Andrea Laurence - The Baby Proposal

“It doesn’t look good to be honest,” Dexter said.

“What do you mean?” Lana said. Her face was flushed red and had been since the night before. She seemed to be on the verge of tears every second.

“I mean Judge Kona is a hard-ass. Yes, it absolutely makes sense for you to get custody of your niece. But let me tell you why he’d turn your petition down.” Dexter looked at his notepad. “You’re a dancer. You live out of a hotel room. You keep crazy hours. You’re single. While none of those make you legally unfit to have children, adding them all together makes you a hard sell to the judge.”

Lana frowned. “Well, for one thing, I’m a choreographer. I do stay in the hotel for convenience, but I can get an apartment if that’s what it takes. I am single, but I can afford day care while I’m at work.”

“And at night?” Dexter’s brow went up curiously. “I’m just playing devil’s advocate here. Judge Kona will ask these questions, so it’s best you be prepared for them.”

“I just don’t understand how Lana can be considered unfit when the baby’s actual parents are drug dealers. Even if she was an exotic dancer that lived in a van down by the river, she’d be more fit than Mele and Tua.” Kal was getting mad. He wasn’t used to being told no, especially when he called Dexter. Dexter was supposed to fix things. His reluctance to handle this made Kal more irritated by the second.

The attorney held up his hands in surrender. “I get it. I do. And I’ve gone ahead and filed for temporary guardianship. We’re on the judge’s docket for Wednesday.”

“Wednesday!” Lana looked heartbroken. Kal imagined that if his niece was with strangers, he wouldn’t want an hour to go by, much less a few days.

“There is no such thing as ‘hurry’ in the court system. We’re lucky we got in Wednesday. Look at this time as the opportunity it is.”

“Opportunity?” Lana repeated, skeptically.

“Yes. You’ve got two days to make yourself more fit. Find a place to live. Arrange for a nanny. Buy a crib. If you’ve got a serious boyfriend, marry him. All of that will help the cause.”

Marry him? “Now, wait just a second,” Kal said. He couldn’t be quiet about this any longer. “You’re recommending she just run out and marry someone so she can get custody?”

“Not just anyone. But if she’s with someone serious, it’s a great time to make the leap.”

Lana sat back in her chair and dropped her head into her hands. “Just the way I’d always pictured it.”

Kal didn’t like seeing her like this. She looked totally defeated. He wasn’t about to let her feel that way. “That’s a nice idea, Dexter, but not everyone is in a relationship that can go to the next level on a day’s notice.”

Dexter shrugged. “Well, I figured it was a long shot, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt. Focus your energies on an apartment and a caregiver, then. A nice place too. A studio isn’t any better than a suite at a hotel.” He stood and walked around his desk to lean against it. “I know that it seems like a lot of changes just for a temporary guardianship, but your sister and her boyfriend are in a lot of trouble. It might not be as temporary as you expect it to be.

“Life will get really complicated in a cramped apartment with a small baby after the first few weeks. My house is three thousand square feet, and when we brought our son home from the hospital, it felt like a tiny cardboard box. Baby crap everywhere. Everything is complicated by a factor of ten at least. It takes twenty minutes just to load up the car to run to the grocery store.”

Lana groaned aloud. “Are you trying to talk me out of doing this?”

Dexter’s eyes widened. “No, of course not. Kids are great. We have four now. My point is that I need you to do whatever you can to make it an easier transition. I have every intention of winning the motion Wednesday. I just need your help to make it impossible for the judge to say no. Every little thing you do can help.”

A soft knock came at the door.

“Yes?” Dexter asked loudly.

His assistant poked her head inside. “I’m sorry, Mr. Lyon, but Mr. Patterson is on line two and he’s very upset. He refuses to speak to anyone but you.”

Dexter looked at Lana, then at Kal. “Do you mind if I take this call in the other room? It should only take a minute.”

Kal nodded and Dexter slipped out the door with his assistant. He couldn’t shake the irritation that furrowed his brow. He didn’t like any of this and he certainly didn’t like this judge. Who was he to impose his value system on others? Lana shouldn’t have to rearrange her whole life for this. There was nothing wrong with the way she lived. She wasn’t a drug dealer or a heroin addict, so she was a step above her sister as a fit guardian, easily.

He wanted to say something, but Lana’s pensive expression gave him pause. He didn’t want to interrupt her. She got the same look on her face when she was working out a dance routine. The whole thing would play out in her mind like a film as she thought it through. If you spoke to her, she’d have to start over from the beginning.

Finally her brown eyes came into focus and she turned to look at him. Her dark hair was pulled into a ponytail today that swung over her shoulder as she moved. While her long, thick hair was beautiful and he often fantasized about running his fingers through it, he knew it annoyed the hell out of her. She kept it long for the show, but if she wasn’t performing, it was usually pulled back from her face. Thankfully that relieved the temptation. Most of the time.

“So I’ve got an idea,” she said. “It’s a little out there, so do me a favor and just go with it for a second.”

He didn’t know that he liked the sound of that. It usually meant trouble where she was concerned. “Okay.”

She held out her hands to count her points on her fingers. “So, obviously my job isn’t going to change and there’s no reason that it should.”

“Agreed.”

“I can find a day care for the days I work with the dancers and a babysitter for the nights of the luau.”

“That’s true. I can also give you some time off, you know. I think you have about two hundred hours’ worth of vacation you’ve never used.”

Lana frowned at him. She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately, and he didn’t like it. He wanted to reach out and rub away the crease between her eyebrows and kiss the pout of her lips until she smiled again. Or hit him. As long as she stopped looking so upset. Instead he kept his hands and mouth to himself.

“While that’s a nice idea, it’s Christmas. We’re super busy. There’s no way I’m taking off the whole month. Besides, if what your lawyer says is true and I have Akela longer than a month or two, I’m going to need my leave for when she’s sick or has doctor’s appointments. No one I know with kids under the age of three has any personal leave accrued, especially if the child goes to day care. They catch all the bugs there.”

Kal hadn’t really thought about that. If this did turn into a long-term arrangement, Akela would take up a huge portion of her time. He felt a pang of jealousy at the idea that he might be losing his best friend for a while. He totally understood, but he wondered what he would do while she was consumed by caring for her niece. “Okay. I just wanted to let it be known that your boss says it’s all right if you have to do it.”

Lana nodded. “Thanks. He’s usually a jerk, so I’m glad he can be reasonable about this.” She grinned for the first time since she’d gotten the call from her sister, and he felt a sense of relief wash over him at last. That smile gave him a little hope, even if it was at his expense.