Page 31 of Crewe
“Now it will be official, but you’ve always been mine,” Burt said.
Crewe accepted congratulations from his family, his Bluff Creek friends, along with the people he’d connected with at Mistletoe Canyon. This time away had been exactly what he’d needed forhe and Ry to move to the next stage of their love story. And it was their love story because he was going to work hard every day to make sure Ry, Freya, and Wyatt knew how very much they were adored.
His phone rang, and he motioned for his dad to watch the kids as he walked a little away.
“Hello,” Crewe said.
“Crewe, I need help,” Penny said.
“Okay. Did your car break down again? I’m out of town but can definitely get someone to look at it,” he said.
“It’s more than that,” she said, with tears in her voice.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’ll help you figure it out. What do you need?” he asked. He wondered if she was experiencing postpartum depression. A single woman with twelve-week-old twins had to be struggling. Vivi and Ellie had dropped off food and presents a couple of times and also offered to watch the babies.
“I relapsed and got caught. It’s either rehab for nine months or the judge is sending me to jail. I need someone to take my girls, and you’re the only one I trust. You know my parents aren’t a good choice. Will you?” she asked.
Crewe was stunned speechless. Take her girls? He was the guy who helped people find stuff. He’d never considered someone might ask him to do something like this. But he wasn’t in this alone anymore. He walked over to Ry and took her hand, leading her over where it was quieter.
“Umm, wow. I’m going to put you on speaker so my fiancée, Ry, can hear, okay? I think you’ve met her,” Crewe said.
Ry wrinkled her forehead at him. He’d never imagined he’d be asked to do something like this.
“Yeah, she brought me some baby stuff. I told Crewe. I relapsed and got caught. I promise I was clean all the way through the pregnancy, but I was just tired, sad, and in a weak moment took something I shouldn’t. The judge gave me the choice of rehab for nine months or he’s sending me to jail. I’d be in at least a year, possibly two. I need someone to take my girls, and Crewe was the only man I knew who I could trust to keep them away from my parents. My girls will never go through what I did. Ry, will you and Crewe take care of my girls like they’re your own until I can be clean and there for them?” she asked.
“Penny, I want to confirm you are wanting us to take custody of the girls while you are in rehab, with the plan of you completing it and getting clean. During that time, which would be at least nine months away, you would want us to have custody of the girls,” Ry stated.
“Yes, I don’t want them in the system,” Penny said.
Relief washed over Crewe at Ry’s smile and nod. His woman was on the same page as him.
“We agree,” Crewe said, looking around for his cousin Quinton. “I’m going to get Quinton so he can hammer out the details, so we have the authority to take the girls to the doctor and get them treatment if they get sick, and do whatever is needed for them.”
“Okay,” her timid voice said.
Crewe kissed Ry on the cheek, mouthed I love you, and walked over to where he’d spotted Quinton. Crewe explained the situation to him, and Quinton nodded and took the phone.
He made his way back to where Ry was chatting with Freya, Wyatt, and some of their family. He slid his arm around Ry.
“We get to be big brother and sister for a while to the babies, and Père Noël gave me my Christmas present. Best Christmas ever!” Freya yelled, dancing around.
Wyatt nodded. “I’ll be a good big brother while we take care of them. Then I’ll still be their friendwhen they go back to their mommy,” he said solemnly.
Crewe bent down and hugged both kids, fighting tears. Just when he thought they couldn’t burrow any deeper into his heart, they did something like this.
“So let’s celebrate, and then we can make a plan after Quinton gets the timeline for us. Who wants some snacks to celebrate?” Crewe asked his family. His little family of four was growing to six for a little while. He wasn’t going to say no to having the family of his dreams, and if he had a few extras to love on for a while, then he was more than fine with that. Penny’s parents weren’t worth the space they occupied.
Crewe slid his arm around Ry and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you,” he said.
“Crewe, I’ll always support you in helping people. We’ll just have more kids to love for a while. You’ve given me my dream,” Ry said.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The last few miles were flying by. They’d celebrated their engagement with a fun family and friends party at the lodge. After Quinton had gotten off the phone, he notified them he was going to ride back immediately, stop halfway, and stay in Lamar, then get up early so he could get to Dodge City by nine a.m. the next morning.
Because Quinton was concerned about Penny’s parents trying to pull something, he’d called hisapartment manager on duty and had him set up an apartment for Penny and the babies to stay in until it was time for her to leave for the facility. His apartment manager was heading over there immediately and would notify Quinton when she and the babies were safe. Due to her issues in the area, the judge would only offer diversion of her jail sentence if she attended either of the two inpatient programs he listed—one in Kansas City or one in Oklahoma.
Quinton would have all the paperwork drawn up and ready for Penny, along with Crewe and Ry to sign and have notarized. He’d also talked with Penny about a contingency if something happened to Ry and Crewe. He didn’t anticipate anything happening, but he wanted enough contingencies that her parents wouldn’t even think of a court battle with how many people Penny wanted taking care of her babies in line before them.
