Chapter 147

Sighing heavily at the half work day he had, Ran was glad when it was 5PM and he could go home. Knowing he'll be stuck in traffic for at least half an hour, he had to prepare himself for as well before he'd make it home. Alex and Phoebe laid on the bed, having a conversation of their own. Sita made her way upstairs to let her daughter know dinner would be ready soon and they can eat when Ryan gets home, but she turned around in the doorway when she heard the conversation between her daughter and granddaughter, smiling to herself at the women Alex had become and how proud she is of her only child.

Barney playing on the TV in the background Phoebe seemed to be intrigued by the purple dinosaur and forgot about her mother, who to her surprise were watching Barney with her. Phoebe looked at Alex when she heard her father's voice downstairs, hearing his footsteps come towards the room.

"Who's that?" Alex asked smiling sitting up so she can hold Phoebe as her excitement became too much and she stood up on the bed.

"Dada!" She smiled pointed towards the door when her father appeared in the doorway.

"Phoebe!" He smiled with equal enthusiasm that matched his daughter's. "How was your day?" He asked sitting down on the bed, kissing her nose.

"Where do you want me to start? Your daughter breaking a vase or her being a grumpy cat when she became tired?" Alex laughed as Ryan made himself comfortable on the bed, Phoebe sitting down between her parents as she continued to watch Barney, Ryan looking at his wife, since their daughter has a new TV Show that they'll have to get used to as well. Honestly he can handle cartoons but Barney seems to be a bit over the top. "I don't know when the Barney phase started but it seems intense." Alex explained as Phoebe got excited every time the purple dinosaur appeared.

"How was work?"

"Please don't ask, I feel like I've been away for months and I'm so behind on paperwork it's not even funny anymore." He explained looking over at her, as her phone rung, sighing loudly when she saw reached over to her bedside table to pick it up.

"Hello?" She answered sitting up slightly. "Yes this is she." She continued sitting up more, Ryan looking over at her as her face changed.

"Alex I am really sorry to bother you with my problems but I don't know who else to ask for help." The voice came from the other side and Alex had no idea who she was talking to.

"May I ask who's speaking?" Alex asked confused since she didn't realize the female's voice on the other end of the line.

"Sandra. Sandra Ross, I'm Jeremy's mother. I don't know if you still remember me" She said and it took her a while to figure out that Jeremy's mother was the woman who lived next door to them when she was still living in Mumbai. What the woman is doing in the States is beyond her, and as far as she knows Jeremy wasn't born back in that time but she had another eldest son who should be about the same age as she was because they grew up together. But it doesn't seem like they can have a catch up talk at the moment. "Oh yes, Sandra. Is everything alright? It's so nice hearing from you again."

"Jeremy hasn't returned from school since he left this morning. He had basketball practice and usually he'll be home by now but I have no idea where he is. I heard you're working for the FBI and I don't want to put out a missing person's alert just yet. I was hoping you could maybe help me look for him." Sandra sounded desperate.

"Where does he usually practice? I can drive down to the school and see if he's still there." Alex offered.

"Sandra it's really not trouble. I'll let you know when I get there." Alex said getting up from the bed, extending her hand towards Ryan for his car keys, but the look on his face made it clear that he wants an explanation of where she's going first before he gives in to her demands.

" Sandra's worried that something might've happened to him. She lived next door to us in Mumbai and is looking for her son. I offered to drive down and see if he's still there." Alex explained putting on a pair of sneakers that goes with her outfit consisting of black leggings and a loose white tank top.

"You sure that's a good idea? I don't like the idea of you being this involved." Ryan said skeptically.

"Yes I know but she sounded really worried. If it'll make you feel better you can come with me then." Alex bargained and Ryan decided he'd much rather be safe than sorry and will accompany her on the ride.

Walking down the stairs they found Sita and Theresa sitting in front of the TV both of them into whatever it was they were watching. "We need to head out for a while, to do damage control." Alex said looking at them weirdly, until they turned their heads towards her both of them wiping their eyes

"Okay what's going on? You two are acting really weird." Ryan said not sure what to make of two women crying while watching TV.

"He died. And he remembered she likes bumble bee stockings, and then he died at the end." Theresa sniffed, seeing the look on her son's face. "O-kay, watch Barney I'm sure it'll cheer you up." Ryan laughed putting Phoebe on the floor as she walked over to sit in between her grandmothers who were crying at the end of the movie they were watching.

Alex and Ryan drove down to the school Jeremy attended, the setting sun making Alex hope that he'd be somewhere on the school grounds because if he wasn't there was no way that she'd know where to start looking for the boy. The school grounds were empty and on the basketball court there were one person sitting on the bench which resembled Jeremy. Or at least the description his mother gave her, and the picture she sent Alex. Ryan stopped the car and Alex got out, walking towards him.

"Jeremy?" She asked when she walked closer and he looked up at her, looking back to the ground soon afterwards. "You really gonna make me walk all the way over there?" Alex asked, and when he didn't answer she took the walk to the entrance of the gate, walking across the court towards him.

"What are you still doing here? Your mom's worried about you." Alex said as she sat down next to him.

The teen sniffed and didn't reply to what she said wiping his nose on the sleeve of his jacket. He pulled out his phone and showed her a text. "My dad said he'll come pick me up. He's probably running late at work." Jeremy said trying to convince himself. "You can go I'm sure he'll be here in a few minutes." He said and Alex blew out a long breath.

"You sure you're going to be okay here on your own?" She asked and the teen nodded. She got up and slowly made her way back to the car, calling Sandra as she was walking to let her know he is fine and that he's still at school waiting on his father.

"Okay, we found him but what now?" Ryan asked and Alex looked over at him. "He is waiting for his father to come pick him up. Ryan we can't just leave him here and drive off." Alex said trying to get comfortable in the seat, she and Ryan talking while they kept their eyes fixed on the teen. After almost two hour Alex decided it was time to leave and she'd have to give the kid the bad news, when Sandra called and told Alex this is the stunt his father always pulled and then never showed up even though he always promised he'll never do it again.

"He's not coming. I was hoping this time it would be different." Jeremy said when Alex walked towards him again.

"You can catch a ride home with us. Come on." Alex said as the teen got up and swung his backpack on his shoulder walking towards the car. "Jeremy this is my husband Ryan." Alex introduced the two of them. "Nice to meet you man." Ryan said as he and the teen fist bumped each other, Alex texting Sandra to let her know they found him. The drive out to his house would be at least half an hour, Alex and Ryan both hungry since they didn't have dinner yet. "You want to get some food?" Alex asked turning around in the front seat looking at Jeremy. He nodded his head shyly and they pulled up to the house. "Lucky for you it's not Alex who cooked dinner, so you won't have stomach cramps later tonight." Ryan laughed earning a playful slap on the shoulder from his wife, as they walked up towards the front door.

"We have a dinner guest." Alex announced as she walked through the door.

"The more the merrier." Theresa smile as she came into view and introduced herself to Jeremy, when Sita appeared carrying Phoebe and stopped in her tracks. "You look so familiar." Sita said as she walked up to the door and shook hands with the boy. "Jeremy Ross." He smiled and it seemed like light were shining in Sita's eyes. "Is your mother Sandra Ross?" Sita asked trying to put the pieces together as Jeremy nodded.

"Take a seat, dinner is ready." Theresa said, Jeremy stood in the middle of the foyer not sure if he should move or not. "Come on, man." Ryan encouraged the teen as he picked up his daughter walking her over towards the dining room table. "Say hello to Jeremy, Phoebe." Theresa said as they all sat down around the table. No one talking about why Jeremy was at school until this hour, but rather about their own families and some drama that evolves around them from time to time.

Alex tried to teach Phoebe table manners, by getting her not to spit out her vegetables but it was all in vain because with a team of grandmothers and her father around the table it didn't really work and she got off by not having to finish it. "You don't have to eat veggies Phoebe." Jeremy said and the little girl smiled at him. "You are not helping." Alex laughed at him. Once they were done eating, Jeremy thanked the women for the cooking and got up to help clear the table, standing behind the sink to start doing dishes. "Jeremy that's Ryan's job, you're a guest that is not what guests do." Alex said, repeating it like a little poem that she always says when they have people over.

Sita had a lot of questions running through her mind and wanted to know about his mother and his eldest brother and what led to him showing up as a welcome surprise tonight, but decided not to ask him but to rather ask her daughter what is going on. Alex's phone rung and she excused herself to a quiet place so she could answer her phone seeing it was Sandra calling again. "Hi, Jeremy's fine he's over at our place. We'll bring him home in a little bit." Alex explained.

"Thank you Alex. I really appreciate it, because things are collapsing in his young life." Sandra said from the other end, and Alex looked at the teen who was busy playing with Phoebe while Barney's theme song started playing in the background.