Chapter 338

[Clark]

The Madisons eventually left me and the girls alone with their mother, a stack of paperwork, and a heart full of doubts.

They want to take my girls, all three of them, back to California. They've given me two options: I can go back with them and keep their granddaughters near so they can see them daily. Or I can hand over custody of my girls for the duration of my time abroad, or until Tilly wakes up, whichever comes first.

At least I know they are going to give her the chance to wake up.

"Of course, we won't kill our daughter," Jennifer Madison was appalled at the implication when I asked them honestly what their intentions were. "Even without an advance directive, we know that Tilly would want us to do everything we could to save her. She wants to be there to watch these girls grow up."

When I insisted that I also wanted to be there, she turned her back on me.

"You say you're her husband in everything but name," she threw back at me with air quotes, her lip curled sardoni