[ There are guardians, social workers, things like that— but it's still tough. Average kids wouldn't adapt so easily. Laura's a particular case, considering her background, but Jim knows Lucy wouldn't have done as well if she'd ended up here on her own. ]

Honestly? It was complicated, at first. We had a pretty rocky start, and she didn't like me a lot. And Victor and I had just started dating when she moved in with him... [ Like, literally for just a few days. ] It was a little tough. But I liked him, and I wasn't ready to give up on that so easily.

[ He smiles softly, and nods at Billy's question. ] I'm glad I stuck with it. And yeah, I do feel pretty settled.