Seeking Love in Salvation (19 page)

“I can’t even move. You planned this,” she accused, and they chuckled.

“Get used to it, it may be the plan every night for now on,” Sparrow added then leaned down and kissed her lips.

“We’ll talk about it later,” she said and closed her eyes.

Ridge reached over and caressed her ass cheek. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

Beck chuckled and then Ridge went to turn off one of the lights. As he looked at the bed and saw them all laying there, surrounding Valentina, he hoped that they all could have things this perfect forever. It bothered him that the thought of a scene so perfect made him think that something could destroy it all.

* * * *

Valentina smiled as she sat in the lawn chair alongside Lois, Sparrow, and Jace, as Ridge and Beck played a game of basketball with Kenny. She couldn’t help but smile at the fact that Kenny took to them so well. He was usually extra shy around men, especially men with tattoos and muscles who were ex-military like his dad was. For a four-year-old, he was pretty damn smart and in tune to everything. She hoped he was okay with the fact that his aunt was romantically involved with four men, not just one.

It gave her a bit of nervousness as she ran her hand over her belly. People around Salvation were so accepting of ménage relationships, and she’d learned through the medical center, through work at the department, and through friends of Helena she was making that a good amount of people engaged in this type of relationship. For some reason, she thought about Tye, Lena, and Grace. How she hoped that they could stay together as a family. She felt angry at Samuel and Roxie. She couldn’t understand how a mother and father, parents, could abandon their children. They were part of them, their flesh and blood, and their responsibility.

As she watched Kenny play, Valentina wondered if there was a way that she could be their foster parent. She knew in New York the likelihood of allowing a single woman to be a foster parent, never mind to adopt, was unheard of. She looked at the men and knew she loved them. Would they want this relationship to last forever? Would they want to marry her, or whatever it was ménage couples did?

She didn’t know. There were so many questions. It was the worst possible stage of her life to try and take on more responsibility and try to handle three children that weren’t even her flesh and blood. Those kids were going to have issues. Big ones. She may not be able to handle them, but oh, how she would try with all her heart and all her abilities. She wanted Tye and Lena to feel part of a family. She wanted Grace to feel love, compassion, and care in a mother’s arms. Not roughness, neglect, and disgust.

Tears filled her eyes and she felt panicked.

“Excuse me a moment,” she said and got up, heading into the house. She got to the bedroom, closed the door, and then sat on the edge of the bed.

She was being so emotional. She looked around the room and envisioned the rest of the small cottage. It was too small for all of them, even if she were allowed to take the kids in temporarily. She couldn’t work and care for them. She didn’t have much of a savings, but was it enough to care for all of them, Lois and Kenny included, at least until the kids were school-aged? What about Lois? How would she feel about this? She was her family, her sister, and Kenny was her nephew and he was going to need care, too.

Valentina felt the tears roll down her cheeks. Her heart ached for the babies, for Kenny, for Lois, for all the violence and danger, the lack of love and compassion these poor human beings had faced. It wasn’t fair that Tye, Lena, and Grace could be separated, or would lose the opportunity to have a family and stay together. It wasn’t fair that their mother didn’t even love them. She’d abandoned them. Valentina witnessed her abusive behavior, physically and emotionally. She nearly killed that poor woman at the shelter. What else was Roxie capable of? Killing Grace, Lena, and Tye?

She heard a knock on the bedroom door and Sparrow’s voice.

“Valentina? Is everything okay?” he asked in that deep, firm tone of his that instantly set her heart on fire and made her body react. God, everything about him and his brothers made her feel good, feel happy and loved.

“Val?” he repeated.

“Fine. I just need a minute,” she said and stood up to look in the mirror. She was wiping her eyes when the door opened. She didn’t look at Sparrow. Instead, she remained facing the mirror and fixing her eyes. Instantly she felt his arm go around her waist and his large, hard body press against hers.

She exhaled, closing her eyes, relishing in his embrace and envisioning his sexy body, tattoos and all. His lips kissed her neck and then his arm hugged her tight.

“What’s wrong?” he whispered, kissing her neck.

“Nothing…everything…I don’t know, I’m…I don’t know,” she blabbered and then chuckled, but then a stray tear rolled down her cheek. Sparrow tensed. He turned her around in his arms, pulled her by her hips, and sat on the edge of the bed. She stood between his legs and he cupped her cheeks.

“Talk to me. Why the tears?”

She tried to smile and shake her head as her mind scattered with her thoughts. She gripped his wrists.

“I love you.”

He smiled sexy-like and in a way that made her breasts feel full and her whole body want nothing more than to make love to him. It was so crazy.

“I love you, too. Crazy, huh?” he asked, as if it shocked him as well.

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.

“I think that’s a great idea. I’ll help, too, and Kenny will be thrilled to have other kids his age around.”

“Well, let’s not jump the gun. There’s a lot to figure out, and with both parents missing, I’m not certain what the courts will do. My first step is to see if I can be a foster parent and start that process. I became quite friendly with the social worker from the shelter and also the one assigned from the state. I have to see what I can do to get them. It’s going to be difficult.”

Lois smiled at her and then gave her knee a pat. “If anyone can do it, you can. Besides, just remember, if it doesn’t work out, you can always be certain to get those kids the best home possible by using all those powerful ways of yours.”

“Powerful ways?” Valentina asked.

“Your stubborn, don’t give up, negotiating attitude that never takes no for an answer. You’ll be their advocate, no matter what.”

Valentina smiled. “I’ll do whatever I need to do. They deserve to be happy and to be loved.”

Lois smiled and nodded. Thank God for Valentina. If Lois ever lost her, she wouldn’t know what to do.

It had been two weeks since Valentina filed the necessary documents to try and adopt Tye, Lena, and Grace. She was told numerous times that the likelihood that she would be approved was slim. She worked a dangerous job. Being in law enforcement increased her chances of getting injured or killed in the line of duty. She was a single, twenty-four-year-old woman who rented and didn’t own a home. She’d never had a child of her own and was involved in an unconventional romantic relationship that could negatively affect the psyche of all three children already traumatized by violent, shocking events in their lives.

She was feeling hopeless, despite the fact that she had numerous people writing letters and making signed statements confirming her personality, her professionalism, and her abilities to be a parent to three adopted children. It was a roller coaster of emotions and only two weeks’ time had passed.

Today, when she was allowed to visit the children at a temporary shelter, the kicker was that the social worker told her it would make everything much easier and straight forward if she got the mother, Roxie, to sign over custody to Valentina, giving up all rights.

Well, that wasn’t a possibility. First of all, Roxie was still missing. Secondly, the woman didn’t care about the kids unless it made Samuel happy, and obviously he didn’t really care, either. If the two of them were together, then they’d both basically abandoned the kids. Now what?