"Jay, you have to eat all of your cereal, okay? You can't just eat the marshmallows. You wanna grow up big and strong don't you?" Ryan smiles to himself as he hears Marissa's voice in the kitchen talking to Jaiden.
"Like Uncle Ryan," The little boy points out, "I wanna grow up big and strong like Uncle Ryan." Ryan lets out a quiet laugh as he hears Jaiden's voice.
"Good morning." Ryan says as he walks into the kitchen, giving Marissa a kiss on the cheek and then ruffles Jaiden's hair gently before pouring himself a cup of coffee.
"So what's on the agenda today?" Marissa asks, spreading cream cheese on a bagel.
"Jaiden wants to go see his mom today." Ryan replies, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Sure, that'd be great."
Suddenly, the phone rings causing Marissa to jump. "Jesus Christ, who calls this early?" she mutters under her breath before picking up the phone. "Hello? Oh, hey…oh my God…are you okay?" Marissa asks through the phone, causing Ryan to look at her, "do you wanna talk to him? Ok…do you want us to? Yeah…of course…bye." Marissa hangs up the phone gently, and looks over at Ryan before heading out into the living room.
Ryan follows her out and Marissa turns to face him. "That was Theresa." She begins, sadness in her voice, "Her mom died last night."
Ryan looks down at his feet and lets in a deep breath. "Is Theresa okay?" he asks softly.
"Well, I'm not sure. She said she'll be coming to pick up Jaiden today." Marissa replies, causing Ryan to look up.
"Already?" Ryan asks and Marissa shrugs, "Well, we have to talk to Jaiden then."
Marissa nods her head in agreement before the couple walks back into the kitchen, hand in hand.
"Hey, Jay. Can we talk to you for a sec?" Ryan asks. Jaiden nods his head, his mouth full of cereal and looks at Ryan and Marissa expectantly. "Your mom's gunna be picking you up today."
"Okay," the little boy replies plainly, "does that mean I'm not gunna be sleeping here anymore?" he asks. Ryan looks at Marissa and then back to Jaiden, shaking his head. Jaiden looks down at his cereal and makes that frowning face he does when he's thinking, "Did grandma go up to heaven already?" he asks, looking back up to the couple.
Ryan, a little taken back by the little boy's knowledge, doesn't say anything.
"Yeah, but she's doing okay up there now. She's not sick anymore." Marissa says, reaching over to hold Jaiden's hand.
The little boy nods in understanding, "That's good then." He says softly, just loud enough for Ryan and Marissa to hear.
"So, can you go upstairs so we can get all your clothes and toys ready?" Marissa asks, trying to sound as cheerful as she could. Jaiden nods his head, taking one more spoonful of cereal to his mouth, "Okay, we'll be upstairs in a minute." Jaiden hops of the chair and makes his way upstairs.
Only when she was sure Jaiden was gone, Marissa lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "I don't want him to leave." She says plainly, causing Ryan to look at her, "I know he's only been with us for a few days, but I love that kid. I don't want him to leave."
Ryan lets out a small sigh and pulls Marissa into his embrace, "Me neither." He says softly, "But we'll be seeing him again. We can always drive to Chino."
Ryan feels Marissa nod her head, "Yeah." He hears Marissa saying quietly. The couple finally breaks away, giving each other one small reassuring smile before heading upstairs to help Jaiden pack up his things.