Stolen Moments (And Then Came Love Book 2) (27 page)

Chapter Twenty-Two

May 26th

Arianna yawned. It had been a long twenty-four hours. An issue had arisen during the night with Austin’s breathing and he was on watch. She stretched in the chair next to the incubator. Tiny baby Austin slept for the moment. It wouldn’t be too long before they’d have to feed him again. Her eyes drifted closed again.

There was a knock on the door.

She looked up to see the hospital social worker standing in the doorway. “Arianna.”

“Hi, Ashley.” Arianna leaned forward in the chair and rubbed her eyes. “What are you doing here?”

Ashley pursed her lips. “There’s been an issue. There is a Juliet Ellington who has filed for custody of Austin. We can’t send him home until this gets settled in the courts.”

Arianna’s heart fell, her head spun, and her mind raced. What was she going to do?

“Sorry, Arianna. I’ll come back a little later with some paperwork, but I thought you should know.

She nodded. Not fully comprehending anything Ashley said. She laid her head against the chair and closed her eyes. Her eyes drifted closed.

“Hey.”

Her eyes snapped open at Trevor’s voice. She blinked rapidly looking over his choice of outfit. Was he wearing a uniform. Why would he be wearing a uniform?

“I have an hour before I go to work, did you want to get breakfast or take a break for a while?” He touched her leg.

She shook her head. Work? Did he say work? “Aren’t you still on medical leave?”

Trevor laughed. “Remember while we were in Minnesota. The DNR called to tell me about the job? I passed my physical yesterday I start today.”

How could he go back to work at a time like this? “You did?” She rubbed her forehead. Was he gone yesterday? Why didn’t she remember? “Did you even tell me?”

“I told you last night, but you were so far gone, I didn’t figure you’d remember.” Trevor leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Let’s get you breakfast. I’m sure you haven’t eaten in a while.”

She held up her hand and shook it. “Ginni will bring me breakfast.” He was going to work. He was going to be gone for at least eight hours of the day. How could he do this to her? Her hands shook as her mind raced. Who was going to make sure Mina got home from school? The social worker could possibly take their baby and he was going to work? “What are your hours?” She stood and paced the room.

“I let them know my situation, they’re going to work with me. I’m working the office from eight to four until things get settled down.” Trevor smiled.

“Who’s going to get Mina? She’ll be alone for a while until you get home.” Arianna rubbed her head. Why couldn’t he have waited until things settled down to go back to work. This was going to be a nightmare.

“Trust said he’d pick up Mina when he picks up Keegan. Mom’s going to get her on Tuesdays and Thursdays when she has swim practice. We’ll get through this.” He reached for her.

She took a step away from him, plopped into the chair, and rested her elbows on her knees. “It would be a lot easier if you had waited to take this job until after this settled down.” She dropped her head to her hands.

Trevor frowned. “Ari, I’m going stir crazy not working. I went from being available to work twenty-four seven in the military to sitting on my ass and doing nothing. It’s not working for me.”

She raised her head and gestured to baby Austin. “Because all of this isn’t going to keep you busy enough? Do you realize what it is going to take to raise this baby, Trevor?”

“First, we have help. Candace and Keegan are going to have to take some responsibility for Austin. It’s not all on us. We’re there to help, not to raise the baby.”

“And after she leaves for school?” Arianna pursed her lips. He didn’t get it. He was clueless on this front. How could he not understand how much work this was? It was one thing to be a stay-at-home-mom with nothing to focus on but the baby. But she was a doctor, she had patients. A teenage who still needed her, a sister who still had to finish high school, and now Austin.

“Keegan will still be there. Trust and Vivian will be there, Greta said she’d stick around for a couple weeks to make sure we’re all settled. My parents are here to help.”

“I don’t need everyone to raise this baby. I need the man I love to actually care enough to support me.”

“I care a great deal, Arianna. I’m not leaving you, I’m working for eight hours a day. You don’t hear me telling you to quit your job so you can do this, do you?” Trevor steepled his fingers.

Arianna’s eyes widened. “Oh.” She took a deep breath. “You should probably get to work. You don’t want to be late.”

“Ari.” Trevor stood and took a step toward her.

She shook her head. “Go to work, Trevor.”

Austin let out a little cry.

She turned away from Trevor, blinking back the tears forming in her eyes.

He put his hands on her shoulders.

She shrugged them off. “Go.”

“We need to talk about this.”

She spun around and pushed him behave you seen

ck. “No, we don’t. Go to work, because I refuse to shout. So I’ll kick you out if I have to.”

Trevor narrowed his brows and frowned.

She pointed to the door. “Out.”

He pivoted on his heels and marched out the door.

Arianna fell into the chair, the tears flowing freely. When the sobs subsided, she realized how unreasonable she was being. Why? Sure she was tired, but it wasn’t in her nature to tell the man she loved not to go to work, to stay with her like she needed a babysitter. She’d just kicked Trevor out of her life. What in the hell was she going to do now? What the hell was wrong with her. And then it hit her. All Trevor was doing was going to work, simple, except for the fact it made her feel like she was suddenly alone again, back to when she was expecting Mina and didn’t know what she was going to do. She’d be stuck staying with Scott’s parents and listening to them argue how their life was going to change. Glenn wanted to travel. Ruth wanted another chance for a connection to her son that was gone. They weren’t really wanted, they were a burden Glenn and Ruth were dealing with. Suddenly, she was feeling seventeen again.

*****

Trevor walked into the hospital on his lunch hour. He stepped into the elevator. Two women in nurses’ uniforms stood there already.

One of the woman spoke to the other. “I really hate bothering Arianna with this. She doesn’t need any more stress.”

“Arianna Halsey?” Trevor frowned.

The woman spun around. “You know her?”

“She’s my girlfriend.” Trevor let out a heavy breath. At least he hoped she was still his girlfriend.

“Ashley Compton. You’re the one she’s raising the baby with?” The woman pulled out a stack of papers and scanned through it. “Trevor Vitalli.”

He nodded.

“Oh good.” She started to hand him the papers, but then brought them back to her chest. “I’m a social worker, you won’t mind if I ask for ID?”

Trevor pulled out his badge with ID next to it.

“A conservation officer and a doctor.” She turned to her friend. “This is a no brainer.”

The elevator door opened and the three of them stepped into the hallway.

She handed Trevor the paperwork. “This is the paperwork for the court case, we’ll have to finish it all before we can release the baby to anyone’s custody. Read over that, you and Arianna needs to sign and get it back to me in the next couple days.”

Trevor stood dumbfounded looking at the paperwork. “Court case?”

“Juliet Ellington filed for custody of Austin.”

Trevor took a deep breath. Evidently, he wasn’t going back to work. “Thank you.” He scanned through the papers as he walked down the hall to the NICU.

Ginni came around the corner and stopped him. “You can’t be here.” She rolled her eyes. “She’s going completely nuts about you going back to work.”

“I have every right to—”

She held up her hands. “You’re just preaching to the choir here, but I’ve been told if you show up you’re to be escorted off the property by security. She’s that serious.”

Trevor pursed his lips. How much worse could this day get? “Fine, I have other things to deal with instead.” He turned on his heels, headed back to the elevator, and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed his boss’s number. So much for his new job.

“Vitalli, what’s up.”

“I’m going to have to change my start date. As much as I’d like to come back today, I just got notice my girlfriend’s mother is filing custody of the baby.”

“Ah.” His boss paused. “We want you on our team, Trevor. We’ve been after you since you applied. Get things together at home and you can start whenever you need too. You can even start out part time if you’d like.”

“If you need me call me. I’ll try and start on Monday, but it depends on how it goes with this nonsense with her mother.”

“I get it, babies are complicated creatures, especially when they’re early. If we need you before Monday, I’ll give you a call.”

“Thanks, boss.” Trevor clicked off the phone and stepped off the elevator.

He glanced through the paperwork again. Time for some phone calls.

*****

Trevor tossed his keys down on the table right inside the door. He walked to the kitchen and started rummaging through the refrigerator. The last thing he wanted to do was cook dinner. He’d made what felt like five hundred phone calls this afternoon, none registering the answer he needed.

Mina strolled into the kitchen. “Mom coming home tonight?”

“I don’t know.” He pulled out a package of ground pork and walked to the stove. What he was going to do with it, he had no clue.

“Ooo, can you make egg rolls? I’ve been craving them ever since you made them the last time.” Mina grabbed the package of cabbage and egg roll wrappers out of the refrigerator.

“Sure.” He placed a pot on the stove and turned on the burner.

Mina got a knife and cutting board and began to cut the cabbage. “Everyone was asking about Candace’s baby today at school. They all made fun of her when she was pregnant, but now that it’s out that it’s Keegan’s and she gave birth prematurely, they’re all interested.”

“That’s nice.” Trevor browned the pork and mixed in the seasonings.

“My friend Ashlynn’s birthday is this weekend. I can’t wait for it. Her mother does manicures and pedicures and she’s going to do them for all the girls there—”

Trevor slammed the wooden spoon on the stove. “Is your mother aware of this? I have a lot of shit on my mind and your friend’s birthday party isn’t one of them.”

Mina’s eyes widened and her lip quivered. “Thanks for caring, jerk.” She dropped the knife on the counter and ran out of the room.

He rubbed his forehead. Great now he had both of them mad at him. He went back to cooking. If there was anything fair about this life, he’d be able to finish dinner before anyone else showed up.

Trevor was in the middle of wrapping the last egg roll when the doorbell rang. “Fuck me.” He finished wrapping it, put it on the tray and put them all in the oven before heading to the door.

Mina had already opened it and was standing in Greta’s arms crying.

Lovely.

He turned around threw the towel in the kitchen and stalked back to the door.

“Is everything all right?” Greta peered at him. “Arianna’s upset, but she won’t tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s me.” Trevor grabbed his keys. “I’m not sure this is going to work.” He walked out to his truck and climbed inside. He slammed his hand into the steering wheel.

Greta stormed out of the house and over to the truck.

Just what he needed another Halsey woman mad at him. He opened the window of the truck as she neared him.

“You’re going to walk out on them like that? In the middle of all the stress they’re going through right now?” She planted her hands on her hips.

“No.” Trevor dropped his head to the steering wheel. “I’m just as stressed as they are and Arianna bitching me out for going back to work didn’t help.”

“Is that what started this? You going back to work?”

“Evidently. I didn’t even know it was an issue until I told her I was going this morning.” Trevor blew out a breath. “I need to apologize to Mina, I didn’t mean to take it out on her.”

“Why don’t you go see Arianna? I’ll finish dinner and stay with Mina.”

“She won’t talk to me. I tried calling earlier and I stopped by the hospital before I came here. I was told I wasn’t even allowed in the room.”

“Do you want me to talk to her?” Greta put her hand on his.

Trevor shrugged. “I don’t know that it’s going to do any good.” He leaned his head back against the seat. “What am I supposed to do? Just quit? I’ve told them about my situation. I even told them today I needed to back down to part time.”

“And did they accept you working part time?”

“Yeah they did, it’s a non-issue with them. “Trevor nodded. “It’s Ari. I know she’s stressed. I want to be able to help, but she’s refusing help. She has an entire family begging to help her and she won’t accept it.” He slammed his hand down on the steering wheel.