She stared at him. “I’m sad when I should be incredibly happy.”

He squinted his eyes at her.

“Why?”

“I feel blessed that I have you and your brothers in my life now, in our lives now, and that Kenny is so comfortable with you, and even Lois, too.”

“That’s good. He’s a great kid, so smart and very determined. He seems to like sports, especially baseball,” Sparrow added and caressed her arms. She stared down into his dark blue eyes and thought about Roxie’s kids and poor baby Grace. The tears fell and she tried to pull away as she closed her eyes, but Sparrow wouldn’t let her. Then she felt hands on her shoulders behind her.

Jace.

“What is it? Why are you so upset? Talk to us, baby. We’re here for you,” Sparrow told her.

She swallowed hard. The words came out of her mouth and she feared he would be upset or think she was crazy or something.

“I want to help save Roxie’s kids. I want to try and adopt them if the courts take away her and Samuel’s parental rights.”

She felt Jace’s hands tighten on her shoulders and saw Sparrow’s shocked expression. She feared they wouldn’t want her to do that. That maybe they couldn’t love her, be with her, if she had the burden of three additional needy babies to care for.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked her.

“You know the likelihood of any court giving you custody of three babies who will most likely need counseling and a lot of support and love is pretty damn slim,” Jace said to her. Sparrow released her as she stepped back to look at Jace.

She wiped her eyes. “I don’t care. I’ll do whatever I have to in order to make sure those babies have a good family, can be loved and cherished and helped so they can have full successful lives, not abusive, violent ones. Not ones where they can be separated and never see each other again. They’re all they have now, Jace. When I saw them the other day, they clung to one another. Baby Grace cried until Tye held her, and even then, she didn’t last long before she passed out from crying so much. When I held her, she stopped immediately. She looked up at me with those dark blue eyes and that angelic face and then stared at me and settled down. All the while, Lena and Tye laid next to me and slept. The social worker said they hadn’t slept in days. Days, Jace.”

Jace looked at Sparrow.

“Have you talked to your sister about this?” Jace asked her. She shook her head.

“I told you first, just now, about two minutes after I made the decision to pursue this.”

“I think you should talk to Lois and see how she feels. Then we should all sit down and discuss our options,” Sparrow said to her. She looked at him.

“Our options?” she asked.

Jace wrapped his arm around her waist and held her tightly. “Our options, baby. You’re not doing this alone. We’re going to be here to help you, and to help these babies.”

She couldn’t speak. She could hardly see clearly, her vision blurred. “Really?” she squeaked, and Sparrow smiled. “You’re an amazing, caring woman with such a huge heart and so much to offer. Those kids need you, baby. Hell yeah. We love you, you love us, nothing else matters.”

She wrapped her arms around Sparrow’s neck and hugged him tightly. Jace chuckled.

“Well, let’s go talk to the others and see what we can do to get things rolling Monday. We have a lot of friends, Valentina. We can make this happen,” he told her, and she squeezed him tightly and felt relieved that they were willing to help her and still love her for wanting to do this.

She pulled back.

“There’s so much to discuss. I mean, I have money saved, but not a fortune. I can’t work for a bit if this goes through and I get them. They’ll need me twenty-four seven for quite some time.”

Jace pulled her into his arms. “Slow down, sugar. We’ll talk it all through and get it worked out. Plus, with the rest of the family around, those kids will be showered with love and care. They’ll never have to be alone again.”

“Oh, Jace, are you certain you don’t think I’m crazy?”

“Hell no. You’re amazing. Not many people would have the motivation and courage to take on something like this. I can remember being on missions in other countries and seeing things,” Jace said to her and then paused to caress her cheek and chin as if thinking about the images and remembering. He swallowed hard.

“Things that made my heart ache and made me feel so sick I almost vomited. Abuse, neglect, just plain abandonment of babies. Helpless little babies who didn’t ask to be born into the world and then neglected. It was torture sometimes. So, in all seriousness, I’m proud of you, and of this attempt to not just pass by or dismiss them. They’ve touched you, and it sounds like you’ve touched them. You can do this. We’ve got your six,” he said then cupped her cheeks and kissed her.

* * * *

Lois couldn’t even stop the emotions flowing through her. Today had been such a special day not just for her, but for Kenny. He really took a liking to the Brazos men, especially Ridge and Beck. It made her feel like moving here was the best idea ever, and like possibly her son would have a normal life. So when her sister had sat her down and told her about her idea of adopting the three babies from the case she was working on, she was floored. Valentina was an angel, a special woman sent from God above to make people’s lives better. Her selflessness and large heart were never hidden from view.

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