A Time to Abide by Juliette Duncan

Author:Juliette Duncan [Duncan, Juliette]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Juliette Duncan

Chapter 16

Colin paced the floor of his living room. Annie’s ultimatum weighed heavily on him, but she hadn’t budged an inch. There had to be some way of convincing her, because he didn’t want to have to choose between her and Elysha.

When Paige’s brother, Simon, had gone into the bar looking for him, Annie told him and he went out and tracked Simon down. He’d never expected to be knocked out by him. If he had to, he’d use that in his case to get Elysha. Surely the court would think twice about giving a baby to a family whose members went around beating innocent people.

Using the underground Goth network, he’d heard that there was a weakness in the Department of Child Service’s computer systems and one of his fellow Goths had discovered where Elysha was and told him. It would be risky going there, but if only Annie could see her, he was sure she’d change her mind. Time was running out. He had no choice.

He poked his head into the back room where Annie was painting. An excellent artist, her dark paintings brought in more money than their bartending incomes combined. “Annie, let’s go out for a while.”

She looked up. “Do we have to? I’m right in the middle of this.”

“Yes, we do. And wear regular clothes.”

She narrowed her eyes. They rarely wore clothes with any colour, choosing instead to wear all black. “All right. Give me a few minutes.”

“Okay.” He returned to pacing. The next question was how to see the baby. Knock on the door? Pretend to be someone from Child Services? Peer through a window? Wait until someone took her outside? He pulled at his hair. Useless. It was all useless. They’d get caught and that would be it. He slumped onto the couch. Maybe he should just give up.

He was still slumped when Annie emerged a few minutes later. She’d done what he’d asked and was wearing a short summer shift and sandals. Her legs were long and pale, not surprising since they never saw the sun. “I thought we were going out.”

He sighed. “I’ve changed my mind.”

She frowned and sat beside him. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m trying to think of ways to get you to change your mind.”

“About the baby? I thought you’d decided not to go to court tomorrow.”

He shrugged. “I lied.”

She met his gaze without flinching. “I don’t understand why you want her so much.”

“Because she’s mine. I’m her father.” He poked his chest with his own finger and straightened. He could feel the anger and frustration growing inside him.

“You know nothing about being a father.”

“Does anyone at the beginning?”

“Maybe not. But you’ve had no role model, no family to speak of, no siblings. How do expect to raise a child?”

“With your help.”

She sank into the seat beside him and sighed. “I’m not ready to be a mother. I’m really sorry, but if I was going to care for a baby, it’d be my own, not someone else’s.”

“But she’s my baby. Paige might have been her mother, but she’s also mine.

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