Date: Fri, 16 Apr 2010 23:37:28 EDT
From: Bwstories8@aol.com
Subject: Castaway Hotel: Grand Reopening - Book 5, chapters 27 - 28

Castaway Hotel -- Grand Reopening -- Book 5 by BW
Copyright 2009 by billwstories
Chapter 27 -- A Tense Situation.

**Author's Note:** Please read the disclaimer in Chapter 00 before you read
this.

Dustin's birthday was at the end of April, so I made sure to call him a few
weeks before that to see how he wanted to celebrate his big day this year.
I suggested we could all come to see him at college, go out to eat and give
him his gifts there, but he said it wouldn't be necessary.  He informed me
that having a birthday was no big deal and it might be best for us to wait
until he got home for summer vacation, and then just do a little something,
but nothing big.  He also explained he wouldn't really have the time to
party so late in the semester, since he had a couple of big assignments
that would be coming due around that time.  Not only that, but it would
also only be a week or so away from finals, depending on which week-end we
would come out, so he determined his time would be best spent studying,
writing his term papers and finishing his projects instead.  He explained
it wouldn't bother him to wait a couple of extra weeks to celebrate his
birthday at home, as long as I didn't mind.

I quickly assured him I understood and we'd merely call him on his
birthday, so we could send along our best wishes.  He said that would be
fine, and then I asked him if he wanted me to do anything special or send
him anything to make up for our not being there with him.  He said that
wouldn't be necessary and he'd enjoy the delayed party even more, once he
didn't have all the pressures of his coursework to deal with.  I agreed
with him on that point and planned accordingly.

That's how things stood as April reached its final few days, but it's also
when an unexpected visitor suddenly popped into our lives.  It all began
one afternoon while the boys were at school and a woman showed up at our
door.  I was the only one home at the time and had no idea who she was or
what she wanted.  After questioning her briefly at the door, she insisted
she had an important matter to discuss with me, so I let her in and guided
her to the living room, where we could talk.

"May I get you anything?" I asked, trying to be a polite host and giving me
a chance to figure out who she was.  "Perhaps you'd like a cup of coffee, a
soda, a glass of water or possibly a snack of some sort?"

"No, thank you.  I'm fine, just a bit nervous," she admitted, and at about
the same time I concluded her gaunt body and haggard features made it
appear as if she'd led a rough life.  "You really don't have any idea about
who I am, do you?" she asked, with a puzzled expression on her face.

I'm sure her last comment caused me to look even more perplexed than she
did, as I searched my memory to see if I could conjure up a spark of
recognition.  While I thought back upon my life, trying to determine if she
were a former student, someone my wife or I might have known or if she had
possibly even been a friend of one of my older children, I drew a blank.
However, after thinking it through, I eventually realized the last choice
was the least likely, since she appeared to be older than any of my
biological sons or daughters.

"No, I'm afraid not," I finally admitted.  "I apologize if I should know
you, but the memory is one of the first things that goes with age."  I
added that to bring a little levity into the conversation, but my comment
didn't seem to amuse her.

"Don't worry about it," she reassured me.  "I know we have never met in
person, but I thought you might have possibly seen my picture or recognized
a similarity in my appearance.  But then again, I guess I really don't know
what I thought would happen, but that doesn't matter any longer."

As I listened to her ramble like that, I just sat there staring at her and
eventually noticed something vaguely familiar about her features.  However,
I just couldn't put a finger on exactly what it was.  As I sat thinking
about it, I also hoped she would take the initiative and enlighten me as to
her identity; at least before too much more time elapsed.

The problem was, she was too lost in her own thoughts, so I decided it was
up to me to bring her back to the matter at hand.  "I beg your pardon," I
said, breaking her train of thought, "but I still don't know who you are.
Might you care to share that information with me?"  This brought her back
to the issue at hand, but now she was the one who looked puzzled again.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said, apologetically, "it's just that I'm so
nervous about doing this.  It's probably because I realize I don't have any
right to come here and ask you this, but I know in my heart that I must.  I
just won't be able to live with myself unless I get this matter settled,
once and for all."  Having said this, she studied me apprehensively, as if
she were waiting for a response, however I hadn't heard any questions and
she hadn't said anything that would require a reply.  Instead, I concluded
it was time for her to stop beating around the bush.

"Excuse me, but I think maybe we should back up and start over again," I
informed her.  "Why don't you begin by telling me who you are and why
you're here?"  She nodded her head as I said this, as if she were agreeing
with my suggestion, so I paused to let her fill in the blanks.

"Yes, you're right.  I apologize for not doing that before," she concurred.
"My name is...  well, it's Melissa Van Cott.  I'm Cole and Graham's
mother."

At this moment, I must have been the one who looked as if I were in shock.
I suspect my mouth must have fallen open, while my eyes bulged from their
sockets after she made her announcement, and now my mind began to whirl
with a thousand questions.  'Why had she shown up now?  What did she want
and what was she after?'  However, these were just a few of the questions
that invaded my thoughts.

Carefully, I studied her and noted her features.  That's when I realized
the glimmer of recognition I had felt before was because Graham shared a
great many of his mother's physical attributes, but his weren't nearly as
hard.  Actually, they looked better on him than they did her, but that
might be due to the fact that she looked worn and far older than her years,
which was most like caused by the prolonged rough living and heavy drinking
she had indulged in.

"Well, I guess the next question I should ask you is, why are you here?" I
managed to choke out.  I was sure my adoption of her sons was perfectly
legal and irreversible, but that didn't stop me from wondering what she
hoped to accomplish by showing up like this.

Ms. Van Cott merely looked at me and licked her lips tentatively.  This was
most likely because she was suffering from cottonmouth, not only due to the
tension and unpredictability of this meeting, but also a result of her
intended purpose.  After a lengthy delay, she finally answered.

"I've come here to let you know that I would like to take my sons back,"
she replied, looking hopeful.  "I appreciate what you've done for them, but
I want to have my boys back."

Hearing this, I nearly jumped out of my seat.  I was more than ready to
challenge how she dared show up with such expectations, especially after
how she had treated her sons when they were in her custody.  To my credit,
though, I managed to maintain my composure.

As I thought back upon her words, I realized she hadn't said this with very
much feeling, other than a very bad case of nerves.  It certainly wasn't
the impassioned plea of a doting parent and fell far short of showing any
depth of concern, as she made her case.  Although I still wasn't exactly
sure of her reasons at this point, I WAS convinced it was time to nip this
notion in the bud.

"Look, I've adopted these boys and they are no longer your sons, in the
legal sense," I explained, as bluntly as I could.  "You signed all the
paperwork to allow me to adopt them, so you can't just show up whenever you
wish and announce that you want to take them back."

"I know all of that," she admitted, suddenly looking nervous, "but I was
hoping you'd understand why I need this to happen.  Back then, and even
when the boys were little, I was really into booze and drugs, and my
boyfriend wasn't thrilled about having children around, so I kind of gave
in to him and we took off and left them.  I knew the school would
eventually check up on them and then they'd be taken into custody and
placed in a good home, but now I regret my actions."

"Well, you should," I challenged her, "and not just about leaving them.
These boys were both badly malnourished before you deserted them and still
suffer to some degree from fetal-alcohol syndrome."

She seemed totally surprised by my latest revelation and hung her head
briefly, but remained undaunted in her mission.  "I know I've made a lot of
mistakes in the past," she agreed, "but I'm clean now and off the booze and
drugs.  I've been clean and sober for over a year and I did it so I could
make a fresh start with my sons.  I feel I'm finally ready to be their
mother now and take care of them, like I should have done before."

"Look, lady," I began, totally unsympathetic, "you can't just waltz in here
and disrupt the boys' lives again, especially after what you did to them.
I'm happy that you've cleaned up your act and you're sober now, but I don't
think a year is long enough to prove that you won't end up doing the same
sort of things all over again.  It certainly doesn't convince me that you'd
be a good parent now or that the boys would even want to see you again.  I
don't wish to sound cruel, but the boys were able to move on mainly because
they believed you no longer existed.  If, by some strange chance, they did
still want to see you again, I'd be willing to let you visit them
occasionally, but there is no way I will give them up."

After hearing my latest comment, she suddenly straightened up, almost in a
defiant gesture, and then spoke again.  "I was afraid you were going to say
something like that, and I really don't want to have to fight with you, but
I did talk to legal aid before I came and they are willing to help me try
to get my boys back again.  I hope it doesn't come to that, but I'm
determined to have my family back."

"It won't come to that, unless YOU'RE the one to push this and try to get
custody," I spat back, venomously.  "And to clarify another point, I
wouldn't even consider letting you see them either, unless the boys agreed
to it first, because it was very hard for them to deal with your abandoning
them the way you did.  They had many deep emotional scars from that
experience, wounds that took a long time to heal.  They were very insecure
and emotionally wrought for many months after I took them in, but it was
even worse than just that, if that weren't enough.  They also had to heal
physically.

"Even though they were so badly malnourished that we cringed looking at
their hallowed faces and skeletal bodies," I announced, as forcefully as I
could, "we were able to correct most of those problems with good nutrition
and vitamins.  However, their emotional wounds and the lingering effects
they suffered from fetal-alcohol syndrome have taken much longer to deal
with and I'm not convinced those problems are behind us even now.  Let's
face it, you just took off one day and left them to fend for themselves.
What's even worse, they were old enough to understand this, even if they
couldn't fathom WHY you would do such a thing.  They came here thinking you
had left them because they were bad or unlovable, and they looked like two
concentration camp survivors.  If you want a fight, I'll give you one, but
if you just want to see the boys and get to know them again, then I'll
discuss it with them when they get home from school, to see what they
think.  You'll have to make up your mind which way you want it, because
other than that, we have nothing more to discuss."

She looked disappointed by my response, and I suspect she had hoped I'd
just give in to her demands.  To her benefit, though, she did consider what
I said, before she spoke again.  "WOULD you ask the boys if they'd like to
see me again?" she asked, with a touch more humility than she had shown up
to this point.

"That would depend on whether or not you're planning to continue to push
your previous demands on us," I responded, quite bluntly.  She thought some
more about this momentarily, before she responded.

"Look, I can't say that I absolutely won't do that," she admitted, "but
maybe if I see the boys again, I'll know for sure whether or not they would
want me in their lives."

"And if you were able to see that they really didn't want you in their
lives any more," I challenged, "would you be able to accept it and leave
them alone?"

"How can I answer that, until I see and talk to them?" she asked.  "Since
I've been sober, I've realized how much I miss them, and I want so much to
be a REAL mother to them now.  Can't you understand that?"

"Yes, I understand how YOU feel, but do you really understand how THEY
might feel?"  I posed, in an effort to get her to look at this situation
from the boys' perspective.  "You hurt them deeply and made them feel
unwanted and unloved.  It took them a long time to overcome all of that
baggage, and now you want to reopen those old wounds and step back into
their lives.  How do you think they're going to feel?  How do you think
they might react?  I'm not sure if even I can predict what this will do to
them or how they'll respond."

"I know this is going to be hard on all of us," she agreed, "but I really
need to see them.  Can't you understand that?  You have to realize that
they are still my sons and I miss them?"

"The key here is that they may be your biological sons," I conceded, "but
they are my sons legally.  You abandoned them and gave up all your rights
long ago, but I'm still willing to ask the boys if they want to see
you. However, I will stick to my guns and deny you visitation, if you are
planning to disrupt their lives and put them through hell again."

She took a few seconds to think about my last comments before she answered.
Finally, she made her next move.  "I don't know what to say, because I
really don't want to give up on this," she explained.  "If you would please
ask them if they'd want to see me again, I'll go by what they decide.  If
you give me your phone number, I'll call you later to find out what they've
agreed to and then we can talk about this more.  In the meantime, I'll
think about everything you've said."

"That's a start, but I still really hate to throw this at them, without
knowing what it's going to do to them," I confessed, "but I guess either
way they'll have to know you've returned and are trying to get back into
the picture.  All right, I'll ask them after dinner if they'd be interested
in seeing you, and then you can call me back after 9:00 to see what they've
said.  Is that okay with you?"

"Yes, that will be fine," she concurred, while smiling slightly.  I believe
she felt she had won a minor, first-round victory.

"Okay, I'll do that much for you then," I agreed, before showing her out.
As she was leaving, I handed her a card with our telephone number on it and
then hurried her outside.  It was getting close to the time the boys would
be returning home from school and I didn't want her still hanging around
when they arrived.  I needed time to prepare for how I was going to tell
them this news, so they didn't think I was trying to give them back or no
longer wanted them.

Once she was gone, I sat down to consider how I was going to handle this.
First of all, how was I going to tell the boys their mother had suddenly
reappeared?  Worse than that, how was I going to tell them she wanted to
get back into their lives or that she wanted them back totally?  How would
I bring all of this up without disrupting their lives or sending them into
another tailspin?  No matter how difficult this was going to be, I
certainly had a great many decisions to make before they returned home.

When they arrived, I tried very hard not to let on that anything was wrong,
and as far as I could tell, no one suspected a thing.  When dinner ended, I
asked Cole and Graham to join me in my bedroom, telling them that something
came up that I needed to talk to them about.  My request didn't seem to
faze Cole at all, but Graham seemed a little nervous.  Surprisingly,
though, he didn't ask any questions and followed me to my room, but once
the door was closed, Graham nervously confronted the issue head-on.

"What's the matter, Dad?  Is something wrong?" he asked.  I was surprised
he would even consider such a thing, since we frequently had these sorts of
meetings to discuss various matters.

"No.  Why would you think that?" I countered.  "Have you done something
wrong -- something I don't know about?"  I smiled after saying this, as a
way of breaking the tension.

"No, but I had a feeling there might be a problem or that something might
happen," he told me.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.  It was my way of finding out if his sixth
sense had given him a warning about what was going to take place.

"Well, Brent has been showing me Cole and myself, and we have this gray
haze around us," he explained.  "It's not the black outline like Brent had,
or the dark gray cloud that surrounded you before you had your heart
attack, it's just a light gray ring around our bodies.  I haven't been able
to figure out what it means, but I kind of figured it wouldn't be good,
whatever it was."

His observation signaled me that I would need to reassure him before I got
to the point of this meeting, so I thought maybe I'd try to turn the focus
of this around a bit.  "Well, what I have to tell you is not anything bad,
so it's nothing to be scared about.  It's just something I need to get your
opinion on.  In fact, you might think this is a good thing, once you find
out what it's about."  They both stared at me now, trying to read past my
words and expressions.

"Well, what is it, Dad?" Cole asked, directly, trying to cut to the chase.
"Why don't you just tell us why you called us in here?"

"Okay, I will," I agreed.  "I had a visitor this afternoon, someone from
your past."  I paused again, to see if they might guess whom I meant.

"Who is it?" Graham wanted to know.  "Was it our mom?"  He seemed almost
excited as he said this, almost as if he were expecting her to show up
again.

"I hope not," Cole stated, sarcastically.  "I don't care if I ever see her
again."

"Why?" Graham asked his brother, not understanding how he could feel that
way.  "She is our mother.  Why wouldn't you want to see her?"

"She might be your mother, but she's not mine any more," he spat out,
defiantly.  "She left us and we could have died, but she didn't care.  Why
would I want to see her again, when she didn't care enough about us to make
sure we had food or someone to look after us?"

"But don't you ever think about her and wonder where she is or what she's
doing?"  Graham reasoned.  "I do.  Sometimes I really miss her and hope
she'll come back."  Graham had this really sad, yet hopeful expression on
his face as he explained this.

"Not me," Cole said mockingly.  "I hope she never shows up again."  Now
Cole turned to face me.  "Please tell me it wasn't her, Dad.  Please tell
me it's someone else."

I didn't respond right away, since I wasn't sure how to word my response.
Cole immediately picked up on that small foible and sensed it to mean it
was his mother who had shown up.  "No way!  Tell me it's not her.  Why the
hell would she come back now?" he screamed.

"She came here," I told him, looking him directly in the eyes, "to tell me
she wanted to take you back.  She wants you to be a family again."

At this point Cole sprang from the bed, his face turning red and his body
going rigid, as if he were preparing to fight.  "No way!" he bellowed.  "I
won't go with her.  I'm not leaving you.  She can go to hell, for all I
care."  He was extremely adamant with his message and then suddenly turned
toward Graham.  "You can do whatever the hell you want, but I just want you
to know that if it includes her, I won't be a part of it."



Castaway Hotel -- Grand Reopening -- Book 5 by BW
Copyright 2009 by billwstories
Chapter 28 -- A Storm is Brewing.

Graham was caught in a really awkward situation now.  He didn't
understanding his brother's intense reaction and, therefore, wasn't sure if
he dared to utter his own feelings about this matter.  I could see he was
really struggling with this, so I butted in and took him off the hook.

"Don't worry about that just yet," I suggested.  "I told your mother I
wouldn't give you boys up without a fight, so right now all she wants to do
is see you again.  Would you be willing to at least meet with her and hear
her out?"

"No way, no how!" Cole announced, glaring at me for emphasis as he said
this.

"She says she's changed," I informed him, "and she told me she's been clean
and sober for over a year now."

"I wouldn't care if she were a rock star now," Cole challenged.  "I still
wouldn't want to see her again."

"And you don't think you'll change your mind about this?" I pressed.

"Never!" he shouted back.

"What about Graham?" I followed, knowing that I had to help Graham out with
this.  "Are you going to try to stop him from seeing her too, if he wants
to?"

"He can do whatever the hell he wants, as long as I don't have to be a part
of it," Cole stated, with a little less venom that he had used in his
previous comments.

"And you won't change how you feel about him or how you act toward him?" I
pushed, to clarify Cole's position for his brother.

"No, I'll always love Graham, no matter what he decides," Cole admitted in
a soothing tone, while glancing at his brother.  "I'd just convinced myself
a long time ago that she was dead, so I'm not going to have her come back
now and change that."

Graham looked relieved when he heard his brother admit that he didn't mind
if he saw his mother and I think he felt better to know that he wouldn't
have to change how he felt about her, just to please Cole.  Now that I knew
how Cole felt, I turned to face Graham, to see what he wanted to do.
"Well, she's going to call back a little later, so what do you want me to
tell her, Graham?"

He thought for a minute, before he responded.  As he did so, he continually
alternated between looking at his brother and me, as if he were waiting for
one of us to give him our approval.  I think Cole sensed this too, so he
tried to help him out.  "Go ahead and see her, if that's what you want," he
urged.  "You won't hurt my feelings if you do, it's just that I won't be
going with you."

"Are you sure?" Graham asked, still uncertain of Cole's true feelings about
his intentions.  I could tell he really wanted to be certain his decision
wouldn't damage their relationship in the future.

"Yes, I'm very sure," Cole replied, convincingly.  "I know you don't
remember what it was like back then, and that's probably because you were
too little, and maybe I'd feel the same way as you do if I'd been younger
too.  The difference is, I do remember what it was REALLY like.  I can
still remember that she never spent any time with us, not even to fix
meals, and I never felt she loved or wanted either of us.  I just can't
forget that, and I won't either, but I also won't stop you from seeing her
and making up your own mind about her now."

"Thanks, Cole," Graham told him, somewhat cheerfully, before moving over to
give his brother a hug.  "It's just that I've been thinking about her more
and more as I get older, and I guess I've kind of pictured her coming back
and telling us she loved us and that she was sorry for what she had done.
I just want to see if she'll really do that.  Is that okay with you?"

"Whatever you want is okay with me," Cole agreed, while smiling at Graham.
"In fact, if you don't want to be alone with her, I'll go with you, but I
just won't talk to her or anything."

"No, you don't have to do that," Graham conceded.  I was convinced he
responded in that manner because he didn't want to press his luck any
further than he already had.  "I'm sure Dad will be with me when I meet
her, won't you, Dad?"  Now, he turned in my direction and stared at me, to
make sure this was the way it would be.

"Of course I'll be with you, if that's what you want," I agreed, trying to
ease his concerns.  "We can even have her come to the house, if that would
make you feel better.  She knows where we live, and then you can feel
totally safe, because you know we'll all be here for you then.  How does
that sound to you?"

"Perfect," he announced, while flashing me his special smile.  "Just let me
know when it will be."

"I will," I told him, and then I sent him out of the room, so I could speak
with Cole alone.

"You know, you don't have to go anywhere with her," I announced, once
Graham had shut the door.  "You could just meet her here and tell her how
you feel.  It might help if you say those things to her too, so she knows
how you feel about her suddenly showing up again."

Cole now looked at me, as if I'd lost the rest of my marbles, but then he
responded to what I had said.  "You WANT me to meet with her and tell her
off?"

"No, that's not exactly what I meant," I clarified.  "What I want is for
you to do whatever it is that would make you feel better about everything
and help you put this behind you."

"So you really think I should meet with her," he reiterated, "just so I can
tell her I hate her and never want to see her again?"

"Well, I think she should know how you feel and hear it directly from you,
and not from Graham or me," I explained.  "I'm not sure she's going to
believe either of us, even if we tried to relay your message."

Cole looked at his lap for a few seconds, while he thought things over.
Once he had made up his mind, he looked up at me again.  "Okay, I'll meet
with her and tell her what I feel," he agreed, "but don't expect me to be
nice about it."

"I won't, but I think this will be good for you too," I explained.  "It
will give you a chance to get this off your chest and out in the open."

Even though he still looked at me strangely, I pulled him over and gave him
a hug before he left the room.  I felt I needed to do that to let him know
I still loved him and wasn't trying to get rid of him, before he went out
to tell Graham about his modified decision.

I think Graham was happy when he learned that Cole would be there with him,
even if he was probably going to end up screaming at their mother, but the
three of them would be together again, even if it wasn't on the best of
terms.  I was happy that Graham seemed pleased about his brother's change
of heart, while at the same time being hopeful that Graham wasn't reading
more into Cole's reversal than was actually there.

As I continued watching the boys, I noticed them beginning to move about
the house, so they could inform the rest of their brothers about this new
development.  This news sent a shockwave of concern throughout the ranks,
as the boys now began to wonder if she might really try to take their
brothers away.  When they came to me about this, I told everyone not to
worry about such things.  I assured them we wouldn't give up without a
fight and we'd handle this as a family and do whatever was best for
everyone.

My answer seemed to relieve some of the tension that had built up since
everyone found out about Ms. Van Cott's reemergence, and I think some of
them hoped she might disappear and not call or come back again.  However,
they were all jerked back to reality when the phone rang.  It was indeed
the boys' mother, and I explained the boys had agreed to meet with her,
although she might not get the reception she was hoping for.  She said she
understood and thanked me for allowing this to happen, before we arranged
for her to come back to the house the following afternoon, to meet with her
sons after they returned home from school.

Once the boys went to bed, Jake and I sat down and discussed the matter at
great length, because I wanted his input before anything else happened.  I
hadn't been able to do this earlier, since he had to work late, but I
thought he might have a slightly different perspective about this,
especially since something similar might happen in the future between his
ex and Shannon.  I wanted to see if he had any ideas I might have
overlooked or failed to consider.

During our conversation, Jake brought up something I hadn't thought of.  He
suggested he was concerned that she might decide it would be easier to just
kidnap the boys and take off with them.  However, after I explained how
adamant Cole was about how he felt, we concluded there was no way she could
physically overpower him and take him against his will.  Graham, however,
was a totally different situation.

Jake also told me he thought I was right to ask the boys if THEY wanted to
see her first, rather than making that decision for them, and he was glad
to hear the meeting would also take place at the house.  I told him I was a
little concerned about how Cole might respond to being around her, but Jake
told me to just let the chips fall where they may.  He said the only way
she'd be convinced that he didn't want to go with her would be if she saw
it for herself, so he told me to just go with the flow and not try to
stifle his anger.  I told him that's what I was planning to do, but I
wasn't looking forward to what I knew was going to be an extremely tense,
and possibly hostile, reunion.

The next day, while the boys were at school, I called my friend Steve
(Judge Shay), to see where I stood legally.  Although I knew he was firmly
in my corner, he explained that in recent times various courts had ruled in
favor of the biological parents and tried to keep them united with their
children.  He also explained her claims that she might not have fully
understood her rights, since she was using drugs and/or alcohol, had some
legal justification.  He informed me that a person under the influence
cannot legally enter into a contract and be judged to have been of sound
mind at that time, so she might be able to use that to her advantage.

Not only that, but he also reminded me he would have to recuse himself, if
this case were assigned to his court, but he would be happy to represent
our interests as our attorney.  I thanked him for his offer and insight,
although I was more nervous now, after hearing what he had to say.
Somehow, I now had to prepare myself for what might happen during our
afternoon encounter.

The boys arrived home first and immediately went into the living room to
wait until she arrived.  When the doorbell rang, they both walked out to
join me, as I opened the door, but Graham moved a little more quickly in
doing so than his brother.  When I opened the door, she was standing on the
other side, but she looked a little different than she had at our initial
encounter.  She had obviously had her hair done in the interim and used
some make-up, but she also wore a much nicer outfit than she had the
previous day.

After inviting her in, I noticed she froze momentarily while staring at the
boys.  I wasn't sure what she was thinking, but I was convinced they must
look different than she had pictured.  Once she got over this initial
shock, I lead her into the living room again and asked her if she wanted a
drink.  She said something cold would be nice, so I sent the boys out to
get us all a drink, while she and I went in and got comfortable.

"I can't believe how much they've grown and changed," she told me,
nervously, expressing the shock that caused her to stand transfixed before
crossing our threshold.

"Well, it has been about four years since you last saw them," I replied,
while delivering a jab of my own.  "They aren't little boys any more.  Cole
is sixteen and Graham is fifteen now."

"And they're both very fine looking young men," she gushed, obviously
pleased by what she saw.  "I knew they'd be older, but I guess I hadn't
considered how much they might have grown or changed."

"Well, you may be in for some other surprises too," I announced dryly, in a
not so veiled warning.

"I suppose you're right," she agreed, before we were interrupted.  At that
moment the boys reentered the room, this time with each of them carrying
two glasses of lemonade.  Graham had one for his mother and himself, while
Cole had his and one for me.  We accepted our drinks and took a sip, before
I cleared my throat and got the discussion started.

"All right, who wants to begin?" I asked, looking from one to the other.

"May I," their mother asked, while glancing between her two sons.  They
both nodded, so she continued.  "I'm not sure what you boys think of me any
more, and I know I don't have any legal claims to you, but I'd really like
for us to become a family again, so I can make up for what I did in the
past."  Now she looked at them, waiting for their response.

"It won't ever happen," Cole announced, defiantly.  "We have a new home,
with a new dad, and there's no place in it for you."  Now, he stared at
her, while also noticing the anguish on her face.

"I was hoping you'd be more excited than this, about seeing me again," she
told him, while not hiding her disappointment.  It was very apparent that
she had been hurt deeply by Cole's last comment.

"Well, Graham may be, but I'm definitely not," he clarified.  "Why should I
be?  What did you ever do for me that would make me want you back in my
life?  Unless you think leaving us like that, without food or anything,
would make me love you more."

By this point, his mother was in tears, totally shocked by how harshly Cole
was speaking to her.  I guess this was one reaction she hadn't anticipated,
at least not this quickly or strongly.  Graham did make a move to get
closer to her and then began to rub her back, as his way of trying to make
her feel better, but Cole just sat passively by, not caring that his
comments had wounded her.  After she calmed down, she looked up at him, and
then she tried to explain things a little more clearly.

"Look, I know I did some bad things in the past," she confirmed, "but it
was only because I wasn't thinking straight.  I was too consumed by all the
booze and drugs."  She didn't have time to say more, since Cole interrupted
her.

"And you couldn't have been thinking straight when you decided to use those
either," he spat out, very coldly.  "No one made you do any of those
things, you chose to do that too, because you thought they were more
important than we were.  And if it wasn't those things, it was your current
boyfriend, whoever he might be.  Graham might not remember those times, but
I do, and I won't forgive you for what you did to us.  You knew what you
were doing and you just didn't care."

"You're wrong!  I did care!" she challenged, very strongly.

"Well, then you couldn't have cared very much," he contradicted.  "Did you
leave us all alone or didn't you?  Did you leave us any food when you took
off or didn't you?  Did you have anyone checking on us or didn't you?  You
didn't do any of those things, so how can you tell us now you cared?  Until
we came here to live, we didn't even know what it was like for someone to
love us and do things just for us.  If we know anything about love and
caring now, it isn't because you taught us those things, it's because Dad
showed us what they mean."

She was sobbing hysterically now, not just crying, because she now knew the
extent of Cole's scorn for her.  However, he made no move to soften
anything he'd said, by either saying something else or touching her
physically, so she finally got up and prepared to leave.

"I'm sorry, maybe I should go now," she choked out.  "I can see this isn't
the time to bring these issues up, so I'll leave now."  After saying this,
she turned and looked at me, while addressing her next comment for my
benefit.  "Thank you for letting me come and see them."

As she walked out the door, Graham just sat there and watched her leave,
and then looked over at Cole.  I'm not sure he knew what he should do or
even what he wanted to do, at that point, so he just sat motionless.  I
merely observed them, as they continued to stare at the door.  I wasn't
sure if they were thinking about the way she left or if they were expecting
her to return again, but after a few more awkward minutes of sitting like
this, I got up, walked over to the picture window and looked out.  I wanted
to make sure she really did leave and wasn't just standing on the stoop,
waiting for someone to chase after her.

Once I had satisfied my curiosity, I went over and sat between the boys.
It was obvious this was far from being settled.


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