It was a breezy day in late September. Joe was absentmindedly doing some dishes when there was a knock at the door. Von Kaiser had already gotten up to answer for him. At the door were Louise, Marlowe, and Lizzie. "Guten Tag," he said, "was können wir für Sie tun?" (Good afternoon, what can we do for you?)
"You are not going to believe this," said Lizzie.
Once they were inside, Marlowe opened up her FriendFindr and showed them a post. Laura's baby, a girl, had been born, and she did not name her Joey Jr. Rather, what she named her was worse; Karina Lucy-Jo. The caption read "so happy that you are here, such a shame your family doesn't care to meet you". In addition to pictures of the baby, there were also photos of her mother and grandfather holding her.
"I should have known Henry would be involved in this," said Louise. "He's always taken Laura's side over mine and Heather's."
"Qu'est-ce qu'on peut faire?" Joe asked. "Nous ne pouvons pas laisser cet enfant rester avec ce nom." (What can we do? We can't let that baby stay with that name.)
"Why not go through the legal system and ask them for advice?" Lizzie suggested. "I'm sure they'd be really concerned about the safety of an infant whose mother has a criminal record with kidnapping on the rap sheet."
"Yes, that's exactly what we should do," said Louise. She, Joe, and Marlowe went to the car to go to the courthouse, while Von Kaiser and Lizzie stuck around at the house so Lizzie could spend some time with Katrina when she got home from school.
When they entered the courthouse, Louise marched right up to the first judge she saw. "Sir, I have a problem regarding my restraining order."
"Okay, okay, come on, sit down," said the judge, bringing them to sit down. "Now, what is the problem?"
"Me and my…uh, son-in-law have a restraining order against my daughter," said Louise. "We found out recently that she had a baby, and she named her after myself, him, and his daughter."
Marlowe showed the judge the post. "We believe she's doing this as an attempt to waive the restraining order."
The judge was curious. "Why do you have a restraining order against her?"
"Elle essaie de kidnapper ma fille deux fois," said Joe. "Nous avons besoin d'une injonction d'éloignement du domicile conjugal pour rester secure." (She tried to kidnap my daughter twice. We needed a restraining order for our own safety.)
The judge was appalled to hear that. "My word," he said. "Well, the restraining order is still in place regardless of the baby."
"Of course," said Louise. "If she breaks it, she'll get immediate jail time."
"Alright," said the judge. "You are protected if the circumstances do worsen."
Just then, Joe's phone buzzed with a message. He opened it up, and his heart went cold.
Viktor sent: CODE BLONDE (3:21 pm)
Joe stood up. "Mon mari me texter," he said, "elle est à ma maison." (My husband texted me, she's at my house.)
Louise and Marlowe's eyes widened, and they got up as well. Marlowe picked up a business card from the judge in case they needed the number, and they rushed off back to the house.
When they got home, there was a police car in the driveway. Laura was sitting in the back, screaming hysterically. None of them could make out what she was saying, but none of them cared. When they got inside, there was a cop inside talking to Von Kaiser, Lizzie, and a strange woman holding a newborn baby. When they entered, the cop turned to them. "Who are you?"
"Das ist mein Mann," said Von Kaiser, "er ist der Vater meiner Stieftochter." (That's my husband, he's my stepdaughter's father.)
"Alrighty," said the cop, going over to Joe. "Sir, your husband called us when a woman arrived here and attempted to enter. He tells me you have a restraining order against her?"
"Oui," said Joe, bringing him the copy of the restraining order, which was updated to mention that Laura was to receive jail time should she break it.
"Perfect," said the cop. "Thank you sir, and we're sorry about the disturbance." He then went back into the living room to talk to the woman. "Ma'am, were you aware of the restraining order?"
"No," she whimpered. "She told me she wanted the baby to meet her family, and I offered to take her."
The cop sighed. "Your heart's in the right place ma'am. I'll let you go on the basis of ignorance. However, I must ask that you attend a court meeting in the future to discuss custody of the baby."
Just then, there was a screech of tires; a school bus. Katrina was home from school. When the cop saw her, he ushered her inside to safety. She rushed over and hugged her father and stepfather.
"Okay, ma'am," said the cop, "are you willing to take custody of this child?"
"Yes," said the woman. "I want her to have a good life. I can't believe Laura would do this."
"Fantastic," said the cop. "I'll inform you of the court date." With that, he left and drove off with Laura still screaming from the back seat.
Once the cops had left, everyone looked over the baby. "It's so weird that we have almost the same name," said Katrina.
"Don't worry," said the woman. "I'll be giving her a new name."
"Thank you for looking out for my grandbaby," said Louise. "What's your name?"
"Spurling," said the woman, shaking her hand. "Bea Spurling. I promise, my husband and I will take good care of her."
Everyone cooed over the baby, who gently cooed.
That night, as Joe was scrolling through his FriendFindr before bed, he came across a post from Bea.
Beatrice Spurling posted:
As I lay tonight with this precious little girl, I can't help but feel bad about the betrayal that brought her to me.
Someone who I thought was my best friend had been terrorizing her own family for years. This was just the final straw.
I feel horrible that I was unknowingly endorsing this for so long, but I promise to give this dear a better life.
Eff you Laura Sanders, rot in jail
Joe put his phone down and turned the lights out. He was happy that his sort-of-niece was safe. Snuggling closer to Von Kaiser, he drifted into sleep, grateful for his friends and family.
