A Chosen Life (Hard Time Series Book 4)

Will You?

LENA POV

Even if things were a little crazy with our family which was nothing unusual Stef and I still managed to keep our heads on straight. We still tried to have our once a month date night but it wasn't always possible so we would talk in bed most nights as I would lay close to her. It was nice to know even after all these years that we were still so much in love and still had a good sex life. That was something we could never complain about even if my wife was still working on her communication skills with me. I knew it would take time and I knew it was just the person she was for she had always been in charge of everything. 

Every once in awhile I had to remind her she didn't need to control everything but it was like talking to a brick wall when it came to certain things and I knew how she was. Stubborn. Regardless Stef was still the love of my life as I stared at the picture of the two of us on my desk at work smiling  at it. Sometimes I wondered where the time went as it was flying by sometimes and it was hard to believe how big our kids were. Jude was a cop and living with Olivia who we all adored, Frankie was nearing her last years of high school,  Callie was close to 30 and Noah was growing taller by the minute and smarter. Sometimes like my wife my mind drifted to when they were all little and when baby Stef was running away from us with just her diaper on and jumping up and down when my wife got home. Thinking of those times made me smile and took me back to a time when we barely had any money. But we made it all work with what we had and never imagined  we would have the jobs we do now. 

Things did trouble us for that went without saying. Aside from Frankie's tattoo, Mariana's troublesome behavior, baby Jesus neglect, Callie's issue with commitment, I was concerned about the bomb my wife dropped on me a few days ago. Was her mother really in Chowchilla the same time we were? If so what was she really in for? How much time did she serve? Did she want to see Stef? I knew all these questions were swimming around my wife's head despite the fact that she had yet to mention it to me or the time to think about it.

"Mama Lion?" I soon heard seeing Alice at the door as I let out a wide smile. On some days I knew she came to have lunch with Callie which was very sweet and she often stopped by my office and Stef's to say hello. We were still so proud of her transformation and some days she even spoke to the other girls in here that were on a similar path that she once was. Fortunately we knew she would never end up back in here or in trouble with the law again for her trust in Stef had helped tremendously with that. No it did not happen overnight by any means infact it took a few years along with an incident with Sheila, her birth mother, that none of us I would never forget.

FLASHBACK

"She's not supposed to run from the center. How did she even get out?" 

"She didn't babe they allowed her a visit with her mother. " My wife said scrambling. "Callie came in here telling me Alice called her saying her mother's boyfriend was beating her up.  If they call the cops on her she's going to Juvie and she has come to far for that to happen."

"Oh Jesus." 

"Yeah fucking tell me about it." As she grabbed my hand we both ran out the home and made our way to the address Callie gave us. Of course my wife refused to let her come as we pulled up to a run down home but could see fighting inside.

"Stef we should call Mike."

"Yeah no I got it." She said as we both saw an older woman throwing clothes out the house and Alice screaming. Getting out the car myself my wife stormed over as Alice glanced to her in a panic that I had seen many times. Except never on her face. I had seen it on Callie's face.

"Alice get in the car. Now." Stef said. I'll handle this."

"I didn't do anything Stef. I swear it! I did nothing! I didn't do a thing."