One last Chance

the deal

*Charles*

I felt incredibly guilty as we sat on the plane back home.

But what was I supposed to do?

She didn't want to let Aly go and was only willing to let Aly live with me if she did too.

I hadn't wanted to take Mella with me. No way.

But what was I supposed to do?

Aly had to go home and I knew Mella wouldn't have given in if I hadn't. I knew she was only in it for the money and the luxury. She didn't even make a secret of it. But she had a damn good leverage against me with the fact that she was Aly's mother and still had joint custody.

And unfortunately, my chances in court were not as good as I had expected.

Mothers were still awarded sole custody far more often than not, and I wasn't going to risk Mella being solely responsible for her.

So, without further ado, I had taken her with me. I hadn't talked to anyone, except my lawyer, about it. He would continue to work on a better solution in the background, but right now this was the only solution I could see, because I would not leave Aly alone with Mella. If she came home with me, at least Evi would be there. She would take care of Aly.

My daughter had asked about Evi first. She had asked why Evi hadn't come with me to see her and if she could now go back to Evi, her mommy.

It had once again made it very clear to me how close the relationship between the two of them was. Even I could not keep up with that.

But it was all the more important that Aly came back to Evi.

But just the thought that I had to expect Evi to live with Mella under the same roof turned my stomach. I had already put her through so much. That she was still there at all surprised me every time. She definitely deserved better and someday I would make it all up to her.

Now, however, the well-being of my daughter came first.

I would plead with Evi to allow Mella to live with us, because this house was as much hers as it was mine.

I could already imagine that she would not be thrilled about it. Lorenzo and Seb would be even less so. They had already been giving me hell with messages and calls on my answering machine.
Even worse would probably only the rage of Max and Lance hit me. They would go through fire for Evi, and damn it, so would I, but what was I supposed to do? It was clear that I would choose my daughter no matter what.

I just fervently hoped that Evi understood that, too, because I didn't know what I would do if she left.

That fear was there. I was afraid that it was all too much for her and she would leave, because I didn't want to lose her again for anything in this world. She and Aly and our little pea were everything to me.

But what was I supposed to do?

I hadn't slept all night after Mella made that suggestion to me. I hadn't been able to sleep at all since then and had thought about whether I could really expect Evi to just take it that I showed up again at home but with Mella.

But it was about Aly. I would not abandon her. She was my daughter. No one was above her. So I had made the deal.

And now I was plagued by a guilty conscience. I didn't want to take Evi by surprise like that. Maybe I should have called first instead of presenting her with a fait accompli. But I would have made the deal anyway, so it wouldn't have done any good to call her beforehand. I would have taken Mella either way, because I would never have left Aly there.