“I know, Bear. And maybe one day, that will be enough.” She drops her arms and walks back to the couch. Mrs. Paquinn reaches up and pulls her down into a hug.
“Give her time, man,” Creed whispers, eyes begging. “She’ll come around. Just don’t… don’t give up on her.”
“I won’t,” I say. How can I? She’s family.
“So what now? You gonna go fix this now? With him?” he asks.
“I can’t.”
Now the room explodes.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” screams Creed.
“Are you kidding me?” screams the Kid.
“Are you retarded?” screams Anna.
“Aahhhhhhhhhhh!” screams Mrs. Paquinn.
Jesus Christ. “I will!” I shout over them. “Fuck, let me talk!”
They all shut up, at least having the decency to blush.
I take a breath. “I can’t, not until the Kid is safe. Not until I have a plan, something to make sure our mom can’t take him away from me. That’s what this whole fucking thing is about.”
“No, Bear,” the Kid drawls. “This was your coming-out party. Don’t put me in the middle of it.”
“You little shit,” I growl as I pick him up and press him against me again. I feel better knowing he’s near.
“Seriously, how the hell are we going to do that?” Creed asks. I don’t make mention of his saying we, because if I’ve learned anything today, it’s that these decisions are no longer mine alone to make. Whatever is decided affects all of us. I won’t make that mistake again.
“Bear? If I may,” Mrs. Paquinn says. “Haven’t you thought about getting custody of Tyson?”
“How?” I say stupidly.
“Legally,” she says, barely restraining the eye roll. “Haven’t you ever talked to a lawyer about this?”
“I don’t know any lawyers,” I say, as if this explains everything,
“Well, I do. I used to do paralegal work for a law office, you know.”
“Well, isn’t that just convenient,” Creed mutters.
I ignore him. “This isn’t like the time you raced stock cars, is it?”
She smiles beautifully at me. “I never raced stock cars, Bear.”
“Exactly.”
“Exactly,” she agrees. “Don’t you think a lawyer who practices in family law would at least be able to give you options?”
“I have the power of attorney,” I say.
She shakes her head. “It’s not the same. The power of attorney is something that can be easily contested. Full custody is not.”
“I can’t afford that,” I say quickly, already knowing what’s coming next.
“Don’t worry about that,” Creed says.