25. Chapter 25
Over the last week, Zane and I have gotten into a well-oiled routine. When Liz is at school, we spend our days at Oakside.
The day he came home and told me about Noah”s proposal to work at Oakside, I could see the excitement all over his face.
It was a no brainer, and I told him to take it. But he still wanted to talk it out, so we did. He even went so far as to talk to Liz about it, and she was very excited for him. So, he accepted the job that night. He then got out a notebook and a pen and started jotting down all these ideas and questions.
He”s still so excited about the job and enjoys what he”s doing. One of the biggest perks of the job for him is that it allows him to still be here in the mornings for our routine of getting Liz off to school and having breakfast together. Then we go to work together, we get to come home together and be here to meet Liz when she gets off the school bus. Then he gets to help her with her homework, which she absolutely loves to do with him.
When he told me about his conversation with my dad, to say that I was shocked my dad showed up would be an understatement. I was even more surprised to learn that they got along so well. I thought maybe he was just saying that to cover for my dad, so I texted Noah since he had been there, and he confirmed it. Noah said he was just as shocked as I was.
Zane also started working with Paisley, who will train him for his hearing dog. Next week, he has his first driving class, which will give him even more freedom. Liz is super excited about Zane’s hearing dog, especially once she learned she”ll be allowed to take the dog outside and throw a ball around and play with him. She”s always wanted a dog, but her dad was severely allergic.
We just wrapped up another day at Oakside together. I am now teaching art therapy three days a week. The other two days I come to Oakside and have open art classes. Anyone can join them, patient or family, and even staff members have joined in. I”ll teach how to draw certain landscape scenes, and according to my students, they have a blast. I have fun too.
As we pull into the driveway after another great day working together at Oakside, my phone rings. The caller’s identity flashes across the car clearly displaying that it”s the lawyer. Immediately, the tension that fills the car is unmistakable. My parents have been silent and so have the lawyers, so it”s been easy to put it all out of our minds, forgetting the counter suit.
“Hello?” I answer hesitantly.
“Hello, Carlee? This is Mr. Arwood,” he answers, and I translate for Zane.
“Yes, is everything okay?” I skip the pleasantries and want to get right to the point.
“I am calling you to give you an update. I had filed all our paperwork in preparation to go to court against your mother. But our office received a call yesterday that she was dropping the lawsuit and received the paperwork this morning. I want to just check with you before filing any paperwork with the court, as I”m assuming that you don”t want to move forward on anything on your end,” he says.
I sit there shocked.
“She dropped the lawsuit. All of it? The custody, contesting the will, everything?” I ask, needing to be sure.
“Yes, she claimed a change of heart,” he says.
“Wow! Oh, okay, yes, I would love to just be done with this. What are your suggestions for moving forward?” I ask.
“Right now, we’re in good shape. I needed to know your thoughts before I could proceed. I will file the paperwork with the court that we agreed to end this, and that”s it. If you need me again for anything, I’m here,” he says.
“Will I be getting an invoice via e-mail?” I need to know the amount in order to work on our budget for the month.
“Oakside has covered the bill, so you won”t receive any invoice. All the billing has gone directly to them,” he says.
We say our goodbyes, both of sitting in the car surprised, and grateful.
Noah took care of our lawyer’s bill. Zane asks just to clarify.
Seems like it. I say, still in shock.
Saying this, he pulls out his phone and sends a text in the group chat between him, me, and Noah.
Zane:did you really take care of our lawyer’s bill?
Noah:Yes, we did. It”s part of the services that we handle here while you are a patient.
Me:But I was the one being sued, not Zane.
Noah:Small detail. You”re an employee here, part of the family. We take care of the family. And Mr. Arwood gives us a good deal on his fees because we keep him busy with contracts.
Me: Thank you.
I”m barely able to type it out because the relief that hits me causes tears to fall faster than I can stop them. A moment later, Zane opens my car door, pulls me out of the car and into his arms. Bending down, he picks me up, carrying me bridal style into the house and into the living room, where he sits down and holds me in his lap.
While he lets me cry and get it all out, he rubs my back and holds me tight. Every now and then he’ll kiss the top of my head. When I finally feel like I can”t cry anymore, I wipe my eyes and look up at him.
Before I get a chance to say anything, the front door slams.
“Aunt Carlee?” Liz calls out.
“Living room,” I call back.
Liz is home. I tell Zane and try to pull away, but he doesn”t let me.
Liz finds us on the couch together, takes one look at my face, and her smile falters.
It”s good news this time, Zane tells her and holds his arm out for her to come sit next to him.
Grandma dropped the lawsuit. She”s not going to fight us for custody, and she isn”t challenging your mom and dad”s will. HAs I tell her this, I can tell she”s relieved.
Exuberantly, she wraps Zane up in a hug, and he wraps his other arm around her, holding us both to him. We sit like that soaking up our togetherness, and relief. One big happy family. It”s always in the back of my head how Zane had said he had never planned to be a father. But every day, he shows us over and over again by his behavior this is where he wants to be. Yes, he said the words, but his actions have shown me otherwise.
Alright, let”s get going on those spelling words, Zane says.
Laughing, we all get moving. Zane helps Liz with her spelling words and her homework as I get dinner going. We all settle into our nightly routine. Just as I put dinner in the oven, my phone rings. It’s sitting on the counter, and Zane and I both see from the caller ID that it”s my mom.
I”m going to take this outside,I tell him.
He nods, understanding that I don”t want Liz to hear whatever my mom has to say.
Stepping out onto the back porch, I answer the phone with no emotion in my voice.
“Hello,” I say, waiting to hear what she has to say. If she notices the lack of reaction in my voice, she ignores it.
“Hello, sweetheart. We want to invite you over for dinner this weekend. It”s been so long since we”ve seen our granddaughter.” Mom asks me this in a perfectly chipper voice as if nothing has happened.
I pause for a moment before I respond, so I don”t let my emotions lead.
“Why would I bring her over there after you tried to take her away from me? You tried telling me I wasn”t good enough to raise her. That Zane wasn”t good enough to be around her. So why would we want to be around you?”
There”s silence on the other end of the line for just a moment before she speaks again.
“That”s all water under the bridge now. We”re family,” she says sounding defeated. I almost feel sorry for her.
“You tried to sue me for custody against your daughter”s wishes. What part of that describes family? I will protect Liz with my life but that also means that I have to trust the people that are around her and I do not trust you to not try to take her from me again. At least not right now. And as long as we”re being open and honest, you should know that Liz knows what you did,” I tell her.
She lets out a gasp, and I can hear my father shuffling to the phone in the background. “Why would you tell her? She is just a child and does not need to be concerned about adult matters,” Mom says.
“I told her because we knew she was going to ask why you weren”t around, why she couldn”t talk to you or see you. It directly affected her, that’s why we told her. When she heard your plans, she asked the court if she could just tell them that she wanted to stay and live with me. Did you ever think or consider her feelings in all of this?” I ask.
“She”s the only connection we have left to your sister,” Mom says with real, true emotion in her voice for the first time.
“I get that, but what do you think Kaylee’s reaction would have been if she found out you were suing me for custody of her daughter after she”s explicitly stated that she wanted me to raise her child?” While I know asking her that is playing dirty, but she has yet to apologize for any of it.
There”s some shuffling, and then my dad”s voice fills the phone.
“I will talk to your mom. Maybe we can start with phone calls until Liz is ready to see us, but throughout it all, I will make sure that your mom respects her wishes,” Dad says.
“Thank you. I will talk to Liz and when she is ready I’ll set up a phone call with you guys. Not a video call, just a regular call. We”ll work our way up,” I say.
“Agreed. I”ll talk to you soon,” Dad says, as we end the call.
Everything okay? Zane asks, standing behind Liz so she doesn”t see.
Might as well get this over with.
Hey baby, that was Grandma on the phone. They miss you and want to see you.I start, but she interrupts me.
No, I don”t want to see them.
I figured, and I told them that. How about we start with a phone call? Zane and I can sit right next to you, and you can hang up whenever you want. You will be in total control.
She thinks about it for a minute before nodding. I can do that.
All right, head upstairs and wash up for dinner.I tell her.
Once she”s upstairs, I turn to Zane.
She thought I was going to just let her have visits with Liz like normal after she tried to take her away from me.I tell him not quite sure how I feel.
We”ll take it one step at a time,he says.
That one simple word, ‘We’ll,’ showing that we”re in this together, means more to me than anything he could have said. It”s really nice to have someone to lean on right now.