Whiskey In The Water

Chapter 18-Logan

Chapter 18

Logan

After Lori heads upstairs to call Kathy, Alice looks at me and asks, “Is she okay?” I shake my head and say, “She had a nightmare last night.” She shakes her head before looking down at my daughter. “She dreamed of him raping her.” I tell her. “She hasn’t had one since right after she got here.” Alice says. “I know. I just hope this doesn’t throw her back. She’s been doing so good with everything. “I’m sure she will be fine. We will be there for her and so will everyone else and Kathy is always on call.” She tells me. “I know.” I say.

A little later, I am sitting on the couch in the living room and holding Magnolia as Lori walks into the room and takes the seat on the couch next to me. She lays her head on my shoulder and plays with Magnolia’s little toes. “How are you feeling?” I ask. “Better, I think. Kathy said it’s normal for me to be triggered because of how she was conceived.” She tells me. “But you’ve not had any nightmares since we’ve been together.” I say, confused. “She said that could be because through my entire pregnancy you never called her anything but yours and you were so attentive and loving through my pregnancy that it sort of engraved the positive energy into me during my pregnancy. She said that there could be things that trigger me but at the same time, I could never be triggered again, that every case is different.” She tells me. “I did decide something for myself that I think might help.” She tells me. “What’s that?” I ask. “I started a journal when I got off the phone with Kathy. I wrote Magnolia a letter. I want to write her letters throughout her life and give them to her when she becomes an adult.” She tells me. “That’s a great idea. It might help you work through some things too.” I tell her and she nods. She still has her head on my shoulder, and I turn my head and kiss the top of her head. “I love you, Logan.” She tells me. “I love you honey.” I say back.

It's been a couple of weeks since Magnolia was born and it’s the morning that we are meeting with the social workers to get them started. We walk into Lori’s office, and I put the carrier down. I take Magnolia out of her carrier and help Lori put her in the baby wrap that Izzy bought her and Magnolia is wrapped snug against Lori’s chest. “Can you grab that box please?” she asks. I pick up the box and we head to the conference room.

We walk into the conference room and Mary has already got everyone sitting down and brought them water. She’s been an amazing help. “Good morning, Ladies. Thank you all for being here. Like I told you all on our last video chat, we will be having these meetings on Mondays but most of them will be on video like we did before so I can be home with this little one. We will have once a month, in person meetings in here.” Lori says. She looks at me and nods and I start handing out the folders. “These files are your first cases. Right now, we will only have you all working a few cases at a time until we can bring in more social workers. The flow of people we have right now, we have enough of us. I want you all to take a couple of hours and look over the cases and get an idea of how you want to handle the case. You all will be the primary on these cases but until we make sure we have all the kinks worked out; I will ask you all to send me an email with updates alone the way. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns about these clients. I know I said this before, but you are all dealing with young women who have been through trauma. I know that there are cases that are going to be coming through here that will take a toll on you. When and if that happens, we have someone on staff to help you talk through it. Now, I’m going to let my husband tell you some other things you need to know.” She says and takes a seat next to where I’m standing.

“Good morning, Ladies. My name is Logan Edwards, and I am the lawyer on staff here. My job is to help our clients in any way I can.” I say and Mary hands another file to each person. “These files have the information for all the resources we offer. We have information about the clinics, doctors, housing and more. All these resources have been through thorough background checks just like you did. Now, these resources have agreed to assist us at no charge because of the circumstances. One thing to remember is that we only offer the housing after we have helped them find jobs and they are ready to move out of the shelter. Please let us know if you have any questions. Lori and I are always on call. Any questions?” I ask and everyone shakes their head no.

After leaving the conference room, Mary takes the ladies to show them where their offices are for them to get started. We go to Lori’s office and Maggie starts fussing so I lock the office door, and she sits in her office chair and starts to nurse Maggie. “I think that went well.” She says. “It did. You know I’m proud of you, right?” I say. “I’m proud of me.” She says. I smile at her and say, “You’ve come a long way.” She looks down at our daughter and caresses her cheek as her eyes drift closed. “She’s perfect Logan.” She says. “Just like you.” I tell her and she looks up at me and smiles. She looks back down and asks, “Do you think she would be proud of me?” and I think she’s talking about Maggie, but she looks back at me and I see it. She’s asking if her mom would be proud of her. I kneel in front of her and say, “I think she would be. Baby, you’ve been through hell and not only are you still standing but you’re building something to help other girls who are going through their own hell. We are all proud of you.” I tell her before leaning forward and kissing her softly.

We work in her office for a bit longer before heading home. I see Lori hand Maggie to Alice, and she says, “I’m going to get a shower.” She kisses me softly before heading up the stairs. “How’s she doing?” Alice asks. “Okay, I think. You should have seen her in the meeting this morning with her social workers. She commanded the room. She knew exactly how she wanted things to go and made sure it went that way. I am so f*****g proud of her.” I tell her. “We all are.” She tells me. “We handed out the case files today but she’s still wanting to be the point of contact when we’re called. She wants to field which social workers get which cases.” I tell her. “If she gets a call, I’ll keep an eye on our princess.” She tells me and I kiss the top of her head.

Lori and I are in bed, sleeping when her phone rings. She sits up in the bed and turns on the lamp’s soft light. “Hello…okay…How old…We will be there shortly.” She says. “Get dressed and I’ll take Maggie to Alice’s room. You can tell me on the way.” I tell her and take Maggie to Alice’s room. I knock on the door, and she answers. “Lori got a call so we’re heading out. I don’t know how long we will be.” I tell her. “I got her.” She tells me and takes her from me. I kiss the top of our daughter’s head and head upstairs to get dressed. I walk into the bedroom and she’s putting on her shoes. I quickly get dressed and we head out to the SUV.

“So, what are we looking at?” I ask. “Kathy called and said one of her contacts from the hospital called. The police were called. All I know right now is that there’s a child that is going to need placement.” She tells me. “Okay. We will see what’s going on and go from there.” I tell her. We park at the hospital and walk up to the floor that Kathy told us to meet her.

“Thanks for coming guys.” Kathy says as she shakes our hands. “What’s going on?” Lori asks. “Like I said on the phone, the police were called by the neighbors because they could hear screaming and when the police got there, the husband was sitting on the couch, covered in blood and his wife was on the floor deceased. From what we know, they would argue a lot, but they’d never heard her scream like this. She had been stabbed at least twenty-eight times in the chest and abdomen.” She tells us. “Shit.” I say and Lori covers her mouth. “What about the child?” Lori asks. “Her name is Mia. She’s three years old and hasn’t said a word. She was found in the bedroom closet by the officers.” She tells us. “Did they have any issues getting her to come out?” I ask. “No. She saw the police officer and went right to him.” She tells us. “So, she will need placement. Is there any family that we know of?” Lori asks. “No. Police said the neighbors said they have lived there for about seven years and that she had spoken to the wife several times and remembered her saying that both were only children and that neither had any family living.” Kathy tells us.

Kathy takes us to meet Mia and when Lori walks in, Mia stops coloring and looks up. “Hi Mia. I’m Lori.” She says. “Hi.” Mia whispers. Lori kneels next to her and says, “Do you like to draw?” Mia nods her head yes and Lori looks back at me. “My best friend likes to draw too. She’s really good.” Lori tells her and I wonder where she’s going with this. “Would you like to meet my best friend?” Lori asks and I know we’re taking her to Mary. Mia nods her head yes and Lori stands and holds out her hand and Mia takes it, trusting her. “Mia, Miss Kathy is going to take you to get your things, okay?” she asks, and Mia looks at me, then Kathy and takes Kathy’s hand.

After they are out of earshot, she takes out her phone and calls Mary. “Hey girl…Sorry to wake you but I need a huge favor…Yeah, we’re at the hospital…little girl named Mia and she’s three years old…Mom was murdered, and father is in jail for it, and I feel like being with you would be good for her…I owe you…we’re bringing her to the mission now…See you soon.” She says before ending the call. “What are you thinking babe?” I ask. “I see how Mary looks at Maggie. I know she wants a family and Mia needs someone. From what Kathy told us, I think her knowing what Mia went through might help both Mia and Mary.” She tells me. I kiss her forehead and say, “You’re amazing.”

Kathy walks back in with Mia, and I ask, “Are you ready to go?” Mia looks up at me and nods. We walk her out to our car and Kathy follows. She had handed me the car seat for Mia. I buckle the car seat in, and Lori puts Mia in and buckles her in. I open Lori’s door like I always do before heading to the driver’s seat. Getting in, I start the car, and we head to the mission.

Once we pull up at the mission, I open Lori’s door and help her out and she gets Mia out. I get Mia’s car seat out and we walk inside. As we walk in, we see Mary sitting on one of the couches, waiting for us. “Mia, sweetie, this is my best friend, Mary. Mary this is Mia.” Lori introduces them. Mary kneels to Mia’s level and says “Hi Mia. Are you okay?” Mia looks at her and shakes her head no. “Do you want to come and sit with me?” Mary asks and Mia nods her head yes. Mary walks her over to the coffee table and has some paper and crayons to color. They start coloring and Mary asks, “What’s wrong sweetpea?” Mia is quiet for a minute and keeps coloring. “My daddy is mean.” She says. “How is he mean?” Mary asks. “He hits mommy. He hurt her.” Mia says. “I know. Did he hurt you?” Mary asks and Mia shakes her head no and we all release the breaths we were holding. Mia looks at Mary and asks, “Is my daddy coming back?” Mary shakes her head no. “Do you want to stay with me?” Mary asks. Mia’s eyes light up and she asks, “Can I?” Mary nods her head yes and I speak up and say, “We can get her a bed to put in the dorm tomorrow and I can file the papers to get her dad’s rights taken away and make you her guardian.” Mary nods. “Thank you.” Mary says. “We should be thanking you. I know we sprung this on you but…” Lori starts, and Mary stops her by saying “I needed this too.”

After we head home, we’ve been gone for a couple of hours. Walking through the door, Alice is walking into the kitchen with Maggie. “She okay?” I ask. “Woke up hungry. I was just going to heat one of her bottles.” Alice says. “I’ll nurse her.” Lori says and takes Maggie from her. “How did everything go?” she asks. “Little girl needed placement. Her dad murdered her mom, and he was arrested.” I tell her. “Oh, my goodness. The little girl?” she asks. “He didn’t hurt her, but we placed her with Mary. We think they will be good for each other.” Lori says, looking up at Alice.

The next morning, I am in my office, after breakfast and I call Evan. “Hey buddy. I need a favor.” I tell him. “What’s up?” he asks. “Have you spoken to Mary today?” I ask. “I texted with her a little while ago. She said she had something she needed to talk to me about. Why?” he asks. “What she needs to talk to you about is why I’m calling. We had a case come to us last night. Man murdered his wife, and we needed to find placement for their three-year-old daughter, Mia. I’m filing to have his rights taken away and for Mary to be her guardian. Any way you can help sign off on it?” I ask. “Of course. But first we need to wait until he’s arraigned before we can I can sign off on either. What’s his name?” he asks. “Bruce Blake.” I tell him. I hear him typing and he says “He’s up in front of me today. In an hour actually. Get the papers for his rights and take them to him. See if he will sign off on it willingly first. He has court in an hour and if he signs off, I will sign off on it and the papers to make Mary a permanent guardian.” He tells me. “Will do. Thanks man.” I say before ending the call.

Half an hour later, I am sitting in a room when Bruce Blake is brought in. He sits down and they shackle his hands to the bar on the table. “Are you my lawyer?” he asks. “No. But I am a lawyer. I’m representing the person your daughter was placed with.” I tell him. “What do you want?” he asks. I pull out the papers and put them in front of him. “What’s this?” he asks. “These are papers, relinquishing your rights to Mia. You’re going to sign these.” I tell him. “And why would I do that?” he asks. “If you sign these papers, I will talk to the judge and ask him to take the death penalty off the table. If not, you better hope hell has mercy on you.” I tell him. “You’ll talk to the judge?” he asks. “About taking the death penalty off the table, yes.” I tell him. He takes the papers and the pen and starts signing. “I never wanted the brat anyway. b***h wouldn’t get rid of her.” He says as he hands the papers to me. I take the papers and don’t say another word. I put them in my briefcase and head out the door and to Evan’s office.

Walking into Evan’s office, I hand him the papers that Butch Blake signed. “He signed them?” he asks. “I had to tell him I would talk to you about taking the death penalty off the table and he said he never wanted her anyway. Called her a brat and said his wife wouldn’t get rid of her.” I tell him. “Well, I’ll take it off the table but that doesn’t mean he will last long inside.” He tells me and I know he’s going to be making some calls of his own. “Have you seen her yet?” I ask. “Not yet but I called Mary after we got off the phone and I’m going after court to meet her.” He tells me and I smile.

After leaving Evan’s office, I swing by the mission to take the papers to Mary. Walking into the sitting room, I see Mary at one of the tables, coloring with Mia. Mary looks up and sees me and I nod my head, letting her know everything is done. I walk over to the table and hand her a file. “Mia, I’m going to step over here with Mr. Logan. I will only be a minute, okay?” she asks and Mia nods. “Can I play with her?” she asks, pointing to a little girl her age playing with dolls. “That’s fine.” Mary tells her and she runs over to play with the little girl. Mary opens the file, and I tell her “There’s a copy of the papers that he signed giving up his rights. There’s her birth certificate and her social security card. The papers showing you are her guardian are in there too. From here out, she’s your daughter.” I tell her. She hugs me and says “She cried last night. Asked me what happened to her mommy.” She tells me and I look over at Mia. “I told her that her mommy was an angel and that she’s watching over her from heaven. She seemed okay with that answer.”

She tells me. “That’s good. Might still be a good idea to get with Kathy about getting her into counseling and see if she can tell you how to help her better.” I tell her and she nods. “I better head home. Evan said he’s meeting her today.” I say. “He is. I don’t know if he’s still going to want to be with me now that I have her.” She says. “He will. Don’t worry about that.” I tell her and she nods.

I head home and when I get there, I walk into the house and see Lori sitting on the couch, holding Maggie in her arms, just watching her. I move to sit next to her, and she looks up at me. “How’d it go?” she asks. “Evan signed off making her a guardian and I got her all the paperwork she needs for her. The dad signed the papers giving up his rights without issue.” I tell her. “Good. Mary’s been texting me. She said that Evan is meeting Mia today.” She says. “Yeah. She’s worried he won’t want to be with her because of Mia.” I tell her. “We both know that’s not true. He's not going anywhere.” She tells me and I nod in agreement.

Lori and I spend the rest of the day sitting with our little girl in the garden and spending time as a family. Between spending time together, our daughter, our family, and friends as well as the mission, I don’t know how life could get any better. I’ve found the love of my life and she amazes me more and more every day.