"Who is this beauty?" Mama Grace complimented of the little girl in her son's lap over FaceTime.
Waving her small hand, the shy child gave a silent hello.
"Ma, this is Gracianna. Your granddaughter." Spencer ripped the bandaid off, causing his mother to choke on her afternoon cup of tea.
Little Cici giggled at the result of her Dad's late reveal of her existence.
"....My....what?" Mama Grace coughed, needing to hear the statement again, in case she heard incorrectly.
"She's my daughter, Ma." Spencer rephrased.
"Which one of these fast little groupies have you knocked up, boy!" His mother immediately went into scolding mode, causing Cici to cover her ears in shock.
Widening his eyes, he instinctivly jerked back from the phone, as if his mom could reach through the screen and smack him silly. Scared by his mother's obvious anger towards his hypothetical indecency, Spencer reverted into a childish natural, immediately needing to explain his actions.
"It's not what you think, Ma. I didn't hook up with no random. She's mine and Liv's little girl." Spencer informed an upset Mama Grace, hoping to lighten her mood. "Olivia was pregnant when we broke up. I just found out myself this morning."
"What are you talking about, Spencer?" Mama Grace gasped, stunned by the turn of events. "Are you saying she hid my grand baby from you? Olivia wouldn't do that. Not Billy's girl."
"I don't know why she did it. I haven't gotten in touch with her yet." Spencer detailed,"I thought I'd introduce yall first, then deal with Olivia afterward." He added, stroking Gracianna's curls.
"Her name...." Mama Grace teared up, gazing at her apparent granddaughter. "She's umm...."
"Yeah, Ma. She's named after you." Spencer grinned as his mom cried lightly at the news. "Olivia named her after you and Pops. Tell your grandma your full name, Ci." He insisted gently, giving his daughter a comforting pat on the back.
"Grac..ianna... Cori...lynn...James." She mumbled, still getting used to the idea of her grandmother whom she'd heard of but never met.
Unable to resist, Mama Grace let more tears flow, processing her granddaughter's namesake.
"That's a beautiful name for a precious little girl." Mama Grace complimented once more.
"Thanks, Nana." Cici giggled again, amused by how easily her grandmother cried. "I've also wanted to meet you. Mama says I got most of my brains from you and Lolo."
"Who's Lolo?" Mama Grace laughed at the nickname.
"Olivia's mom. That's what she calls her."
"Uh, huh. Lolo is married to Papa Bi." Cici agreed with her father, adding Billy Baker to the mix.
"So Billy and Laura knew about her and didn't bother to let either of us know. Unbelievable." Mama Grace snapped towards no one in particular.
"Baby girl, let me speak to your Nana real quick." Spencer whispered into Cici's ear, kissing the side of her head.
"Ok." Gracianna nodded, hopping off of Spencer's lap, "Nice to finally meet you, Nana."
"You too, pretty girl. I will speak to you more after your daddy and I talk." Mama Grace promised as the little smiled before trotting off.
Once she was at a good distance, Mama Grace became frank. "Who do they think they are keeping a whole child from her own family?! If Olivia hadn't decided to come clean, I would have missed the entire life of my only grandbaby." She fumed.
"She didn't come clean, Ma." Spencer replied, only adding fuel to the fire.
"What do you mean she didn't come clean? How is Gracianna with you then?" Mama Grace asked anxiously.
"Jordan went digging for my location and stuff and found it about a week or so ago. Cici heard him talking to Olivia a few nights ago. He was attempting to convince Olivia to tell me about Cici. When Liv chickened out, Gracianna made a plan to sneak away and come meet me herself. Olivia doesn't know she is down here." Specer spilled, feeling like a heavy weight lifted from his chest.
"My lord..." Mama Grace heaved into the phone, rubbing her head, wondering how her son's life became a soap opera. "And Olivia has not reached out to you?"
"I don't think she knows Gi is in the city." Spencer suggested, "And I don't know how she will react if she finds out from me. What if she tries to take her from me, Ma? I mean, Olivia isn't a vindictive person at her heart, but she hid our kid for over four years. If she wasn't ready to come clean a few days ago, then I doubt she is ready to deal with the truth now."
"She doesn't have a choice, Spencer." His mother snapped. "Neither of you have a choice in this matter. It's not about what she wants, or you, for that matter. From here on out, it's about what that little girl needs. Your daughter deserves both her parents in her life. I am going to hang up this phone, and you're going to call Olivia. Do not bring up your breakup or question her motives as far as hiding Gracianna goes. Do not fight over the phone with her and say something that might lead to a custody battle. You're going to tell her that you know about your daughter and that Gracianna is safe with you for now. Then you will ask when she is coming to the city to sort this mess out. Once you get a date and time from her, you say your goodbyes and end the call. Anything that either of you need to hashout will be face to face, do you hear me?"
"Yeah, Ma, I hear you." Spencer nodded, following his mother's instructions.
"Good. Now go get my grandbaby so I talk to her some more."
Spencer chuckled, getting up from the sofa, knowing this was going to be a repeated pattern from now. "Yes, ma'am."
----------------------------------------
Settling in for late evening, Olivia could not bring herself to close her eyes for a single moment. Failing to unpack her suitcases, she was forced to keep her belongings airport ready for her 4 a.m. flight to New York. Her phone clung to clammy hands as she laid in bed wide awake. For two hours, she'd contemplated using the phone number her brother gave her after his P.I located Spencer's address and contact information.
What was she going to say?
'Oh hey, Spencer, I know we haven't spoken since you broke my heart and trashed our several year long relationship, but have you seen our kid? The kid I kept hidden from you I cowardly hid from you in fear of having you enter our lives again, only to disappear when things got hard.'
Rolling her eyes at her own cowardice, Olivia tossed her phone to the other side of her bed, slamming her head against her pillow. Groaning, she ran her hands through her curls, wanting to yank her hair out at the roots. Repeatedly telling herself that their daughter was a smart, independent youngster, Olivia prayed that GiGi was with her father. She couldn't imagine her little girl wandering the big city alone, and frightened.
As if the heavens were on her side, Olivia's phone blared, vibrating against the comforter. Hastily leaning upwards from her laying position, Olivia reached for her smartphone. Maybe it was the police department. She contacted them earlier in New York to inform them that she had a young girl wandering around the city. Of course, they were of little help; taking her email, number, and a pdf image of Gracianna to make a report. With very little information, they rendered useless for Olivia.
Thankfully, it was not the NYPD on the line, but the phone number of Spencer that she newly saved to her contact book. Dragging her trembling fingers across her touchscreen, Olivia answered the call.
"Hello..." She whispered, ghostlike, stunned that after years of not hearing his voice directly, he was on the other line.
"Liv, it's Spencer." He responded in a similar detached tone, in disbelief that he was hearing a voice that still made his heart leap out of his chest. "Gracianna gave me your new number."
Sealing her eyes shut, Olivia eyes filled the to the brim with salty tears. "Thank God." No matter how anxious she was about speaking to her ex-boyfriend, her concern over their daughter's wellbeing topped everything. "So she's with you?"
"Yeah, she is." Spencer assured her. "She was exhausted from her day in the park with a sitter a set up for her. Came back and passed out in the guestroom." Spencer chuckled, thinking to how Gracie barely made it past dinner before she she blacked out.
"Yeah, she's always wanted to go National Park. My job keeps me pretty though, I was haven't had much of a chance her to the city." Olivia sighed heavily.
"Because of work, or because you've didn't want to chance running into me with her." Spencer spat, unable to resist the cold edge in his tone.
Olivia winced from her end of the phone call, withdrawing her ear from the phone momentarily.
Rearing his growing frustrations back in, Spencer face palmer himself. "Sorry." He moaned through gritted teeth.
"Don't be." Olivia replied brokenly, "You have a every write to be upset. Nothing I say will absolve me of the years I stole from you and Gracie."
"I just..." Spencer trailed out, irritated with his complex emotions. On the other end of phone was the woman he once planned to spend life with. Yet, she was also now the woman who hid his firstborn from him for years, forcing him to break a vow to himself years ago when he was still growing up.
Growing up as a kid in a broken family with his father missing for a portion of his life, Spencer swore he'd never make a kid of his endure that same torture. It was a promise that he shared with Olivia years ago, as she was the person he planned to build such a future with.
"I just want to know why, Liv." Spencer voiced, sadly. "After everything that transpired with my pops, how could keep our daughter from me. You know how I feel about kids, about building a family -- our family." He detailed in a hushed tone, desperate for an answer.
Tears were streaming down Olivia face, hearing the hurt in his tone. She could tell he'd been crying. She hadn't done this to be spiteful, or to hurt him outright. "I did not think you wanted that family with me anymore, Spencer." She finally cried out. "You left me. I needed you, and you left me alone without so much as a chance to fight for us. I was in so much pain, and if felt like you no longer wanted me, or the future we planned together. You left, and I found out I was pregnant. I figured that since we were on two different paths, by the time I found out I was pregnant, that you'd tell me we couldn't keep it. The same way you insisted we couldn't make things work because my career was pulling us in different direction. I could not let you do it our baby. I couldn't chance you getting involved, then pulling away the second you thoughts were getting worse like you did with our breakup, Spencer. At that point, it would not be me bearing the pain of being unwanted, it would've been our little girl." Olivia confessed through tears, knowing some of what she said might've been emotionally irrational, but it was the truth. "I was afraid of losing you again, Spencer. That's it."
"I would say I'd never act the way you thought I would, but what would be the point?" Spencer groaned. "We will never know how I might have reacted. And we can go back, so what do will do now, Liv?"
"I have a flight for 4 a.m. I will meet you in the city and sort everything out." Olivia swore. "Together this time."