He blanched. “She’s six. Can’t we just say I’m Leo’s daddy too? I mean, you and Jess were always saying Leo was their little brother so I doubt we need to be any more explicit unless Lucy straight up asks how babies are made.”

“That still doesn’t solve the access issue.”

Nick screwed up his face. “To use counselor-speak, ‘I hear that you’re not ready to accept Leo.’”

Optimism flickered. “Thank you.”

“I’ve got an idea. Promise you won’t freak out.”

If he was asking her that, she probably would. She steeled herself. “I’ll try.”

“What if the girls and I spend time with him?”

No! Categorically, no. But Indi’s cry of “I want Leo” in the craft tent tonight was booming in her head. In the ongoing fog of her own grief, she hadn’t considered that the sudden severing of ties with Jess and Leo would negatively affect the girls. Karen’s offer came back to her, along with her mother’s obvious disappointment of her rejection of it. Libby tried hard to silence Nick’s accusation that her attitude toward Leo went against everything she’d ever believed in and she was punishing an innocent child, but the weight of the claim crushed her. Despite the abhorrence that scuttled through her every time she thought of what that child represented, she could no longer withstand the tide of disapproval.

“I’ll agree to you and the girls spending time with him only if you never see her. Mom will do the pick-up and drop-off.”

Appreciation lit up his eyes. “That’s a great solution. What about Alice?”

“I’m not asking Alice.”

“Okay …” By the look on his face, he clearly wanted to ask her why, but he didn’t. “My parents will happily help out too.”

Her heart tore at how much Rick and Rosa wanted to see that child. “They have to understand the rules. They can’t be emissaries for her.”

“They won’t be. Believe me, I wear their disappointment in me almost as much as yours. How about we sit down with Karen and Peter and Mama and Papa and discuss how we want this to be handled?”

Libby knew she should feel some relief that they were managing to cooperate, but access was an unwanted obligation pressing in on her from all sides.

Nick rubbed his jaw—a clear sign he was wrestling with something. “Um … can Leo come here or is that too much?”

It was too much. She’d just made a huge concession by allowing him to see the child. How many more compromises would she be forced to make? And where did she draw the line? Just say no.