"Mommy!"
Evie hugged the girl tightly. "Hey, sweetheart."
"I need to ask you something very very very important, Mommy!"
"What's that, sweetie?" Evie asked, heart sinking in worry.
"Is Daddy a bad man? The people on the TV say he's bad."
Dammit, Evie thought. Should've guessed she would ask something about him.
"Your dad just gets confused sometimes. He made some very bad mistakes, honey."
"I want to help him," the child said defiantly. "Let me help Daddy!"
"You can help him from here."
"No! I want to help him there."
"Elizabeth, no."
"Yes! Let me go!"
"I said no!"
"But Daddy needs help! He told me he'll need help!"
"When did he tell you that?"
"Just a little bit ago."
"Show me."
Libby's eyes widened and she stepped back. "Why?"
"I said show me."
"And I asked why!"
"Just show me, Elizabeth."
"He said he's scared he's going to get taken away and he might get safe if I help! He wants to be a good man, Mommy! Him and Miss Riley want to be good."
"Honey, I–" Evie cut off when her phone went off. She took it out of her pocket and looked at the screen. "What the hell?"
Several notifications from her banking app flew in one at a time in quick succession.
$100 deposited into your account.
$340 deposited into your account.
$620 deposited into your account.
$1,750 deposited into your account.
"What's going on?"
Evie glanced over the top of her screen at her daughter.
"Daddy said he was going to try to help us, too," the little girl said.
***
"And... Done!" Nate muttered to himself. He quickly exited the app, deleted it from the phone, and turned to Riley.
"Quick," he said to her. "Make it look like we were about to fuck but got caught."
Riley cupped his face in her hands and kissed him deeply. Nate's hands came up to grasp her arms and he pressed her against the wall.
"Hey! This is a courthouse! Not some night club!"
The couple sprang apart, genuinely startled.
"Act properly!"
Nate bit his lip and looked toward the voice and saw the judge.
"Sorry, You're Honour," he said. "Won't happen again."
The judge huffed and headed off.
Riley stepped up to her boyfriend and smiled slightly. "Well, it worked," she said, reaching up and gently brushing at his lips with her thumb. "You have lipstick on you and your shirt's wrinkly now."
"Thanks, baby."
"Let's get back."
"Okay."
Then they headed off hand in hand. "Wait! Hold on, one more thing to get rid of." Nate stopped Riley and quickly unlocked the phone again. He went to the Messaging app and deleted a conversation. "Okay, done."
"What was it?" Riley asked.
"Just getting us a new witness."
***
"I know what to do, Mommy! I don't have to have just your permission! I can have Daddy's permission."
"What? That can't be possible," Evie shook her head.
"It is," Libby said. "Daddy told me and I looked it up."
"Oh my god," Evie said and covered her face in her hands. "Fine."
"Really!?" Libby's face lit up.
"Yes, really."
Libby hugged the woman tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
I sure hope I won't regret this, Evie thought as she hugged her daughter back. Or maybe I already do? Something about this doesn't feel right.