Disclaimer: Same old thing until I think of something funny and clever lol
AN: YO! Sup my homefry? Yeah ok, painfully white. Thanks for the reviews again, a little high point in my day. Fun stuff yo!! Lol yeah this is a monster chapter, so go get some popcorn, and a box of Juju Bees, sit back and enjoy!
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When Grayson and I got home, Anna put him to bed while I made a pot of "sludge". I needed some high doses of caffeine.
"Think it be easier just to snort this stuff up my nose?" I asked Anna as she walked into the kitchen.
She just laughed and put a spoon in my coffee cup.
I grinned, "Smart ass"
She smacked me in the head as she went to answer the telephone.
"Hello Mister Brock! I'm fine thanks, yes she's right here." And then she handed the phone over to me.
"Hey baby. How's it going?" he asked
"Oh, I'm eating my coffee, Grayson is sleeping and Anna is hitting me, you know. The usual."
Brock laughed hard, "oh the abuse. You poor thing."
"Well you know me. I'm just a victim."
Brock calmed down a little, "So what's going on today with you and the lawsuit?"
"Well, that's a good question. I'm waiting for Sarah to call me back, so I'll know. We might have meetings or a backyard brawl with Jimmy."
"Well I got yer back on that." I could hear Kurt in the background singing.
"Is he singing 'I Feel Like a Natural Woman'?" I asked laughing hard, tears coming to my eyes.
"Uh yeah. Yeah he is. Don't ask, you don't wanna know. Hey I gotta go train with the singing midget, I'll call you tonight after the show, ok?"
"OK sounds good, Oh and tell Kurt not to quit his day job would ya? He sucks."
Brock laughed, and shouted, "Yo Kurt she says you suck!"
I heard Kurt bellow in the background, "I DO NOT!!"
"Love ya Mags."
"Love ya too baby," I said hanging up and wiping the tears away. "That boy just cracks me up."
The phone rang as soon as I put it back on the cradle, "Yeah." I said thinking it was Brock again.
"Mags? Its me Sarah." She sounded breathless and pissed
"Hey Sar-"
She cut me off, "Listen I'm on my way to your place. It's an emergency; don't open the door for anybody until I get there. Got that?"
"What?!" my voice rose, "What are you talking about?"
"I've been fighting this all morning, they want to put Grayson in protective custody during the trial."
"ARE YOU SERIOUS!!?" I ran a hand through my hair, this was not happening. It could not be happening. Anna was staring at me looking scared and nervous.
"Listen, I'll explain when I get there. Got that?!" the phone clicked in my ear
"Anna you go and lock the doors, I'll get Gray up."
"Miss Maggie what's goin on?"
I looked at her, "Honestly I don't know." And ran up the stairs to wake Grayson up.
"Hey baby?" I shook him gently, "Gray you gotta get up."
He woke up with a big smile and a stretch, "Hi momma"
I couldn't help but smile, "Mornin' Punkin. You gotta get up and get dressed ok? Sarah is coming over, ok?"
I started pulling clothes out of his dresser, starting to feel my panic level rise. Anna called up the stairs, "Miss Maggie, there's a man at the door."
"DON'T LET HIM IN!!" I yelled to her
Gray looked up from tying his shoes, "Mom? Is everything ok?"
"I don't know yet punkin. We're going to find out from Sarah."
We went downstairs and I peeked through the window. A man was sitting on the porch with a couple of police officers. "Shit." I muttered my stress level now rising through the roof. I leaned against the wall trying to remain calm and breathe. "Breathe. Just Breathe."
Sarah's car came flying through the trees and hit the driveway in a cloud of dust. She parked and flew up the stairs, talking all the way.
"Hey John, officers," she said to the cops and the man, "Sorry to keep you waiting. I'll be back."
She knocked on the door as Anna opened it up for her. She flung off her jacket and threw her briefcase on the table.
"Maggie, I'm not gonna sugar coat anything for ya. We have our work made out for us."
"Anna would you take Gray and go watch some cartoons?" I asked
"Of course. C'mon Grayman" She took him by the hand and led him into the living room. He turned and look back at us, he burst into giggles as I blew a kiss and Sarah made a face at him.
I sighed and looked at Sarah, "So what kind of shit are we in here?"
"Up to our knees at least." She sat down at the table and opened up her briefcase pulling out stacks of papers, "Ok what all this boils down to is Jimmy thinks, and I use that term loosely, that you are going to poison Grayson's mind against him and turn "his only son, his baby boy" against him." She noticed my look of disbelief on my face, "Yeah those were his exact words."
"That's bull shit." I said hating Jimmy even more now, "So what happens?"
She sighed, "Well like I said I've been fighting this all last night and this morning, but the judge wont change his mind. Grayson is going to have to go into foster care during the trial."
I stared at her in disbelief, "Are you fuckin serious? Foster Care?!"
She saw the look of murder in my eye, and tried to calm me down "There is good news though. He is letting us choose what home he goes to."
"That's supposed to make me happy?" I asked bitterly and then looked up and noticed Ann standing in the doorway, "Can you believe this?" I asked her.
"I'm sorry Miss Maggie, should I go get a bag of his clothes together?"
Sarah looked relieve that she didn't have two pissed off momma bears on her hands, I was enough for her, "That would be great Anna. Just simple stuff, good clothes for court and some play clothes."
"His suitcase is still packed," I muttered, "Just pull out his dirty clothes."
I sat there for a while, quietly thinking things over. "I need coffee," I muttered getting up and started to vent my frustration by banging ever cupboard door along the way.
Sarah took advantage of my silence and started talking, "This isn't as bad as you may think it is. He'll like the house he is going to. The woman is an older lady and very sweet. Her name is Dorothy, and she is my savior Maggie. I swear, I use her all the time for these kinds of cases, and the kids love her. It'd be like sending Grayson off to summer camp for a week."
"How many kids does she have?"
"She doesn't have any of her own, but she has a little boy living with her now. His name is Connor, and he is a year younger then Grayson."
I looked at her angrily, "His mom getting sued for custody too?"
"No," she said quietly, "His parents didn't want him and dropped him off at my office 3 years ago. I haven't been able to find them since."
"Oh" was my only reply, pausing feeling guilty, "So this uh, Dorothy. She's good?"
"Very. She's taken in around 400 kids for me. I'd trust her with my own. In fact I do."
"So do I get to at least visit him?" I poured my cup of coffee, "You want some? " I motioned to Sarah.
"I know how you take yours, I don't have a death wish. And about visitation, you are allowed a 6 hours a week, and it must be court approved and supervised."
"Why are they punishing me like this?!" I slammed my cup on the counter; coffee flew out and burned my hand, "Fuck!" I stood at the sink, running water on my all ready red hand, looking out the window." So what's with the cops?"
"Jimmy's lawyer was under the impression that you wouldn't cooperate and they would be needed."
"What?! To arrest me?" I felt pissed again, sinking onto a kitchen chair wrapping a wet paper towel on my hand.
Sarah looked at me with her eyebrows raised, "Like I said. The shits up to our knees. This lawyer is just a piece of work and is throwing things around, not caring where it lands If it makes you feel better, they didn't even want to come. They know his lawyer is full of it."
Anna appeared in the doorway with Grayson in tow and bag in her hand. "I have everything ready." She said her eyes were red, I could tell she had been crying.
"Thank you Anna." I said softly, "C'mere munchkin," I said motioning for Grayson to sit on my lap. Sarah got up and let the man in the suit and the officers in the house. I gave them The Look and they shifted uneasily in their shoes; the woman officer looked guiltier then the others.
"Mom? Anna says I have to go stay at someone's house."
"That's right, baby you do." I said hugging him tightly, "Her name is Dorothy and she has a little boy about your age to play with."
"I wanna stay with you." Tears started to come to his eyes, "I don't want to go." He buried his head against my neck and started to sob, "Are you mad at me?"
I lost it at that point and started to cry myself, "Oh baby I'm not mad at you. I'd never send you away. There are some people who think that it would be best for you to stay with Dorothy during the trial. They think you need a little vacation."
"Can I go see Uncle Brock?" he asked hopefully tears still streaming down his cheeks.
"No, I'm sorry. I need you here ok Grayson?" Sarah broke in, her voice strained trying to hold back emotion, "and I'm going to need you to be at court so you can say what a good mommy you have. It's a very important job Do you think you can do that?"
"Uh huh," he said burying his face back into my shoulder.
I looked at the three people in my kitchen, and then looked at Sarah,
"Oh I'm sorry, Maggie, This is John Olson with social services and Officers Shannon and O'Hare. John is here to make a court ordered report on the house and living conditions." She paused and looked for my reaction. I didn't give her much of one; I was feeling defeated at this point and just held on to Grayson. "Anna? If you could give John a tour and answer his questions that would be great."
Anna looked relieved for something to do, "Right this way Mister John." As she led him out of the kitchen.
Sarah continued to stall for time for Grayson, and me "Would you care for a cup of coffee?" She asked the officers getting up and starting to pour a cup, she made a face at how strong it was and dumped it, and "I'll just make a fresh pot."
"Momma?" Grayson asked softly in my ear, "Are they going to take me to jail?"
"No Gray, they're going to take you to Dorothy's house. You haven't done anything bad to go to jail." I paused and looked at him, "Or did you?" I asked tickling him a little
He started to giggle and whispered, "Spanky and I dumped a bucket of ice cube down Zach's shirt."
I grinned, "You did?"
He nodded giggling again.
Sarah looked over looking relieved that things were going better, "What's goin on over there?"
"It seems like my darling baby boy here was pulling pranks on his babysitter last night."
Sarah grinned and winked at Grayson, "you gotta watch out for those cute kids."
We sat around the kitchen, while John and Anna went around the house. Grayson kept asking the cops questions, and they kept answering them. I held onto him, my thoughts racing a mile a minute. God I didn't want to tell Brock. He'd grab the next flight he could and rip people's arms off when he got here. And that wouldn't exactly help my case.
John and Anna came into the kitchen, I looked up expectantly, hoping he'd say "screw it lets leave the kid here." But he didn't. He just nodded to me and walked out the door. I looked at Sarah.
"Well kiddo," she said shutting her briefcase and standing up, "We need to go now and meet Dorothy, ok?"
Grayson continued to hang around my neck not letting go; I looked him in the eye, "Remember what I told you about adventures?"
"You never know when it's going to happen." He said glumly
"That's right, and here's an adventure staring us right in the face. You ready for it?"
"I guess." He didn't look very convinced.
I kissed his forehead, "I love you so much."
"I love you too." He said giving me my own kiss.
Sarah took him out of my arms, "Don't worry munchkin, your mom can visit you when she can ok?"
"Really?" Grayson looked a little more hopefully
"You got it."
I followed them as they walked out the door, and leaned against the doorframe. Grayson waved sadly over Sarah's shoulder as she put him in the back of the squad car. Anna and I waved back at him. As the squad car left the driveway, I saw Grayson's face in the back window looking at us with an expression of fear, misery and sadness all mixed into one. I couldn't hold back my tears as I slumped against the doorframe burying my face in my hands sobbing. I slid down to the floor and sat there as Anna wrapped her arms around my shoulders, pulling me against her and holding me as my heart broke.
AN: YO! Sup my homefry? Yeah ok, painfully white. Thanks for the reviews again, a little high point in my day. Fun stuff yo!! Lol yeah this is a monster chapter, so go get some popcorn, and a box of Juju Bees, sit back and enjoy!
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When Grayson and I got home, Anna put him to bed while I made a pot of "sludge". I needed some high doses of caffeine.
"Think it be easier just to snort this stuff up my nose?" I asked Anna as she walked into the kitchen.
She just laughed and put a spoon in my coffee cup.
I grinned, "Smart ass"
She smacked me in the head as she went to answer the telephone.
"Hello Mister Brock! I'm fine thanks, yes she's right here." And then she handed the phone over to me.
"Hey baby. How's it going?" he asked
"Oh, I'm eating my coffee, Grayson is sleeping and Anna is hitting me, you know. The usual."
Brock laughed hard, "oh the abuse. You poor thing."
"Well you know me. I'm just a victim."
Brock calmed down a little, "So what's going on today with you and the lawsuit?"
"Well, that's a good question. I'm waiting for Sarah to call me back, so I'll know. We might have meetings or a backyard brawl with Jimmy."
"Well I got yer back on that." I could hear Kurt in the background singing.
"Is he singing 'I Feel Like a Natural Woman'?" I asked laughing hard, tears coming to my eyes.
"Uh yeah. Yeah he is. Don't ask, you don't wanna know. Hey I gotta go train with the singing midget, I'll call you tonight after the show, ok?"
"OK sounds good, Oh and tell Kurt not to quit his day job would ya? He sucks."
Brock laughed, and shouted, "Yo Kurt she says you suck!"
I heard Kurt bellow in the background, "I DO NOT!!"
"Love ya Mags."
"Love ya too baby," I said hanging up and wiping the tears away. "That boy just cracks me up."
The phone rang as soon as I put it back on the cradle, "Yeah." I said thinking it was Brock again.
"Mags? Its me Sarah." She sounded breathless and pissed
"Hey Sar-"
She cut me off, "Listen I'm on my way to your place. It's an emergency; don't open the door for anybody until I get there. Got that?"
"What?!" my voice rose, "What are you talking about?"
"I've been fighting this all morning, they want to put Grayson in protective custody during the trial."
"ARE YOU SERIOUS!!?" I ran a hand through my hair, this was not happening. It could not be happening. Anna was staring at me looking scared and nervous.
"Listen, I'll explain when I get there. Got that?!" the phone clicked in my ear
"Anna you go and lock the doors, I'll get Gray up."
"Miss Maggie what's goin on?"
I looked at her, "Honestly I don't know." And ran up the stairs to wake Grayson up.
"Hey baby?" I shook him gently, "Gray you gotta get up."
He woke up with a big smile and a stretch, "Hi momma"
I couldn't help but smile, "Mornin' Punkin. You gotta get up and get dressed ok? Sarah is coming over, ok?"
I started pulling clothes out of his dresser, starting to feel my panic level rise. Anna called up the stairs, "Miss Maggie, there's a man at the door."
"DON'T LET HIM IN!!" I yelled to her
Gray looked up from tying his shoes, "Mom? Is everything ok?"
"I don't know yet punkin. We're going to find out from Sarah."
We went downstairs and I peeked through the window. A man was sitting on the porch with a couple of police officers. "Shit." I muttered my stress level now rising through the roof. I leaned against the wall trying to remain calm and breathe. "Breathe. Just Breathe."
Sarah's car came flying through the trees and hit the driveway in a cloud of dust. She parked and flew up the stairs, talking all the way.
"Hey John, officers," she said to the cops and the man, "Sorry to keep you waiting. I'll be back."
She knocked on the door as Anna opened it up for her. She flung off her jacket and threw her briefcase on the table.
"Maggie, I'm not gonna sugar coat anything for ya. We have our work made out for us."
"Anna would you take Gray and go watch some cartoons?" I asked
"Of course. C'mon Grayman" She took him by the hand and led him into the living room. He turned and look back at us, he burst into giggles as I blew a kiss and Sarah made a face at him.
I sighed and looked at Sarah, "So what kind of shit are we in here?"
"Up to our knees at least." She sat down at the table and opened up her briefcase pulling out stacks of papers, "Ok what all this boils down to is Jimmy thinks, and I use that term loosely, that you are going to poison Grayson's mind against him and turn "his only son, his baby boy" against him." She noticed my look of disbelief on my face, "Yeah those were his exact words."
"That's bull shit." I said hating Jimmy even more now, "So what happens?"
She sighed, "Well like I said I've been fighting this all last night and this morning, but the judge wont change his mind. Grayson is going to have to go into foster care during the trial."
I stared at her in disbelief, "Are you fuckin serious? Foster Care?!"
She saw the look of murder in my eye, and tried to calm me down "There is good news though. He is letting us choose what home he goes to."
"That's supposed to make me happy?" I asked bitterly and then looked up and noticed Ann standing in the doorway, "Can you believe this?" I asked her.
"I'm sorry Miss Maggie, should I go get a bag of his clothes together?"
Sarah looked relieve that she didn't have two pissed off momma bears on her hands, I was enough for her, "That would be great Anna. Just simple stuff, good clothes for court and some play clothes."
"His suitcase is still packed," I muttered, "Just pull out his dirty clothes."
I sat there for a while, quietly thinking things over. "I need coffee," I muttered getting up and started to vent my frustration by banging ever cupboard door along the way.
Sarah took advantage of my silence and started talking, "This isn't as bad as you may think it is. He'll like the house he is going to. The woman is an older lady and very sweet. Her name is Dorothy, and she is my savior Maggie. I swear, I use her all the time for these kinds of cases, and the kids love her. It'd be like sending Grayson off to summer camp for a week."
"How many kids does she have?"
"She doesn't have any of her own, but she has a little boy living with her now. His name is Connor, and he is a year younger then Grayson."
I looked at her angrily, "His mom getting sued for custody too?"
"No," she said quietly, "His parents didn't want him and dropped him off at my office 3 years ago. I haven't been able to find them since."
"Oh" was my only reply, pausing feeling guilty, "So this uh, Dorothy. She's good?"
"Very. She's taken in around 400 kids for me. I'd trust her with my own. In fact I do."
"So do I get to at least visit him?" I poured my cup of coffee, "You want some? " I motioned to Sarah.
"I know how you take yours, I don't have a death wish. And about visitation, you are allowed a 6 hours a week, and it must be court approved and supervised."
"Why are they punishing me like this?!" I slammed my cup on the counter; coffee flew out and burned my hand, "Fuck!" I stood at the sink, running water on my all ready red hand, looking out the window." So what's with the cops?"
"Jimmy's lawyer was under the impression that you wouldn't cooperate and they would be needed."
"What?! To arrest me?" I felt pissed again, sinking onto a kitchen chair wrapping a wet paper towel on my hand.
Sarah looked at me with her eyebrows raised, "Like I said. The shits up to our knees. This lawyer is just a piece of work and is throwing things around, not caring where it lands If it makes you feel better, they didn't even want to come. They know his lawyer is full of it."
Anna appeared in the doorway with Grayson in tow and bag in her hand. "I have everything ready." She said her eyes were red, I could tell she had been crying.
"Thank you Anna." I said softly, "C'mere munchkin," I said motioning for Grayson to sit on my lap. Sarah got up and let the man in the suit and the officers in the house. I gave them The Look and they shifted uneasily in their shoes; the woman officer looked guiltier then the others.
"Mom? Anna says I have to go stay at someone's house."
"That's right, baby you do." I said hugging him tightly, "Her name is Dorothy and she has a little boy about your age to play with."
"I wanna stay with you." Tears started to come to his eyes, "I don't want to go." He buried his head against my neck and started to sob, "Are you mad at me?"
I lost it at that point and started to cry myself, "Oh baby I'm not mad at you. I'd never send you away. There are some people who think that it would be best for you to stay with Dorothy during the trial. They think you need a little vacation."
"Can I go see Uncle Brock?" he asked hopefully tears still streaming down his cheeks.
"No, I'm sorry. I need you here ok Grayson?" Sarah broke in, her voice strained trying to hold back emotion, "and I'm going to need you to be at court so you can say what a good mommy you have. It's a very important job Do you think you can do that?"
"Uh huh," he said burying his face back into my shoulder.
I looked at the three people in my kitchen, and then looked at Sarah,
"Oh I'm sorry, Maggie, This is John Olson with social services and Officers Shannon and O'Hare. John is here to make a court ordered report on the house and living conditions." She paused and looked for my reaction. I didn't give her much of one; I was feeling defeated at this point and just held on to Grayson. "Anna? If you could give John a tour and answer his questions that would be great."
Anna looked relieved for something to do, "Right this way Mister John." As she led him out of the kitchen.
Sarah continued to stall for time for Grayson, and me "Would you care for a cup of coffee?" She asked the officers getting up and starting to pour a cup, she made a face at how strong it was and dumped it, and "I'll just make a fresh pot."
"Momma?" Grayson asked softly in my ear, "Are they going to take me to jail?"
"No Gray, they're going to take you to Dorothy's house. You haven't done anything bad to go to jail." I paused and looked at him, "Or did you?" I asked tickling him a little
He started to giggle and whispered, "Spanky and I dumped a bucket of ice cube down Zach's shirt."
I grinned, "You did?"
He nodded giggling again.
Sarah looked over looking relieved that things were going better, "What's goin on over there?"
"It seems like my darling baby boy here was pulling pranks on his babysitter last night."
Sarah grinned and winked at Grayson, "you gotta watch out for those cute kids."
We sat around the kitchen, while John and Anna went around the house. Grayson kept asking the cops questions, and they kept answering them. I held onto him, my thoughts racing a mile a minute. God I didn't want to tell Brock. He'd grab the next flight he could and rip people's arms off when he got here. And that wouldn't exactly help my case.
John and Anna came into the kitchen, I looked up expectantly, hoping he'd say "screw it lets leave the kid here." But he didn't. He just nodded to me and walked out the door. I looked at Sarah.
"Well kiddo," she said shutting her briefcase and standing up, "We need to go now and meet Dorothy, ok?"
Grayson continued to hang around my neck not letting go; I looked him in the eye, "Remember what I told you about adventures?"
"You never know when it's going to happen." He said glumly
"That's right, and here's an adventure staring us right in the face. You ready for it?"
"I guess." He didn't look very convinced.
I kissed his forehead, "I love you so much."
"I love you too." He said giving me my own kiss.
Sarah took him out of my arms, "Don't worry munchkin, your mom can visit you when she can ok?"
"Really?" Grayson looked a little more hopefully
"You got it."
I followed them as they walked out the door, and leaned against the doorframe. Grayson waved sadly over Sarah's shoulder as she put him in the back of the squad car. Anna and I waved back at him. As the squad car left the driveway, I saw Grayson's face in the back window looking at us with an expression of fear, misery and sadness all mixed into one. I couldn't hold back my tears as I slumped against the doorframe burying my face in my hands sobbing. I slid down to the floor and sat there as Anna wrapped her arms around my shoulders, pulling me against her and holding me as my heart broke.