Juked (29 page)

I giggle, partially because she’s funny and partially in relief.

“This might not be the right time to ask, or maybe it’s the best time, but do you think I could meet my grandson?” she asks.

I want to say no because I’m still afraid. I don’t know this woman any more than I know Erik. But then I realize she is Chance’s family. Since Sarah died, he’s had no family except for me. Now he has a grandmother, a father, a slightly dumb uncle, and who knows who else? If she wants me to continue to raise Chance, and they’re good people, there’s no real reason why they can’t be a part of his life, too. Within reason, of course. “I think he’d really like that,” I say.

She pats my leg. “It is kind of exciting to know I’m a grandma, but don’t tell my son I said that.”

“Your secret is safe with me.”

A
fter talking to the court clerk and Erik’s attorney, Doug returned to congratulate us on our win. We all recognized Rosemary had scored the equalizer and go-ahead goals to save this case in the last seconds, but it didn’t make the feeling of victory any less sweet.

From what we can all tell, Rosemary is a nice lady, who has an interesting son. She seems to care about her grandson, even though she hasn’t met him yet.

“Is it weird that I’m excited about his visit with Rosemary?” Quincy asks as I drive to the day care. I’m still holding her hand. I haven’t let go since we got to the courthouse this morning, except to change positions. I can pretend it’s because I’m being supportive of her and don’t want her to think she’s alone in all this, but the truth is, when she told me last night she might lose custody of the baby, I was scared shitless and needed to hold onto her as much as she needed to hold onto me.

“I don’t think so.” I turn on my blinker and wait for the light to turn green so we can get on the highway. “In a couple of hours, he went from having an aunt to having a family. I know how you are about family. That has to feel good.”

“It does.” She looks out the window. “What do you think of Erik? Now that we can look at him more objectively, I mean.”

That’s a loaded question. Once he got done dropping the case at the courthouse, Erik joined our conversation with Rosemary. During the duration of that conversation, Erik didn’t ask any questions about the baby but offered his opinion on what kind of toys babies Chance’s age typically like and what foods were good for babies. It doesn’t seem that he’s a bad guy, just really, really clueless in some ways.

“I-I…” I stutter. “I don’t know what I think of Erik yet.”

“Do you think maybe he has some form of autism?”

The thought had crossed my mind, but I’m glad she said it first. “It makes sense, especially when you consider the things Rosemary said about him being a super genius with numbers but not really that sharp with people.”

“I had a friend with autism in high school.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He was really nice, but had a hard time in social situations. We’re Facebook friends still. He’s married now, has a couple kids.” I accelerate past a jalopy that looks like it may fall apart at any minute. “I guess thinking Erik has a personality similar to my friend makes it harder to be mad at him for this mess. Like, he wasn’t being malicious or something.”

“Did he ever say what his degree is going to be in?”

“Um, international finance or something?”

I chuckle. “If he turns out to be a decent guy, remind me to call him. I get tired of working on my own finances, and if he’s the genius Rosemary says he is, he may be the guy I need.”

We drive in silence for a few more minutes. I wait for Quincy to ask another random question related to today. It’s like there are so many details for her to remember, she has to verbalize them one by one. I get it. I was freaked out for twelve hours before everything was resolved, and that was torture enough. She’d had weeks to ruminate on possible outcomes, and she did it alone.

The guilt punches me in the gut again. I know she forgives me for the way I walked away from her, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven myself yet. Maybe that guilt is good. It reminds me I don’t want to risk losing her. Not now, maybe not ever.

“Can you believe Rosemary convinced Erik to give me child support?”

“I kind of can, actually.” I exit the freeway onto the feeder road. “They may have a ton of money—and you know they do—but she doesn’t seem uptight about it or anything.”

Quincy goes quiet again.

“Are you sure you don’t want to get something to eat before we pick up Chance?” I turn onto the street the day care is on. I’m still worried about her weight loss, and she hasn’t eaten anything today.

“I’m sure.” She lets go of my hand and reaches into her purse, pulling out the key fob that will get her into the building. “I just want to hold my baby. I need to be with him right now.”

She slides her fingers through mine as I turn into the parking lot. It makes me feel good, like even though I have some making up to do, she’s still willing to meet me halfway. I park the car, and before I’ve got the ignition turned off, she’s already opening the door to climb out.

“Hang on, wait for me,” I call.

“Sorry,” she says slowing her stride and reaching out to clasp my hand.

“I know you’re excited, but don’t freak everyone out by racing in there like the place is on fire.”

She giggles. “You’re right. I’ll just feel better when I’m holding him.” She passes the key fob over the electronic pad, and we hear a beep and a click as the door unlocks. She greets Hailey, who is sitting at the desk.

“Quincy!” Hailey says with hesitancy. “You guys are back early. Is that, um, good or bad?”

After getting caught talking to the media about my relationship with Quincy, Hailey is more subdued around us, or at least she is around me. But in true Quincy fashion, her attitude toward Hailey isn’t any different than it was before the article came out. Like it’s over and done with. Still, I’m okay with Hailey remembering to stay cautious.

“Well, in a random turn of events,” Quincy says, smiling coyly at me. Random events is an understatement. “We won.”

Hailey clasps her hands over her mouth. “Oh, I’m so happy for you!” she exclaims and comes around the counter to give Quincy a hug. “I was so worried. I prayed the whole time you were gone! But I knew it. I knew the judge wouldn’t take that sweet baby from you.”

“That’s not exactly how it happened, but that’s a story for another day,” Quincy says, halting further conversation. “Right now, I need to give my baby a hug. Can we head back there?”

“Sure, sure.” Hailey waves us through. “I went back there about fifteen minutes ago, and he was munching on some finger foods, so he may be ready for a nap.”

“Great. Thanks, Hailey.” Quincy practically skips down the short hallway and flings the door open to the infant room. Chance is sitting on the floor surrounded by a bunch of toys. When the teacher greets us, Chance looks up from the book he’s chewing on and gives his aunt a big grin. He’s immediately on his hands and knees, crawling to her. She scoops him up in her arms and hugs him tightly. Her eyes are closed, and a few tears are leaking out. I could stare at the two of them like this all day.

“I take it everything went well today?” his caregiver asks quietly, not wanting to interrupt their moment any more than I do.

“Better than we could have ever anticipated,” I say, never taking my eyes off my girlfriend and the love of her life. The teacher pats my arm and walks away to fetch Chance’s diaper bag.

She hands it to Quincy, and they exchange a few words before the three of us leave and return to my car.

“I can’t guarantee Erik won’t try for custody again,” she says as we walk down the sidewalk to the parking lot.

“I know.”

“I could lose next time.”

“I know that, too.”

“If I do, it’s gonna hurt. A lot.” She’s not trying to be a downer. She’s giving me one last chance to decide if I’m really up for the relationship and everything it entails.

I pull her to a stop. “I know all that, Quincy, but I told you, I’m all in. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I’ll take the chance.” Chance reaches for me. I take him in my arms with a smile on my face. “And I’ll take Chance, too.”

He seals the deal with a big slobbery baby kiss to my chin.

5 weeks later

“W
hat is Tiffany the tramp doing here?”

I shush Geni and smack her with a towel. “She’s with Rowen Flanigan.”

“The rookie?” she asks, taking a sip of her wine. “Since when do the players bring groupies to team parties? I thought they only had
special
parties with those girls.”

I roll my eyes and slice more cheese for the cracker platter. I’m thrilled so many players showed up for Chance’s first birthday party, but they eat a lot. Daniel hasn’t even started grilling yet.

“Be nice,” I reprimand her. “They’re dating now. From what Daniel says, Rowen really likes her.”

Geni chokes on her wine. “Does he know what she does for a hobby? He seems a little too, I don’t know… virtuous for her.”

“The heart wants what it wants. I’m not judging.”

After greeting a few teammates and their significant others, Tiffany and Rowen make their way through the crowd and over to us. It’s obvious Tiffany is uncomfortable. Her eyes keep darting around the room like she’s waiting to be jumped. It makes me sad for her. She hasn’t exactly been nice to me, but she stopped being so rude when she realized I was going to be around for a while. I think she also respects the fact that unless I have the baby with me, I prefer to sit in the stands than the box. You can see the game better, and there’s nothing like the feel of the crowd.

“Thanks for letting me come,” Tiffany says robotically as she shoves a bottle of wine my direction.

“That’s what he said,” Geni mumbles behind me. I ignore her and smile at Tiffany, hoping she didn’t hear. Judging by the look on her face and the way Rowen squeezes her shoulder, I think we
all
heard her.

“I’m glad you could be here.” I take the wine and look at the label. “Petrolo Galatrona 2013 straight from Tuscany. Wow. This is a great year.”

“You know wine?” she asks, brows crinkling. “With the way you suck down those yard-long margaritas, I thought all you liked were cheap drinks.”