Chapter 6
“I UNDERSTAND that it’s time for Cameron to go home,” Grant said as he strode into the room.
Cameron was dressed and sitting on the side of the bed, his feet swinging.
The IV had been removed and all the monitors disconnected.
Marty looked a bit like a pack mule with his computer bag over his shoulder, a bag in his left hand, and a box balanced with the other.
Grant had given Marty a ride into the hospital that morning with the idea of helping them get settled at home.
“Yes,” Cameron said excitedly. “And I get my own room.” He looked around. “Where’s Dexter?”
“He’s at my house for now. But we’ll stop by and get him on the way.” He took the box from Marty and thanked him.
“Donald dropped off all the paperwork to the house last night and did the inspection at the same time. So everything is good to go for now.” He held out his free hand, and Cameron jumped down and took it.
“All the discharge papers are set, so we can book this clambake.” He looked both tired and excited.
Grant led the way to the elevator and then out of the hospital to his SUV. Carter had given him a booster seat, courtesy of his husband, and Marty got Cameron belted in. “We need to stop at Target, and then we can get this one some lunch if that’s okay.”
“Sure. I’m off, and we have the whole day,” Grant told him and received a relieved smile. Grant slid behind the wheel and drove across town to the Target parking lot.
“What are we here for?” Cameron asked as they went inside. Marty still held his hand while Grant grabbed a cart, and they headed to the boys’ department.
“You need a few more clothes, so you get to pick.” They stopped in the middle of the section.
“How about three shirts? You can get anything you like.” Marty smiled, and Cameron looked all around and then at him.
Grant expected the kid to go on a shopping spree, but instead he just stood there and then burst into tears.
Marty scooped him up in seconds. “Why the tears?” He rocked him gently until Cameron calmed.
“Is it too hard to choose?” Cameron’s tears settled, but he didn’t answer, and Grant figured this was going to be one of those things where the reason was locked up in the mind of a seven-year-old who had been mistreated for months.
“How about we choose together?” Cameron nodded and Marty walked thought the department.
After making two trips, Cameron finally pointed to a dark blue shirt with Lego bricks on it. “That one?”
Marty found the shirt in Cameron’s size and put it in the cart.
“What about this one?” Grant asked, holding up a green shirt with a train on it. Cameron nodded, and Marty got the right size. Cameron then pointed to the Lego shirt in red, and Marty put that in the cart too.
“Now we need pants and shorts for summer.” Those were easy. Cameron got two pairs of jeans and tan and light blue pairs of shorts. Underwear and socks followed before they headed to the shoe department, where Cameron decided on shoes that lit up when he walked.
“What else?” Cameron asked and then yawned.
“How about a jacket, and then we can eat,” Marty said, They found a simple blue jacket that met with Cameron’s approval before checking out.
“Donald gave me a gift card for some of this,” Marty supplied as he paid the bill.
They headed out into the spring afternoon and walked across the parking lot to Red Robin, where Cameron ate his weight in chicken nuggets and french fries before leaning against Marty and nearly falling asleep.
Grant paid for lunch, and then they got Cameron out to the SUV. They stopped by Grant’s place to get Dexter and then drove to Marty’s.
Cameron seemed completely energized by his short nap and went inside, where Marty showed him to his room and helped him put his things away.
Grant gave them some time alone and sat in the small living room while they finished upstairs.
Dexter sat on the floor next to him, tail thumping with excitement.
They were just coming down the stairs when Grant remembered the box in the back of the SUV.
He left Dexter to play with Cameron, retrieved the box, and brought it inside, where he opened it and set a cloth bag on the floor.
“What’s this?”
“The guys at the station all heard that a certain boy really likes Legos.” He smiled as Cameron hurried over. He opened the cloth bag and peered inside.
“Is this for me?” Cameron asked.
“Yes. A lot of the guys had Legos when they were kids, and they brought them in. So all of that is for you.” Grant grinned and Marty smiled as Cameron dumped the bag out on the floor with a cry of delight.
“This is really all for me?” Cameron asked. “I had to share the Legos with Billy, and he was stingy.”
“These are all for you. I hope you’ll share with Marty and me sometimes,” Grant added, but it was clear that the Legos had captured all of Cameron’s attention, which was fine.
He was happy. Grant pulled a few sets out of the box and handed them to Marty.
“These have been put together before, but the guys said the pieces and the instruction books are there, so maybe you and Cameron can put the robots together.”
Marty set the boxes aside as Cameron began building with Dexter lying next to him and tilted his head toward the kitchen.
Grant followed him. “Thank you for that. I think you made his year.” He shook his head.
“I know you’ve made this day special. I keep wondering if I’m making a mistake.
What if I’m not good enough? What if I completely mess up? ”
Grant moved closer. “Will you stand up for him, love him, and give him the best home you can?”
“Of course,” Marty said, blinking.
“That’s all anyone can do,” Grant said and then closed the distance between them. Their lisp touched gently, even as the electricity between them sizzled to life.
“Oooo, kissing,” Cameron sang from the other room. “That’s yucky.” He made a face.
“Who says that?” Marty asked.
“Billy,” Cameron answered right away.
“But isn’t he mean? Why would you believe him? Didn’t you ever get goodnight kisses?” Marty asked, and Cameron thought for a minute. Grant could almost see him pondering, and then he jumped up and hurried over.
“I want a kiss too,” he said.
Marty lifted him and kissed his cheek. Cameron leaned his other cheek toward Grant, and he kissed it. Then Marty put him down. “Go play with your Legos.”
Cameron raced in the other room, hugged Dexter, and got a kiss from him too. Grant figured they were past the kissing issue, so he took the opportunity to take another one from Marty, who seemed more than happy to oblige.
“I forgot to tell you because you got me all distracted with your hotness.” Marty pulled a plastic bag out of the larger one from the hospital.
“This is all the food I found stuffed under Cameron’s covers when I packed him up.
” He placed three boxes of cereal, containers of Jello, and even ketchup and mustard packets on the counter.
“I threw away the other things he had stuffed in the tray drawer.”
All Grant could do was shake his head. “He sure ate enough at lunch.”
“Yeah, and he did every meal in the hospital too. But he was always hiding food. In his blankets, I could find it. But what about here? I’m going to have to search everything.”
Grant wished he had an answer for him. “Talk to him and tell him that he can eat if he’s hungry.
All he has to do is tell you.” Grant sighed.
“And speaking of talking to him, I need to. I’m not getting anywhere finding the person who hurt him and Bobby.
I need to know if he can tell us anything. He needs professional help.”
Marty shrugged. “I tried talking to him about it, but all he did was look out the window like he couldn’t hear me. I think he’s blocked it all out somehow.”
“But I have to try.” Grant said.
“No. You can’t do that to him. He’s just beginning to trust me, and the same with you. Don’t destroy that by pushing him. Do you have someone you work with? Like a kid’s center for trauma? Maybe a professional would be better. That way it doesn’t affect his trusting the people he’s grown close to.”
“But I’m not as close to him as you,” Grant said.
Marty rolled his eyes. “You gave him a ton of Legos, you have Dexter, and you pulled him out of that hole. I think that makes you his hero. And he needs that more than he needs to tell you anything that might be locked up in his head. I bet Donald can help you find someone who can help him if you need it. He’s coming over today to see that Cameron is settling in. ”
“Sounds good,” Grant said.
“Cameron, do you want some juice? Or water?” Marty asked.
Cameron raced in. “Really?” The kid always seemed so surprised about everything.
“How about apple juice?” He opened the refrigerator and got Cameron a juice box.
You’d have thought it was gold-plated the way Cameron acted.
He was so careful getting the straw in it, but even so, he spilled a little of the juice on the floor.
Cameron looked down in what Grant could only describe as near horror.
“Don’t spank my tushie butt,” Cameron cried before handing back the juice box and running from the room.
Marty hurried from the room. “It’s okay. No one is going to spank you. It was just a little spill.” He handed Cameron his juice back and gently coaxed him from behind Dexter. Grant pulled out his phone and found Donald’s number.
“I think you should get over to Marty’s. There are things you need to know about that group home. I think it’s worse than you thought.”
“I’m on my way,” Donald said and hung up. Grant put his phone away and found Marty with Cameron on his lap, holding him and rocking slowly. Over Cameron’s shoulder, Grant could see the fire in Marty’s eyes.