So, This is Life Now?

Chapter 8 ~ A Date and a Separation

A week later, Matt and Angie were going on their first date.

"Wow! You look... wow!" Matt looked at Angie.

"You're looking pretty wow yourself!"

"Jules, we're leaving." Matt shouted up the stairs. Jules would be staying home and taking care of Ivy. She came down the stairs holding her.

"Have fun," Jules said as she handed Ivy to Matt so he could say bye to her.

"Thank you for watching her, Jules," Angie said, giving her a hug.

"Of course!"

"Thanks Sweetie," Matt said as he handed Ivy to Angie and gave a hug to Jules.

"Love you!"

"We should be home in a few hours," Angie said. She gave Ivy a kiss on the head then handed her back to Jules. Matt and Angie went to a restaurant, then they walked around town for a little bit. When they got back to Matt's house, they walked in and saw that Jules was asleep and Ivy was sleeping in Jules' arms. Angie and Matt looked at the two and smiled.

"Should we wake them up?" Angie looked at Matt.

"If you take Ivy upstairs, then I can wake up Jules. Unless you want me to take Ivy upstairs."

"I can take her upstairs." With that, Angie picked up Ivy from Jules' arms and went upstairs. She was already ready for bed, so Angie just had to put her in her crib. As Angie put her in her crib, she started crying. Angie picked her up and started rocking her. After a few minutes, Ivy was asleep, so Angie put her in her crib and went to get ready for bed. After getting ready for bed, Angie went downstairs and saw that Matt was in the kitchen.

"Hey," Angie said.

"Hey! Jules is asleep. I'm pretty sure she fell back asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow."

"Ivy is asleep, too. It took a little bit because she woke up the first time I put her in her crib."

"Well, both girls were asleep when we got back, so they must have had fun."

"That's good! I'm tired. I'm going to go to bed." Angie went over and gave Matt a hug and kiss. "Good night. I love you."

"Good night. I love you too!" Angie headed upstairs, and a few minutes later, Matt headed upstairs.

A few weeks later, Angie and Matt were watching a movie and Ivy was asleep in Angie's arms. Matt and Angie had signed the order for legal guardianship of her, so she was basically their's... or so they thought. The movie was about halfway through when the doorbell rang. Matt got up to answer the door so Angie didn't have to and risk waking up Ivy. There was a woman at the door.

"Can I help you," Matt asked.

"Are you Matthew Shade?"

"Yes, I am. Is there something I can do for you?"

"Is there an Angela Everett here?"

"One moment please." Matt went to get Angie.

"What's up," Angie asked Matt.

"There's a woman here. I think she wants to talk to us?"

"About what?"

"I don't know. She just asked for us." Angie carefully stood up and followed Matt to the door.

"Hi, can we help you," Angie asked.

"Are you Angela Everett?"

"Yes, I am."

"So you two are the guardians of Ivy Rose Everett-Shade?"

"Yes," Matt said. "Can we help you with something, or are you just going to keep asking us who we are?"

"I'm going to have to ask you to hand over the baby."

"Why," Angie asked, holding Ivy closer to her. "Who are you?"

"We have no record of a legal guardianship order from you two, so as of now, you do not legally have guardianship of this child. I need you to hand her over." Angie and Matt looked at each other. Matt could see tears forming in Angie's eyes. Ivy was starting to wake up and within a few moments, she was crying. Angie carefully bounced her in her arms to calm her down.

"There must be a mistake," Matt said. "We signed and turned in that form a couple of weeks ago."

"And we had a home inspection a little before we signed it," Angie said, putting a pacifier in Ivy's mouth. "We did everything we needed to."

"We have record of the inspection, but we don't have record of the form. So please, hand me the baby."

"Can you at least go look closer into the files before you just take her away from us," Matt asked.

"If you hand over the child now, I will go back and check the files. If I end up finding what we need, then we will return her to you."

Angie and Matt looked at each other, then down at Ivy. She was asleep again and snuggled in Angie's arms. Matt nodded to Angie as if to say, "It will be okay". Although reluctant, Angie handed Ivy over the lady. Once the lady left, Matt put his arms around Angie and held her.

"We are going to get her back. We know we signed the forms and turned them in, and we know that we had a home inspection."

"What if we can't though? What if we can't get our baby back?"

"Don't think like that. I know we're going to get her back. I'm going to do whatever it takes."