Vic Vaughn is Vicious by J.A. Huss
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - VIC
I wake slowly in the morning. Daisy is in my dreams and then she is the first thing I both think about and see when I pull myself up from a deep slumber. Her face is angelic, her blonde hair spread out on the pillow behind her with long, wild locks tumbling over her cheeks. Her breathing is slow and even, so I know she’s still asleep.
Then I glance over and see Vivi standing at the side of the bed, smiling at me.
“What’s that look for?” My voice is rough and scratchy the way it always is in the morning.
Vivi shrugs, then sighs and whispers, “I knew you would love her.”
I do love her. But I don’t want to wake her if she’s still tired. “Meet me in the kitch, daughter. Let’s make your mom some breakfast.”
Vivi smiles bigger, approving of my idea. Then she turns and skips away, through the bedroom door and down the hall.
I get up and pull my jeans on, wondering how the hell I ever got so lucky. I’m in love with these girls. It’s a life-changing kind of love and I cannot even imagine going back to the life I was living eight days ago.
What purpose did I have? What did I even do all day? And how did I not notice that my life was completely empty until Daisy and Vivian came along?
I guess it’s one of those cases of you don’t know what you don’t know. I had no clue that I was aimlessly wandering through life wearing blinders.
Daisy turns over and hums a little. I walk over to her, lean down, and kiss her cheek.
“Hmm,” she says again, her hand coming up to cup my cheek as she sighs.
“You awake? Or you gonna sleep in?”
“Sleep in? What’s that?” She peeks at me from one half-open eye. “I don’t even remember the last time I slept in.”
“Today is your lucky day, Daisy Lundin. It’s breakfast in bed for you.”
“Get out of here.”
“Hey, I’m just thinking. I’ve missed six Mother’s Days. I need to catch up.” Then I kiss her again. “Go back to sleep. I can handle breakfast, I promise.”
I can tell she wants to fight about this. At the very least, she wants to pretend to protest. But my offer is powerful. And she must truly be tired, because she nods back off as I watch.
I shake my head and smile, then leave the room, closing the door behind me so we won’t wake her up with kitch happenings.
When I walk into the kitchen Vivian is climbing across the counters, peeking into a cupboard. I grab her by the waist and swing her down. “What are you doing?”
“Looking for cereal,” she squeals.
“Cereal? Nah. That’s for amateurs. We need a real breakfast.”
“Like the Pancake House?”
“No. I’m pretty sure your mom eats at the Pancake House regularly.” I open her fridge and find… “Well, fuck. It’s all healthy shit.”
Vivi laughs. “That Pancake House isn’t looking so bad now, is it?”
“Eggs whites in a carton? Turkey bacon?” I shoot Viv the one-eyebrow raise. She does it right back to me, reminding me, again, that she is my offspring. “No one actually eats turkey bacon. Do you eat this shit?”
Vivi giggles. And nods. “We do. She likes turkey bacon.” Then she slides one of the fridge drawers open and points. “She likes turkey sausage too.”
“Well, fuck. We’re going to have to diverge on this point. Because no way in hell am I eating—” But my small, good-natured rant is interrupted by a knock on the door. My eyes slide over to the kitchen clock and find that it is eight twenty-one on a Monday morning. “Who the heck is that?” I ask.
“Probably one of the kids who wants to play,” Vivi says. “You cook. I’ll get rid of them.”
I chuckle at her response. She’s just so damn cute. Then resign myself to one of Daisy’s healthy breakfasts, because there are no real eggs and no real bacon.
But then I hear voices at the front door. And the unfamiliar one isn’t a kid. It’s a woman.
I walk around the corner of the kitchen and peek into the living room. Vivi is at the front door, but it’s not really open, so I can’t see who’s there.
“Who is it?” I ask.
“Vicious Vaughn?” The voice is loud now.
“Who’s asking?” I say, walking over to the front door and pulling it open.
A middle-aged woman greets me, wearing a severe gray suit that matches the scowl on her face, holding a binder or something in her hand. “I’m Cheryl Stratford of Child Protective Services.”
Oh, fuck. “OK.” I remain calm. Not my first run-in with CPS. Though it is the first time as a parent. So it’s way scarier than when you’re the kid in question. “So what can I do for you?”
“You can step outside and make this easy.” This is yet another unfamiliar voice. And when I peer over the top of Ms. Stratford, I see three Fort Collins Police officers.
“What the hell is going on?” I ask again.
“Mom!” Vivi yells. “Mom! Get out here!”
“You’re under arrest, Mr. Vaughn,” one of the officers says.
“Mom!”
“Why?” I ask.
“Can you please open the screen door?” Stratford says.
But this is not my first po-po at the door rodeo, either. So I know they can’t come in unless I let them. “No, I think I’m gonna keep that door shut.” Then I slide the nearly useless lock over to the side, just to make my point.
“What’s going on?” I turn to find Daisy hurriedly tying a robe around her waist and pushing hair out of her eyes. “What?” She’s squinting at the CPS lady.
“We’re here for a welfare check on your daughter, Daisy,” Stratford says. Like they are old friends.
“Why would you do that?”
“Because we’ve heard that Mr. Vaughn has been spending time with her. And that she has been out at the Shrike ranch for the past week.”
“So?” Daisy and I say this together.
“He’s her father,” Daisy adds.
“And Veronica Shrike is my freaking sister. And I’ve got the DNA test. It’s legit. Do you want my lawyer to call you?”
“I’m afraid we’re past that now,” the cop says. “A warrant has been issued for your arrest.”
“For what?” I’m starting to lose my cool.
“Child endangerment,” Stratford says.
“When?”
“Last weekend? AA meeting? Biker swap meet? Motorcycle sidecar? Any of this ringing any bells?”
“She was never in danger.”
“The judge will decide that eventually,” Cop says. “But right now, you’re getting arrested and booked.”
“No,” I say, pulling out my phone from my jeans pocket. “I’m calling my lawyer, that’s what I’m doing.”
“If you call your lawyer,” Stratford interjects, “I’m taking Vivian into protective custody.”
“What?” Daisy says. “You can’t do that! She’s not in danger. We just woke up.”
“We were gonna bring Mommy breakfast in bed,” Vivi adds.
Stratford eyes me. “If he resists and makes a big deal, I will have no choice but to remove Vivian from your home until the judge decides you are fit.”
“When did I become unfit? What did I do?”
“You didn’t even notice your child went missing,” the cops says. “We issued an Amber Alert.”
“An Amber Alert you asked for,” Stratford finishes, “when you knew that the man who had your daughter was her father.”
“But—” Daisy starts.
I put a hand up. “Don’t say anything else, Daisy.” I look Stratford straight in the eyes. “She’s out to screw us over and nothing we say here will make a bit of difference. Will it?” I ask her.
“Please, Mr. Vaughn. Make this easy on everyone and step outside.”
I unlock the screen door.
Daisy puts her hand over mine. “No.”
“It’s fine, Daisy. We’ve got the best lawyer money can buy. He’ll take care of everything and I’ll be back before dinner.”
“I’m afraid that’s not how this day ends,” Stratford says. Then she opens her binder thing and pulls out a piece of paper.
“What’s that?” Daisy asks, leaning forward to try to read it through the screen.
“It’s a restraining order. We took it out on Vivian’s behalf this morning.”
“A restraining order for who?” Daisy asks.
But we all know who.
“Him,” Stratford says, tipping her chin at me. “Mr. Vaughn, you have been ordered to stay at least a hundred yards away from Vivian Lundin.”
“This is BS,” Daisy says. “He’s her father.”
“You’d be surprised how unfit men like him can be.”
Men like me.
That’s pretty much all she needed to say.
This is personal. There is no telling which of the many, many, many people in this town who hate our family is behind this, but one thing’s for sure—I am going to jail this morning. And there is no way around that.
So I open the screen door, let them cuff me in front of my daughter, and then walk compliantly through the family housing apartments as dozens of people watch me get shoved into the back of a police car.