Garcia

I can’t believe that fucker showed up on my doorstep asking to see Grayson at six o’clock in the goddamn morning. I wanted to pound his face in and snap him in half when he said he was his father and he had every right to see his son. Grayson may have his blood running through his veins but he is not his father. He gave up that privilege when he abandoned his wife and his kidney bean ten months ago.

I kept my cool, though, convinced him that Kimber and Grayson were still sleeping. He knew I was lying of course when he heard her moving around upstairs but I don’t care. He whined that he had been patient and gone through all the proper legal channels but hadn’t heard anything so he decided to just show up.

I told him to go fuck himself and wait until we were ready. He didn’t like that very well which in turn made me very happy. He’s an argumentative little punk, though, it took me a while to get him out of here and he’s lucky I didn’t lose my damn temper.

Now I have taken the day off and we are on our way to see a lawyer that Drake recommended to see what we should do about Caleb. I have a bad feeling that there isn’t much we can do except set up a schedule and let him see his kid.

This whole thing is so wrong and I have to find a way to make it right. The question is how. Short of us disappearing, or making him disappear, he has rights and knows it.

I just can’t figure out why he wants to do this. He’s known Kimber and I were together since we met in California and he has a girlfriend so it can’t be that he’s trying to get her back can it?

And guys like Caleb don’t suddenly become paternal. From what Kimber tells me he likes to socialize and spend all of his money on expensive suits and cars and vacations to places where he can gamble. Why would a man like that want to tie himself down with a baby? Especially when he has already cut all ties with his wife to avoid the responsibility.

Maybe he’s unstable? I never got that impression from Kimber but who knows?

I glance over at her in the seat next to me. She’s got her elbow propped on the window with her head in her hand watching the traffic go by. It’s a dreary day with rain in the forecast that matches our mood. She’s thinking all of the same things I am but I imagine her feelings are magnified since she’s Grayson’s mother.

I grip the steering wheel and adjust my position in my seat. It’s hard to sit still when I have all of this nervous energy inside me. I look in the rear view mirror at Grayson sleeping in his car seat. Kimber has one of those special mirrors against the back seat so we can see him even though he is facing the rear. He looks so peaceful and unaware and… vulnerable.

We have to protect him, that’s our job as parents even if it is protecting him from his biological father.

I reach across the seat to take her free hand and lace my fingers with hers. She doesn’t even acknowledge me she’s so deep in thought.

“Baby? Hey, Kimber, honey, you in there?” I squeeze her hand and she finally looks over at me with glazed eyes.

“Hmm?”

“You seemed far away, what were you thinking?”

“I’m trying to think of any reason he would want to do this. I can’t come up with anything other than maybe his girlfriend dumped him and now he wants his old life back.”

“Well, if that’s the case he’s going to be disappointed. You’re my life now, you and Grayson. He doesn’t get a do-over.”

“No, he doesn’t.”

The rain starts to fall, first in tiny splatters on the windshield and by the time we arrive at Mason and Smith Law Firm they are as big as quarters and coming down in sheets.

“I’ll pull up under the canopy so you can take the baby inside.”

“Okay.” Her mouth is set in a straight line and her usually tanned skin is sallow. I’ve never seen her this down. Under the bright red canopy, she opens the door but I don’t let go of her hand until she looks at me.

“We’re going to be okay, I promise. No matter what happens with Caleb and this custody thing we can handle it together.”

Her half-hearted nod and weak smile break my heart. She doesn’t believe me. Now more than ever we need to stand united and she’s already losing faith. I have to figure out Caleb’s reason for pursuing this so hard all of a sudden.