Disclaimer: The usual. You've been reading for 25 chapters now, I think you
can figure it out. Teehee
AN: hi kids! Happy New Year to you all, yes it has been a while since I updated, but it's all about quality not quantity in my little world. Um yeah that and I'm a slacker and couldn't find the motivation and have been finding these chapters hard to write. Ok so I'm an honest slacker, are we all in agreement here? Good. On with the story!
+++
We pulled up to a neatly kept house ten minutes later. It had what was considered a large yard, with the stereotypical white picket fence and yellow daisies in white window boxes. I got out and stood taking it all in and then finally smiled as I watched Brock uncurl himself from the back seat.
"Can ya make it big boy?"
"Yeah but I'm calling shotgun on the way back. You won't be able to get me back in there without a fight."
I laughed and took his hand leading him to the front gate where Sarah was all ready waiting, flipping through some papers in a folder. She glanced up at us and then turned, marching up the front walk and ringing the doorbell.
"C'mon kids, nobody is going to bite you." Sarah waved us up.
:"I like getting bit." Brock muttered in my ear.
I hit him in the ribs "None of that ya big ape."
We reached the top stair just as the front door was opened by an older woman with gray hair that was sticking every which way out of a bun perched precariously on the top of her head and there was a spunky gleam in her eye. "Sarah my dear, how are you?" her voice was surprising clear and strong.
"I'm fine Dorothy, you look great." Sarah pulled back from her hug and motioned to me, "This is Grayson's mother Maggie Danials, and her boyfriend Brock."
Dorothy eyed Brock up, "Well I can tell it's a good thing we made a triple batch of cookies this morning," she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the house, "You look like you need some fattening up."
Brock laughed and looked back at me, "I like her all ready."
Sarah and I followed through listening to Dorothy's tale, "We were making a single batch, but the boys got a little carried away with their measuring so we tripled everything. Boys? You have some visitors."
We entered into a sunny kitchen with cookies piled on every available surface; Grayson was standing on a kitchen chair, digging into a big bowl. His head snapped up as we entered the kitchen,"Mom!" he cried flinging his hands in the air and with it the ball of cookie dough that flew through the air, hitting the wall with a splat. He flew off the chair and ran into my arms.
I was laughing, oh it felt so good to hold him, "Let me have a look at you," I said pulling away just enough. Gray was covered in flour from head to toe with the only thing saving his clothes was one of Dorothy's aprons tied three times around his middle. "Is that my favorite little boy underneath all that flour?" I asked
"Yes it me!!" he cried giggling
I patted his hair, a cloud of flour came up from it, and "Well that's his hair and those are his eyes, but do you know how I'll really be able to tell if its you?"
"No how!?" he cried
"If you're ticklish!!" Gray crashed, screaming with laughter, to the floor as I tickled his sides, "Yup its you." I looked up at the rest of the adults who were laughing as well, "He passes inspection." I glanced again at Dorothy and a dark head that was pressed against her leg hiding in her apron.
"Grayson?"
"Yeah?" he asked out of breath, still lying on the floor.
"Would you please introduce me to your new friend?"
Grayson popped up next to me, "That's Connor. He's shy."
Connor slowly peeked an eye at me and then quickly closed it as I smiled at him, "Hi Connor, I'm Grayson's mom."
Dorothy picked up her cue, "Connor, would you like to go say hi to Ms. Danials?"
Connor waved shyly at me, glanced up at Brock and then hid again.
I grinned and motioned for Brock to come sit on the floor so he was at eye level with Connor. Grayson ran over and pulled on Connor's hand "Come meet my Uncle Brock. He's a wrestler and fun to tackle. I beat him most of the time." Gray tugged a reluctant Connor to us. He had dark hair and very blue eyes, freckles were scattered across his nose; he seemed very small for his age. He had a very worldly look in his eye for someone that young, just waiting for someone to let him down. It about broke my heart.
"How old are you Connor?" I asked
Grayson, the usual chatterbox, was actually quiet sitting calmly in Brock's lap.
"4" came a soft reply from Connor.
"When's your birthday?"
Connor looked at Dorothy who smiled and whispered, "July 16"
Connor repeated, this time a little bit louder.
"Did you get some nice toys?"
There was a smile that lit up his face and he gave me eye contact for the first time, "I got a fire truck and it makes noises."
"That's very cool." I said smiling; he was such a cute kid.
Dorothy broke in, "Connor would you help me finish up these cookies so we can decorate them later? We'll let Grayson visit with his company ok?"
Connor looked somewhat relieved as he went to Dorothy and climbed back onto his chair.
"The back yard is right out through that door, "Dorothy said pointing, "It's a nice day, go enjoy it. And here, take some cookies." She put a pile into Brock's hands and kicked us out the door.
"You know," Brock said thoughtfully eating his cookie, "I think I'm in love with an older woman."
I gave him a dirty look, "My you're easily bought."
Grayson was jumping around, holding my hand. "You know what Mommy?"
"What's that punkin?"
"Daddy doesn't smell good. He smells like cigarettes."
I froze in my tracks. "You've met your father?"
"Uh huh," Grayson continued to skip around not noticing the bombshell he just dropped, "He was here last night. And he brought me a toy."
I closed my eyes and counted to ten, I had hoped it that Jimmy would never visit but obviously I was wrong. Brock came from behind and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, "Why don't you sit down?" He kissed my temple as he pulled me down next to him.
Grayson came over with a new ball, "See?"
"That's very nice. Did he smoke with you around?" I asked worriedly.
"He tried but Dorothy yelled at him."
I felt a small surge of victory at that, at least Dorothy was on our side, "you know smoking is bad right?"
"Uh huh, that's what I told him. And then he called me a name."
My temper flared, I struggled to keep my voice neutral, "What did he call you honey?"
He looked worried, "It's a bad word."
"Its ok you can tell me, I won't be mad at you."
"He called me a," his voice dropped to a whisper as if saying it any louder would make it be a really bad word, "smart ass."
I could feel Brock's anger rise next to mine, "Well baby, he shouldn't have called you that. That's very bad. You are not a smart ass." I pulled him into my lap, "You are a smart little boy who is very clever!"
Grayson giggled and fell out of my lap into the grass watching the clouds.
"So what do you think of your dad? Besides his bad words."
Grayson tilted his head to the side, deep in thought, "He's ok I guess. Connor doesn't like him. He says he's too loud."
"Oh I see." I felt another surge of victory; our side was growing large with supporters.
Grayson looked at his ball, rolling it back and forth between his hands. He looked at me thoughtfully, "Momma? Why didn't my angel mommy marry daddy? Was he mean to her?"
"Well he only smacked her around enough that she almost miscarried you," I thought sarcastically. "They didn't get along honey. Sometimes that happens," I finally said as diplomatically as I could.
Grayson seemed satisfied with that answer and started playing with his ball again. "Will daddy come and live at our house?" He asked.
"Hell no" was the first thought that came to mind. "Probably not baby, I'm not sure what's going to happen."
Grayson started laughing, "Connor told me a funny joke, wanna hear it?"
Relieved for a change of subject and thankful for a 5 year old with a short attention span I nodded, "What is it?"
"What's black and white and red all over?"
"I don't know, what is black and white and red all over?"
Grayson rolled around in the grass giggling, "A sunburned zebra!!"
Brock and I laughed, as Sarah came outside, "How's it going?"
"Terrific," I said smiling, "Do we need to go?"
"Yes unfortunately, but we'll come back again this week."
Grayson climbed up in my lap, "Do you have to go?"
I squeezed Gray into a big hug, kissing his cheek, "If Sarah says we do, then we do kiddo. She's tough like that." Brock bent down and picked him up so I could climb to my feet.
"Mom can I still come to the show on Saturday?"
I looked over at Sarah, "Well what do you think? Would that be all right?"
"I don't see why not. I'll have to check with some people first though. But hopefully we will be done by then."
I looked over at Gray, "How's that for an answer?"
"Otay. Can Connor come? He likes wrestling."
"I'll talk to Dorothy ok?" Sarah said answering for me.
We trouped into the kitchen and said good-bye. It was a little bit easier this time thanks to the distraction of a bowl of frosting and 400+ sugar cookies.
+++
By the time we got back to the house, Sarah had been briefed, and had all ready fumed, on Jimmy's choice of vocabulary. "You handled it well, I'll give you that but I don't' know if we will be able to use it against him though," she peered out at me from her window, "We'll be back in court tomorrow morning. Courtroom 112 at 11:00 ok?"
I leaned into her window, "ok sounds good. Thanks a lot Sarah; I really appreciate all your help, you know what right?"
"Of course, and remember no short skirts and leave the cleavage at home!" She called out driving away.
Brock held out his hand for me, which I took as we walked into the house.
"You know I'm gonna go lay down for awhile. I just feel drained. Think you can entertain yourself for a little while?" I yawned.
"I think I can manage something," he leaned over and kissed my check. I leaned into him, resting my head on his chest. His arms curled around me, pulling me closer. "Go on don't worry about me." He said against the top of my head.
I gave him a quick kiss and left his warm arms for my equally warm bed.
AN: hi kids! Happy New Year to you all, yes it has been a while since I updated, but it's all about quality not quantity in my little world. Um yeah that and I'm a slacker and couldn't find the motivation and have been finding these chapters hard to write. Ok so I'm an honest slacker, are we all in agreement here? Good. On with the story!
+++
We pulled up to a neatly kept house ten minutes later. It had what was considered a large yard, with the stereotypical white picket fence and yellow daisies in white window boxes. I got out and stood taking it all in and then finally smiled as I watched Brock uncurl himself from the back seat.
"Can ya make it big boy?"
"Yeah but I'm calling shotgun on the way back. You won't be able to get me back in there without a fight."
I laughed and took his hand leading him to the front gate where Sarah was all ready waiting, flipping through some papers in a folder. She glanced up at us and then turned, marching up the front walk and ringing the doorbell.
"C'mon kids, nobody is going to bite you." Sarah waved us up.
:"I like getting bit." Brock muttered in my ear.
I hit him in the ribs "None of that ya big ape."
We reached the top stair just as the front door was opened by an older woman with gray hair that was sticking every which way out of a bun perched precariously on the top of her head and there was a spunky gleam in her eye. "Sarah my dear, how are you?" her voice was surprising clear and strong.
"I'm fine Dorothy, you look great." Sarah pulled back from her hug and motioned to me, "This is Grayson's mother Maggie Danials, and her boyfriend Brock."
Dorothy eyed Brock up, "Well I can tell it's a good thing we made a triple batch of cookies this morning," she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the house, "You look like you need some fattening up."
Brock laughed and looked back at me, "I like her all ready."
Sarah and I followed through listening to Dorothy's tale, "We were making a single batch, but the boys got a little carried away with their measuring so we tripled everything. Boys? You have some visitors."
We entered into a sunny kitchen with cookies piled on every available surface; Grayson was standing on a kitchen chair, digging into a big bowl. His head snapped up as we entered the kitchen,"Mom!" he cried flinging his hands in the air and with it the ball of cookie dough that flew through the air, hitting the wall with a splat. He flew off the chair and ran into my arms.
I was laughing, oh it felt so good to hold him, "Let me have a look at you," I said pulling away just enough. Gray was covered in flour from head to toe with the only thing saving his clothes was one of Dorothy's aprons tied three times around his middle. "Is that my favorite little boy underneath all that flour?" I asked
"Yes it me!!" he cried giggling
I patted his hair, a cloud of flour came up from it, and "Well that's his hair and those are his eyes, but do you know how I'll really be able to tell if its you?"
"No how!?" he cried
"If you're ticklish!!" Gray crashed, screaming with laughter, to the floor as I tickled his sides, "Yup its you." I looked up at the rest of the adults who were laughing as well, "He passes inspection." I glanced again at Dorothy and a dark head that was pressed against her leg hiding in her apron.
"Grayson?"
"Yeah?" he asked out of breath, still lying on the floor.
"Would you please introduce me to your new friend?"
Grayson popped up next to me, "That's Connor. He's shy."
Connor slowly peeked an eye at me and then quickly closed it as I smiled at him, "Hi Connor, I'm Grayson's mom."
Dorothy picked up her cue, "Connor, would you like to go say hi to Ms. Danials?"
Connor waved shyly at me, glanced up at Brock and then hid again.
I grinned and motioned for Brock to come sit on the floor so he was at eye level with Connor. Grayson ran over and pulled on Connor's hand "Come meet my Uncle Brock. He's a wrestler and fun to tackle. I beat him most of the time." Gray tugged a reluctant Connor to us. He had dark hair and very blue eyes, freckles were scattered across his nose; he seemed very small for his age. He had a very worldly look in his eye for someone that young, just waiting for someone to let him down. It about broke my heart.
"How old are you Connor?" I asked
Grayson, the usual chatterbox, was actually quiet sitting calmly in Brock's lap.
"4" came a soft reply from Connor.
"When's your birthday?"
Connor looked at Dorothy who smiled and whispered, "July 16"
Connor repeated, this time a little bit louder.
"Did you get some nice toys?"
There was a smile that lit up his face and he gave me eye contact for the first time, "I got a fire truck and it makes noises."
"That's very cool." I said smiling; he was such a cute kid.
Dorothy broke in, "Connor would you help me finish up these cookies so we can decorate them later? We'll let Grayson visit with his company ok?"
Connor looked somewhat relieved as he went to Dorothy and climbed back onto his chair.
"The back yard is right out through that door, "Dorothy said pointing, "It's a nice day, go enjoy it. And here, take some cookies." She put a pile into Brock's hands and kicked us out the door.
"You know," Brock said thoughtfully eating his cookie, "I think I'm in love with an older woman."
I gave him a dirty look, "My you're easily bought."
Grayson was jumping around, holding my hand. "You know what Mommy?"
"What's that punkin?"
"Daddy doesn't smell good. He smells like cigarettes."
I froze in my tracks. "You've met your father?"
"Uh huh," Grayson continued to skip around not noticing the bombshell he just dropped, "He was here last night. And he brought me a toy."
I closed my eyes and counted to ten, I had hoped it that Jimmy would never visit but obviously I was wrong. Brock came from behind and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, "Why don't you sit down?" He kissed my temple as he pulled me down next to him.
Grayson came over with a new ball, "See?"
"That's very nice. Did he smoke with you around?" I asked worriedly.
"He tried but Dorothy yelled at him."
I felt a small surge of victory at that, at least Dorothy was on our side, "you know smoking is bad right?"
"Uh huh, that's what I told him. And then he called me a name."
My temper flared, I struggled to keep my voice neutral, "What did he call you honey?"
He looked worried, "It's a bad word."
"Its ok you can tell me, I won't be mad at you."
"He called me a," his voice dropped to a whisper as if saying it any louder would make it be a really bad word, "smart ass."
I could feel Brock's anger rise next to mine, "Well baby, he shouldn't have called you that. That's very bad. You are not a smart ass." I pulled him into my lap, "You are a smart little boy who is very clever!"
Grayson giggled and fell out of my lap into the grass watching the clouds.
"So what do you think of your dad? Besides his bad words."
Grayson tilted his head to the side, deep in thought, "He's ok I guess. Connor doesn't like him. He says he's too loud."
"Oh I see." I felt another surge of victory; our side was growing large with supporters.
Grayson looked at his ball, rolling it back and forth between his hands. He looked at me thoughtfully, "Momma? Why didn't my angel mommy marry daddy? Was he mean to her?"
"Well he only smacked her around enough that she almost miscarried you," I thought sarcastically. "They didn't get along honey. Sometimes that happens," I finally said as diplomatically as I could.
Grayson seemed satisfied with that answer and started playing with his ball again. "Will daddy come and live at our house?" He asked.
"Hell no" was the first thought that came to mind. "Probably not baby, I'm not sure what's going to happen."
Grayson started laughing, "Connor told me a funny joke, wanna hear it?"
Relieved for a change of subject and thankful for a 5 year old with a short attention span I nodded, "What is it?"
"What's black and white and red all over?"
"I don't know, what is black and white and red all over?"
Grayson rolled around in the grass giggling, "A sunburned zebra!!"
Brock and I laughed, as Sarah came outside, "How's it going?"
"Terrific," I said smiling, "Do we need to go?"
"Yes unfortunately, but we'll come back again this week."
Grayson climbed up in my lap, "Do you have to go?"
I squeezed Gray into a big hug, kissing his cheek, "If Sarah says we do, then we do kiddo. She's tough like that." Brock bent down and picked him up so I could climb to my feet.
"Mom can I still come to the show on Saturday?"
I looked over at Sarah, "Well what do you think? Would that be all right?"
"I don't see why not. I'll have to check with some people first though. But hopefully we will be done by then."
I looked over at Gray, "How's that for an answer?"
"Otay. Can Connor come? He likes wrestling."
"I'll talk to Dorothy ok?" Sarah said answering for me.
We trouped into the kitchen and said good-bye. It was a little bit easier this time thanks to the distraction of a bowl of frosting and 400+ sugar cookies.
+++
By the time we got back to the house, Sarah had been briefed, and had all ready fumed, on Jimmy's choice of vocabulary. "You handled it well, I'll give you that but I don't' know if we will be able to use it against him though," she peered out at me from her window, "We'll be back in court tomorrow morning. Courtroom 112 at 11:00 ok?"
I leaned into her window, "ok sounds good. Thanks a lot Sarah; I really appreciate all your help, you know what right?"
"Of course, and remember no short skirts and leave the cleavage at home!" She called out driving away.
Brock held out his hand for me, which I took as we walked into the house.
"You know I'm gonna go lay down for awhile. I just feel drained. Think you can entertain yourself for a little while?" I yawned.
"I think I can manage something," he leaned over and kissed my check. I leaned into him, resting my head on his chest. His arms curled around me, pulling me closer. "Go on don't worry about me." He said against the top of my head.
I gave him a quick kiss and left his warm arms for my equally warm bed.