The Four

Chapter 27

Shay didn't know how long he was laying awake until the familiar buzzing noise went through the apartment. He glanced over at the clock and noticed that it was only one am. Shay just figured that it was just Emmet coming back home and forgot his key.

Shay sighed and stood up from his bed and walked to the front door. He wished Emmet had just stayed at Melanies considering he needed to get some sleep before the custody battle tomorrow. Shay allowed Emmet into the building and leaned against the couch waiting for him to walk up to their door.

The knock, however, was very unfamiliar. It seemed a little daintier than Emmet's usual pounding on the door. Shay raised an eyebrow and slowly opened the door. Instead of being met with a kind looking woman with blonde hair.

"Hello, are you Shay Ryans?" She asked, looking at him nervously.

"Yes, who are you?" Shay asked skeptically.

The woman smiled a little, "I'm Viola Peters, Genevieve's mother. I'm here because I have news about tomorrow's custody battle."

"Is this conversation even legal?" Shay crossed his arms wondering where she was going with it. He didn't know whether her or not her being at his apartment would damage his chances at winning custody.

Viola took a small breath, "If this was fully about the battle yes. But it's not because there will be no battle of custody"

Shay's arms dropped as he stared at her in confusion, "What?"

Viola nodded, "There won't be a battle for custody over Roselyn because you won."

Shay held the door open more, "Come in, please." he said quickly.

Shay didn't know what was going on or why the battle was already won. His head was spinning and he knew he needed to sit down with the woman before he passed out.

Shay sat down across from Viola with a panicked look on his face, "What do you mean I won? And how do you know?"

"I should probably start at the beginning for you to fully understand" Viola took a breath, "When Genevieve and Ryder first started taking care of Roselyn for the month I thought everything was going great. She would hardly ever cry and if she did they would be able to put her to sleep almost immediately. What I didn't realize was the method that they were using wasn't your typical one. They would mix in alcohol with her bottle or put it on her pacifier to help get her to sleep. Essentially they were getting the baby drunk. I went straight to the judge and the people working on the case but they needed proof so I got them proof. They said that you would win sole custody if you properly care for Roselyn and apparently you did. Ryder and Genevieve found out earlier tonight and you should get a call first thing in the morning."

Shay stared at the woman in front of him with wide eyes. His first emotion was anger. How the two of them could give his child alcohol so carelessly made him want to go over to their house and yell at them, scream in their faces for doing that to her. The next emotion he felt was relief, he had sole custody of Roselyn and all he had to do was care for her. He didn't have to go face the two in person and force Addilyn to recount all of her trauma that is if she was still going to come with him after what had happened a few days ago.

But despite the feeling of relief there was a feeling of fear. What if the two of them tried to fight back later on in Roselyn's life. What if they made him go through a custody battle because the judge had made a mistake or the proof wasn't fully valid. Shay knew he couldn't focus on that right now, instead he had to focus on the fact that he had sole custody of his daughter.

"I wanted you to hear it from a person who was there, instead of a phone call from a lawyer" Viola said with a small smile, "And I suppose congratulations are in order"