FicWad

The next couple of days Pete, the children and I spent as much time together as we could. Pete told Saint the good news about Patrick going home to his family. That made Saint very happy.

We took the kids out on the horses. Pete took Star with him and I had Jupiter. Both Marvel and Saint were fine on their own horses.

We took them out to the back pasture that we got married in, and let all four of them play in the field and in the river. We had snacks and drinks and a couple of blankets to sit on. I ended up stretched out with my head on Pete’s lap. He played with my hair and spoke poetry to me. All of it was about our love and how blessed he felt to have me and our family.

Jupiter found a patch of daisies and forget-me-nots and picked them. He brought them to me one at a time. Each time he had his fathers grin on his face. He would run up to me in his chubby toddlers legs, hand me the flower and say, “Mum Mum! F’r oo! Pity flurs!” (Translated from Toddler - Mom Mom! For you! Pretty flowers!)

I replied each time with, “Thank You Jupiter. It’s a very pretty flower.” I had a pile of white and blue blossoms next to me by the end of the afternoon. That was the best day, filled with good feelings, love and making good memories.

The Saturday after Pete joined us on the farm I did my duty and called my Mom. I called her most weekends to catch up. Sometimes we would do a FaceTime call and she would talk to the twins. She wasn’t interested in speaking with Saint or Marvel. But they didn’t really like her so they weren’t upset about it. But I was. I was legally their mother, which meant she was their grandmother. But she was only interested in Star and Jupiter. She pouted when they weren’t on the call.

“Hi Mom. How are you?” I asked when she answered.

“Hi Grace. I’m fine. Where are the babies?” She asked.

“With Pete. He has all the kids outside playing in their fort.”

“Oh. So he finally made it out there?” She asked with a bit of snark in her voice.

“Yeah, he got here a few days ago. The kids were very happy about it. And so was I. So, what’s going on with you?”

“Nothing much. But I do want to ask if you would be willing to come down and attend a therapy session with me. My therapist would like to talk to you.” She asked me.

“When do you want me to come? I’ll be happy to talk to them with you.” I told her. It’s something I had told her before I would do.

“My next appointment is this coming Thursday.”

“What time?”

“2:00 pm. Can you make it?”

“Yes. I can drive down that morning and go with you. That should give me plenty of time to get back here before the twins go to bed.” I said as I thought over her request.

“You aren’t going to bring the twins?” She asked, disappointed.

“No. Who would watch them while we’re at your appointment?” I asked her.

“Ryan can watch them and then we can have lunch together.” Mom was quick to answer.

“I think it would be best to leave them here with their Dad. They’re a handful right now. They want to run all the time and get into everything.” I told her. Ryan never had children of his own so he’s never watched a toddler before let alone two at the same time.

“But I want to see them.” She said, “I want to see my grandchildren.”

“Mom, that’s a really long car ride for them. I’m not going to make them be in the car for three to four hours each way just so you can spend half an hour with them.”

“But you don’t have to drive back the same day. You could spend the night here.” She tried to offer. “I still have the guestrooms. You could stay and drive back the next day.”

“I’m not going to spend the night at your house with them. Not now, not ever. You know this and you know why. And even if I did stay in Savannah, I don’t want to leave half the family behind. Pete, Saint, and Marvel would have to come with me. I’m not going to drag them all down there for one night just so I can talk to your therapist.” I was walking through the living room as I talked to her. I was headed to the front door so I could sit on the porch.

“You could bring all of them. Then Pete could keep the twins while you and I are talking to my doctor. Then we could all have lunch together.” Mom offered hopefully.

“I appreciate the offer. And we’re going to be out here for a while. I’ll make sure we get down to see you before we go back home. But this week, let’s concentrate on dealing with your therapy.”

Mom wasn’t very happy with that answer but she accepted it. I agreed to be at her house by 1:30 on Thursday afternoon.

Later that afternoon after lunch and once the babies were down for their naps, I was sitting with Pete on the couch. We were just sitting together snuggled up, enjoying the quiet moment. I had my legs curled up on the couch next to me and was leaning against his chest. He had his arm around my shoulders. I had one arm around his waist. Marvel and Saint were outside, Dad was doing something with one of the tractors in the barn and Amy was at the store. We were alone and we were taking advantage of it.

“I called my Mom this morning. She asked if I would go down and go to one of her therapy sessions with her.” I told him.

“I think that’s a good idea. When do you plan on going?” Pete asked me.

“Thursday. I’ll be gone all day. Think you can handle the kids?”

He only chuckled softly and said, “We’ll be fine. I’m surprised she didn’t want you to bring Star and Jupiter with you.”

“She did. And she wanted us to stay the night at her house. I told her that wasn’t gonna happen. But I do want to talk to her doctor. I’m not sure she has been completely honest with them about everything.”

“Why don’t you think she’s being fully honest?” Pete asked me.

I took a few moments to think about why I felt that way. “Because she doesn’t like looking bad. I know she’s told him about a lot of stuff. But I just have a feeling she hasn’t told him everything. That’s just how Mom is.”

Pete was silent for a few moments thinking things over. “Would you like me to go with you?”

“I would love you to come with me. But I don’t want to leave all four of the kids here with Dad and Amy. It’d probably be better for you to stay with them. And to be very honest, I don’t want to spend much time with Mom. I know I’ll have to allow her to see the babies while we’re out here. But I don’t want to. Not until I know if her therapist thinks she’s getting better.”

“You don’t have to allow her to see the kids. You know how I feel about that and her in general.”

“I want to talk to her doctor. If I think she isn’t doing well, I’ll cut off her access to Jupiter and Star.”

I sighed and Pete’s arm that was resting on my shoulder tightened just a little. He rested his cheek against the top of my head.

“She wasn’t always this bad, ya know? I remember when she was fun and when she wasn’t so, I don’t know, consumed with what other people thought or did. But after Alex, well...” I trailed off. I didn’t really have the words for what had happened after my brother died.

After a few minutes of silence I said, “I miss that. I miss who she used to be. She was better before Alex was born. She was better before she married Albert.” I told him.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” He asked again.

“As much as I would like you to come with me, I don’t want to take the children.” I answered.

“I’m sure John and Amy would be ok with having them for a day. We can ask.” He offered. “You might need someone else to drive after the session, depending on how emotional it is.” He said softly.

I’ll admit that was the main reason I did want him to come with me. That I would need his emotional support. “Ok, let’s ask them if we can leave the kids here on Thursday. Thank you for offering to come with me.”

“Of course I’ll come with you.” He said into the top of my head and then he dropped a kiss there. He pulled me just a bit tighter to him and then relaxed his grip.

We sat there together for a while, holding each other and enjoying the contact. Since he had arrived on the farm, we hadn’t truly been apart from each other. We both did our separate things. I filmed, edited, and started a new book, one inspired by the story I told the children on our camping night. He worked on his own writing. I assumed it was lyrics. But we were always conscious of the other. We each spun around the other, and the children spun around us. And it was nice.

On the Tuesday before I was going to go down to Savannah, Pete told me he had talked to Dad and Amy. They had not only agreed to watching the kids for us the day of, but that night and the next day.

“We don’t get enough one on one time. John agrees with me. So, I’ve booked us a room. We’ll drive down, you can drop me and our bags off at the hotel and then go to your Mom’s appointment with her. You don’t have to tell her we’re both there or staying in town. When you're done with your Mom we can have the afternoon and evening together.” He told me.

We were out on the porch watching the twins play in the yard. I turned my head to look at him.

“I’ve never left the twins overnight.”

“They’ll be fine.” He said, trying to reassure me.

“They’re not the ones I’m worried about. I’m not sure how I’m gonna feel about it.” I told him with a smile.

He smiled back at me and said, “You’ll be fine. I promise to keep you distracted.”

I chuckled at that. “Promise?” I asked him with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, Baby, I’ll make sure you don’t think about the twins or your Mother. I’ll take you out for dinner and then back to our room. I’ll make you come undone and leave you breathless and so satisfied you’re gonna want to roll over and fall asleep.” He said as he gave me the familiar look that told me he was going to rock my world.

I grinned back at him. “Ok. I think I could use a break from the kids. We don’t get enough time together, just us. This will be good. I’ll talk to Mom’s doctor, and then we can spend some time together.”

“We need it. I would love to take you away for a week or more. But let’s start with one night away. See how it goes. You know, in the three years we’ve known each other, I think we’ve only really had 6 or 7 nights where we didn’t need to worry about the kids.”

I thought about that. He was right. We didn’t make alone time a priority. We made the kids the top priority for us and the family. We really did need to make time for just us.

We told the kids on Wednesday that we would be leaving early on Thursday to go to Savannah so I could see my Mom and go see her doctor with her. I didn’t elaborate on what the doctor was for. I only told them that she wanted me to hear what they said.

“Do we have to go with you? I don’t like your Mom very much.” Saint asked me.

“No, you guys are staying here with Granny and Pops. And they’re gonna need your help with Star and Jupiter. I know you don’t like my Mom very much. And that’s ok.” I assured him.

“Why don’t you like her?” Pete asked.

Saint made a face and said, “I don’t think she likes us very much.”

“What makes you think that? Has she said anything to you?” Pete asked him.

“No. But she isn’t interested in anything me and Marvel do. She won't talk to us unless you’re there Mom.” He told us.

“She’s mean.” Marvel said.

“How is she mean to you?” I asked her.

Marvel shrugged her shoulders and said, “She said she wasn’t our grandma and she didn’t want us to call her that anymore.”

Pete and I just looked at each other. We hadn’t picked up on these small snide comments.

“Don’t worry guys, if you don’t want to, you’ll never have to speak to or see her again. I promise.” Pete told her. Then he looked at me to see if I agreed. I did, but I was so angry I didn’t have words to answer. I only nodded my head.

I was going to bring this up with her and her doctor. I know I can’t make her love Saint and Marvel, but she would be nice and welcoming to them if she wanted Star, Jupiter, and I to have any kind of relationship with her.

That night when Pete and I were alone, I brought up the subject.

“Hon, I had no idea Mom said those things to Saint and Marvel. I’m not sure I want her to have access to the kids anymore. Any of them.” I told him.

Pete actually looked surprised. I think he was expecting me to defend her or try to talk him into allowing her contact with just Star and Jupiter. But she had been walking a fine line for the past year and a half. Protecting my family was more important than her feelings. I didn’t want Saint and Marvel to ever feel like I did when I was a kid and had to deal with my former step family.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” He asked me.

I thought about it for a moment. “Yes.” I said. “I won’t allow her to treat them the same way Scott and I were by her ex in-laws.”

He was sitting up in bed as I was going around the room getting things ready for the morning. I had our bags packed. All we needed to grab in the morning were our toiletries.

When I was done, I joined him in the bed. “I’m really disappointed in her.” I said. The more I thought about it the angrier I got.

Pete gave me a look that asked an unspoken question. “She’s acting like that bitch of an ex mother-in-law of hers. Mom knows how that affected the two of us. I’m so upset that she’s doing the same thing. I’ll bring this up tomorrow.”

Pete opened his arms to me. I leaned into him and he pulled me close. I allowed him to hold me and cuddled up to him.

“This is your relationship with your Mom. You need to handle it the way you see fit. I had no idea she disliked them so much. I thought she was ok with having step-grandchildren.”

“I think she was until I got pregnant. If I’d never had the babies, I think she would’ve been just fine as a hands off Grandma to them. I don’t know when her crazy switched on, but I think it was at or just after our wedding.”

“That is when things seemed to change.” Pete mused.

We talked a bit more and then settled into sleep. I was woken up just a few hours later by Jupiter. He was crying and fussing. When I went to get him I could tell he was running a fever. I took him to our room so I could take his temperature. He was running a mild fever.

“Mummy. Er hurt.” He said as he tugged at his ear.

“Your ear hurts?” I asked him as I picked him up and took him across the hall to our room.

Jupiter nodded and sniffed and then laid his head on my shoulder.

I rubbed his back and told him I would get him some medicine to make him feel better.

Pete was awake when I got back to our room. He held Jupiter while I got the baby Tylenol for him.

“Here Jupiter, take this, it will make you feel better.” I told my son as I gave him a dose.

“Does your ear hurt?” Pete asked him. Jupiter nodded and started to pull at his ear. He has had ear infections since he was only a few months old. We’ve even talked to his pediatrician about it.

“Dada, er hurt.” Jupiter told his father.

I looked at Pete and said, “I think we need to see if we can get him in to see a doctor. He probably has another ear infection. I’ll call tomorrow and see if we can get in and be seen.”

We got Jupiter settled down and let him sleep in bed with us. He wasn’t feeling good, the poor baby.

The next morning I made a call to the local doctors office. They would be able to see Jupiter that morning. I told Pete to cancel the room in Savannah. There was no way I was going down now. Not with a sick baby. I wasn’t going to leave him behind for Dad and Amy to take care of.

“I can stay here with Jupiter. You should still go down and see your mom. You need to go and talk with her and her doctor. This could really help her and your relationship.” Pete said as we got ready to take Jupiter to the doctors.

I reluctantly agreed. I called Mom on our way to town to let her know I would meet her at her doctor's office.

“Mom, Jupiter’s sick. We’re taking him to the doctor this morning. I’ll head down as soon as we get him seen and get any medication he needs. I’m still going to come. But I don’t think I’ll have time to pick you up.” I told her as we drove into town.

“What’s wrong with my grandson? What did you do to him?!” Mom started questioning me.

“He has an ear infection. We didn’t do anything to him.” I said exasperatedly.

Pete was driving us to town. I had Mom on speaker so he heard what she said. The look he shot me when she accused us of hurting him would have melted paint. We got to the doctors and were seen pretty quickly. As we suspected, Jupiter had an ear infection. We were given a prescription for antibiotics, told to keep up with the children’s Tylenol for his fever and if he wasn’t feeling better by the end of the prescription to come back. But other than the ear infection, he was a healthy baby.

We went to the closest pharmacy and got the prescription filled. Then we went back to the farm. I gave Jupiter the first dose of his antibiotic. He was being very needy and wanted me.

“I’m sorry Sweetie, but I have to go. I’ll be back tonight. I need to go see Grandmother.” I told him as I handed him to Pete.

“Mummy! Mummy! Wan Mum.” Jupiter cried as I handed him to Pete.

“I’ll be back, I promise. I love you Little Man. Daddy will take care of you.” I kissed my son and then kissed my husband.

“I’ll call you when I’m on the way home.” I told Pete after the kiss.

“Drive safely.” He said as I grabbed my purse and headed out.

I’m surprised I wasn’t pulled over for speeding on my way down. I was running out of time. I made it to the appointment with just a few minutes to spare. Mom was waiting for me.

“What’s wrong with Jupiter? Why didn’t you bring him with you if he’s sick?” Mom asked me as soon as I approached her.

I looked at her in disbelief. “He’s at the house with his father. He has an ear infection, but he’ll be fine. We got a prescription for some antibiotics. He got his first dose before I left. And I wouldn’t subject him to a long car ride when he isn’t feeling good. Why would you think I would bring him? I told you I wasn’t going to bring them with me.” I snapped at her.

“I’m sorry. I just worry about them…” She started to say.

“You have nothing to worry about. My children are very well taken care of. Do you really think that Jupiter won’t be fussed over by Pete? He’s a great dad. They’ll be fine.” I said. “Come on, we don’t want to be late.” I said as I ushered us through the door to the office.

We were called back just after we arrived. He was nice enough, but it was clear from the start that he didn’t have the full story.

“Grace, I wanted you to come to one of the sessions so I could get your side of what happened when you were pregnant. From what I’ve been told you and your Mom had a misunderstanding. And that you took it as her wanting to take your babies from you. Why do you think that was what she wanted?” He asked me.

“There was no misunderstanding. That’s what she said. She said I wasn’t going to be able to take care of my family and that she needed to take them from me and my husband and our other children, to keep them safe.” I told him without any emotion.

“I just wanted to help you. The twins were your first babies, you didn’t know what you were doing. You still don’t!” Mom answered.

“Now, Rebecca, you agreed you would let Grace talk. Let her say what she needs to.” The doctor said to Mom. Then he turned to me and said, “Go on Grace. How did that make you feel?”

“How did that make me feel? Protective. And like my mother had lost her mind. She threatened to sue us for custody. Did she tell you that? She threatened to fly out to California, break into our home and kidnap the babies. All because I didn’t want her out there when they were born.”

“Wait, she threatened to kidnap your children?” The doctor asked me, then looked at her in surprise.

“No! I didn’t mean it like that. I just told her that I needed to be there to help her and that she wasn’t going to be able to handle two on her own.”

“First of all, stop lying! I have all the texts, emails, and voice messages you left me. And in most of them you threatened to try and take Star and Jupiter away from me. I even have your threat to kidnap them. You do know that you will never win any case you try to bring against me and Pete, right? Not with all the evidence we have that you’re fucking crazy. And second, I’m not on my own! I’m married to a wonderful man who is an amazing father, and we have three other kids. It’s not like we don’t know what to do.” I said angrily.

“I just wanted to help you! You kept me from being there when they were born. You wouldn’t let me in the delivery room with you. I should have been there. But you had Amy instead. Why her and not me?”

“Amy was an OB/GYN and labor and delivery nurse for 30 years. She has seen it all when it comes to babies being born. She was able to advocate for me. She understands what the lingo means. She was actually helpful . And so was Dad. They cooked and cleaned for us. They took care of the other kids while we were in the hospital. I know what your form of helping is and it isn’t what we needed. I know what you did when Lisa had Abby. There was no way in Hell I was going to deal with that.”

“What do you mean you know what happened when your niece was born? What happened then?” The doctor asked.

“My daughter-in-law wouldn’t listen to me. I tried to help her and my son. But they thought they knew better than I did.”

“Stop lying! You went up there and forced your way in. They didn’t invite you there. You just decided to move in. Then you snatched the baby away from Lisa every chance you got. You didn’t cook or clean or help around the house at all. And you kept calling Abby your baby. Scott had to forcibly remove you from their house.”

“I did not! I was helping!” Mom yelled at me.

“Rebecca! Calm down.” Her doctor said.

“You didn’t help. You tried to take over and be Abby’s mother. And I knew you would do the same thing with the twins. I wasn’t going to allow that to happen.”

Mom started crying. “I only wanted to be involved, to be there for you.”

“Mom, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. I don’t need your help. I don’t need you at all. Even if I was all alone, didn’t have Pete or the kids, I would still not go to you for help.”

“But why?” Mom asked me.

“Because I don’t trust you. Why should I? You haven’t proven yourself to be helpful or reliable. Dad is the parent that I trust and go to for help because he actually helps me.”

“Grace, why do you feel that way? What caused you to not trust your Mother?” The doctor asked me.

“Because as soon as she remarried, Scott and I were afterthoughts. She allowed her in-laws to treat us terribly. We were not allowed to attend Christmas with her for years because we weren’t family. And it only got worse when Alex was born. Because he was family."

“What was I supposed to do? It was his family’s home. I couldn’t demand that they accept you two.” Mom tried to defend herself.

“You didn’t defend your children? You allowed them to be mistreated?” Her doctor asked, sounding totally surprised.

“It wasn’t my choice. It wasn’t my house so I couldn’t say anything.” Mom said.

“You could have told that asshole you married that if your children weren’t welcome then you wouldn’t attend. It was really that simple.” I answered.

“I agree with Grace. You could have stood up for them. As their Mother, that's what you should have done.” Her doctor agreed with me.

“Neither of you know what it was like. I needed to get along with his family. And his mother didn’t like me because I had been married before and had children. I couldn’t bring you guys.”

“Then you shouldn’t have gone. You showed us you didn’t love us as much as you loved yourself and him. And now you're treating Saint, Marvel, and Bronx the same way. They don’t like you at all. Saint begged me to not make him come with me today. We’ve promised them that they will never have to see or speak to you again.”

Mom actually looked shocked at that. “Well, that’s fine. I don’t need to see them anyway. They aren’t your kids so I don’t see why you care.”

“I’ve adopted them. That makes them mine. And I care because I love them. I will not let you treat them like that. I will not let them feel bad because of you. So, since you don’t care to have a relationship with your other grandchildren, you shouldn’t care about not having one with Jupiter and Star.”

“What!? No! You can’t do that. I’m their grandmother, I have the right to be in their lives.”

“No, you don’t. I’m cutting you off. You will not be in the lives of my family. The twins will not know you. They have two sets of grandparents who love all five of my children. That’s all they need.” I told her firmly.

“Now Grace, I don’t think that’s very fair to your mother. She’s trying hard to do what you wanted her to do so she can see the babies.” Her doctor started to try and scold me.

“I don’t give a fuck what you think about me or how I raise my children. I will not put them in harm's way just to make her feel better.” I snapped at the doctor.

He didn’t respond to that. But he did make a note of it in his notebook.

“Grace, please don’t do this to me. I deserve the chance to raise Alex, I mean Jupiter.” Mom said.

“Alex? Did you really just call my son Alex?” At this point I was pissed off.

“I, I didn’t mean..”

“Do you really think I would give him to you to raise?” I asked in disbelief.

“Well, you don’t need two. I could take him and give him a better life than you can.”

“Have you forgotten who I’m married to? We have far more money than you and Ryan do. We have the time and the resources to give the kids a damn fine life. Private schools, experiences that most kids don’t get. How the Hell could you give him a better life?” I was getting heated now and I wasn’t watching my words.

“He wouldn’t have to compete with anyone for all my time and love.” She snapped at me.

“We’re done here. I’m done with you. I was going to keep in contact with you. I was going to let you try and work on our relationship and maybe one day I would let you back into the lives of the children. But not now. You can’t have my son. You need to deal with your grief over Alex. You do not get a do-over with my kids.”

“I will go after you and that ungrateful asshole you married. I will get my son from you!” Mom screamed.

“I’m leaving. We’re done. I will be blocking you. You won’t have access to me or the kids anymore. And if you try to get Jupiter, I’ll make you wish you never tried.” I told her.

“We still have time. Please stay and let us work on talking this out.” Her doctor tried to reason with me.

“No. I’m done here. I suggested you try to get her to understand that my son is not her chance for a do-over.”

I picked up my purse and left the office. I could hear my mother screaming behind me. She was calling me an ungrateful bitch and that she would get her son from me. That I had no right to keep Alex from her. I think she had fully slipped over the edge.

I got into Dads car and drove off. I went just down the road to a strip mall and parked. I called Pete.

“Hey. Are you done with your mom already?” He asked when he answered the call.

“Yeah, you could say that. I’m totally done with her. I’m heading back. I should be there in a few hours. How’s Jupiter?”

“Sleeping. He went down about an hour ago. I think the Tylenol helped the pain. But you can tell he doesn’t feel good. Are you ok?”

“I’ll tell you about it when I get there. I think Dad needs to know too. And you’ll probably want to call our attorney. Mom has gone off the deep end. She seems to think that Jupiter is hers and that she should be the one raising him. She kept calling him Alex.” I told Pete.

“Are you serious?” He asked.

“Unfortunately. I really think there is something truly wrong with her.”

“Are you ok to drive back here?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll see you guys in a few hours.”

“Ok. Drive safe.”

Before I started back to Dads, I blocked my mom and Ryan on my phone. I didn’t want to deal with her and I knew she would call. I ended up getting home as the family was having dinner. Amy had saved me a plate and got up to get it out of the oven for me.

As soon as Jupiter saw me he started saying, “Mummy, Mummy wan up.” And he reached for me.

“Hello Jupiter. I’m here. Are you feeling any better?” I asked as I picked him up and sat at the table. I ate dinner as best as I could with him in my lap.

The house phone rang before I was done eating. Dad answered it.

“Hi Ryan. Yeah, she got home a little bit ago. She’s eating dinner right now.” Pause. “I’ll see if she can talk. Hold on.” He put his hand over the receiver.

“Gracie, Ryan has been trying to get in touch with you. He said it’s important.”

I shook my head. “No. I don’t care what she said or did to get him to call me. I’m not speaking to her anymore.”

Dad put the phone back to his ear. “Ryan, she’s dealing with a sick toddler. Can I tell her what this is about?” Pause. “What? What happened?” Long pause. “I see. Ok. Yeah, I’ll tell her. Thanks for calling.” Then he hung up.

He looked over at me and Pete. “We should talk privately.” He told us seriously.

I sighed. I hadn’t finished eating and Jupiter wasn’t ready to let me go. “I’m sorry Jupiter, but I need to talk to Pops. Here, Granny’s gonna hold you for a few minutes. I’ll be right back.”

I got up from the table and headed to the living room with Pete and Dad.

“So what did she do this time?” I asked.

“Apparently after you left, she had a meltdown so bad her doctor had to call an ambulance. She’s being held at the hospital in the psych ward. She’s been saying that you stole her son and she needs to get him back. Both her doctor and Ryan have told the staff that you don’t kidnap her son. That he’s yours and her grandson. What got her involuntarily held was when she threatened to find you and kill you so she could take Alex. Yeah, she’s calling him Alex.”

I sat down hard on the couch. “She’s threatening to kill me?” I finally asked.

Pete sat next to me and put an arm around me. Dad sat on the other side and patted my knee.

“Don’t worry, you and the kids are safe here.” Dad said.

“I already sent a message to Larry about the possibility of her escalating things. I’ll call him tomorrow and see if there is anything we should be doing legally to protect us and the kids. I don’t know, an order of protection or a restraining order, or, I don’t know. If we should make a report to the police here. Our wills were written just before the twins were born. If anything should happen to both of us, all four of the kids go to Hilary.” Pete said. “Do you think we should leave the farm and go somewhere else?”

“You guys are safe here. She’s in the hospital and three hours away. Maybe this will end up being a good thing. She’ll finally get the help she needs.” Dad said.

I turned my head to look at him in disbelief. “She said she wants to kill me to get to Jupiter. I don’t care what the fuck happens to her now. She’s dead to me. I hope she rots.”

I stood up and went to the kitchen. Amy and all four of the children were still at the table waiting for us to return. I gave them all a smile.

“Marvel, Saint, if you guys are done eating you may be excused. It’s still light out, go play if you want too.” I told the older children.

Marvel was quick to leave the table and head outside. But Saint was slower. He gave me a very level look. He’s very sensitive and observant.

“Are you ok, Mom?” He asked me as he got up.

I gave him a small smile. “I had a bad day. And I’m very mad at my Mom. She's not going to be part of our lives anymore. But, I’ll be alright. I have the most wonderful family so how can I not be ok?”

He came up to me and hugged me hard. He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his cheek on my chest. I hugged him back just as hard. “I’m sorry you had a bad day. And I'm sorry your Mom made you mad. But you’re lucky like me. You have another Mom that’s better than your birth mom. You have Granny, just like I have you.”

“Thank you Sir Saint. I love you so very much. I’m so lucky to have you as my son. And I know I’m lucky to have Granny in my life. She’s pretty awesome. Now, go have fun.” I told him as I let him go. He left through the backdoor to join his sister outside.

Jupiter reached for me as soon as he saw me. I had let him stay with Amy as I talked to Saint, but as soon as he had left I turned to them and picked Jupiter up.

“Hey Little Man. How are you feeling? Does your ear still hurt?” I asked as I hugged him and rubbed his back.

He nodded and said, “Er hurt.”

“I’m sorry Baby. I’ll get you some medicine to make you feel better.” I told him. I looked over at Star who was sitting next to Amy in her own chair. She grinned up at me.

“Hey there Baby Girl.” I said as I smiled back. “Have you had a good day? I missed you.”

“Mama, I pway wif Aint ‘n Marvy.” She told me.

“You did? Was it fun?” I asked.

“Mmm” She hummed as she nodded her dark haired head.

“It’s almost time for your bath. But you can go play with your toys in the living room for a little while.” She got down and went to the living room to play.

Pete and Dad had followed me into the kitchen. Dad told Amy what was going on. Amy was horrified.

“Gracie, are you ok? Do you need anything?” She asked me.

“I just want to take care of this guy.” I said as I patted Jupiters back. “I’m gonna take him up and give him his medicine and a bath.”

“What about your dinner? At least finish eating.”

“I’m ok.” I said and turned to leave the room. Pete followed me into the living room.

“Grace, are you alright? Can I do anything for you?” Pete asked me.

I stopped and turned to him. I was going to tell him I was fine. But instead I started crying. My own mother wanted me dead so she could steal my son.

Pete was quick to fold Jupiter and I into his arms and held us tight.

“I know we’re safe here, but I’m terrified.” I sobbed into his chest.

“Me too. I want to pack us all up and head to my folks lake house. Or anywhere I think you’ll be safe.” He said as he held us.

“I don’t want to scare the kids. I want to try and keep our routine as normal as possible.” I told him.

He held me for a few more minutes before letting me go and taking a step back. “Go take care of him. I’ll bring Star up in a little bit.” He cupped my cheek and gave me a soft kiss. “I love you. I will do anything to keep you and the kids safe. Do you feel safe here?”

“I do. Like Dad said, she’s in the hospital and three hours away.”

He nodded to show he understood. I took Jupiter upstairs and gave him his medicine. Then I got him in a nice bath. By the time I was getting him out and dressed for bed, Pete was bringing Star up. He gave her a bath and then since Jupiter was still awake, the four of us snuggled together on our bed and I read them a story. The two of them fell asleep and we put them to bed for the night.

Pete went back downstairs to take care of Saint and Marvel. They weren’t ready for bed yet. So he allowed them to stay up and watch a movie. I took a shower and got ready for bed. I went and checked on all the kids. I just needed to know they were safe. When I got downstairs the three of them were on the couch watching one of the Marvel movies. I don’t know which one it was. They like them a lot more than I do.

I sat and joined them. I snuggled up to Pete and rested my head on his shoulder. He moved his arm to hold me. When the movie was over we all headed up to bed.

As soon as we got into bed Pete pulled me tight.

“Do you need anything?” He asked me softly.

“No. Not right now. But thank you.” I told him.

He rolled so that we were on our sides, face to face. He gave me a kiss. “I can try taking your mind off everything.” He offered.

“Just hold me please. I feel safe when you do.”

“Of course Baby.” He said as he held me tightly.

We were silent for a while. Then he spoke up. “Do you think she would really hurt you to get to Jupiter?”

“I don’t know. Yesterday I would have said never in a million years. But after today, I just don’t know. She was terrifying. I’ve never been so scared of her. She really seemed to think that he’s Alex reborn and she should be his mother.”

“It sounds like she’s having a psychotic break. I hope she can get the help she needs.”

“I hope she dies.” I said bitterly. “I know I sound like a horrible person for saying that. But I don’t think I’ll feel truly safe until she’s dead. I will always worry for our safety while she’s alive.” And then I started to cry again because I didn’t want my mom to die. I wanted her to be healthy and happy and for her to enjoy being a grandmother. But I also wanted to know she wasn’t going to hurt us.

I cried myself to sleep that night. Later, I woke up from a nightmare that left me needing to check on the kids. Pete was still next to me, holding me tight. When I went to slip out of bed he woke up instantly.

“You ok?” He asked sleepily.

“Yeah, just gonna use the bathroom.” I assured him. And I did use it before I checked on all the kids. When I poked my head in the room the twins were in, Muffin lifted her head up to see what I wanted from her. She was guarding the babies.

“Good girl, Muffin. Keep them safe for me.” She whined at me softly. Then she put her head back down.

I went back to our room and crawled back into bed. Pete wasn’t asleep. He immediately opened his arms to me and pulled me to him.

“I love you. Try to get some sleep if you can.” He said. I did try to sleep. I finally went back to sleep.