’s plenty of time if you want to think and weigh your options. Either decision is a big one, and we’ll help you every step of the way.”

“But how can I? I have nothing.”

“Katy.” She jumps at Spencer’s curt tone, and if I’m being honest, I do too. “You have four men that”—she sighs—“live in this house because of you.” I do my best to stifle a laugh, but I fail, and Spencer glares at me. “You have that fool next to you, and you have me. You have all of us . Justin’s lawyer is working on guardianship, emancipation, adoption, whatever it is, we need to make it official that you never have to go back to that good-for-nothing woman that birthed you.”

Katy’s eyes widen in shock, and her head swivels back and forth between us.

“Adoption? I didn’t know that was an option.” She puts a hand over her stomach, and I think she misunderstood what Spencer was referring to.

“Not your baby, Katy. You. Although adoption for your baby is also a choice you have.”

“Me? Adopt me? ” She’s processing the information we just gave her.

“Yes, Katy, you. Remember, you don’t have to decide anything right now.” Her head absently bobs. “I have an idea. Want to come hang out at my house for a couple days? Miles might help you make a decision.” I bump her shoulder to try and lighten the mood, and I see her lip twitch. “You can talk to Nicole about what pregnancy was like.”

I see Spencer stiffen at my last sentence, and I reach behind the couch and rub her shoulder. She closes her eyes for a second and nods at me when she opens them. She understands I didn’t mean anything negative toward her or her experiences.

“Um. Is that-can I, Spencer?”

“Of course you can. Do you want to wait until Lincoln gets back, or would you like us to talk to him?”

Shit . I know the bond she shares with all these men, but Lincoln, in particular, seems to have a special place in Katy’s life.

“I should tell him. Can someone take me after he gets home?” She doesn’t seem confident in her decision, but it’s the right one.

“Katy, you come over whenever you get everything settled here. Should we have mac n cheese for dinner?” Her face lights up, and so does my heart. I kiss her forehead, not needing an answer to my question, and stand. “I’ll send the calvary back in. I can hear them pacing outside.”

“I’ll walk you out, Justin.” Spencer rubs Katy’s arm. “We’ll be right back.”

Spencer follows me outside. Miller, Tucker, and Axel see us and immediately start to talk at once. She raises a hand, and they stop.

Very interesting. She holds a lot of power over them.

“Katy is fine. She’s trying to decide what she wants to do. She knows it’s her choice, and we will support her, whatever her decision is.” Her words dare any of them to object, but they won’t. Everything we said to Katy was the truth. “Go spend some time with her. Once Lincoln gets home and she explains everything to him, Katy is going to go hang out at Justin’s for a bit. She can talk to Nicole and see what it’s like being around a newborn.”

As they file past Spencer, they all kiss her. Forehead from Miller, nose from Axel, and Tucker goes in for a passionate kiss on her lips.

“You’re incredible, Little Miss.” She blushes as he walks inside.

“Damn, Spence. I might be jealous if I didn’t have a woman that meets and exceeds my every need.”

“Jealous of four penises?” She gives me a knowing look, and I try to keep a straight face but concede way too quickly.

“Well, when you put it that way…no thanks.”

“How is everything going with the lawyer? I didn’t mean to say anything that would get her hopes up if it’s not possible.”

“It’s all a possibility. It’s just a matter of what avenue we want to take and what her mother is going to sign for. Best case scenario, she signs Katy’s rights away, and we can proceed with adoption.”

“Pay her whatever she wants. I’m good for it.” At least we agree on that.

“My lawyers are taking care of everything. She has to do it willingly, and we need to stay above board so she doesn’t contest it later. And you know I’d never take your money.”

“Justin, who?” A woman of little words and lots of meaning. Who is going to adopt Katy?

“Nicole and I have talked about it. We would happily take her into our home. We already love her like our own, but we think she would be better with you.” Shock is not an emotion I see often on Spencer, but that’s exactly the face she’s wearing right now.

“Why me over you? You’re already parents. You are more experienced than I am to handle her.” I chuckle as I give her a sideways look.

“I have a two year old and a newborn. Katy is sixteen. And think about it, if she keeps the baby, you’d be the hottest grandma?”

“Goodbye, Justin. Someone will bring Katy over this evening.”

“What? Too far?” She turns toward the door, ignoring my joking. “Wait, can I ask one question?” She pauses and turns back to me. I smile as she glares. “What’s going on in this brothel of yours?”

“I wish I knew.”