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  “Thank you,” I said.

  “Go get Sabrina and put her in the car. We’ll get her to Mama Rose’s house, then we’ll get down to the courthouse early. The sooner we’re in that room, the more likely it is you aren’t going to have to deal with Hanson at all, okay?” he said.

  “Okay,” I said with a smile. It was hard to smile on a day like today. But, it was even harder not to smile when Aaron was there for me like he had been. Hell, he was acting as though he was a real husband. I knew on paper we were, but he didn’t have to act this way when we were alone.

  All I’d asked of him was that he was convincing to the judge. I didn’t know he was going to take it a step further and treat me like I was really his wife when we were behind closed doors. Hell, if he were to keep this up, he might accidentally convince me that we were really a couple.

  I finished getting Sabrina ready and held her in my arms for a second. This could very well be the last time that I got to hold her with full custody. I hated to think of that possibility, and I did what I could to trust Aaron. He seemed to think that this was all going to work out and everything would be just fine, but he didn’t know Hanson.

  I didn’t trust that man one bit, and I hoped Aaron knew he was dealing with someone who was vindictive, and would stop at nothing just to get back at me. I wasn’t sure why he was being this way, but he was, and he was trying to take the one thing that would hurt me more than anything else in the world.

  The thought made me sick, that was for sure, and I didn’t know how I was going to get through the afternoon. The mere sight of him, knowing what he was doing to me, was enough to make me taste bile.

  But, the hour was getting closer, and we still had to get Sabrina to Mama Rose’s house. So, after one final squeeze, I carried her out to the car with me and strapped her into the car seat, doing everything I could to keep a brave face.

  Aaron was here with me, after all, and he promised things were going to work out. I didn’t know how he knew that, but he seemed confident that things would be fine.

  As hard as it was, I would trust him. Tim always did, after all, so I’d take the chance, too.

  What other choice did I have?

  As I sat listening to all the accusations Hanson was making against me through his lawyer, I felt sick to my stomach. The man was offering a good case, and I feared for the worst. The judge sat behind the podium, listening to everything, but with a stoic look on her face.

  She didn’t seem inclined one way or the other, and it was killing me inside. I wanted her to say something. Anything, but then, I didn’t want to hear what she had to say, either. What if she was being swayed with the lies Hanson was telling her?

  Our public defender told me not to worry, it was going to be our turn to speak in a second, and I tried to relax, nodding and giving Aaron’s hand a squeeze. It felt like an eternity before we were finally allowed our turn, and to my surprise, Aaron asked the public defender if he might be the one to talk.

  “Your Honor, I’m sorry, I would like to say a few words before we get into the details of everything. This man here, has wanted nothing to do with my daughter since before she was born. We aren’t sure why he’s come forth now, but the fact of the matter is that we haven’t had a thing to do with him forever,” Aaron said.

  “He’s such a liar. How the Hell would he even know?” Hanson’s lawyer asked. “He hasn’t even been in the picture for more than a week or two!”

  “You see?” Aaron replied, cool and collected. “That is exactly what I’ve been talking about. Yes, me and my wife just married last week, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been together for months. I’ve dated this woman since before that little girl was born, and I’ve come to think of her as my own. She’s been my own, really.”

  “The marriage is a sham, Your Honor. They are only trying to portray a stable environment for the infant,” the lawyer said.

  “If he was as much a part of our family as he claims to be, then he would know that I’ve been in the picture a lot longer than he’s trying to portray himself,” Aaron said. My heart raced in my chest. I couldn’t believe Aaron was able to handle himself so well in court. I was glad he was the one doing the talking, and for the first time in this entire situation, I felt we might have a fighting chance.

  “Your Honor,” Aaron continued. “If you will look at the documents provided by our attorney, you’re going to see that the child has a stable home environment, I have a steady job that pays more than enough, and she’s in a loving, nurturing home. To think that someone who came out of nowhere would be able to provide all that would be ludicrous!”

  “A sham!” the lawyer insisted once more. “Your honor. Please don’t buy into the lies that this man is trying to portray as truth. We have it under documentation that they were recently married, and there are no records of them dating prior,” he said.

  My heart sank. I wasn’t sure how Aaron was going to respond to that, but he didn’t even bat an eye. He bent over toward me, kissing me deeply right in front of the judge. I felt a little embarrassed, but I knew I had to trust Aaron if we were going to get through this.

  So far, things were going far better than I thought possible, and I hoped they’d keep going that way. I kissed him in return, but he only kissed me for a moment before pulling back.

  “Does that look like a sham to you? I’m sorry, but if I’m not mistaken, that is the kind of kiss that I would only give the woman that I truly loved,” Aaron said. I almost blushed, but I could see that it was working. “And last I checked, no one had to go to court and get documents when they were dating. That seems just foolish to suggest that he would be able to prove we were through paperwork.”

  “Do you have the paperwork to prove income and housing?” the judge turned to our attorney.

  “Yes, Your Honor,” he rose and took the papers over to her, setting them on the podium. She flipped through them, then she shook her head.

  “It seems to me that this child has been well taken care of, and there’s no reason to think otherwise. Mr. Hinks, I’m tossing out your petition, and granting the birth mother full custody.” She hit the gavel on the podium and I nearly fell to my knees.

  It was just what I wanted to hear. I could have thrown myself on top of Aaron, and I had to fight to maintain my composure. There were tears in my eyes as I shook hands with our attorney, and I held Aaron as we got through the necessary paperwork

  I was sure it was all done and over now. I had my daughter, and I never had to worry about Hanson again.

  That is, until we walked outside the courthouse and found him waiting on the sidewalk.

  “You think you’re real smart, don’t you?” he asked me.

  “Hey,” Aaron said, but Hanson turned on him.

  “Stay away from my woman and my daughter!”

  “This is my wife, so she’s my woman, and I would say that makes Sabrina my daughter,” he replied with a smirk. “So I believe you are the one who needs to stay away.”

  “This isn’t over,” Hanson barked. “I’m not through with this, and you haven’t won. You might think that you can rest easy and forget about all this, but I am going to come out on top in the end. Mark my words.”

  “Consider them marked,” Aaron replied coolly. I didn’t know if Hanson would go so far as to punch him right there on the courthouse steps, but I was relieved when he left.

  “Don’t mind him,” Aaron said. “He’s full of shit and pissed that he lost. I’m going to take care of you, I promised that already. No one is going to take Sabrina away from us, no one.”

  I wrapped my arm around him and nodded, letting him kiss me on the side of the head.

  “What do you say we go get dinner to celebrate?” Aaron asked as he put his arm around my shoulders.

  “That sounds awesome,” I agreed. He was right. Hanson wasn’t going to get Sabrina. Aaron would make sure of that. And I trusted him. Hell, he had been perfect in court today, and I had no reason to believe he wouldn�
��t always be perfect for the two of us.

  Well, for as long as our marriage lasted after today, anyway. But, that could be worried about later. We had been victorious in court, and I could finally put that stress and drama behind me for good.

  We definitely needed to celebrate.

  18

  Aaron

  “I’m surprised they’re so busy for a Wednesday night,” I said as I looked around the crowded restaurant. Though April had originally suggested that we go to Zach’s diner to get burgers, I’d wanted to take her somewhere fancier. It was quite the victory we’d pulled off, after all, and I wanted to really celebrate.

  Hell, this entire plan came down to what we were doing that afternoon in court, and it had come together perfectly. What she thought was going to drag on for weeks or even months, we had accomplished in just an afternoon.

  It helped that it had been a female judge we’d gotten, and I was glad that Hanson had slipped up more than once in his tirade against us. Of course, we could play the card he wouldn’t know we were dating if he hadn’t even met his own daughter – and that by his own choice.

  We’d not had the time to properly prepare with the lawyer, and more than once I worried we were going to say the wrong thing at the wrong time and have to fight harder to keep Sabrina in our lives. But, after I heard the side of the story the prosecution was trying to portray, it was easy for me to take over and just talk.

  Hell, for being such a good lawyer, the man clearly didn’t do his homework. Or, perhaps he had, but I was still right – I didn’t have to provide any sort of legal documentation to prove that we were dating.

  The kiss I’d given her in the courtroom felt so good, and I couldn’t get it out of my mind now. It had been an impulse on my part – something that I’d done just to seal the deal in front of the judge. And I was pleased that it had worked. April certainly didn’t seem to mind, and once again I had to argue with myself – reminding myself that we were just playing married until this was over.

  Of course, I wasn’t sure what that meant now. We were planning on it taking longer than just a week. I didn’t want to bring it up to April for fear she was going to call the whole thing off. I was still trying to figure out whether she saw herself as a burden in my life.

  She had become the only thing I really enjoyed doing with my day – and the reason I was quitting alcohol. But, that didn’t mean that she felt at home.

  “Hello,” the hostess said as she walked over to us. “Two of you?”

  “Yes,” I replied. “You’re pretty busy tonight for a weekday.”

  “Tell me about it,” she rolled her eyes, but then smiled. After checking the books, she looked up at us. “It’s going to be about forty-five minutes.”

  I exchanged a look with April. “We could wait, or we could go to Zach’s?”

  She shook her head. “I would rather get some food, pick up Sabrina, and make you dinner actually.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked in surprise. Since I wasn’t much of a cook myself, it always surprised me when someone else wanted to cook from home. In my mind, it was so much easier just to order takeout and deal with the garbage rather than deal with the dishes and the food prep.

  “Yeah. I think it would be fun,” she said with a grin. “And I want to show off my skills.”

  She winked, and I smiled. Just because I wasn’t that much of a cook, it didn’t mean she was, either. So, we told the hostess we were going to leave for the night, then we headed to the grocery store.

  “What are you hungry for?” she asked.

  “Anything you want to cook is fine with me,” I replied. “I’m pretty easy.”

  “Let’s see if I can give Zach a run for his money with burgers,” she laughed. “I doubt it, but still.”

  “Zach’s burgers are fantastic, but they still have that diner feel to them,” I said with a shrug. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a good burger I made at home.”

  “Did you ever make anything good at home?” she teased, and I shook my head. It was going to be hard to let her go.

  We got the ingredients, and she stopped at the baby food aisle to get a few more jars for Sabrina. “She’s able to have some of the solid food that we have, but I want to keep these on hand, just in case. It’s a lot easier to feed her stuff that’s already pureed than to have to do it myself.”

  “We need to just come grocery shopping and make sure there’s enough food in the house for her and you,” I said. “I really don’t have a lot there, and I hate for you to have to work around the snack foods and takeout.”

  “I’m going to grab a few extra things while we’re here, if you don’t mind?” she looked at me with expectation in her face, and I smiled as I shook my head.

  “Go for it. You know what you need,” I said. The truth was I was glad to have her grocery shopping. It made me feel as though she was going to stay longer. There was a part of me that was almost glad with the way Hanson had threatened us on the steps outside the courthouse.

  I assured her she wasn’t going to have anything to worry about, but I could also use that threat to my advantage, convincing her to stay longer. Just to make sure the guy really was going to stay away. Shit, I could get her to think that we had to convince him we were married in case he was watching us after the fact.

  That would keep her in the house, and I would get to keep her in my life. Not to mention, with her recently letting go of her apartment, I had a feeling it was going to take some time for her to find a new place.

  We bought the groceries and headed back to Mama Rose’s to pick up Sabrina.

  “How’d it go?” Mama Rose asked. “I’ve been worried about it all day.”

  “Sorry I didn’t text you, my phone died when we were in the courthouse, and we wanted to stop and get some food to make at home tonight,” April said, but then, she grinned. “It couldn’t have gone better, Mama. Sabrina is safe!”

  “I’m so glad to hear that,” she said with a smile. “Hopefully that asshole doesn’t come anywhere near you anymore.”

  “I hope so, too,” she agreed as she picked up Sabrina. We chatted for a few more moments, then the two of us headed back to the car with the baby.

  “Does she know who she’s talking about?” I asked in surprise.

  “No. I’ve not told anyone Hanson is the father, and I really don’t see the need. He’s clearly not going to say anything to anyone, either. And if he does, I can tell them he’s lying. He doesn’t have the right to get testing anymore and prove it, so I’m not going to let him bother me anymore,” she said before putting Sabrina in the car.

  I was glad she wasn’t too worried about it anymore, but there was a pain in my chest. I didn’t want to lose her, and it sounded as though she was feeling a lot better about everything. It was a tough call for me to make. I wanted her, so bad, and I didn’t want anything we were doing to come to an end.

  Hell, this was my wife, and I had made vows. Perhaps she thought they weren’t real, but to me, they were. I meant it when I said til death do us part, and I was going to stand by that. I had to fight for her and Sabrina, and I was going to continue to fight until they were in my life forever.

  “You okay?” April asked. “You seem quiet.”

  “Just hungry,” I said with a grin. “I’m looking forward to what you’ve got in mind.”

  “I’m not the fanciest cook in the world, but I can tell you that I’m a good cook, that’s for sure,” she sat back on the seat with a smile. “Oh, Aaron, I can’t tell you the last time I felt so good about life. I think I’ve got a fighting chance with Sabrina now. Like, to actually make it in this world.”

  “Of course you do,” I said. “You’ve always had that fighting chance. I know you, and no matter what you’ve had to go through, you’re always able to land on your feet, even if you have to fight for it.”

  She smiled. “I’m glad you have that confidence in me. I can’t say that I really have it in myself these days.”

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sp; “It’ll come back. If you keep doing what you’re doing, it’s going to return with a vengeance,” I said with another smile. I hoped she considered living with me to be what she was doing, but again, I was going to have to find the right time to ask her to stay permanently.

  We got home and I carried in the groceries while she started dinner. It wasn’t long before the whole house smelled amazing. Better than it had in as long as I could remember. The extent of my cooking when I didn’t want to burn the place down came down to a frozen pizza in the oven.

  And even then, there was a good chance there would be enough smoke in the house to set off the alarm by the time I was done. Then again, if I didn’t drink and pass out with the food in the oven, I might have better luck with what I produced.

  Those days are behind you. You have a family now, and you’re going to stay sober for them. You can’t be the drunk and expect April to want to stay with her kid. And you can’t lose them – either of them.

  I sat down at the table, carefully feeding Sabrina her cereal. It was the first time in my life I’d fed a baby, and the feeling was exhilarating. I could almost imagine this little girl was my daughter. I’d get to raise her, watch her grow – see her through all the tough times in her life. Kick the asses of any boys who broke her heart.

  The thought of it was nearly overwhelming. I hadn’t ever thought I’d be lucky enough to have a family. There had been a large part of me that didn’t even know I wanted a family up until a couple of weeks ago.

  Now, I couldn’t imagine letting either of them leave my life. It just wasn’t going to happen. Somehow, I was going to win over April and get her to fall in love with me. I didn’t know how, I didn’t know what my chances of it really happening were, but I was going to give it my best shot.

  Her family had been hanging in the balance when she first came to me, now it was my family. I couldn’t bear the thought of any of this changing, and I made up my mind to do anything in my power to make sure it didn’t.