Page 51 of State of Alert

“That was my fear.” Her heart contracted painfully. “We can’t lose them, Nick. We just can’t.”

“We won’t. I’ll make sure of it.”

She wanted so badly to believe he had the power to fix anything, but life didn’t work that way, even for the president.

“Try not to worry, babe. We’ve got the best people on this, and I’ll talk to Elijah about adoption and see what he thinks.”

“Let me know.”

“I will. I’m sorry to have to drop this on you with everything else you’ve got going on.”

“I’m glad Andy is on it. He doesn’t fuck around.”

“No, he doesn’t. I have to run to a meeting, but I’ll keep you posted. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Sam felt hollow inside as she tucked the BlackBerry into her pocket.

“Everything okay?” Vernon asked.

“The twins’ grandparents are making noise about custody again.”

“Oh damn. No way.”

“It’s unbearable.”

“Did I hear you say something about adoption?”

“I suggested to Nick that we should consider adopting all three of them and putting an end to this madness.”

“That’s a great idea. Will Elijah go for it?”

“I really hope so.”

She couldn’t bear to think of a world without Aubrey and Alden in their daily lives.

The callto Eli was as difficult for Nick as the one to Sam had been.

“How can they do this? The will is airtight.”

Nick heard panic in every word the young man said. “Yes, it is, and Andy says that’ll matter more than just about anything.”

“But you’re worried. I can hear it in your voice.”

“They have a point about the kids living with Secret Service, security concerns, high profiles…”

“They’re living with people who love them! That should matter more than anything else.”

“You and I agree on that, but who knows what the courts will say?”

Nick feared getting a judge who thought he was an illegitimate president and who might stick it to him, but he’d never say that out loud, even to Sam or Eli. They were upset enough.

“Sam had an interesting thought.”

“What’s that?”

“What if we adopted all three of you?”

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