"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 do
zen." 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."
It really was but I don't think the frame of mind that she's in could handle what I need to talk about. The only other person that I could talk to about this would be Cash but it sounds like he's just as busy at the moment.
"Claud? Never think that I'm not here for you and I so want to talk about anything besides my problems. Please talk to me. I could use an intelligent conversation right now."
This might bring up some stuff that she doesn't want to talk about which is why I'm not so sure that I should even bring it up. Caleb pretty much blew me off with an ‘oh well we will figure something out’ response which really irritated me. I might as well just tell her what it is.
"Okay... Here goes and I really hope that this doesn't upset you but... I think that the reason Grayson doesn't want to move to Oregon with Caleb and I is because he's waiting for his dead parents to show him somehow that it's what they want him to do." There! I said it out loud. I can hear her brain working through the phone and I could tell that she was also trying to figure out how to respond to what I blurted out.
"I can completely understand where he's coming from. He hasn't had closure yet and it sounds like he's not physically able to move on and tell them goodbye either. Has he mentioned if he's seen them? I'm assuming you've taken him to visit their graves?" Whoa! She really does get it. I guess I can start calling her the ‘ghost whisperer’ instead of Bessie the Cow.
"Uh yes... I took him Sunday and he was really upset that they didn't... Well... Appear. You really get it don't you? His apprehension about moving and who to live with, you get it? I mean... I know that you and Cash had well... Visits from Derek and Vanessa and I never once thought that you two were crazy but honestly I just thought it could have been in your heads." I hear her giggle under her breath and then laugh her butt off.
"Oh I thought I was ready for the insane asylum for sure the first few times I saw them but then it was comforting. Ya know? But then it became like an addiction and for Cash as well. That is until we decided we had to move forward. I have a question... Has he had any nightmares? I can't imagine after what he went through him NOT having any." I can't believe I didn't think about him having nightmares. I bet he has and probably still is. What a lousy mother I am for not asking him.
"Olivia! I have no idea. I can't believe I haven't even thought of that. Of course he is! I'm just so lost at what to do. Mattie had him going to a therapist and I met the witch last night. Grrrr! I wanted to beat her ass after what she said about my son!"
"Oh no! What did she say? She's not making him feel like he's crazy is she? About seeing his parents? I'm not saying that it's not all in his head because I've often wondered the same thing. Subconsciously maybe our mind wanders and sees what we want to see but she shouldn't make him feel like he's crazy, did she?"
"That's pretty much what she said. She told me that he was delusional in thinking that his parents are waiting for him at the cemetery so that they could tell him what he should do. She told me that my coddling him was the wrong thing to do and that I should just put him on the plane and take him home with me and that he would eventually move on. I can't do it O. I just can't."
"I don't know that I would be able to either. What does Caleb say about it? What about Mattie? How does he feel about it?"
"Caleb pretty much agrees with me and thinks that we should play it by ear and not pressure him. I think Mattie agrees with the therapist because Gray told me that Mattie didn't believe him when he told him that he saw his parents."
I let out a long sigh of relief because it feels good to get a third party's opinion in the matter. I do need to talk to Gray and ask him if he's had any nightmares because after dealing with Olivia for over a year with hers I can only imagine that he has had plenty of them.
"Ya know Claud... Thanksgiving is next week. Why don't you bring Grayson home to meet the family and maybe the not knowing how things might go is bothering him as well. He would be able to see where he'll live. Meet all of us and the kids and maybe you could show him the school that he's going to go to. By the way? Where is he going to go to school? Have you thought about that?"
“No! No I haven't! I am so sucking at this mother crap! I would love for him to go where Gideon and Eden go but we would have to move closer to where you live. Right now I'm just trying to give him some time to get used to Caleb and I and get to know us better."
"Claud... You're doing a wonderful job and all moms worry about everything under the sun. Right now the main priority is getting his head straight...mentally that is, haha... I'm assuming his head is straight. Aligned with his neck? Haha... Okay, okay. Bad joke! I was just trying to lighten the mood."
"Haha… Yeah... he has a gorgeous little head that is aligned with his neck. I can't wait for you to meet him O! He's so beautiful... and smart... and funny and oh my God you're not going to believe this but he takes after me personality wise. He will tell you whatever he's thinking and I can't believe Caleb hasn't run away yet! Haha."
"Oh no! I don't think the world can handle TWO of you! Haha... I can't wait to meet him either Claud. Aside from your crazy thoughts I don't think that I've ever heard you smile as big as you are right now."
"You can hear me smiling? Wow! You're good! Hehe."
"Oh shut up! You knew what I meant. I can tell that you're smiling by the way your voice sounds dummy!" Oh I knew what she meant. I love giving her a hard time. I hear that I'm getting a call and I don't recognize the number but it has a California area code.
"Olivia? Hold on a second. I have another call on the other line." I didn't even wait for a reply and clicked over.
"Hello, Claudia speaking." I hear a deep voice on the other end.
"Hello there. Is this Claudia Porter?"
"Yes it is. May I help you?"
"Yes, Ms. Porter. This is Mr. Jacobs, the principal at Grayson Brown's school. Mr. Jackson alerted us to the fact that he was out of town and that if anything came up with Grayson that we were to give you a call to inform you of anything that came up and that you were now his legal guardian."
Oh my God! My heart has literally dropped and fallen into my stomach!
"Yes, yes that's right. Is he okay? Has he been hurt?"
"His adoptive parents did die Mr. Jacobs. I'm his birth mother and his legal guardian. DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT let him go with his cousins! I am on my way there to pick him up!"
I don't know who the hell they think they are but they are about to meet Miss Crazy White Trash Twit Claudia Porter! Try to take my son home with them? After knowing that he doesn't want to go with them? I don't freaking think so!
"Yes ma'am. I will be waiting in my office with Grayson for you to arrive."
"Thank you for calling me Mr. Jacobs. Goodbye." I hang up and switch over to Olivia and grab my purse and start yelling at Caleb.
"Claud? What's going on? Why are you screaming at Caleb?"
"Because my son has gotten into a fight with his cousin and those evil people are trying to take him home with them and THAT is NOT happening!"
"Oh boy! Okay, calm down and don't do anything crazy. Call me when you get back to the house."
"Okay. I've got to go… Bye." I hung up and walked into the living room and looked at Caleb who is standing there with a confused look on his face.
"Come on! Get in the truck! We have to go pick Gray up at school because he got into a fight. Come on Caleb! Let’s go, let’s go!!"
"I'm driving... Just so you know. You look like you're planning on killing somebody!" I glared at him and seethed through my teeth which made him cringe.
Found by Love Page 13
