I’m exhausted, but now that I’m awake, my brain is in motion. Tomorrow the lawyer is coming to read the will. He knew my dad personally, so the house call is out of respect for him and our family. There’s so much paperwork to go through, and my mind has been scattered. I decide it might be best to review some of it before Thomas arrives in the morning so that I’m somewhat prepared. Especially where Emme and custody are concerned.

Light seeps out from the crack at the bottom of my dad’s office door. I don’t remember leaving it on when I was in there earlier. Aunt Linda jumps when I push it open to peek inside. She’s been staying with us during the funeral arrangements, which has been helpful, sort of. She has a habit of coming in and taking over, which can be hard to handle.

“Oh! Daxton, you scared me. I didn’t realize you were still awake.” She puts the files she’s holding into the drawer of my dad’s desk.

“What’re you doing?”

“Just tidying up. There’s going to be a lot to sort out in the next few weeks.” Her smile is sympathetic. “It’s a big job, going through this house. Craig and Evelyn have been here since before you were born. Have you thought about how you’re going to manage that?”

“I guess it all depends on what the will says.” I assume the house is going to me or eventually to Emme once she’s old enough, but I won’t know for sure until tomorrow. So many things are up in the air until then.

“Of course. So much to consider. Well, I should be going to bed. We have an early morning what with reading the will and all.” She crosses the room, her hand resting on my shoulder. “You should get some sleep. You’ll need a clear head.”

She moves to the hall, and turns around again, as if she’s waiting for me to leave the office. I’m foggy and suddenly exhausted all over again by the thought of making sense of all this paperwork.

“Yeah, you’re right.” I close the door to the office and follow her up the stairs, heading down the hall to my teenage bedroom, wondering what tomorrow will look like.

In the morning, I get dressed on autopilot and end up in a suit out of habit. I find Emme in the kitchen, making herself a fruit smoothie—with ice cream. It’s early, but I let it slide. Her appetite hasn’t been great the past few days, so if she wants ice cream first thing in the morning, she can have it.

Thomas arrives promptly at ten and pulls me into a hug, patting my back and murmuring his condolences. He’s far more formal with Linda, but no less pleasant. He turns a soft smile on Emme and comments on how much she looks like our mother, which makes her teary. I put an arm around her and hug her to my side.

“Why don’t we do this in the dining room, where we can be comfortable?” I suggest.

I just want to get through this so we can move forward. I feel like we’re all trapped in a state of limbo, waiting for our new realities to begin.

We settle in the dining room, and Thomas begins by reviewing the breakdown of assets. The house is mine— which I anticipated, and everything else is split between me and Emme. Financially, my parents’ accounts are divided in Emme’s favor because I already have a boatload of money that I’ve managed well so far, thanks to my parents’ guidance.

“Dax, you’ll have power of attorney over Emme’s accounts and the funds your parents have allocated to support her. It appears your parents have given you some leeway so you can make adjustments based on need, but in addition to the social security checks, which should be significant, you’ll also get an allowance each month for care and expenses.”

“I’m sorry, maybe I’m confused, but how can Daxton have power of attorney if I’m the legal guardian? How effective is that if I have to ask him to approve every single financial decision that might benefit Emme’s future?” Linda asks.

I was actually wondering the same thing.

Thomas graces her with one of his polite smiles. “Daxton is Emme’s legal guardian, hence he has power of attorney.”

In my under-slept, grievous state, it takes several seconds for that information to sink in. I don’t have a chance to ask for clarification, or for Thomas to repeat that information, because Linda does it for me. “But Evelyn told me I would be responsible for taking care of Emme should anything happen to her and Craig.”

Thomas glances from me to Linda. “According to the will and trust papers, which were signed by both Evelyn and Craig, Daxton has been named Emme’s legal guardian.” He addresses me. “Were you unaware of this?”

I’m gripping my own armrests, the news slow to sink in. “I was unaware.”

Emme sits up straighter, her eyes wide. “I get to live with Dax?”

Thomas smiles softly. “That’s right, Emme. Dax is legally responsible for taking care of you.”

“So I don’t have to move? I can stay right here?”

“Provided Daxton chooses to keep the house, yes.” Thomas addresses Linda and me. “Your parents made changes to the will a little over six months ago. Just after your thirtieth birthday, Daxton. Until that point, guardianship had been appointed to Linda and . . . ” He flips through the pages. “Victor. But then I understand you separated from your husband. Is that correct, Linda?”

“Well yes, we separated, but I wasn’t aware Evelyn had changed custody.” She seems stunned more than anything, which I understand, because I’m just as shocked by the news.

“Linda, you’ve been granted secondary custody,”Thomas says.

“What does that mean? Is that like partial custody?” Linda asks.

“In the event that Daxton is unable to care for Emme for whatever reason, you would step in as guardian.” I can read between the lines. He means if something happens to me, God forbid, custody would shift to Linda.

She turns her attention to me, obviously flustered. “Daxton, you have to see how difficult this would be with the hours you work. Taking care of a teenage girl is a huge responsibility. Do you have any idea how much time and energy goes into raising a child?”

The answer to that is no. Not really. But I can guess. “We’ll make it work.”

Her expression becomes strangely panicked. “You must see that this isn’t what’s best for Emme. You’ll have to be home every night with her. You can’t just leave a thirteen-year-old to fend for herself. Your entire life is going to change.”

She’s right, but the look on Emme’s face prevents me from agreeing with her. “My entire life has already changed, and so has Emme’s.”

“I can provide her with stability that you can’t,” she counters. There’s desperation in her tone and I’m unsure what the cause is. She’s not particularly close with Emme that I know of, despite working at her school.

Besides that, I haven’t even had a chance to prove I’m capable and already she’s telling me I’ll fail. “You think your revolving door of husbands is indicative of stability?”

Her expression shutters and she snaps at me, “Far more stable than you and your Tinder dates and sleeping around with whatever woman you pick up from the bar.”

I pin Linda with an unimpressed glare. “You don’t know the first thing about me or my personal life. Emme is my sister. I’ll make whatever lifestyle changes necessary so I can support her and be there for her.”

It’s not like I have a rotation of women warming my bed all the time. I have an old acting friend I see once in a while when she’s in town. It’s a no-strings kind of thing because we’re both too busy for relationships. Linda’s making me sound like a playboy, when in reality, I’m a thirty-year-old with a healthy sex drive, and I like to be safe and smart about my partners. I don’t just screw randoms on a whim whenever I feel like it. Not that I need to discuss this, particularly not in front of my sister.

While I’m not sure I’m the best option, I don’t want to disrupt Emme’s life more than it already is, so if that means I have to move back here, then I’m willing to try to be the parent she needs, even if I have no idea how to do that.

“Maybe we should ask Emme what she wants.” Linda smiles encouragingly at her. “Do you think it would be better for you to live with me, honey?”

Emme looks from Linda to me and back again.

“It’s okay,” I tell her. “You can answer the question honestly, Em. I only want what’s best for you.” Although it might literally kill me if she says she’d rather live with our aunt.

“I want to live with Dax,” Emme says quietly.

Linda sighs, annoyance pushing through. “Of course she wants to live where there won’t be any rules or supervision.” She pushes up from the chair. “This is a mistake. You don’t have the first clue what it takes to care for a teenage girl, Daxton. I think you should seriously consider the demands and whether this really is best for Emme.”

And suddenly I realize I’ve gone from single to single dad.