Chapter Sixteen

“H ow are you doing?” Lori glanced back and forth between Reynolds and Susan as they sat at the kitchen table. She drank out of the mug his grandmother made her long ago. “You’re at the halfway point. Twelve weeks down. Twelve to go.”

“Day by day.” Reynolds rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. His noon-to-midnight shift ended at three this morning. He managed only four hours of sleep before Lori arrived.

He hoped to get some rest before softball practice this afternoon.

Lucy moved him to pitching and he’d been doing extra upper-body workouts to get ready. The workouts also helped him expel the nervous energy from staying relatively platonic with Susan for the past five weeks.

They hadn’t let things get as heated, but they also hadn’t revisited their wanting-it-all conversation. You’re such a dumbass. You could be working off so much extra energy every day, but you had to go scare her.

“We’re figuring it out. Our siblings have been lifesavers.” Susan held Audrey, who greedily sucked down a bottle. “She really loves this new formula.”

Lori crossed her legs and settled in. “How’s the new job?”

“It’s good. Not as many patients as we hoped by now, but it’s the summer. More due dates in the fall.”

“Right. Winter holidays give us a baby boom in the fall. How many babies have you delivered since you’ve arrived?”

“A few a week.”

“I heard Gabby delivered her and Kyle’s baby last week.”

“She did.” The local manager of Main Street Diner had lived in Marietta for less than a few years, but she immediately gained the attention of local firefighter Kyle Cavazos, who also posed for the fundraising calendar.

Lori clapped her hands together. “Enough small talk. You’re halfway there.”

Susan feigned shock as Audrey finished off the last ounce of her breakfast. “Seems like we started all this yesterday. Goodness, that was fast, little girl.”

“It’s racing by and I’m cautiously optimistic.”

Worry pushed Reynolds to drain his coffee mug in record time. “Seems if someone from either of their families wanted her, they would have stepped up by now.”

Lori winced. “Not necessarily. Sometimes family members wait until the termination of parental rights. Then they step in.”

“That’s messed up.” Susan gently patted Audrey’s back.

“It is, but some relatives don’t want to deal with the parents’ form of crazy. They wait until the adult has no rights. No stake in the game. Then they step in.”

Reynolds considered adding some whiskey to his next cup of coffee. “But you don’t see this happening here, do you?”

“It’s not impossible, but it’s unlikely as all first-degree relatives stated they aren’t interested in raising a baby.”

“First degree?”

“Sorry. Brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents.”

“I see.” A thick silence filled the room as the growl of a motorcycle gunned its engine. Kids played in Bramble Park across the street. The very park they took Audrey to every day.

“Let’s say the father does come back. What then?” Susan asked the question that Reynolds simply couldn’t, but the worry in her eyes didn’t go unnoticed.

Lori pursed her lips. “It can go a few different ways. He comes back, doesn’t want to have anything to do with her, signs the papers. Walks away. He could want her back.”

“He’s a college kid, right? How is he going to raise a baby? This should be a no-brainer.”

“He would need to show he can take care of Audrey, and have support. His genetics will trump everything, so it sets the bar very low.”

Audrey let out a large belch that surprised all of them.

“Goodness!” Susan mocked her surprise as she continued to pat Audrey’s back. “What can we do to sway things in our favor?”

Lori let out a long breath, and Reynolds already knew the answer. “Nothing.”

“What do you mean nothing? That can’t be right. What about the nighttime feeds, diaper changes, being with her constantly since she came out?”

“Don’t shoot the messenger, but as a foster-prospective adoptive parent, that’s your job. You don’t get extra points for doing your job.” Lori closed her eyes for a few moments as if she were gearing herself up to give them more bad news.

Susan glared, but the anger wasn’t meant for Lori. “It’s not a job. It’s parenting, and he gets a higher rank because he tossed a few seeds in the ring?”

“Genetics will rank the highest when the court is making its decision as the foster care goals are always to reunite the children with their family.”

“We’re her family.”

“Not genetically. If the father was a member of any Native American tribe, the Indian Child Welfare Act would have kicked in, but that’s not the case here.”

“He takes off then he wanders back in, he gets dibs, and we’re left with what? Nothing?” The threat of Audrey leaving tortured him daily, but it wasn’t the only thing that concerned him.

Since their heavy exploration session a month ago, Susan and he managed to keep their passions in check. He constantly thought about her amazing body all the damned time, but he wanted more than great sex. He also wanted her to talk to him more about her life and what she’d been through. The difficulties she faced and triumphed over.

And why she doesn’t want to have a biological baby. As much as he hated coming back to that, he needed to understand her reasons. What if she decided five or ten years down the road adoption didn’t fill that mothering need? Or she left with someone she could get pregnant with?

After he told her about his neglectful parents, he hoped she’d follow suit with baring her soul, but she closed down tighter than a steel drum.

The steady sound of Lori tapping her finger on the rim of her coffee mug pulled him out of his thoughts.

“One thing I don’t think they stress enough in foster care and adoption training is how to find a common thread with the bio parents.” Lori took a long drink.

“What do you mean?” After a few more good belches from Audrey, Susan laid the baby in her bouncy chair on the floor.

Odin wandered into the kitchen and took watch at the edge of the chair, an air of indifference on his furry face.

Audrey immediately noticed him and excitedly babbled.

“There are situations where the parents feel pressured to keep the child. By their families, their friends, their church, society, community.”

“That’s a great reason to keep a baby. Because someone told you to.” Susan locked her arms across her chest.

Dread sat like a rock in Reynolds’s gut. As much as he hated this conversation, they couldn’t ignore it. “Are you saying the parents can be convinced to relinquish?”

Lori moved her mug away from her. “That’s absolutely not what I’m saying. Not convinced. I never want any bio parent to feel manipulated into relinquishing custody. Ever. Still, there are times when a bond or common thread between the bio family and the prospective adoptive parents is found. An understanding. A sign. Whatever you want to call it.”

“Both wanting a child but only one set of parents is able to take care of her isn’t enough of a common thread?” Susan’s voice hardened, her mama-bear side peeking out.

That only made him want her more. “You’re suggesting we figure out some sort of overlap between us and the bio father?”

“There are layers of emotions here. There’s no rhyme or reason for why people make the decisions they do, but yes. Should he come back, that’s exactly what I’m saying.” Lori nodded before taking the last swig of her coffee.

“Get him to understand why he needs to relinquish for the good of himself .” Even with his exhausted brain, Reynolds understood the monumental task at hand, and he hated it.

Why can’t people just do the responsible thing?

With a long exhale, Lori braced her hands on her thighs. “Be very careful, friend. This conversation needs to happen organically. You can’t force it.”

“How hard can it be to convince a college kid with no income or a way of supporting himself, and left in the first damned place, to sign the papers?”

“Don’t fool yourself. Every adoption is different and anything that feels forced can easily push people in the other direction. But before we worry, the father has to show up. So far, he’s evaded any contact.” Lori tapped her watch. “I’ve got to go. Want to check on a few more families before the crazy of July Fourth weekend begins.”

She gave Audrey several cheek kisses. “Bye, cutie. I’ll see you next time.”

Audrey responded by drooling on her hand and kicking her feet in a feeble attempt to get closer to that one-eyed cat that hardly left her side.

As she walked Lori to the door, Susan sucked on her bottom lip, an endearing twitch when she needed to figure out a problem. “But we’re three months in and there’s not been a peep. It’s promising.”

“If he hasn’t come forward by now, it’s less likely. I can’t promise he won’t.”

“I understand. Bernie’s doing okay?”

“Yes. She’s been staying with her best friend, Ben, and his parents. They are taking good care of her.” Lori pulled out her keys and her sunglasses.

“She’s safe, then?” That gave Reynolds some relief. The girl deserved to be around people who gave a shit about her.

“She’s heading back to school in the fall.”

“That’s good news.” Susan’s thin smile mimicked his own worry. “Your honesty helps, Lori, and I’m so glad Bernie is finding her feet. As for the rest of it, I really don’t want to hear if Audrey would leave.”

“Hang in there, friends. Right now, the odds are in your favor.” The social worker smiled.

“Thank you.” Susan yawned.

Reynolds rested his hands on Susan’s shoulders. He meant for it to be an encouraging gesture, but all it did was antagonize the fact they’d respected each other’s intimate physical boundaries. And it sucked. “You’re the best.”

Lori placed her hand on the doorknob but paused. “Hey, guys. I appreciate all the dedication and by-the-book parenting. You’re a social worker’s dream, but I have to ask. Have you two had any time alone?”

Susan shrugged off his touch. “What? No. Of course not.”

The pitch of her protest triggered Reynolds to snort a laugh. “Sorry. It’s been crazy here.”

Lori’s eyes darted between the two of them, and a hint of amusement threatened to curl the corner of her mouth. “No, I mean, alone time as either a night out for the two of you or even each of you having time to yourselves.”

Susan nodded in understanding. “I thought you meant…”

“Hey, whatever. As long as it’s consensual and you’re both happy, I’m good. You are married after all. You’re allowed date nights together.”

Gathering his wits about him, Reynolds sighed. “Either one or both of us has always been with Audrey. Even when people offer to help, they come here.”

“No babysitter? Had a night out? Or had her spend the night with one of your siblings?”

“We can do that?” The lift in Susan’s voice indicated the idea of alone time very much interested her.

Lori continued, “Absolutely. All of them passed background checks. They aren’t going to abscond her.”

“That helps so much, Lori.” Susan put her arms out to initiate a hug. “I thought we had to do this all on our own, not let her out of our sight until the adoption was final.”

Reynolds’s constant state of fatigue didn’t hold such a grip on him as he knew they had a bit of leeway. “That’s good news.”

“You’re not robots. You’re human. Everyone needs a break now and then. It’s healthy to get some space and pampering with a spa afternoon or a nice dinner out. Or whatnot.” With a quick wink and a kiss on his cheek, Lori opened the door.

The afternoon smelled of summer. A perfect day to be outside and maybe sleep on a blanket at the park across the street. Or in the porch swing.

“Give yourselves a date night. It’s important because every couple needs time alone. Time to simply connect. Even platonically.” Lori’s eyebrow raise indicating she didn’t believe they’d kept things simple.

Alone. As stoic as he’d been, being alone with Susan could easily test the limits of his restraint. Especially when she snuggles up to me like right now.

Her arm slid around his waist as they walked out to the front porch to see Lori off. “Thanks again, Lori. Day by day, right?”

She quickly descended the steps. “Almost to your happily ever after, friends. Keep the faith.”