“Take pictures,” Nyxie said to Declan. “They’ll want to remember this.”
Reina was the first one to break off, and she quickly moved back over to the coffee table to examine Lotus’s haul. Lotus stayed with Melinda as the other members of the Hinojosa family stepped forward to greet her.
“Are you all right?” Declan asked, opening his arms to Nyxie.
She crossed her arms over her chest and let him enclose her in his embrace. Her eyes closed as she tried to imagine they were alone somewhere, anywhere but twenty feet from Melinda.
“I wouldn’t have told them where to find her if I had known they would bail her out. She’s going to come back into their lives and then leave again when she goes to prison.”
“There’s only so much you can do to protect them in a situation like this. Are you sure, that’s why you’re upset? You’re not worried that they love her more?”
“No—yes—no, it’s not that. Well, maybe a little. She is their mother.”
Declan did not release her as he began backing her into the open kitchen.
“How can they be so forgiving? She just abandoned them. She didn’t give a hair on a rat’s ass about their well-being.”
Declan reached up and ran his thumb along her jaw, his head canting to the side as he looked compassionately into her eyes. “Yes she did. That’s why she brought them to you. She knew you’d keep them safe and take care of them.”
Nyxie tried to fight back the tears, blinking her eyes several times, but despite her best efforts to stem them, the salted water made her eyelashes spiky. She sniffled softly.
“If you don’t stop crying, I’m going to have to take you upstairs and teach you the meaning of a quickie.”
Nyxie chuckled. “The pantry is closer.”
He leaned forward and growled into her ear. “Stop tempting me.”
Declan lowered his mouth to hers and moved his hand into her hair, briefly grabbing a fistful. Nyxie moaned. She loved it when he tugged her hair like that.
“Get a room,” Melinda said across the breakfast bar.
As he lifted his head, Nyxie’s body melted into his and she placed the side of her head against his chest.
Melinda pulled out one of the tall stools and sat down. “Don’t mind me,” she said as she removed a slice of pizza from a box. “I’m just here for dinner and the show.” Her eyes rolled as she dramatically took her first bite of real food since leaving jail.
Declan released Nyxie and extended his hand towards his sister-in-law. “Declan Stryker, Nyxie’s husband,” he said, making Nyxie cringe slightly.
Melinda cast her gaze around the room. “Who is Nyxie and doesn’t she mind you kissing my sister in public?”
Declan laughed.
“One of the other servers gave me the nickname and it stuck,” Nyxie explained.
Melinda set down her slice, wiped her hand on her pants and shook his hand.
“When did all this happen? You didn’t say anything when you came to the jail—seems like at some point you’d say, ‘My husband and I want to steal your girls.’”
“I wasn’t married then. We’d only gone out to eat once or twice. We got… He only… I married… It was love at first sight.”
He tightened his grip on Nyxie and she knew he liked her answer.
“I can see how you could fall in love with him at first sight….” She bit into her slice of pizza, leaving the rest of the thought unfinished, but Nyxie and Declan had no problem completing it.
“Don’t come into our house and insult my wife. You should be thanking her for supporting your kids for the last year and offering them a home for the rest of their childhoods.”
“Stealing my kids.” She pushed her hair over one shoulder, making the tattoo of a playing card more visible.
“No one forced you to sign the papers. You did it because you know it’s the best thing for them.”
Melinda turned to Nyxie. “You told me I could come see them anytime I wanted, but you didn’t tell me you had even moved to Lubbock, much less that you were getting married. How was I supposed to find them?”
“I-I don’t know,” Nyxie said softly. “I was going to take the girls to see you at the jail when I had time. It’s just been crazy since Cody got hit by the pickup.”
Melinda looked around the room. “Where is Cody?”
“He’s still in the hospital. We’re hoping to move him into rehab soon,” Declan said.
“What the fuck, Onyx? You didn’t tell me he was in the hospital.”
“I told you he got hit by a pickup truck. What do you think happens? Cody nearly died and you didn’t care enough to ask how he was doing.”
“I was worried about Lotus and Reina getting taken by CPS. You dropped both bombshells in one breath. Of course my girls were my first priority.”
They stared at each other at an impasse.
“Cody is doing better every day,” Declan said. “He’s talking and he’s moving all of his limbs. You should go see him while you’re out.”
She shrugged and tightened her lips for a moment. “I don’t think he really remembers me.”
Nyxie shook her head. “He was just a baby when you left. Sometimes I talk about the things we used to do.”
“Like what?”
“Like the time we slept in the Joneses backyard, or the time we ran away and spent all day in the crawlspace of someone’s house, and no one noticed we were gone. I told him you weren’t afraid of anything.”
“There was nothing in the outside world to be afraid of,” Melinda said.
The conversation seemed to stop as all three silently finished the thought. Nothing to fear in the outside world. No safety inside the house.
“Please, Melinda, go see him. It would mean a lot to him.”
As Melinda finished her pizza, she looked around. “Are the drinks in there?” she asked indicating the cooler.
She hopped off the barstool before Nyxie could offer to get her a Coke. She knew instinctively what Melinda would choose. She spared only a glance into the cooler with its sodas and water bottles, before opening the fridge and retrieving a Budweiser.
“It’s Lotus’s birthday,” Nyxie said, a plea in her voice.
“Give me a break. It’s just one beer.”
“It’s just your first beer,” Nyxie said under her breath.
“You’ve only been out of jail an hour; don’t you think sobriety might be worth a try while you’re already detoxed?” Declan asked.
Melinda’s lips pursed. “Are you a fucking chip-carrying beer cop?”
“No, I sometimes drink, but I have to work early tomorrow, and I don’t want to be hung over. Personally, I don’t know you, and if your drinking had no ramifications to the people I love, I’d hand you your next one. But all I see are those two little girls over there, having probably the best day either of them has had in a very long time. They are reunited with their mother, and the rest of their family, and you want to get drunk and possibly ruin their day.”
Melinda put the beer to her lips and drained the whole can in what could only be described as a fuck-you gesture.
“I’m sorry,” Nyxie said. “We….”
“Don’t apologize,” Declan said, cutting her off. He spoke in low tones, but Nyxie recognized her Dom. “Whatever we have said, is in the best interest of Lotus and Reina. If you get drunk and ruin this, it’s those two little girls who will get punished—but I have no doubt Onyx will be able to soothe the hurt, just like she did when you abandoned them.”
“I didn’t abandon them. I didn’t have a place to live. That dump you lived in had four walls and a roof. What else was I supposed to do with them?”
Nyxie stared at Melinda, wondering if she was being truthful. If she had told her that at the time, Nyxie would have let Melinda move in also, even if it meant putting up with her drug use. Bob would have hired her. The truck stop was always shorthanded. They could have worked opposite shifts so they kids were never left alone.
But instead, she drove off with that sleaze ball, leaving her to wonder if they had died in a car crash.
~*~
“Is everyone ready for cake and ice cream?” Declan suddenly announced to the room.
“Does she still suck her thumb?”
“I stopped sucking my thumb when I was little.”
Declan put his arm around Nyxie and guided her to the other end of the long island where the cake sat on display. He asked if anyone had a lighter and two of the men reached into their pockets and began lighting the eleven candles.
Declan found himself surprised by how strongly he wanted to protect Reina and Lotus. It wasn’t only because sheltering them also insulated Nyxie. He genuinely cared. He had always considered himself one of those men with a take ‘em or leave ‘em attitude about children. Until recently, he never had an overwhelming desire to have any of his own, but assumed that he’d allow the woman he’d marry to make any decisions about procreating. And if they never had any of their own, he would have been okay with that also.
So, to find himself sucked into a fatherly position and protector to Nyxie’s family, felt unnerving.
He just wanted to get the party over so he could send them all away before Melinda got so drunk she would hurt and disappoint the girls.
As Lotus climbed up on the stool to blow out her candles, Declan produced his phone and filmed the festivities. As everyone began singing Happy Birthday, a movement behind Lotus made Declan lift his gaze from the screen. He watched as Melinda crossed behind the crowd and retrieved another beer from the refrigerator.
“Make a wish and blow out the candles,” several people shouted as soon as they had finished singing.
Lotus closed her eyes and as soon as they opened, she blew out the candles.
“I want the piece with my picture on it!” she exclaimed.
“Me too” Reina said.
“Hold on, not so fast,” Nyxie said. “Someone else wanted to wish you a happy birthday.”
Nyxie thrust her phone in front of Lotus. On the small screen, Cody fought to get the words out, “H-happy birthday, brat,” he said, and he haltingly sang the birthday song.
Several people crowded behind Lotus to watch and a few of the ones who had seen Cody that day in the hospital, began getting teary-eyed, as did every female member of Declan’s new family. He continued to film their reaction, so Cody could see how much they loved him and appreciated the gesture. As Cody’s singing stopped, Melinda popped the top on her beer. “Who’s the retard?” she asked, and lifted the can to her lips.
Nyxie’s gasp was audible. “That’s Cody—our brother.”
Declan shut off the camera.
“We can’t send that to him now,” Nyxie said to Declan, giving Melinda her back. Her eyes were filled with tears for a different reason now.
Declan had moved away from Nyxie to film the festivity and wished the crowd of people were not between them, preventing him from taking her in his arms. “I’ll edit it on my computer before I send it.”
“I didn’t know,” Melinda protested.
“Why would you say that about anyone?” Nyxie demanded, taking a step toward her sister.
“I think it’s time for you to leave,” Declan said with all the authority he used at work, or when dominating Nyxie.
“Lotus, Reina, get anything you want to take with you,” Melinda said.
“They aren’t going anywhere with you,” he stated. “You signed over legal custody to Nyxie.”
“They are my kids,” she shouted and threw her beer at Declan, hitting him in the shoulder. He looked down at the spot where the can had hit him and brushed the moisture from his shirt. One of the Hinojosa daughters picked up the can off the floor and left it on its side in the sink to finish draining, while Nyxie grabbed a dish towel out of a drawer and made her way to Declan’s side to wipe up the spill.
One of the younger men took Lotus by the arm. “Do you want to take anything?” he asked the girl.
“We are taking them. They belong to our family. I don’t think you can stop us,” said the older of the two men who had bailed out Melinda.
Two of the other men stepped closer and bowed out their chests. Declan made eye contact with all four.
“You don’t want to do anything stupid,” he said measuredly. “We have legal custody. If you take them, you will be guilty of kidnapping. The only way you can get these girls is through the courts.”
“Want to bet?”
Declan maneuvered Nyxie behind him. “Call the police, Nyxie.”
Lotus’s face had gone pale and she looked to be on the verge of tears. Her bottom lip and chin trembled.
He looked around for Reina and couldn’t find her. He hoped she had found somewhere to hide, but couldn’t rule out that she was lost within the group of her relatives.
“Let go of her arm. You’re scaring her. I swear if you put a bruise on that child, you’re going down.”
Behind him, he could hear Nyxie talking to the dispatcher.
“Maybe we should ask the girls who they want to live with,” one of the women suggested.
“Don’t you dare put Reina and Lotus in a position to choose. It’s unfair to make them pick. They love Nyxie and I’m sure they love their mother and your family too—no one is disputing it—but unless the court says otherwise, we have custody and you cannot take them. Do you think we’re going to let them get into a car with a drunk driver?”
Several people began protesting the notion that they were intoxicated.
“Stop,” Esmerelda said, pushing her way to the front. “You will stop this instant. You boys are going to ruin everything. For the first time in four years, we get to see Lotus and Reina. If you act like a bunch of pendejos, they won’t let us see them again.” One of the other women stepped up, putting her hand on the arm of the man holding Lotus’s arm. “They are better off here than with Melinda. She has disappeared with the girls before, and if she does it again, we will probably never see them again, much less the bond money we put up. We need to leave before the cops come.”
The woman turned to Declan. “It’s just a mild case of Budweiseritis. They aren’t usually so bullheaded.”
Declan nodded, but kept his mouth shut.
She leaned towards Lotus and gave her a superficial hug. “Hope you had a good birthday, mija.”
“Bye, Aunt Stacy.”
Nyxie pulled the packs of beer and box of wine out of her refrigerator. “Take your beer and wine with you. It’ll just go to waste here.”
She could only imagine what CPS would do if they saw all that alcohol in her refrigerator.
It took a few more minutes for everyone to file out after giving Lotus hugs. Reina had disappeared during the argument. Nyxie had seen her crawl around the island that separated the kitchen from the rest of the room. She had opened a lower cabinet and crawled in.
Nyxie hung up with the dispatcher and opened the cabinet where Reina was hiding. “You can come out now. They’re gone.”
“Is everyone okay?” Declan asked.
Reina’s bottom lip stuck out and she looked as if she might cry. She held up the little beanie dog Declan had given her. “The puppy was scared.”
Nyxie automatically bent down and embraced the child. “It’s all right now,” she said to the eight-year-old.
“Are you hurt, Lotus?” Declan asked the older girl.
“I wanted to go with my mom,” Lotus said. “You ruined my birthday.”
Lotus jumped off the stool, stomped up the stairs, and slammed her bedroom door.
Chapter 28
Over the next month, they fell into a new routine. Cody was moved into a rehab hospital further away from the house. Nyxie was afraid she’d get lost driving back and forth, but was pleasantly surprised by how easy Lubbock was to navigate with its repeating alphabetically named streets.
The new nanny, Kylie, moved in, and was the complete opposite of Ms. Kiki. Not only did Kylie happily don a chef’s
hat and cook, but she insisted that Lotus and Reina help her, and all three clean up afterwards—because Kylie believed, cooking and cleaning were skills that everyone should know.
Esmerelda was a frequent visitor. Nyxie only allowed her to visit when she was there, so she was limited to coming over in the mornings before Nyxie went to the rehab center. Melinda came for the first three days after Lotus’s birthday, but went into a 60-day drug rehab center before the first week was over. Nyxie never knew all the details, but she suspected her sister relapsed and went into the rehab to keep from going back to jail. She also suspected Declan may have been paying for it. But he never mentioned it, so she didn’t either.
It was early August when Declan finished his family medicine residency and was allowed to go on vacation. He had not been able to switch to the internal medicine because all the resident positions for the following year had been taken. Unless someone left the program, he would have to wait a year and reapply. But he knew he could get a job at any number of clinics or he could buy into an existing family medicine practice or start his own.
They set the date for the wedding ceremony the Saturday before his last day, so they could have a full two weeks to honeymoon before the kids had to be home to start school. Since Declan had asked his mother to make the wedding arrangements, and most summer venues were already booked, they decided to have the wedding in their spacious backyard.
The room she had been given to get ready looked out over the neighbor’s house, and Nyxie sat at the window trying to get a glimpse of Declan or the kids. A soft knock pulled her away from the window. “Come in.”
Declan’s cousin, Jesslyn, poked her head in and smiled widely at Nyxie. “They’re ready for you,” She was a couple of years younger than Declan, slender with long, blonde hair and glasses that transformed her from only looking pretty to bookish also.
Picking up her bouquet, her mind instantly went to the night he had dressed her up as a bride to take her virginity, only that day, she held a flogger instead of flowers. She wore the same small veil with her white maxi dress because she absolutely refused to spend money on a dress she would only wear once.
The Love He Craves (The Love She Craves: Selling Her Soul to Declan Book 2) Page 26
