Made For Me (Made For Series), page 1
MADE FOR ME
NATASHA MADISON
Copyright © 2022 Natasha Madison. E-Book and Print Edition
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used factiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons or living or dead, events or locals are entirely coincidental.
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Cover Design: Jay Aheer https://www.simplydefinedart.com/
Editing done by Jenny Sims Editing4Indies
Editing done by Karen Hrdicka Barren Acres Editing
Proofing Julie Deaton by Deaton Author Services https://www.facebook.com/jdproofs/
Proofing by Judy’s proofreading www.judysproofreading.com
Photo by Lucas Passmore
Model Christopher Mason
Created with Vellum
CONTENTS
Stone Family Tree
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Epilogue One
Epilogue Two
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STONE FAMILY TREE
SOMETHING SO, THIS IS ONLY ONE & MADE FOR FAMILY TREE!
Hockey Series
SOMETHING SO SERIES
Something So Right
Parker & Cooper Stone
Matthew Grant (Something So Perfect)
Allison Grant (Something So Irresistible)
Zara Stone (This Is Crazy)
Zoe Stone (This Is Wild)
Justin Stone (This Is Forever)
Something So Perfect
Matthew Grant & Karrie Cooley
Cooper Grant (Only One Regret)
Frances Grant (Only One Love)
Vivienne Grant (Made For You)
Chase Grant (Made For Me)
Something So Irresistible
Allison Grant & Max Horton
Michael Horton (Only One Mistake)
Alexandria Horton (Only One Forever)
Something So Unscripted
Denise Horton & Zack Morrow
Jack Morrow
Joshua Morrow
Elizabeth Morrow
THIS IS SERIES
This Is Crazy
Zara Stone & Evan Richards
Zoey Richards
Stone Richards
This Is Wild
Zoe Stone & Viktor Petrov
Matthew Petrov (Mine To Take)
Zara Petrov
This Is Love
Vivienne Paradis & Mark Dimitris
Karrie Dimitris
Stefano Dimitris
Angelica Dimitris
This Is Forever
Caroline Woods & Justin Stone
Dylan Stone (Formally Woods) (Only One Forever)
Christopher Stone
Gabriella Stone (Made For Romeo)
Abigail Stone (Made For Us)
ONLY ONE SERIES
Only One Kiss
Candace Richards & Ralph Weber
Ariella Weber
Brookes Weber
Only One Chance
Layla Paterson & Miller Adams
Clarke Adams
Only One Night
Evelyn & Manning Stevenson
Jaxon Stevenson
Victoria Stevenson
Only One Touch
Becca & Nico Harrison
Phoenix Harrison
Dallas Harrison
Only One Regret
Erika & Cooper Grant
Emma Grant
Mia Grant
Parker Grant
Matthew Grant
Only One Mistake
Jillian & Michael Horton
Jamieson Horton
Bianca
Bailey
Only One Love
Frances Grant & Brad Wilson
Stella Wilson
Only One Forever
Dylan Stone & Alex Horton
Maddox Stone
Maya Stone
Maverick Stone
Made For Me
Julia & Chase Grant
Made For You
Vivienne Grant & Xavier Montgomery
Made For Us
Abigail Stone & Tristan Weise
Penelope
Payton
Made For Romeo
Romeo Beckett & Gabriella Stone
Mine to Take
Matthew Petrov & Sofia Barnes
Mine To Promise
Stefano Markos & Sadie
Chase
Everyone expected me to play hockey.
I was good at it, but I was better at being a doctor.
So, I hung up the skates and joined Doctors Without Borders.
But there is no place like home, so now I’m back.
And instead of being on the ice, I’m behind the bench as the team physician.
After years of playing cat and mouse, it’s time to admit it.
She’s mine.
Julia
Working as a social worker was a dream come true.
It wasn’t easy, and it made me shut off my heart to love.
No commitment. No strings. No promises.
Until one fateful night changes everything.
He is there for me like no other one.
The biggest thing is I let him.
Maybe he is just made for me!
CHAPTER 1
Julia
Twisting the water bottle cap off, I bring the plastic bottle to my lips. “I wish this was something stronger,” I mumble to myself before the cold water hits my dry mouth. My stomach lurches, and I lean back against the counter in the staff kitchen. After six years of doing this job, you would think I would be used to this, but nothing—and I mean nothing—can prepare you for it.
“Hey.” My boss, Rosalind, sticks her head into the kitchen, her black hair pushed back by a headband. “Monica is in your office.” The minute she says those five words, the water wants to come back up. “Let me know if you need me.”
I huff out a big deep breath. “Will do.” I nod at her, and when she leaves, I let my head hang forward. “Here we go.” I push my sandy-blond hair behind my ear, walking to my cubicle I call an office.
“Don’t touch that, Penelope.” I hear Monica as I make the dreaded walk toward the voice. Every step feels like my feet are getting heavier and heavier. “Why can’t you ever freaking listen?” I hear her hiss. “Come here.”
I stand at the cubicle entrance, watching her as she grabs Penelope by the wrist and pulls her toward her, picking her up and placing her on her lap. “Be good, and when we leave here, I’ll get you candy.”
“Candy?” Penelope looks up at her mom, and my heart breaks for what is to come. I swallow down the lump.
“Hey,” I say, walking into the cubicle and going to sit in my chair. The desk is against one wall of the cubicle with the chair Monica sits on right beside it. “Thank you for coming.” I turn my chair to look at her. My chair, not very far from hers, as I grab her thick manila folder. I try not to make eye contact with her and shut myself off.
“It’s not like I had a choice,” Monica huffs, and I look at her now. Her bleached-blond hair is down to her shoulders, but her black roots are half of her head. “You said it was mandatory.”
“All meetings are mandatory,” I inform her. “This isn’t new.” I look down at the notes even though I know this whole file by heart. “How are things going?”
“As they always are,” she huffs out. I look down at Penelope, who just looks at me, her brown hair tied in a lopsided ponytail. Her blue eyes are so crystal that you can see through them. She’s wearing little blue jeans and a pink top.
“How are you, Penelope?” I look down at the two-year-old little girl who says three words, mama, bobba for bottle, and candy.
She points behind her. “Mama,” she tells me proudly, and I smile at her.
“So what am I really doing here, Julia?” Monica asks as the diaper bag on her shoulder falls down to her elbow.
“Well.” I fold my hands together and place them on top of the folder. “As you
“What are you saying?” She sits up when she hears my tone.
“I hate to say this,” I say, and the stinging comes to my eyes, “but we have decided to place Penelope.”
I can see her expression change the minute I say that. Her arm wraps around her daughter, and I know deep down she loves her daughter with everything she has. But she’s a child raising a child, and I am not one to judge anyone, but she didn’t exactly have the best parental role models. “You can’t do that,” she says, and her lower lip quivers.
“You left us no choice.” I look at her and see the tears roll over her lower lashes. “You failed the random drug test.”
“It was a mistake. I didn’t know.” I almost roll my eyes. “By accident, I put a molly in my Tylenol bottle. I swear I haven’t touched anything since then.” Her voice goes high and trembles. “Please, Julia, give me another chance.” Her hands even shake a bit with nerves.
“I’ve given you chance after chance after chance, Monica,” I remind her softly. “You think this is what I want?” I shake my head, trying to keep things as calm as I can. I’ve been doing this a long time, and there have been times that taking away a child has put me in the middle of danger. I had a father pull out a knife and threaten to slice me open and eat my insides. I mean, he was high on meth, but it will stay with me forever. “You’ve been in my case file since you were fifteen, and now you’re almost twenty-one.”
“I swear, Julia, I’m trying,” she whispers. “I swear if you give me one more chance, you won’t regret it.” I look down, and my head is screaming no, but then I look up at her. “I swear, I just need one more chance. If I fuck up again,” she says, and her hands circle Penelope’s waist, “then you can take her from me.”
“We aren’t taking her from you.” I try to say it as delicately as I can. I love my job, I really do, but days like this… Days like today when I have to take a child from their parent, I really rethink what the hell I’m doing this for. “We are helping you get everything you need to help with Penelope.”
“What she needs is to be with her mother,” Monica pleads. “I know I haven’t always been on the ball with some of her things. But I’m learning.” My stomach flips. “I swear to God, Julia, if you give me one more chance, you won’t regret it.”
I tap my finger on the papers, knowing I should just take Penelope and turn away, but I also know this might just be the wake-up call Monica needs. Knowing she is one step away from losing her little girl might be the kick in the ass to straighten her up. “You know if I give you this one last chance, I’m putting my neck on the line,” I say honestly.
“I swear, Julia, you won’t be sorry,” she assures me, and I believe her. At least I believe she wants to be a better parent.
“We meet again in two weeks. If anything, and I mean anything, comes up…” I don’t finish my sentence because she jumps up. I pop up at the same time as she does.
“I promise you, Julia.” She turns Penelope around so she can sit on her hip. “You won’t be sorry.”
“I want you to call me every other day,” I say. “And I want you to have a job in the next two weeks.”
She nods at me and turns around, walking out faster than ever, for fear I’ll change my mind. I sit back down in my chair and put my head back. “How did it go?” Rosalind asks, and I turn to look at her.
“She has fourteen days to straighten up,” I inform her. “I know we said that—”
Rosalind holds up her hand to stop me from talking. “This is your case, and you know best how to deal with it. I haven’t doubted you once since you’ve been working here.”
I take a deep inhale. “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I say as she walks away laughing. “When does this get easier?”
She stops walking and turns around. “I’ve been doing this for over twenty years, and I still ask myself that every single day.” She shakes her head. “You will have good days and bad.” She smiles at me. “Cherish those.”
“Thanks,” I say as my phone vibrates on my desk. I turn it over to see Jillian, my twin sister, is FaceTiming me.
Pressing the green button, I see the circle going around while it says connecting. “Hello,” I greet, and my face lights up when I see my six-year-old nephew, Jamieson, on the screen. “Well, isn’t it the most handsome man in the whole world?” I love three people more than anything in the world, and those three people are my nephew and my two nieces. I would lay down my life for any of them. I put the folder away, looking down at my watch and seeing it’s just after five o’clock. I get up, grabbing my purse and the canvas bag I got when I started working here. It had my information package in it, and since then, it’s been with me. I know it’s silly, but the bag has a sentimental part to it being as it holds everyone’s story.
“Auntie Juju,” he says softly. “Mommy said I can’t have the cookies you bought me.” I can tell this little man is playing me.
“And why did she say that?” I ask as I walk into the elevator and press the P button. “Mommy wouldn’t say no unless there was a reason.”
“No.” He shakes his head, and his black hair falls on his forehead. His baby-blue eyes look full of mischief, and I can’t wait to hug and kiss him. “I did nothing.”
I roll my lips because his face is so angelic-looking. “Let me ask Mommy,” I say, walking out into the parking garage. The clicking of my heels fills the empty garage as I grab my keys and unlock the car doors. I get in, putting the phone in the holder as I start the car, and Jamieson calls Jillian.
She comes to the phone and grabs it from him. “Did he call you?”
I try not to laugh as I pull out of the garage. “Um, I refuse to answer that question.” I chuckle. “Why can’t he have a cookie?” I ask, and she turns and glares at Jamieson. I mean, glare is too strong of a word. She gives him the mother look that means watch out.
“Did you tell Auntie Juju why you can’t have a cookie?” she asks him, and I can hear my nieces yelling in the background. “Today, Mr. Horton called one of his friends a small dickhead,” she shares, looking at him, and he just looks down at the floor. “And then told him he was going to cut him.”
I roll my lips, trying not to laugh. “I mean, not that I’m saying it’s right or not, but…” She now glares at me. “Did this little boy do something to bother him? There are always three sides to every story.”
“Julia.” She says my name between clenched teeth. “That is not the point. We don’t attack other people.”
“Are you alone?” I ask, and she nods her head.
“Michael is gone for two days,” she says of my brother-in-law. The two of them met seven years ago and ended up having a one-night stand. She had no idea who he was, and five months later, their paths crossed again. Not only was she pregnant with Jamieson but she also found out he played hockey in the NHL and came from a hockey royalty family.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask as I make my way over to her house. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes, depending on traffic.”
“You don’t have to do this,” she huffs.
“Please, it would be my pleasure, especially after the day I’ve had,” I say. “Why don’t you order food and I’ll be there to help give the girls a bath.”
“Is everything okay?” she asks. Over the years, I’ve shared a couple of things with her, but mostly it’s all private and confidential, so I can’t disclose certain things. But when a case gets to me, she can feel it. My mother calls it the twin intuition.
