Chapter 11 - A New Life
In late July, two weeks before Sienna was scheduled to begin her prison sentence, we received an urgent call from the New York State Child Protective Services office.
Sienna had given birth to a healthy baby boy at Bellevue Hospital under guard custody. Immediately after delivery, she signed a full waiver of parental rights, refusing to raise a child while incarcerated, and Victor had been stripped of all legal parental privileges by federal court order.
Landon and I walked into the quiet nursery room at the family services center.
In a small transparent bassinet near the window lay a newborn baby boy, wrapped in a light blue blanket. He had a faint patch of blonde hair and big, dark blue eyes that looked up at us curiously.
Landon walked over slowly, his broad shoulders tense. He reached into the bassinet with one long finger. The baby instantly reached out, clutching Landon's finger with his tiny hand.
Landon's chest heaved, a single tear rolling down his cheek. "He's completely innocent, Aubrey. He didn't ask for any of his mother's evil or his father's greed."
I stepped up beside Landon, placing my hand over his back. "What do you want to do, Landon?"
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"I want to bring him home," Landon whispered, looking up at me. "I want to raise him so he never has to know what kind of monsters brought him into this world."
We signed the legal temporary guardianship papers that afternoon, naming the baby Leo.
