Beautiful Template_Diva's Ink

by Liberty Parker

  “Our lawyer needs you to fax over the results of this visit, we’re trying to get him out of this home he’s in and into our care.”

  “What’s the number I need to send his diagnosis to?” He knows how hard Trevor’s had it, and they’ve all welcomed him with open arms and already consider him to be a part of our family.

  “I have his number here,” I say, pulling out the piece of paper that I wrote down all the necessary numbers for Dillon to contact him at.

  “I’ll personally do this right now. Take care of yourself, Trevor,” Dillon states, nodding for me to follow him out into the hallway.

  “I’ll be right back, Trevor. Just relax and don’t move until I come back.”

  “Yes, sir,” he replies.

  Once I join Dillon in the hallway he asks me, “He’s not going back there, right?”

  “No, I’m getting what he needs and taking him back to our place.”

  “Good, and if you have words with this ‘foster father’ I want in,” he says, turning around and walking away mumbling under his breath about some men needing their asses kicked. I smile, because for a doctor, he sure doesn’t take any shit and is always the one to step in and join the havoc.

  Chapter 16

  Rainey

  When you love someone, you fight to live the dream…

  “What did Levi say?” Carson asks me as soon as I get off the phone. We’re in the breakroom since we have a break between clients.

  “He has strep throat and an upper respiratory infection. Levi’s going to the pharmacy now to fill his prescriptions then is taking him back to our place.”

  “He’s not going back to the Newberrys,” Carson angrily states, “I don’t care if I have to take that boy and go on the run, he’s never going back!” He bangs his hands on the table and I can see the conviction in his eyes.

  “It won’t come to that, Levi says that there’s been an emergency hearing for this afternoon. Plus, you can’t leave me,” I state.

  “Oh, hell no! You and Levi would be coming with me.” Well, there’s that, at least I don’t have to worry about him grabbing Trevor and disappearing into the night. “Where I go you go and vice versa,” he states, looking into my eyes.

  “Let’s just take it one step at a time, we’ll worry about the rest if the proceedings don’t go our way.”

  “Y’all aren’t going anywhere. I’d track you to the ends of the earth then beat all of your asses for leaving me behind,” Ariel says as she joins us at the table. I would laugh, but I have a feeling she’s being very honest right now and would actually do it.

  “We’ll take that under advisement,” I reply.

  “Good, I just got off the phone with Emory, she’s coming in to cover the rest of your shift, you two head on home.”

  “It’s her day off, we can’t do that to her,” I tell Ariel.

  “The fuck you can’t! Go home and take care of your family, Rainey, we’ve got this.” She gets up from the table, leaving the room, ending the discussion.

  “Looks like we’re goin’ home,” Carson states.

  “Guessing so,” I reply, still not happy about having to make Emory come in on her day off to cover for us when I know Trevor is taken care of. Levi won’t let anything happen to him, plus, he cares about Trevor and would fight anyone to the death to protect that boy.

  “There’s no fightin’ your sister, we might as well stop sitting here pondering how to do that and just pack up and go.” He gets up from the table and extends his hand out for me. I take it and let him help pull me up and out of my chair.

  “Fine, let’s go.”

  “You two didn’t have to leave the shop, I’ve got him,” Levi says as we walk through the front door.

  “We weren’t given a choice.” I then tell him about Ariel and her demanding we come home and be with our family.

  “Well, that’s something, at least you didn’t come home because of your lack of faith in me.”

  “Never! I knew you had him, I guess Ariel just thinks we should all be together.” I know why too, it’s because she wants us all to be together when the final word comes from the judge. I go in the spare bedroom, that we’ve basically turned into a place of escape for Trevor and check on him. He’s sound asleep, but you can see the sweat beaded on his forehead. I place the back of my hand there and feel that he’s still burning up with fever. I go back out to the living room and ask Levi, “When was the last time he had anything for a fever? He’s burning up.”

  “About two hours ago,” he replies.

  “What did he take?”

  “Tylenol,” he tells me. I go and scrummage through the medicine cabinet in the bathroom and grab the ibuprofen. “It hasn’t been long enough since his last dose,” he informs me.

  “He can switch out between the two every two hours, Levi. Since he had Tylenol I have to give him this,” I say shaking the bottle of pills at him.

  “Dillon didn’t tell me that, I’m sorry,” he states.

  “Why are you sorry? You didn’t know, and now you do, no big deal,” I state shrugging my shoulders because it’s not that big of a deal. He didn’t have the knowledge before, and now he does for next time.

  “I’ll get him a fresh glass of water,” Carson says, walking away from our little huddle in the bathroom.

  We walk into Trevor’s room and I rouse him from sleep. “Trevor,” I shake him.

  “Hmm?” he murmurs.

  “You’re still running a fever, you need to take some more meds,” I say, shaking the pills out of the bottle and into the palm of my hand.

  “Okay.” I watch as it takes all the energy he has to sit up in bed. I hand him the pills and Carson hands him the glass of water. As soon as Trevor takes the meds, he looks up at Levi and tells him, “I need to use the restroom, I don’t know if I have the strength to make it there on my own.”

  Levi rushes over to him, basically pushing Carson and me out of the way and helps him up and out of the bed. There’s a trust there that I’ve seen developing, whatever happened today has cemented that bond between the two.

  Levi

  Carson and I each grab an arm and assist Trevor down the hallway and leave him at the door. “Call us if you need anything,” I tell him as I close the door.

  “Will do,” I hear his muffled response. I roll my eyes, great, another one who talks behind closed doors.

  “You think he’s going to be okay?” my brother asks me, and it’s the first time in a long time I see vulnerability behind his eyes.

  “He’ll be fine, brother. He has us now, no one and nothing will ever hurt him again.” He nods his head and leans against the wall in the hallway. I lean against the door jamb and wait for Trevor, so we can help him back in bed. This has been a day, one that I can’t wait to be over. I hear the toilet flush, then the water turns on. At least I know he has good hygiene. I can hear his steps shuffling towards the door, once he opens it and I get a good look at him, I’m afraid he’s going to pass out on us before we get him settled back in his room. We place his arms around our shoulders and basically carry him back to his room. Rainey is finishing up changing his sheets when we enter.

  “Your sheets were soaking wet, so I changed them while you were in the bathroom,” she says to Trevor.

  “Thank you,” he tells her as he loses his balance and lands on the bed. He stays how he lands so we all help him get into a more comfortable position. Carson and I go to head out of the room, I look back and see Rainey has sat down and taken up the space on his floor by his bed. She leans back against the wall and just watches him.

  “Rai, he needs his rest.”

  “I can’t leave him, not yet.” I see how serious she is, so I nod my head and give her this. I know what he means to her, and I have no intentions of stepping in and taking that from her.

  “I’ll bring you in a chair,” Carson tells her as he leaves the room.

  “Thank you,” she whispers, her eyes never leaving Trevor’s passed out body.
<
br />   “Love you,” I tell her.

  “Love you too,” she replies.

  Two hours later, I take in another dose of Tylenol and see Rainey is sound asleep. Her back against the wall and her head laying on the edge of Trevor’s bed. Carson comes in behind me. “Why isn’t she sitting in the chair you brought in?” I question him.

  “I have no clue, brother,” he responds.

  “That has got to be uncomfortable,” I say, to no one in particular.

  “Looks it,” he answers. We still haven’t heard back from the lawyer, when I called his office his receptionist informed me he is still in with the judge. I don’t know if this is good news or bad news, and my patience is beginning to wear thin. How long does this shit actually take? There’s overwhelming evidence of neglect, we’ve been compiling it since the day we got back from our honeymoon. Our lawyer has all of this information, it should be a slam dunk case. It should only take minutes, not motherfucking hours! I hear a banging on the door. Carson and I look at each other because we aren’t expecting company.

  “I’ll go, will you wake Rai and try to convince her to get into the chair and give him his meds?”

  “I’ve got this, brother, go see who’s at the door,” he tells me. I walk down the hallway, look through the peephole and see Dillon standing on the porch. I open the door and he walks on in.

  “Just got off the phone with the judge,” he states.

  “Oh yeah? And?” I ask.

  “I went through all of my findings today, informed him of the neglect I felt Trevor had received from the Newberrys. He asked me to give detailed information into my findings and that was it. I just wanted to come over and check on Trevor and hopefully be here when you get the call with the verdict.”

  “He’s in his room, still runnin’ a fever. We’ve been alternating between Tylenol and ibuprofen.” He nods his head and walks down the hall so I follow him that way.

  “Once his antibiotics have a chance to kick in, his fever should dissipate.” That’s news that I like hearing.

  “Good to know,” I reply as we walk into Trevor’s room where he’s sitting up in bed and Rainey is next to him.

  “Hey, doc,” Trevor says, when he notices Dillon.

  “Hi, Dillon,” Rainey says.

  “Came to check in on our boy here,” he tells her. She smiles at him, only it doesn’t reach her eyes, or light up the room the way it normally does. “He’s going to be okay, Rainey,” Dillon tries to make her feel better by stating.

  “I know,” she whispers, the sleep still evident in her voice. Dillon checks him out and declares he needs a breathing treatment because he’s wheezing. We get it hooked up, insert the liquid from the little tubes and get the mask on his face. Thirty minutes later, the three of us men go back into the living room. My phone starts ringing, so I bring it out of my pocket and answer.

  “Linnie, bout damn time,” I say when I answer.

  “Sorry, a lot happened in the judge’s chambers, but I’ve got his final verdict in my hands. It’s being filed as we speak.”

  “Well?” I ask impatiently.

  “The judge has a question for you, Carson and Rainey. I have to have an answer to him in the next twenty minutes. Can you put me on speaker, so I can hear all of your verbal answers please?”

  “Sure, just a minute, Rainey is in with Trevor.”

  Carson goes and gets Rainey and I place the call on speaker. “We’re all here,” I inform him.

  “I need you all to state your name, this is being recorded.”

  “Levi James,” I say.

  “Carson James.”

  “Rainey Masters James.” I roll my eyes because she refused to let go of the Masters last name.

  “The judge has stated that he doesn’t want to see Trevor shuffled through the system any longer. He wants it on record knowing if you are interested in adopting him and allowing him to have permanent placing with your family. It’s the only way he’s willing to hand custody over to you.”

  “Absolutely,” I say immediately.

  “No doubt, he’s ours anyways,” Carson adds.

  “Yes, anything,” Rainey says, with tears running down her face. Carson grabs her in his arms and encloses her in their protectiveness.

  “I’ll let the judge know your answer, be expecting another call from me within the hour. Congratulations you three, it’s a boy,” he says before disconnecting the call. Rainey squeals out in excitement and it feels as if a thousand pounds has been lifted from my shoulders. Finally, I’ll know he’s being taken care of the way he deserves to be. No more shitty foster homes or placement centers for him.

  “Should we tell him?” Rainey asks us.

  “Yeah, that boy could use some good news for once,” I answer her.

  “You’re joking,” Trevor says, not believing us when we told him what the judge’s demands were.

  “We’re not kidding you, Trevor. We’ll be legally your family, no one can take you away from us after today.”

  “I can’t believe it, things like this don’t happen to me.”

  “Good things for you from this day forward,” Carson tells him, placing his hand on his shoulder.

  “Thank you doesn’t feel like enough,” he chokes out.

  “It’s more than enough,” Rainey tells him. He beams a smile at her, even through his illness I can see the relief on his face.

  “I’m not calling y’all mom and dads. That’s a little weird since you three are more like my best friends than parents. Plus, you three aren’t that much older than I am.” We all crack up, because we are much older than him but at the same time he’s right, the age difference isn’t enough for us to have parented him.

  “Get some rest, I’m going to go make you a bowl of soup,” Rai says, skipping down the hallway. It’s almost as if this news has taken the fear and unease away from her.

  “Congratulations,” Dillon tells us. “I’m heading home to share the news with Ariel, expect a herd of people at your place tomorrow,” he says laughing, as he walks out of the room.

  “You may end up changing your mind tomorrow, Trevor. Once you get a taste of all of our family together, you may run with your tail tucked between your legs.”

  “I don’t have a tail,” he states seriously. Carson and I end up laughing, this is how Rainey finds us when she comes back to feed him.

  “Now, this is a sight to behold, all of my guys laughing and enjoying life,” she says, before she actually spoon feeds Trevor his soup. This is all Glory’s influence on her, it makes me worried for our children when we begin having them.

  Chapter 16

  Rainey

  When your life changes in the blink of an eye…

  Signing all of the papers that make Trevor ours has my head spinning, and my wrist aching. Tonight, we’re all getting together at the clubhouse and celebrating the official adoption of Trevor Allen James.

  “He’s really ours, he’ll always be safe and loved,” I say to my men.

  “That he will be, Rai,” Levi replies, placing a kiss on top of my head. Trevor is beaming from cheek to cheek and keeps repeating his new name over and over again. It’s funny to a degree, but I can understand why he’s doing it. He’s been tossed around like garbage from the time his parents passed away, until now. The Newberrys’ license has been revoked and they’ll never have kids in their home again. It fills me with relief to know that for once, the good guys have won.

  “Will I be able to prospect for the Rage Ryders?” Trevor asks.

  “I don’t see why not, you’re family, but I’d like to see you get an education first before you make a final decision,” Carson replies, and it’s the most mature statement I think I’ve ever heard come from his mouth. Who would’ve thought my men would become so responsible for another person in such a short amount of time. Their giving and loving nature is astounding, and I love them more each and every day. I’m one lucky bitch and I’d scream it from the rooftops if I didn’t think they’d run away
from me as far as they could get. One thing they don’t like is embarrassment or attention directed only on them.

  “I wasn’t planning on going to college,” Trevor announces.

  “Why not?” I ask him.

  “Just never had any aspirations to be anything, figured I’d end up working some nine-to-five job somewhere is all.”

  “I’d like you to think on that a little more,” Levi tells him. I see the wheels begin to turn in Trevor’s mind. He’s not one to put off anything, he likes to be two steps ahead normally, which is why his statement of not furthering his education surprised not only me, but Levi and Carson as well. He’s very bright and wants to learn everything he comes across. He’s not lazy and unwilling, I just don’t think anyone’s ever cared enough to make him think about the long run his future holds.

  “I just don’t know what I’d want to do, so much interests me.”

  “There’s time to decide, Trevor. Let’s take it one day at a time, okay?” I state, hoping that he does take the time and think it over, because I can see his future being bright, and I desperately want that for him.

  Levi

  The party is in full swing when Rainey decides she’s had enough. She’s already slapped one of the club Babes when she tried to get things on with Trevor. I was waiting for her head to literally explode. I know he’s fifteen, but he’s still a boy with hormones who doesn’t need her cock blocking him. But, I do realize the importance after what we’ve all just been through with Chrissy and Talley, for him to think things through before he takes that step. Looks like Carson and I will end up having a talk with him before Rainey ends up embarrassing him and ruining his rep before he even has a chance to make one for himself. Boys will be boys, and she needs to realize that he’s not a baby or small child and needs to learn lessons on his own. I’m not going to say this to her however, I like my balls right where they are. We call it a night, as does her family. They can only tolerate so much until the party starts getting wild. We all head out to our cars and leave for home. When we get there, Trevor heads straight for his room and Rainey is still cursing under her breath. Knowing that she needs a distraction, I follow her to the room, after making sure all the windows and doors are locked and see she and Carson are already deep in conversation.