Excuse The Obscene

Zacky’s P.O.V.

After a few moments of stunned silence as I stared down at Emilee Berry and she tilted her head to stare back up at me, my senses set back in and I led Toni back downstairs with Emilee a few paces in front of us. Instinctively taking the kid’s hand, I walked her over to the couch in the lounge, grabbed the remote and scanned through a few channels until a cartoon popped up on the screen. I looked down to see Emilee’s stunned face at the size of the screen and pleased smile at the cartoon flashing across the T.V.

Satisfied that she’d be pre-occupied for the moment, I grabbed Toni’s arm and pulled her out to the hallway.

“Please, tell me you didn’t kidnap a child.” I said as we stood right outside the lounge.

I knew from Toni’s bodyguards that she had more than a few problems with Emilee’s foster mom and I wouldn’t put it pass her to take matters into her own hands.

“No.” Toni replied, shooting me an exasperated look. “I talked to Dina, Emilee’s foster mom, and she agreed to let Emilee spend a few nights here.”

The grin on her face made me doubt just how she got this woman to ‘agree’ but my heart-rate slowed down at the thought that at least we wouldn’t be battling kidnapping charges anytime soon.

“But that’s not all.” Toni said, her grinning face shifting into a slightly more serious one.

I waited silently for her to continue.

“I went to see Emilee’s social worker this morning and she gave me these.” Toni pulled a folder from her bag and handed it to me.

As my eyes scanned the pages, she rushed on talking.

“If Emilee’s birth mother signs these then we’d become her legal guardians. It’d be like adopting her without all the extra screening processes. Obviously it could take some time for the paperwork to go through but –“

I cut her off as I shut the folder.

“And you’re serious about this. Jesus, Toni! This is happening a little fast – you should’ve talked to me before you did all of this.” I tried to keep my frustration in check not only because the little girl in question was only a few feet away but also because the last thing I needed right now was another drawn out fight with Toni.

“I tried to talk to you yesterday.” She said, shrugging her shoulders.

“And I thought we agreed that we’d finish talking about it today.”

“I know this is happening fairly quickly and it’s obviously…unconventional. But we’ve always been unconventional and I know it sounds silly but I can just tell that this is going to work out. Look at her.” Toni said, gesturing to Emilee who was clutching her elephant and laughing up at the T.V. “We can be great for her.”

“What do we know about being parents?” I asked idly, still watching Emilee’s smiling face. I can’t imagine she’d done too much smiling in the past few weeks after having her father brutally murdered and her entire life turned upside down. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I wished I had added a few extra blows to Slade for her sake.

“Absolutely nothing.” Toni answered my question, snapping me out of my thoughts. “But we’ll figure it out. And we have the guys and Val to help. It won’t be a normal environment but it’ll be full of love and loyalty. And it’s what the Berrys would have wanted.”

Her mention of the Berry twins reminded me of Brian saying basically the same thing just last night. I looked once more at Emilee before turning back to Toni and waving the folder she’d handed me around.

“And these papers?”

“The social worker said a lawyer had to be present and I’ve already called Cherie. She’s clearing her schedule as we speak. I booked us on a flight out of LAX to New Jersey tonight. We’ll land, crash for a night at a hotel then find Natasha Wilkins in the morning, have the papers signed and be back on a flight by afternoon.”

“And your plan is to just knock on this woman’s door and shove these papers in her face?” I asked skeptically.

Toni just shot me a look and shrugged.

“She signed away her rights once before, I’m sure she won’t have any hesitations doing it again.”

“What time’s our flight?” I asked glancing down at my watch and calculating how long it’d take to drive to LAX.

“About that.” Toni said, shooting me the smile she knew got her whatever she wanted out of me. “I only booked the two seats for Cherie and me.”

I crossed my arms, raised one eyebrow and waited for her to continue her explanation.

“Well, Emilee and I have already spent a lot of time getting to know each other but you’re still unfamiliar to her. I thought you could use this time to, I don’t know, get to know each other.”

I felt an unfamiliar sensation of discomfort creep onto me. I could handle any number of dangerous men and run a criminal empire with ease but the thought of being left alone with a four year old girl left me feeling a little tense.

“What am I supposed to do with her?”

“Talk to her. Play with her. Take her to the beach or the park.” Toni responded, glancing down at her watch. “But I have to run soon if I’m gonna make that flight.” And with that bit of advice, she spun on her heel and raced up the stairs.

I watched Toni retreat, before rolling my eyes and walking back into the lounge. I took a moment to remind myself that I could deal with one little girl before sitting down on the couch beside Emilee.

“Hey Emilee, I’m Zacky.” I said cautiously, trying to get a read on her tiny mind.

“Hi.” She whispered back, turning away from the T.V. to shoot me her shy little smile. Yeah this is exactly what I needed in my life, another girl that could control me with her smiles.

“So what are we watching?” I asked, and listened intently as she enthusiastically explained the ins and outs of the cartoon playing on the flat screen.

A few minutes later, Toni strolled back into the lounge with an overnight bag slung over one shoulder. She walked over to the couch and kneeled in front of Emilee.

“Hey sweetie, I have to go a quick trip but Zacky is going to look after you and I’ll be back before you know it.” Toni said, winking over at me.

“Okay.” Emilee cheerfully replied. “We’re gonna watch cartoons. Dina never lets me watch anything.” She explained in a matter-of-fact voice.

Toni just laughed before standing up again.

“See she likes you already.” Toni said as I walked her to the door.

“Yeah well it’s only been ten minutes. Let’s see if I can keep her entertained for 24 hours.” I murmured, pulling her in for a kiss as we neared the door.

“Oh, before I go. You have to sign these.” She pulled the papers from her bag along with a pen and pointed out where I had to sign on each page.

“So we’re really doing this?” I asked after I’d signed the last page.

“Yes.” Toni beamed at me before throwing her arms around my neck and burying her face in my chest.

We stood there wrapped around each other for a few more minutes before Toni finally pulled away.

“Okay I’m gonna be late. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She leaned up for another kiss before racing out the door.

I spun on my heel, returning to the lounge where Emilee sat, legs swinging and head tilted up at the flat-screen.

A quick glance down at my watch let me know it was a little after 1.

“Come on.” I said, holding my hand out to Emilee. “I’ll show you the kitchen and we can rustle up some lunch for you, yeah?”

She beamed up at me before leaping off the couch and putting her tiny hand in mine. I looked down at our hands and couldn’t stop the small smile that inched across my face. Toni was right; we can be great for her. But she’ll end up being great for us too.

I pulled myself back to the present and led Emilee over to the kitchen, pointing out other rooms as we went along. In the kitchen, I lifted her up and placed her on one of the counter stools. The second her butt hit the chair she discovered the spinning function and wasted no time, whirling around and around.

I laughed, walking over to the fridge and pulling out the makings of a sandwich.

“Okay, we’ve got turkey, ham, chicken – what’s it gonna be?” I turned around in time to see her finally stop spinning.

She paused to think for a moment, her eyes squinting as she stared at the cold-cuts in my hands.

“All of them.” She said with a decisive nod.

“All of them?” I asked skeptically.

She just grinned, nodding.

“Okay then.” I said, stacking the cold cuts on the counter in front of her before turning to grab lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, mayonnaise and bread.

It took her five minutes to build her sandwich and by the time it was done the thing was bigger than her face and the counter top was a complete mess. I smiled as she looked at the sandwich, clearly trying to calculate the best approach to eating it. I watched in silence as she finally picked it up, went in for a bite, and had the entire sandwich explode in her hands – all sorts of ingredients falling into her lap.

I let out a laugh and she looked up at me with surprisingly sad eyes.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered.

“What for?” I asked, grabbing a paper towel and cleaning the mess off her lap.

“Dina says if we make a mess we get in trouble.”

I’d already heard enough about this Dina woman and I could see why Toni bitched so much about her.

“Well I’m not Dina.” I replied, tossing the ruined sandwich in the trash. “Now how about just the ham this time?” I asked, throwing together a smaller sandwich before cutting it into halves and placing it in front of her.

When she was done eating, we returned to the lounge and settled in to watch Shrek on Netflix. Dinner time rolled around and, considering my less than noteworthy cooking skills, I took her out for pizza. By the time we were driving home, she’d done so much animated talking she’d exhausted herself and fell asleep in the backseat. Careful not to wake her up, I pried her out of her seatbelt and lifted her into my arms.

I’d only just stepped into the house when Johnny popped out of the lounge. All the guys had keys to my place and subsequently it sometimes felt like they might as well be living here.

“There you are-“ Johnny started to speak but stopped abruptly when I shot him a look and motioned to the sleeping girl draped across my side.

I carried Emilee up the stairs and into the guest bedroom across the hall from the room I shared with Toni. Though I guess it’s hardly a “guest” bedroom anymore. It’s Emilee’s room now. Which means it’d probably need some re-decorating but I’d gladly leave that to Toni and Val.

Pulling back the sheets with one hand, I lowered Emilee down onto the bed before pulling the covers back over her. The king sized bed practically swallowed her whole. I laughed lightly at the image before turning off the lights and heading back downstairs.

“So, I can only assume that that was Emilee Berry. Soon to be Emilee Baker, I presume?” Johnny asked as I walked into the lounge.

I shot him a questioning look and he shrugged.

“Toni told me about the adoption. Actually that’s why I’m here. She wanted me to swing by and see how impending fatherhood was treating you.” Johnny smirked.

I rolled my eyes and was about to reply when my mind backtracked to something Johnny had said. Emilee Baker. Toni and I hadn’t really talked about the surname issue. But I guess it makes sense that Emilee would take the last name Baker instead of Foster. I mean, eventually Toni would have my last name too. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

“Anyway,” Johnny spoke again, ripping me from my thoughts. “Uncle Johnny. It has a nice ring to it.”

Uncle Johnny, Uncle Jimmy, Uncle Brian, Uncle Matt, Aunt Val, plus me and Toni for parents – this little girl would be completely spoiled. But I couldn’t think of anyone who deserved it more.

Toni’s P.O.V.

The flight to Jersey was six hours long and we landed at 3 am – or midnight California time. We rented a car and by the time we checked into a hotel in Lakewood, the town Natasha Wilkins lived in, it was nearing five in the morning. I passed out seconds after dropping onto the bed.

I woke at around noon to Cherie shoving me and calling my name.

“Come on, Toni. We’re on a 4 o’clock flight out of here. With the hour and a half drive back to Newark, not to mention going through airport security, we don’t have that much time to get this done.”

I groaned, rolling over once before finally climbing out of the bed. Cherie was showered and ready, sitting in a chair still looking over the legal documents. Fifteen minutes later I emerged from the shower and Cherie was just placing all the papers back into the folder.

“Let’s get this over with.” I said, grabbing the keys to the rental.

I plugged the address the social worker had given me into the car’s GPS and half an hour later we were parked in front of a one story house. Hopping out of the car, we made our way up the stone walkway.

After three rings the door finally flew open and a frazzled looking brunette woman with a toddler on her hip opened the door.

“Natasha Wilkins?” I asked, eyeing the bouncing toddler in her arms.

“Yes.” She replied, staring at me as if waiting for me to continue.

I had to admit I was a bit stunned by the scenario. I had been expecting a woman unfit to be a mother. She’d abandoned her child at birth and then abandoned her again when said child lost her father but here Natasha Wilkins was bouncing a toddler and looking for all the world like the average suburban mom. And somehow that made me dislike her even more. Had she been a woman with too many personal issues to be a mother to a five year old, I might have forgiven her blatant disregard for Emilee following Matt Berry’s death, but clearly she hadn’t signed away custody because she didn’t have the means to be a mother. She just didn’t want to be a mother to Emilee. Luckily, while my own childhood mommy abandonment issues were rearing their ugly heads, Cherie seemed to have her wits about her.

“I’m Cheryl Hacker and this is Toni Foster. We just wanted to talk with you about your daughter, Emilee Berry.”

Natasha’s face dropped and it took her a moment to recollect herself.

“I already told social services I didn’t want custody.” She said, biting her lower lip. “I thought this was dealt with.”

“If you’ll just let us come in, we’ll explain everything and be out of your way in no time.” Cherie spoke again, clearly giving the woman no option but to let us in.

“Come in.” She muttered beneath her breath before spinning on her heels and walking further inside.

Once we were in the living room, she placed the little boy in his playpen and gestured for us to take a seat on the couch. A quick glance around the room revealed pictures of her, the baby and a blonde male who I assumed was her husband.

“So what is this about?” Natasha asked, tossing a toy off the chair and taking a seat across from us.

“We, my boyfriend and I, would like to adopt Emilee.” I said, speaking for the first time since she’d answered the door.

“Okay…and what does that have to do with me?” She asked, wringing her hands in her lap.

“Here.” Cherie cut in before I could respond, handing her the papers that Zacky and I had already signed. “My clients would like to circumvent a tedious adoption process by gaining rightful custody directly from you. Feel free to read those over. They essentially state that you, Natasha Wilkins, are terminating your parental rights and bestowing those rights on my clients.”

I watched Natasha’s face as she focused intently on Cherie’s lawyer speak.

“But I already denied custody to social services weeks ago.” Natasha frowned down at the pages as she flipped through them.

“Yes but those papers haven’t been officially processed yet, so if you could just sign these all of this would be done with.”

“Just sign the papers.” I said, already growing impatient with this woman. “Please.” I added as an afterthought.

“Okay.” She replied, lifting the pen before pausing yet again. “On one condition.” She said, dropping the pen again.

I tried to reign in my annoyance as I waited for her to continue.

“You have to tell her I died.” She said, looking at me.

“Excuse me?” I asked, confused for a moment.

“Tell her her birth mother died. I don’t want her ever trying to look me up when she’s older.”

She must have read the look of shock and anger on my face because she rushed to continue.

“I have a life here. I have a beautiful son and a wonderful husband and I just – I don’t need things from my past popping up and causing problems down the line.”

I couldn’t decide what was more infuriating – that she had referred to Emilee as a ‘thing’ or that she assumed Emilee would disrupt her perfect little life.

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” I finally replied, not bothering to hide the anger in my voice. “I’m sure you’ve been dead to Emilee long before now.”

Natasha nodded once before finally grabbing the pen and signing all the spots pointed out to her by Cherie. The room fell silent as Natasha finished and Cherie grabbed the papers to sign her own name, verifying that she had been present for the proceedings.

“Well. We’re all done here.” Cherie and I stood up. “We can just see ourselves out.”

“Can you believe the nerve of that woman?” I asked incredulously as we climbed back into the car.

“Yeah well, it all worked out for the best. You’re going to be a better mother to Emilee than she ever could’ve been.” Cherie answered.

“Thanks for doing this.” I said, turning to face Cherie. “I know it’s not a normal day’s work for you.”

“No problem.” Cherie smiled, lighting a cigarette and rolling down the window. “You know I can’t say no to Zacky. Literally.”

We checked out of the hotel and raced to Newark to catch our flight home. As we sat in the airport waiting for our flight, I couldn’t help but feel excited to go home and see my daughter – and loving the way ‘daughter’ sounded in my head.