Found by Love (17 page)

When that little shopping spree was over we asked Grayson what he wanted to do next and I about died. Roller blading happens to be one of his favorite past times and not only is he good at it but so is Caleb. Me on the other hand... After falling for the fifth time and scraping both knees and one elbow I finally found some knee and elbow pads and never fell again. Go figure! I look in the back seat and Grayson is passed out asleep so I guess that's a sign that he had a good day.

Aside from my cuts and bruises that Caleb promised he would doctor later I have to agree... It was definitely an awesome day. We decided to take home some Chinese food instead of eating out because we were all too wore out to get out of the truck and go inside to eat anywhere. We pulled into the garage and got all of our stuff out of the back and notice that Grayson is still asleep. I look over at Caleb on what to do and he hands me the bags.

"I'll just carry the little guy in and put him in his bed. We can save some dinner for him."

"Don't you think we should wake him up so that he's not up all night?" Caleb nodded and realized that I was right but when he shook him he wouldn't wake up.

"How about we let him rest for an hour and try to wake him up then. We did a lot today Claud. Aren't you worn out as well? I know I sure am." He's got a point so I pick up the bag of movies and the Chinese food and head towards the door to the house.

"Okay... I'll carry all of this in. Here... Let me get the door for you."

When we walk in I hear yelling coming from the living room and its Mattie's voice that I hear. Who is he yelling at? I get closer and I hear Grayson's name come up which puts me on high alert.. who is he talking to about my son? I turn around and Grayson is awake now and rubbing his eyes and looking towards Mattie's screaming voice.

"I've already told you Meredith! He is staying here with me from now on and will NOT be back! There's not a damn thing that you can do about it, Meredith. I don't care if you have bills to pay! You should have thought about that before you and your loser husband quit your jobs thinking that you were going to use a 10 year old boy as your MEAL TICKET!"

Great! It's the people that have been taking care of him and they must be pissed that Grayson isn't going back there. I whisper to Caleb to take him to his bedroom because I don't want him to hear what all is being said. I know he seems more mature than most ten year olds but he's still just a ten year old boy that needs to be protected from all of this craziness.

I took the Chinese food into the kitchen and looked over at Mattie and his face is beet red from anger. He put a finger in front of his lips to tell me to keep quiet and I nodded at him. I'll be quiet but there's no way in hell that I'm leaving the room. Mattie started chuckling through the phone and got an evil smile on his face.

"Do you even hear yourself? Tell Roger to be quiet. Do you think that I don't hear him threatening me in the back ground? You guys only have temporary guardianship. That means that you can take him to the doctor or the emergency room if need be and talk to his teachers at school if something comes up. That's it Meredith! I have full custody of him and I have a will to back me up." This is getting very heated if he's getting threatened. He lowers his head and starts to inhale and exhale slowly to try to calm himself down.

"Listen Meredith... You’ve never made Grayson feel like he was a part of your family. Your kids terrorize him at home AND at school and you have always refused to believe him. When you bought a boat for your family to go deep sea fishing; that I told you I would not pay for by the way, that let me know that you definitely do not care for him. You pretty much tanked any chance you had at him ever wanting to stay with you. You do remember how his parents died right?? ON A BOAT! SOMETHING THAT HE IS NOW DEATHLY AFRAID OF!!"

If I don't do something quick by the look on his face he's going to end up having a stroke. I reach into the cupboard and get a glass out and pour some water into it and walk over and hand it to him so that maybe it will calm him down.

"Thank you Claudia." He downs the glass in less than a minute and hands it back to me. I run and get him some more and I hear my name. Oh Great! Now I'm getting brought into this but I was expecting it when he mentioned my name.

"No... Maria is my cook. Claudia is... Well... Claudia is Grayson's mother. She's staying here for a while before she takes him home with her. I already told you this Friday, when I picked him up."

I can already tell that this isn't going to go over very well. The smile on Mattie's face is priceless though. I bet back in the day when he was a defense attorney all eyes were on him when he was in front of the jury. He is a very good looking man but there's menace in his eyes when he smiles and you don't know if it’s a good thing for him to smile or not.

"Meredith! I can't wait to see you in court either my dear. Not only do you not have a leg to stand on with my many witnesses of the bullying that has been going on in school and home from YOUR children but Grayson's therapist will have a field day with how much you've neglected him since he's been living with you. And just to let you know about his biological white trash twit of a mother? She's an attorney as well and owns her own firm and is engaged to be married to an attorney. She has money and her fiancé has even more money and the last thing that they need is Grayson's money, unlike you. Good day Meredith! May the rest of your day be as miserable as I hope it will be. Ta ta!"

And that's a wrap folks! That's why he was grinning because she was calling me a white trash twit and he was getting ready for his closing argument that I must say probably has Meredith screaming at the top of her lungs right about now. Haha... I kind of see why men do the knuckle bump now because right now I'm trying to keep from putting my knuckle out to him.

"White trash twit huh? Well... I must say... That's a first. But like they say... There's a first for everything. Isn't that right Grayson? Caleb?"

One short head popped out and then the giant tall head popped out around the corner and looked at us with smiles on their faces. Since they've both been caught they come into the kitchen and I hand them a plate for their food.

"Cru? How'd you know we were there? Grayson, I told you to be quiet." Grayson craned his neck up to look up at Caleb and shook his head.

"Dude! Really? I'm so low to the ground that I'm as quiet as a mouse when I walk. You're the size of a giraffe and just as loud when you walk."

"A giraffe? You're comparing me to a giraffe?" I tried my best not to laugh at the funny insult at Caleb's expense.

Grayson walked up to him and in front of Caleb to show us the visual in his comparison and we all cracked up. The top of his head stops at Caleb's belly button and I would say that his analogy would be pretty close. Caleb knew he had lost the battle with him and dropped his chin against his chest and shook his head.

"I rest my case! Giraffe!! Haha." I walk over to Caleb and lean up for a kiss.

"Did I ever tell you that giraffes were my favorite animals to watch at the zoo?"

"No you didn't but I feel better now after our kid just humiliated me in front of everyone." I heard someone gasp and I turned around and it’s Grayson looking at the both of us with a grin on his face.

"What's wrong?" He hesitated at first but went ahead and spit out what he was thinking.

"Um... Nothing. It's just... Well... What Caleb just said." I think back to what he said and I can't come up with... Oh... What he said was 'our kid'.

"Are you okay with what he said? Because it is how he feels. I would assume by now that you can feel that he means it that way."

"I'm more than okay with it and I know... I can feel it so it’s all cool."

I smile at him and want to cry happy, happy tears but I fight them back. Not only is he warming up to me but he's totally warming up to Caleb as well. Thank God! I look up at Caleb and he has a dumbfounded look on his face. I swear... He is a natural blonde and sometimes it comes out.

"Did I miss something? What did I say that was so great?" I whispered into his ear.

"I'll tell ya later Nerd Boy". I leaned up and kissed him on his cheek and left him standing there befuddled to go fix my plate and sit down.

"Okay Uncle Mattie... I have a question and I pray you are going to give me the answer that I've been waiting forever for." He was literally on the edge of his seat with an eager smile on his face.

"Grayson... You don't even have to ask. You never have to go to their house ever again because I just put an end to it." He jumped up out of his seat and came to me and gave me a hug and then Mattie and then Caleb. He then started jumping up and down in circles right in the middle of the kitchen.

"Thank you and HALLELUJAH! Yes! No more being around the crazy people!"

We all got tickled at his excitement and busted out laughing. I wanted to repeat everything that he just said as well but this is his moment to shine and seeing your child so ecstatic and happy about life for once is a wonderful sight to see for sure. I can't wait to see more happy moments in his future. Now if I could only get him home with Caleb and I then everything would be perfect.

CHAPTER EIGHT

I finally close my eyes and my phone is vibrating on the night stand. I know that I promised Caleb that I would put my phone on silent and take a nap while he made some calls but my curiosity got the best of me. I look at the text and it's from Olivia.

Hey… Can you talk? I haven’t

heard from you. Surely you’re

not still mad at me???!!!

Ugh! So much for taking a nap. I do need to talk to her because my brain is about to explode from the last couple of days events.  I pull up my call log and dial her number and she answered it quickly because it barely rang on my end.

"Oh thank God! I guess you're not mad at me if you called me. How's everything going? I so need some adult conversation right now." I can never stay mad at her which is how we've stayed friends as long as we have.

"Adult conversation you say? I don't know if you're ready for mine. I've got way too much stuff going on right now that I can barely come up with a coherent thought. How are the kids?"

"Oh the kids are fine. I didn't call to talk about the kids. Come on... Give me something else to think about besides changing diapers and feeding two babies around the clock. What's going on in your world?"

"Little Claude giving you a run for your money? Haha... Can I please just once call you Bessie the Cow? You are producing milk around the clock ya know! Hehe." Her sigh said it all and I can tell how truly wore out she is.

"You absolutely CAN NOT call me Bessie the Cow! And please oh please would everyone quit calling my baby every name except for the one I want him to be called. I should have just called him Henry and we would have had two Henry's and two Gideon's. Geez! I just want him to have his own identity and it seems like he has half a dozen." Now I feel bad. Maybe this isn't the time to talk to her about what I need to discuss with her. I give her a few seconds to compose herself before I say anything.

"I'm sorry O. I was just trying to lighten the mood. I'm really feeling depressed and you sound just as depressed and you know me... I'm always sticking my foot in my mouth. I will quit calling Hank, Claude." I hear her sniffling over the phone and now I'm really worried. "Olivia? What's wrong sweetie?"

"Oh it's fine... I need to quit being so sensitive and I'm so tired all of the time. Cash has been putting in a lot of hours at work, supposedly for some merger with another company but it’s probably a lie to keep him away from the house. For all I know he's probably cheating on me but I'm really too tired to care. Ugh!!! Yes I DO care! He better not be cheating on me or I'll castrate him after all of the work I do taking care of his babies!"

Holy crap! I don't even know what to say to her. I thought I was having it rough with issues that keep springing up with Grayson but my problems seem minor at the moment.

"Where's your mom? Hasn't she been around to help you?" I know that her parents, Henry and Elizabeth, help her with the kids a lot but maybe something's going on to prevent them from helping.

"Yes she has. I just miss Cash. Yes I'm sleep deprived and by the time he gets home I can barely raise my head up off of the pillow and the mornings are so crazy with the babies that he's out the door before I get them settled down. It's alright... Everything will smooth over when this merger is over with. So..." She let out a big exhale through the phone and I could tell that she was forcing herself to calm down. "What do you need to discuss with me?"

Oh that! I had completely forgotten what I wanted to talk to her about so I start giggling.

"We can talk about it later. It isn't a big deal."