"Daddy!" I hear his small voice call out.
"Lief!" I cheer as he runs into my awaiting arms as I kneel down so it's easier to hug him. "Hey buddy, how are you?" I ask once he's in my tight embrace. He hugs me back as tight as his little arms can.
"I'm great, now that I can go home," he mumbles softly with a following sniff. I hold him at arms length to take a good look at him.
"Why are you crying, bud?" I ask softly. He sniffles a bit more and wipes his face with his sleeve.
"I missed you a lot, daddy," he whimpers out.
"I missed you too," I tell him. I stand up, picking him up with me and he wraps his arms around my neck and rests his head on my shoulder while my left arm holds him up. I grab his suit case and with a goodbye to everyone at the boys home, Lief and I leave to our home.
It's still the same small apartment but I figured Lief wouldn't care if he shared a room with me and Asheley while she's here and I work on finding a new place.
If you can't remember, Asheley is my girlfriend. She's been my girlfriend since we were seventeen and I had a seizure on our first blind date.
"Guess who's home!" I cheer as I walk in the door.
"Yay!" everyone cheers excitedly as the little guy walks in the door behind me.
Dane comes over and picks him up. Lief gives him a big hug around the neck then Asheley comes and steals him from Dane and everyone takes turns with him.
Today is the day I got to take Lief home. At the moment we're only fostering him just to test out whether or not Dane and I qualify as good guardians for the little guy.
I think when the social worker comes in a week we're gonna be doing great. He's such a well mannered kid and he knows when he's doing something bad.
-
"Bye, Graham. I'm so happy for you and what you're doing for this boy. I'm confident this is a wonderful home for him," Jeff, my adoptive dad, says when he stops at the front door to say goodbye to me. He gives me a quick hug before leaving. I close the door behind him since he's the last person to leave.
I walk back into the living room to see Dane passed out on the couch with Lief fast asleep on top of him. I smile softly at the two and put a blanket over them before going into the bathroom and taking a shower.
Suddenly I'm laying on the floor of the bathroom, breathing heavily as I shiver a bit, vomit on the floor next to my head.
"Graham, can you hear me?" I hear Dane say softly. "Come on, man. Are you awake? Can you hear me?" he repeats as he pats my back gently.
I slowly open my eyes and look up at him.
"Is daddy okay?" I hear Lief ask as he stands in the door way.
"Yeah, he's fine, bud," Dane assures. "Go to bed. He'll be there in a minute."
I watch Lief walk away and do as told.
"Hey," Dane says. I look up at him. "Let's get you sitting up."
He pulls me up as Asheley comes in with some paper towels and a spray bottle.
"Is he okay?" she asks as she starts cleaning up my puke.
"I can do that," I mutter quickly but it comes out kind of slurred as I struggle to not fall back into another seizure.
"It's fine baby," she says as she continues.
A breeze comes through the bathroom and I shiver again. I look down at myself and realize I'm naked. My face warms instantly. This isn't the first time I've had a seizure while taking a shower but its still embarrassing.
Dane hands me a towel and helps me up. I make sure to move slow as to not test my abilities right now. I know I'm in no state to rush.
"Did I hit my head?" I ask. Dane shrugs.
"I came in here to take a piss and then there was a thump and you were seizing so I pulled you out of the tub and yeah," Dane explains. I nod a bit.
"Do you need an ice pack?" Asheley asks as she comes behind me and wraps her arms around my waist. I shake my head as I turn around and pull her close and kiss her head. I can feel the seizure passing and I'm good enough to move.
"Daddy?" I hear Lief say quietly.
"I told you to go to bed," Dane scolds.
Lief runs up to me, ignoring Dane, and hugs my legs. I pick him up and he hugs me around the neck this time.
"Are you okay?" he asks me. I nod.
"I'm fine," I tell him.
"Can we go to bed now? I tired," he says and yawns. His speech has gotten a lot better since I found him six months ago but he still has slight problems.
We go into my room and I get dressed after putting Lief in his bed. I lay in my bed, under the comforter and get comfortable just before Asheley comes in.
She climbs in bed next to me and faces me.
"You okay?" she whispers as her fingers go up and down my bicep gently, giving me goosebumps. I nod softly, my blinking becoming slower. "I think you need to change your medicine again. You've lost weight and it worries me."
"I'm working on it," I tell her sleepily.
"Okay. Now get some sleep," she tells me before kissing me softly.
I close my eyes, ready for sleep to take me but then I hear "Daddy?"
"Yes, Lief?" I reply.
"It cold. Can I sleep with you?"
"Mhm," I mumble. He climbs onto my bed and wiggles his way between me and Asheley. I wrap my arm around the two and fall into dreamland.
