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“You can do it,” Betty tells her.
“Mrs. Matthews! I have good news, and I have bad news. Which would you like first?”
“Bad, please,” I choke out.
“After looking at your chart, I saw that your birthday is in a couple days.”
I look at the guys. I was hoping to keep that from them as long as possible.
“Bad news: we want you to try to hold out until your eighteenth birthday. It’s not ideal, and it’s not something that we like to do, but it would be a lot better in the long run if you tried to wait it out until midnight of your birthday.
“However, good news: Betty has graciously said that she and Pete will take you in once you turn eighteen. She actually said that she would take you in now, but I was made aware of the guys’ intentions, and we can’t allow that under our watch.
“So, to be safe and legal, if you can wait the two days until your birthday, you will be scot-free, and you will never have to stay at your mom’s again,” she tells me.
My heart drops. Just thinking about waiting two more days to be free is making my heart beat faster.
I can be free from her? Truly and utterly free from her grasp? Is that even possible?
I reach for a hand, any hand, needing someone to ground me. I feel like I’m floating in the air with how happy her news has made me.
A skinny hand that’s definitely not one of my guys grabs mine. Looking up, I see Betty. Her presence alone soothes me. It’s like she exudes motherly vibes, and everything she does is with care and love.
Even now, while she is holding my hand, I feel warmth and care in her grasp. This is what I should have felt from Mother, warmth that envelops me and care. Betty is the epitome of a mother, in my eyes.
“It’s going to be okay, I promise, Paisley,” Betty tells me while patting my hand.
I do everything I can to hold back the tears that are threatening to fall. Knowing that they will agree with the statement, I look up at my guys. Each one nods his head at me.
“Now, do you want to tell us why you didn’t tell us it was your birthday in two days?” asks Mateo.
“Honestly, even though I knew it was my birthday, I’ve never celebrated it before. I’ve never considered it to be important,” I say.
“Well, that’s going to change this year. Especially since you are turning eighteen,” Kade tells me.
“Now, some more news. I’ll let you decide how you take it. You are being released in an hour. You just need to take it easy, and the doctor has given you a prescription for low dose pain meds,” Betty tells me.
I start to visibly shake. I know this means they have to call Mother, or they already have, to sign me out.
“Has she already been called?” I sign with my eyes watering.
“Unfortunately, yes. Since we have a plan with Mrs. Fitzgerald, we went ahead and called her. We thought it would be better to have her arrive with everyone here instead of after visiting hours, to give you a little buffer. Now, I’m going to leave you alone with my boys until she gets here to sign you out. Remember, two days, Paisley. Forty-eight hours. Just survive until then, and then we’ve got you forever, okay?” she tells me.
I take a few deep breaths, trying to get my breathing under control before I have a panic attack. I honestly have no idea how to feel. On one hand, I’m glad they are here to be the buffer Betty said they would be. On the other hand, I don’t want them anywhere near Mother. I take a few more breaths, and it seems to be helping just a little.
“Don’t worry, Paisley. Nothing she says or does will push us away from you. You are stuck with us. You have completely enraptured our hearts,” says Mateo.
Now, what do I do until Mother comes and gets me and takes me to my doom?
Just two more days, Paisley. You can make it two more days.
Somehow knowing I want him close to be my warmth in this dreary situation, Luca climbs back into bed with me, pulling me into his chest while lying beside me. The heat coming off of him is like a furnace.
Engulfed in his warmth, I slowly drift off to sleep, forgetting all my problems for the time being.
CHAPTER37
PAISLEY
