Them raising and coddling and enabling their narcissistic psychopath of a son was the whole reason Lois was dead to begin with. Then they’d actually paid for the fucker’s defense attorney and had tried to paint her murder as being all her fault!
Motherfucker.
He’d pulled his truck into the driveway of their new house that morning a little before ten, and their landlord met them there with the keys. Hank had already handled connecting the utilities and the lease.
Then he’d spent the rest of the day unpacking the trailer with Jaylene’s “help.”
Which wasn’t helpful, but like hell would he tell his little girl that. JJ was happy and excited about the move, and that went a long way toward softening his mood despite his exhaustion.
What hereallywanted to do was pour himself a couple of fingers of Jack from the bottle stashed in one of the boxes markedKITCHEN, but he wouldn’t dare do that until JJ was in bed and sound asleep.
He was over two years into his unexpected full-time single parenthood, and this move had finished draining him of every spare penny he had, but…
Worth it.
Absolutely wortheverygoddamned cent. Little Jaylene Joyce Webster was now his life, and he’d absolutely do whatever it took to protect her. You couldn’t put a price on peace of mind.
She bounced over to him, jumping onto the couch and nearly nailing him in the nuts on the landing. “I love our house, Daddy!” she shrieked, making him wince and laugh at the same time.
“Glad you do, sweetheart.” He’d once again reached out to Bryce, a friend from high school, to help him find it. He hadn’t wanted to get taken by some scammer, especially since he had no cash reserves. Not after the probate battle, followed by the legal battle to keep custody of Jaylene, and then filing the adoption paperwork, and the ensuing fight to revoke Cameron’s parental rights.
Of course the fuckers in Cameron’s family fought Hank every step of the goddamned way.
Thank god Loismadea willafter JJ was born,like I asked her to.
Losing their parents not long after moving to Pennsylvania following his graduation from high school had been tough on the siblings but it’d also provided a valuable lesson in planning ahead.
Which was why, when Cameron murdered Hank’s sister, at least Hank had been able to immediately take full custody of his niece and keep her out of the hands of the fucker’s family. Because Lois had a will and had put a power of attorney into place, and even before Hank’s niece’s birth, Lois had a permanent restraining order against Cameron for severely beating her while she was pregnant.
Wish you were here, Sis.
It wasn’t fair. They’d planned to move back here together when Jaylene was only two. Then Cameron’s stupid parents filed an injunction against it, and they’d had to fight it. Hank had tried to tell Lois to end all contact with them before that point, but like their parents, she’d had a soft, kind heart and had wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, at least. To not paint them with their son’s crimes.
To try to work things out with them.
They battled them for a year over that before the judge finally dismissed the case a few months after JJ had turned three. Cameron had only served eight months in jail for attacking Lois. Fortunately, the judge had issued the permanent restraining order against him for JJ, too, because of the mountain of evidence against Cameron that he hadn’t wanted JJ in the first place.
Screenshots live forever.
Hank and Lois had been saving up money to move when, a couple of months after the last court case had been resolved, came that horrible afternoon he received a frantic call at work from Lois’ friend, Marla. Marla and her husband Barry had gone with Lois and JJ to a planned visitation with Cameron’s parents, meeting at a McDonald’s not far from the apartment Hank shared with Lois.
Cameron had shown up and shot Lois. Thankfully, Lois had thought fast when he showed up. She’d handed JJ off to Marla and Barry, who’d taken her inside. After everything happened, they had kept her out of the hands of Cameron’s parents until Hank could race there from work.
Cameron’s parents had initially been arrested, too, until their attorney got charges against them dropped when Cameron finally confessed to everything.
Still, Cameron claimed mental anguish and tried to use an insanity defense, which stalled the fucking case for months.
And then down to one household income, and trying to be a single dad to JJ, Hank had still been stuck in Pennsylvania.
Now the fucker was doing life without parole—finally—and thankfully that had been a point in Hank’s favor when he filed to have Cameron’s parental rights terminated for good so he could legally adopt JJ.
Fuck those assholes.
With a full protective orderfinallyin place against Cameron’s entire family, Hank’s attorney told him he was under no obligation to tell them where he’d moved, or give them any kind of contact with JJ.
The first thing Hank had done was move to a new apartment in Pittsburgh, getting a smaller one that cost him far less a month. Albeit it was an old and crappy building, and wasn’t in the best neighborhood.
But it’d been within his budget. Once he’d made friends with everyone in their building and told them the basics, they’d all been very protective of him and JJ.
