Found by Love (21 page)

"You stayed. I was afraid I'd never see you again." I look into his beautiful brown eyes and I can tell that he's comfortable and the pain hasn't kicked in yet. I grin at him to ease his mind.

"Well of course I did Silly. Where else would I be but right here by your side? Look who else finally showed up." I nodded my head towards Caleb at the foot of the bed and he grinned.

"Did I dream that you went to jail or did that really happen? I think you look worse than I do Caleb." One thing for sure, he definitely didn't lose his sense of humor. Caleb gave him a big grin back and laughed.

"Yeah, I got thrown in the slammer but I'm alright. How about you? Are you in any pain? If you are there's a little lever with a button on the end to give you some pain medicine." He nodded his head and picked it up.

"Yeah... The nurse showed me how to use it but she said it will make me sleep. I'm alright for right now. "I couldn't help myself so I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the forehead and on his cheek.

"I'm so glad that you're okay. I was so scared that you were worse-"

"Claudia... There's plenty of time to talk baby. We probably ought to let him rest." Oh he's right and the route I was going was about to have me bawling any second. Grayson looked into my eyes and smiled that sweet boyish smile of his.

"I'm alright Claudia. Don't worry about me. I'm glad it happened because I finally got to see my Mom and Dad." I had suspected as much but I didn't realize how much it saddened and relieved me by the smile on his face. I so hope that maybe now he has some closure and we can finally take him home.

"Oh that is great Sweetheart! Did they finally give you some answers that you've been searching for?" He scrunched his eyebrows up and shook his head while little tears formed in his eyes. The last thing I wanted to do was upset him.  "Oh we can talk about that later Sweetie. Right now you should rest and heal."

"No, I want to talk about it. My mom is so happy that you found me but my dad not so much. He wants me to stay with Uncle Mattie and they kept kind of arguing about it." He chuckled and winced and grabbed his arm. "It made me feel like they were alive again because they would always argue but in a funny way and were never mean to each other." He reached for the morphine drip and pressed the button and I knew the pain was finally kicking in. I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek and ran my fingers through his hair above his forehead.

"You need to rest and we will talk tomorrow okay Sweetie? Caleb and I aren't going anywhere until you get out of here so we have all the time in the world to talk about everything." I didn't realize that Caleb had come up beside me. He motioned for me to move over so that he could talk to him.

"Go to sleep son and your mother is right, we'll be here when you wake up." Grayson nodded his head and Caleb leaned over and gave him a kiss on the forehead while Grayson closed his eyes and went back to sleep. I looked over at him and he seemed to be in a deep sleep already so I breathed a deep sigh of relief and looked at Caleb who was staring at me. He leaned over and pulled me into his arms and kissed my temple. I breathed him in and relaxed my body and let him comfort me from all of the stress of the day.

"When was the last time that you ate Cru? I'll talk to the nurse about getting a cot in here for you to sleep on while we run down to the cafeteria and get a bite to eat." I look over at Grayson wondering if he will be alright while we are gone. "He's knocked out for a few hours Baby. We need to eat something and rest as well so that we can take care of him the next few days." He's right and I need more strength to deal with taking care of Grayson while he's recovering. I look up into his beautiful face and rose up on my tiptoes to give him a kiss.

"I really love you, ya know that? Thank you for not leaving me earlier. I don't think I could handle going through this without you."

"It would be best if you would remember that the next time you try to push me away Cru.  I'm here for the long haul and that little boy over there?" We both turn and look over at my sweet little boy in the bed. "I already love him as if he was my own and we WILL be a family one day soon."

He picked me up off of my feet and pulled me into his arms and kissed me with so much passion in his kiss that I could barely stand when he put me down and walked towards the doorway motioning for me to follow him. I wobbled a little trying to balance my body and looked at him and he had the biggest smirk on his face and chuckled under his breath.

"I don't think I'll ever forget that kiss Nerd Boy. It looks like you've been holding out on me in the bedroom." I grabbed his hand for balance and support when I reached the doorway and we started walking down the hall towards the nurses’ station. He leaned down and whispered in my ear.

"Cruella... I have a lot of tricks up my sleeve when it comes to pleasing you. When things settle down I'll show you what I'm talking about." He leaned down and gave me a smoldering look and kissed me on the tip of my nose. "I promise you'll like every one of them."

He let go of my hand to walk up to the nurses’ station and all eyes were on him. It's amazing how anytime he's around a crowd of women everyone stops what they're doing to not only stare at him but help him however they can. He's like the flame and they're the moth to anyone that's around.

I fight back my jealousy to walk up to them and claim him as my property because he's definitely MINE and I'm not letting ANYONE take him from me.

CHAPTER TEN

The last couple of days have been a little calmer. Grayson got out of the hospital the next afternoon and seems to be doing better than anyone. It's amazing how resilient kids can be during terrible circumstances.

Caleb decided to take full advantage of my son’s handicap of not being able to play any of his Xbox games. Due to his broken wrist in a cast for a few weeks Caleb introduced him to the wonderful world of Star Wars and all of the super heroes he could think of by piling up in Grayson's room watching movies. Grayson loved every minute of it and aside from making sure he wasn't hungry or in pain I've felt completely in the way of their male bonding.

Mattie and I have been having some major issues on the other hand. As soon as he got back into town he's made comments about rethinking Grayson's future and wondering if maybe he made the wrong decision in allowing me to have full custody of my son. It's not that he's blaming me, because that would be absurd if he did, but he's reevaluating his life and at the thought that we could have lost Grayson he is considering raising him as his own.

I am terrified at the thought of losing him, AGAIN, and trying my best to think positive because the last thing I want is to fight Mattie in court which is what I will do if I have to. I'm nervous as hell at where Grayson's mind is at on who he wants to live with and waiting with bated breath for any indication from him. Am I hoping that getting to know Caleb better will help my case in Grayson wanting not one but two parents for the rest of his life? You're damn right!!

I walk in to Grayson's room and I see a young Christopher Reeve as Superman on the screen and it looks to be the second movie in the Superman series where General Zod is forcing Superman into the chamber to take away his super powers. I see that Grayson is on the edge of his seat and Caleb is just as engrossed.

I sit down on the end of the bed to not distract them and watch as Superman's enemies realize that they are the ones that lost their super powers and not Superman. I turn to look at my boy's face and he's grinning from ear to ear and starts bouncing up and down on the bed.

"I knew it! I couldn't believe that he would willingly walk in there without a plan and leave Lois defenseless against them!" He screamed at the TV and I started giggling at him. "Woohoo Superman! Take em all down buddy! Take that General Zod! You better run Lex!"

Caleb reached over and patted him on the top of his head and looked over at me with so much love in his eyes. I knew he loved Grayson as much as I did in that moment and I had to turn toward the TV to hide the happy tears that were trying to fall. After I composed myself I got up and went around to Grayson's side of the bed and leaned down and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"I'm going to go take a long bath and go to bed. I'm going to leave you two gentlemen to Superman. Goodnight baby." He beamed at me and nodded his head.

"Goodnight Claudia. Do you care if I stay up for one more movie? Tomorrow is Saturday ya know." He yawned as he asked me so I knew right then that he would never make it through another movie so I laughed.

"Sure Baby. I'm sure your partner in crime doesn't mind either." I winked at Caleb and he returned the wink and mouthed an "I love you" and I walked out and went to my bedroom to run my bath.

As I was walking in to our room my cell phone was ringing and I picked it up and noticed that it was Amelia. We have been talking a lot lately and have gotten closer throughout all of the craziness in mine and Caleb's lives this past week. I grabbed my phone to answer it and headed to the bathtub to let it start filling up.

"Hello Amelia. How are you doing tonight?"

"Well hello dear. Honey you sound tired. Did I wake you? I didn't realize how late it was getting when I realized I hadn't checked on you all today."

"Oh I'm alright. I've been fighting a headache all day and am running a very hot bath so hopefully that will help. How did the week end up going at work? Anything pressing that I need to take care of?" She let out a big sigh which put me on high alert. "Amelia? Something happened... Didn't it."

"Well... It was easy to get everyone moved around and rescheduled but I did have a problem with one potential client. I don't know how to tell you this and I thought that Caleb and I had it under control but he's very persistent and keeps calling

Okay. So it's a HE and Caleb tried to take care of it personally a couple of days ago. A couple of days ago was when all hell broke loose and Grayson was hurt and Caleb got arrested. The only time he could have talked to whoever it was had to have been before we left for the school when the principal called. Who could it.... Oh my God. It can't be! What does he want?!

"Amelia? Text me Jason's phone number please." I was gritting my teeth so hard I was afraid I was going to chip a tooth. How dare he harass Amelia and not leave her alone. There are a hundred other attorneys that he could hire for his divorce and why he is being so persistent for me, of all people, to take care of it for him is beyond me.

"Claudia? I don't think that would be wise. Caleb and I can handle this Honey. You have too much on your plate right now. I didn't tell you this to have you take care of it. I was only telling you the truth and I so regret telling you now. How about you sleep on it and deal with it after the holidays."

"The holidays? What holiday? Oh no! Thanksgiving is next week isn't it."

One of my favorite holidays and after this crazy week I had completely forgotten about it and honestly I have no idea what we will do for Thanksgiving. I have no idea if we should stay here at Mattie's or attempt to take Grayson home to meet everyone in the family. Would Mattie allow me to take Grayson home? Out of state? Would Grayson even want to go with Caleb and I?

First things first! I feel like everything is so out of control in my life and I want to take it out on someone and Jason Anderson sounds like the best person for the job.

"Amelia? Would you please text me Jason's number? I think a quick little call from me will have him tucking his tail between his legs and he won't be bothering you again. I will let you know what we plan on doing for Thanksgiving because I'll have to run it by Mattie and Grayson." I can hear a little bit of hesitation on the other end and I know Amelia is not to be messed with but surely she has enough faith in me to let me handle this. MY way.

"Okay Claudia. I'll text his number to you. I have a funny feeling that he's going to be sorry for harassing you so whatever you give him will be well deserved. Please let me know about Thanksgiving and here's an idea that you could present to Mattie if he doesn't feel comfortable with you bringing Grayson home. We will ALL fly there for Thanksgiving."

"Oh Amelia.... That would be too much on Cash and Olivia with the children. I'll let you know and we will figure something out. Oh and thank you." I couldn't help but grin.

"For what Honey?" She chuckled and seemed shocked at my gratitude.

"For giving me Jason's number and knowing me well enough to know that I will INDEED make him wish he hadn't looked me up!"

"Claudia... There's one thing I do know about you Dear and that's that you're one of the strongest women that I know that doesn't put up with any... Well... SHIT!! Sorry for the language but I wish I could be a fly on the wall for THAT conversation. I'll text you the number and please give my son and grandson a hug from me."