Page 15 of Raising Love
“There are also forms here to transfer the property in Greene Gardens into your names, as I mentioned,” Mr. Grant interjected. “Kendra and Tyrell set up a trust fund for their baby, which you both will manage. The funds will cover his daily expenses, healthcare, education, and other needs. Detailed instructions and stipulations are outlined here,” he added, gesturing at the document now lying on the table.
“I cannot believe they did all of this and told us nothing,” Ivy muttered.
I swallowed the knot in my throat and straightened my back in my seat. “And if we find this isn’t something we can handle?”
There was silence in the office for a beat.
“Yeah,” Ivy finally said. “If we decide… I mean, if we find that we can’t do this, what then?”
Mr. Grant shut his eyes and tilted his head forward, inhaling a deep breath. “It’s a significant commitment; there’s no question about that. If, after some consideration, you feel you cannot fulfill this role, we can petition the court for a reassignment of guardianship. However, such changes are generally seen as a last resort. I advise you to consider all factors seriously and possibly seek counseling to help with this transition.”
I turned to meet Ivy’s gaze, finding her head lowered and her eyes focused on her manicured nails. She appeared to be visibly digesting the information, her fingers tapping against her lap.
“Why don’t we take a short break, yeah?” Mr. Grant suggested with a nod. He glanced behind us at Carla and raised a brow before focusing back on us. “I can prepare the initial paperwork, and you two can have a moment to discuss privately. We can reconvene in, say, fifteen minutes? Or if you feel you need more time to think outside of this office, the most I can offer is to reschedule our meeting for twenty-four hours from now.”
I pressed my hand to my mouth and slowly ran my palm down my beard. I never understood what people meant when they said they felt the walls were closing in during their times of panic. I found out exactly what they meant that day.
Because not even twenty-four hours seemed like enough time to decide what to do here.
A baby? Parents? What?!
I didn’t know the first thing about babies. I was an only child. I grew up in a loving household, but shit, I always had my freedom. I never had to babysit anyone. I had no experience in this area—like, at all. There was no way I would be able to take care of a baby. No way.
Babies hadn’t been on my radar. I thought Tyrell was crazy when he said that he and Kendra were purposefully working on having one shortly after they got married.
To me, children were little beings that consumed time and energy. I’d made up my mind years ago that they weren’t for me. And now here I was, about to inherit one?
Shit.
“Can we get longer than twenty-four hours?” Ivy inquired.
Mr. Grant sucked in air through his teeth. “The thing is, Kendra and Tyrell’s son has been in the NICU for four days already, which is fine because he’s still under observation. He was delivered via c-section and with no health issues, so the monitoring was simply precautionary.”
Mr. Grant lifted the document he’d been reading, placed it into the folder he walked in with, and closed it, folding his hands over it. “He is feeding well and has been ready for discharge for a few days now, but given the circumstances, the hospital’s social services department has been coordinating with my office to understand the timeline for guardianship. He could go home as soon as today, which is what the hospital would prefer since he is feeding and growing appropriately. Keeping him there longer would present a problem. So, with this in mind, twenty-four hours to make a decision would be ideal and reasonable in this scenario.”
Ivy and I glanced at each other.
“I have to make copies of one of these documents to give to you.” Mr. Grant rolled his chair back on its wheels. “I’ll give you two a few minutes to discuss timing, and when I return, you can tell me what you two want to do.”
Ivy and I were left alone shortly after, our attention on everything but each other.
“What the entire fuck is happening right now?” she whispered, and I wasn’t sure if she was asking herself or me.
The biggest decisions I’d had to make in life were what college to play for and whether to enter the NBA draft. I thought that was as hard as life would get for me. I never expected this. Losing a best friend, and him leaving me his baby? This was insane.
I squeezed my eyes closed and lifted my fingers to pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to calm the headache building.
“What are you thinking?” Ivy asked.
“I’m thinking… what the hell were Kendra and Tyrell on when they named us guardians, and how can I get that drug too? Because I sure could use it right now.”
Ivy stared at me for a beat before snorting a laugh, which turned into a giggle. I couldn’t resist laughing in response.
After a while, we were quiet again, and Ivy sighed as she leaned back in her seat. “This is all so damn sudden and crazy. Us? Why would they choose us?”
I blew air through my lips. “Questions that need answers.”
Ivy sighed. “But who else does their baby have?”
