Tommy makes a soft sound, and I reach out to stroke his dark hair.
"I want Tommy because he's part of you, because he represents everything good and innocent that Derek tried to destroy. I want this family we're building because it's the best thing that's ever happened to me."
"But the hotel meeting..."
"Seeing Derek sitting outside her apartment scared the hell out of me because I care about you, and the thought of Derek hurting you makes me want to commit murder." My voice goes rough with emotion. "But Lisa, I'm proud of you for not letting that bastard get to you. I'm proud that you haven’t buckled and given in to his delusional demands."
"Really?"
"Really,” I admit. “Though next time, I'd appreciate a heads up so I can be backup instead of finding out from a private investigator's photographs."
That earns me a watery smile. "Next time?"
"There won't be a next time. Because after Friday, Derek Morrison is going to learn what happens when someone threatens what's mine." The promise comes out dark and final. "And he's going to spend the rest of his life regretting that he ever heard the name Tommy Graham."
"McKenna," Lisa corrects softly.
"What?"
"Tommy McKenna. If we're really doing this, if this is really permanent, then Tommy is a McKenna now."
The simple correction, the acceptance it represents, hits me harder than any declaration of love.
"We're really doing this," I confirm. "And Lisa, I need you to understand something. Derek Morrison played his hand too early. He showed us his strategy, revealed his tactics, gave us everything we need to destroy him in court."
"How?"
"By proving that he's exactly the kind of man who would threaten a grieving woman for money. By demonstrating that his interest in Tommy is purely financial. By showing a pattern of intimidation and manipulation that started with Emma and continues with you."
Lisa is quiet for a moment, thinking. When she speaks again, her voice is stronger.
"So what do we do?"
"We sit here and we plan Derek Morrison's complete and total destruction." I lean down to kiss her forehead gently. "As a family."
"As a family," she agrees.
And when Rebecca walks back into her office, I'm holding my wife's hand on one side, and my stepson on my lap. We look like exactly what we are.
A family that's worth fighting for.
A family that's going to win.
8
LISA
The courthouse steps feel like they're made of ice beneath my feet, even though the morning sun is warm on my face. In thirty minutes, I'm going to walk into that building and fight for the right to keep raising my nephew, and the right to keep the family Sawyer and I have built.
The right to keep everything that matters to me in this world.
Tommy is in Sawyer's arms, babbling at a squirrel that's perched on the courthouse railing like he's giving it a stern lecture about proper courtroom behavior. He's wearing his best outfit, a tiny button-down shirt and khaki pants that make him look older than his eight months, and he's completely oblivious to the fact that his entire future is about to be decided by a stranger in a black robe.
"You ready for this?" Sawyer's voice is calm, steady, but I can see the tension in the set of his shoulders, the way his jaw tightens when he looks toward the courthouse doors.
"No," I answer honestly. "But I'm going to do it anyway."
It's been three days since our fight in Rebecca's office, three days of preparation and strategy sessions and sleepless nightsspent staring at the ceiling while Sawyer held me and promised that everything would be fine.
