A/N: Here's chapter 7. Hope you all enjoy!
A few weeks had passed since Elliot first met Jack, who turned out to be his best friend's uncle, and the rest of his friends. Things were going well for him. Elliot really felt as if he had a real family, instead of only having a mum. He found himself addressing Will, Grace and Karen as Uncle or Aunt. He loved being able to say to Olivia or Mason 'Are you going to Auntie Grace's office after school?' or being able to ask 'Are you going to Central Park with Uncle Will at the weekend?' It made him feel as there was always somebody he could turn to if he needed it. It made him feel happy.
---
Things were also looking up for Olivia and Mason. Karen and Stan's arguments were becoming less and less frequent. They no longer woke up wondering if it would be today that they would be told about divorce. Their dad would spend more time with them than with the business. There was more laughter in their house. Everyone was happier. However, Mason, Olivia and Karen had no idea what was coming.
---
Sitting in Grace's office were Grace, Will, Olivia, Mason and Elliot. Will had picked the three kids up from school.
'Auntie Grace, where's Karen?' Olivia questioned her stepmother's whereabouts.
'She went to the fabric store and took Jack with her. I'm not sure what time they'll be back. ' Grace responded. At that moment Will's pager went off.
'That's work. I better go. I'll see you kids tomorrow to go to the circus right?' Will arranged an outing that would probably be needed all the more by Olivia and Mason after today was over.
'Yeah!' All three children simultaneously shouted excitedly.
'Okay then! Grace I'll see you later at home.' With that, Will walked out the door.
'Hey Auntie Grace, I think I'm going to go home. I'm not feeling too well.' Mason hadn't been feeling right all day.
'Okay sweetie. I'll walk you home. Oh, I can't leave you two here by yourselves.' Grace pointed to Elliot and Olivia.
'Don't worry, I'm gonna go home too. We'll be fine walking home. Besides, it's not too far.' Olivia hoped that Grace would let them go home.
'Okay then. Be careful! Elliot, are you staying here?'
Elliot considered what to do for a moment. 'Yeah, I'll stay here and wait for my dad.'
'Okay, we'll see you tomorrow at the circus. Bye Auntie Grace!' Olivia shouted on behalf of her and her brother.
---
Walking home was taking longer than Mason and Olivia expected. Mason was desperate to get home and felt as if he could vomit at any time.
'How long till we're home?' Mason was struggling.
'We're just round the corner.' Olivia tried to reassure her brother. Unfortunately, Mason couldn't hold it in any longer; he threw up. Olivia averted her eyes to prevent herself from being sick. At this point she noticed an FBI car going round the corner. 'Are you okay?' She checked on her brother.
'Can we stay here for a few moments?' Mason didn't particularly want to move.
'Well, we're just around the corner from home so don't you think it would be better to get home quicker?'
'I suppose so.' Mason gave in. He wasn't really up for arguing with her about it. As they walked down the street, Olivia noticed the FBI agents were going into the penthouse.
'That's weird. There are FBI agents going into our house.' Olivia informed her brother.
'Oh, well.' Mason replied. Him and Olivia didn't think anymore of it until they arrived at their house.
---
'Grace, there are the fabrics you asked for. I hope I got the right ones.' Karen and Jack returned from the fabric store.
'Thank you. By the way, Olivia and Mason went home. Mason wasn't feeling too great. I don't think it's anything serious.' Grace was busy sorting through the fabrics.
'Oh, okay. I'm sure he'll be fine. Listen, I'm just going to run Jack and Elliot home, then I'll be back.' Karen replied.
'Sure. I'll see you later Elliot.'
'Bye Auntie Grace.' Elliot waved at the same time.
---
As Mason and Olivia walked in their front door, they were shocked by what they heard.
'Stanley Walker, we are arresting you on suspicion of tax evasion.' An FBI agent declared.
'What's going on?' Olivia questioned, fear clearly evident in her voice. Nobody had noticed her and Mason entering.
'Are these your kids?' The FBI agent ignored Olivia's question. Stan only nodded. 'Do they have someone who can look after them while you're under arrest?' Olivia couldn't bear to hear the answer. She ran to the nearest telephone and dialled the number to Grace's office where she hoped she would find Karen.
'Hello. Grace Adler Designs.' Grace answered the telephone with the cheesy opener that Olivia herself had used a few times.
'Auntie Grace, is Karen there?' Olivia quickly answered. She had tears running down her face. She was so confused and scared.
'No, she went to take Uncle Jack and Elliot home? What's the Matter? Why are you crying?' Grace's first thought was that something was seriously wrong with Mason.
'There are two men here from the FBI. I think they're arresting my dad!' Olivia was sobbing really hard now.
'I'll be right over. Don't worry. Telephone Uncle Will after you're off the phone to me and tell him to go over to your house right away.' Grace quickly ran out of her office.
Olivia did exactly ask Grace told her. However, Will's office said that he was not in the office and that he had been called out to an emergency. Olivia hoped that he would be heading for their house.
---
The FBI had refused to leave until somebody had arrived to take care of Olivia and Mason. The few minutes that they were waiting for Will or Grace to arrive felt like hours. To everyone's relief, Will and Grace arrived, by coincidence, at the same time. Grace ran right over to hug Olivia and Mason, who were both sobbing uncontrollably.
'What's going on?' Grace asked, hoping that they knew.
'We don't know.' Mason was trying to control his sobs enough so that he could speak. Grace just continued hugging both kids until Will came over and pulled her to one side.
'What do they know?' Will questioned, referring to Olivia and Mason.
'Nothing. Absolutely nothing.' For some reason Grace had tears in her eyes.
'Well, does Karen know?'
'I don't think so. When Olivia phoned me she was looking for Karen. They haven't said whether Karen's coming or not. I think they would have said if they got a hold of her.' Grace kept looking over at the crying kids.
'We're going to take Mr Walker away know.' One of the FBI agents declared.
'Please don't take my dad away!' Mason ran over to the FBI agent in the hope that he would let his dad go.
'Mr Truman, are you going to accompany your client?' Once again, the FBI agent ignored the crying child.
Will looked at Grace and then at Olivia and Mason. It was killing him that he had to go with their dad to who knows where. 'Yes, I will.'
'Uncle Will, please don't let them take my dad away.' Mason tried again.
'I'm sorry. Grace, I'll call you later.' Will went to hug all three people quickly.
'Dad, please don't go.' Mason tried for the last time. Stan looked at his son, and then his daughter before being led away by the FBI agents. As the door closed, both kids ran over to Grace.
'What are they going to do to Dad?' Olivia questioned through sobs.
'I don't know sweetie.' Grace gave the best answer that she could. Before long, Grace had the two children wrapped around her.
---
Thirty minutes later, Karen returned home, oblivious as to what had happened. She walked in to the sight of her stepchildren still hugging Grace.
'What's going on? Grace, what are you doing here?' When Mason and Olivia heard Karen's voice they ran over to get hugs from her.
'They took Dad away.' Olivia answered through heavy sobs.
'What? Who did?' Karen had no idea.
'The FBI. They arrested Dad.' Mason also answered through heavy sobs. This left Karen speechless. All she could do was hug the two children. She would have to wait to get the whole story.
---
Will entered the penthouse a few hours later to find Karen sitting on the sofa with Olivia and Mason sleeping at either side of her. Will didn't have a clue how the kids were going to handle this. Karen, he thought, could cope, but Olivia and Mason. He just had no idea. He sat down to give Karen the dreadful news.
---
The next morning, Olivia woke up to find herself on the sofa. She was still confused as to what happened the night before. She lay on the sofa for several minutes before realising that she was the last person to wake up. She could hear Mason and Karen moving around in the kitchen.
'Morning, honey.' Karen said unenthusiastically as Olivia entered the room. 'Sit down, honey, I need to talk to you.' Olivia took a seat next to Mason and waited for what Karen had to say. 'Uncle Will came by last night after you were asleep and he said that your dad's not coming home for a while. Uncle Will said he's going to jail.'
'For how long?' Mason had a habit of asking dreaded questions.
'I don't know.'
A/N: There's chapter 7. Thank you to Panema and The Filmmaker Cannot See for reviewing chapter 6. I'll try to get the next one up soon. Enjoy!