Page 109 of The Grump I Loathe

He kissed my knuckles. “Are you sure?”

“I will be. I’llhaveto be.” Alannah would need all the strength, reassurance, and advice I could muster. Starting over in a new state, at a new school, while having to make new friends and find a new gymnastics gym…Her whole world was about to change.

The door to the courthouse flew open suddenly, voices filling the air as Simon, Valentina, and their lawyers emerged. One voice cut through them all.

“Eddie!” Alannah cried, setting off at a dead sprint down the steps toward us.

I stepped away from Connor, bracing myself as Alannah crashed into me, her little arms locking tight around my waist. My heartbeat throbbed at the base of my throat. Oh no.No, no, no…I really was going to be sick.

Alannah tipped her head up, but instead of the streams of tears I’d expected, she was beaming at me. “I’m staying!” she announced.

The words echoed in my ears, though my brain struggled to compute. “You’re staying?” I repeated. “What…They agreed to split custody?”

Alannah giggled with excitement. “The judge says I get to spend time with both of them. Fifty-fifty!”

I turned to Connor, wide-eyed. “It worked,” I said, dumbfounded. Dad had actually followed through with the lawyer and fought for an equal share of time with Alannah.

Grace crashed into us, clamping onto Alannah’s shoulders, shaking her. “You’re staying!” she squealed. “Yay! Yay! Yay! Does that mean you can still be my desk buddy?”

Alannah joined in with the squealing. I winced, laughing.

Connor stood, pulling me into his arms. “You look like you haven’t quite absorbed that yet.”

“I can’t believe she gets to stay,” I said, smiling as I stared up at him, those brown eyes twinkling back at me. “I was so sure it was going to go the other way, and Valentina was going to take her away for good.”

“Per the custody terms, she’s only allowed to move three hours from us,” Dad said, walking down the stairs. He handed Alannah her sweater. “But we’ve talked, and Valentina currently has her eye on a house close enough for Lana to remain at the same school.”

The shrieking intensified.

“Same friends. Same gym,” I said.

Dad nodded. “Same amount of hangouts with her big sister. Valentina agreed to that, regardless of whose week it is.”

Elation filled my chest to the point of bursting.

“I think it worked out as best as any of us could have hoped,” Dad continued. “We’re swapping every other week.”

“What about holidays?” I asked.

“Those too,” Dad said. “Valentina had Thanksgiving.”

“That means we get Christmas?” Connor said.

Alannah and Grace stumbled into Connor, hugging him next and chattering about all the things they wanted to do during the upcoming holiday break from school.

I took a step closer to Dad. “Thank you,” I said. “For fighting for her. I know it was a lot.”

Dad swallowed hard, looking guilty. “It never should have been a choice,” he said gruffly. “I think part of me knew that; I was just convinced it wouldn’t go my way, so what was the point of trying? You made me realize I had to fight because I want to watch Alannah grow up. I want to be part of her life.”

“Good,” I said. “I’m glad.”

He gave me a sad smile. “I’m sorry, Eddie.”

I jerked back slightly. “For what?”

“For not fighting foryouall those years ago, and not supporting your dreams. For always shutting you down when I should have had your back. I screwed up a lot back then, but I’m going to try to do better from here on out. And I want you to know that I’m damn proud of the woman you’ve become all on your own.”

I swallowed hard. Tears welled behind my eyes. Tears I could barely hold back. I felt the weight of Connor’s hand at my back.