Joesph's POV
"He said he still doesn't know" I sigh, hanging up the phone. "How can he not know when their coming back?" Kathrine frowns confused. "He's their best friend and he lives in their home. How can he not know these things?"
"Apparently all they told him was there was a change of plan and they were going to catch a flight that night instead of the next afternoon"
"Did they say why? Or for how long?"
"It's pretty obvious why they left so suddenly" I say sarcastially. "But they said they were only gonna visit her dad for a few days"
"Did they say where in Ireland?"
"Nope. An even if they did, it wouldn't make a difference. We can't exactly drag them back can we?"
"Then what are we suposed to do? We can't just sit around and hope for the best they call or keep going to their house. Ray's already said he doesn't know anything"
"He says that, but I'm not to sure I believe him. I'm gonna go over today and speak to him. See if I can get anymore out of him"
"You've already called him everyday. What makes you think it'll be any different if you went over there" she shrugs. "Trust me. If he's hiding anything, I'll find out when I get there.
"Go where?" Janet asks, walking into the room. "I'm going over to see Ray. How come your up so early?"
"I'm gonna go down to the school to sort out these online classes and then I'm gonna go shopping for some baby stuff she smiles. "Makes sure your back back 3 though. We have the lawyer coming" I remind her "Yeah I know and don't worry, I won't forget" she smiles and kisses both of us on the cheek then leaves.
"She seems in a happy mood" I turn to Kathrine, once Janet leaves. "I think she's just getting excited about the baby and it's keeping her mind of everything. Plus Bens helping her with her online classes and..."
"About that" I cut her off. "Why is he always here? He's like 20 years old"
"He's just been helping Janet is all" she shrugs "Helping? Or 'helping?' Because you know the two of them have history. I don't think he should be around her anymore"
"Joe, their just friends and there's nothing going on between them"
"How do we know that? How do we know he isn't planning on doing what Chad did? For all we know he could be in on it and he could be one of those sexual predators and..."
"Stop" She cuts me off. "If he was apart of it then he wouldn't have told Michael what he saw that night would he?"
"Well no. But...."
"And if he was planning anything with her then he wouldn't only come over when he knows one of us were here?"
"No, but that doesn't mean..."
"It means your being paranoid" she cuts me off. "And I get it. I felt that way at first too, but he actually seems like a genuinly nice kid"
"20 isn't a kid" I point out "No, but he's been very respectful and only talks to her on the lineland which you insist on keeping on speaker phone and the only time they spend time together is at our house when either me or you are home. Does that sound like he's being a sexual preditor to you?"
"As far as I'm concerned any guy that goes near my daughter is a sexual predator"
"Why don't you go talk with Ray? Maybe it'll calm you down" she rolls her eyes at me. "Unless Ray tell me Michael and Ocean are on their way home and our giving Janet her son back, I seriously doubt anything Ray says will calm me down"
****
Carson's POV
"Breakfast ok, sweetie?" I smile at Ocean. "Mhm... You know you really don't have took for us.... Princess, Veah. stop running" she says, getting up to deal with the babies. "It's fine. You and Robert were always chasing each other around the house at that age" I chuckle. "So what do wanna do today? Any plans?"
"Not really" Michael shrugs. "Well if you want, we can all do a little sight seeing today"
"Sounds good to me" Ocean smiles. "So how long were you guys thinking of staying?" Joanna cuts in. "We haven't really thought about it. But if you guys want us to leave then..."
"Oh no, no. I didn't mean it like that" she cuts Ocean off. "I was just wandering because my friend at work is getting married and her bacherlarette party next week and I was wondering if you wanted to come?"
"Oh, I don't know about that. I'm not really into parties and..."
"You can go if you want to?" Michael cuts in. "But what about the kids? I can't just leave them or..."
"I'm sure Michael and I will be fine taking care of the kids for one night" I chuckle. "You sure you don't mind?" She mutters to Michael. "Of course not. You enjoy yourself" he smiles and pecks her lips.
"Great! Now that's sorted. How about we all finish up breakfast and we can start getting ready" I smile.
It's been just over a week since Ocean and Michael arrived and so far everything has been going great. When they first arrived they came alot earlier than planned and seemed upset about something, but didn't say why or even call to tell me they were on their way. I am courious about why they seemed so upset that day, but I haven't pushed them into telling me because after a few hours rest they seemed much more cheerful and so have the children.
On their last visit they only stayed a few days and it was clear they only came because Ocean wanted to meet her little sister, but this time me and her have really started to bond again. We're not as close as we once were for obvious reasons, but we're slowly growing closer again and I've even started to form a kind of bond with Michael too. He's really changed alot over the years and it's pretty clear he loves Ocean and the children and he takes good care of them all. There's still some tension between me and him which I think will always be there, but he makes my daughter and my grandchildren happy and takes care of them so I'm doing my best to try and form some kind of bond with him.
They haven't said how long their planning on staying, but hopefully it's going to be for awhile.
****
Ray's POV
"I already told you. I don't know when their coming back or where abouts in Ireland, Ocean's dad lives"
"You must know something. You live with them. You must have some idea when their coming back" Joesph frown. "Well I don't" I shrug "All I know is they took some time off work and went to see Ocean's dad because she's been feeling really stressed out latley"
"How long did they take off?"
"About a month, I think" I shrug. "A month? What kind of bosses just lets them take time off whenever the hell the want? Are you sure their really working?" He asks skeptically and I nod. "Well Ocean's a manager at the salon now and she doesn't really need to be there everyday and Michael's the manager at... umm.... I'm not sure what Michael does, but he uses a computer for most of his work"
"So they've been working from home alot? It's that what your trying to tell me? And Michael works for an insurance company by the way"
"Exactly" I nod. "Have you atleast spoken with them?"
"Yeah, Mike called last night and said they were all having a great time and the kids love it. I gave him your message to call him... I'm guessing he didn't call then?" I mutter that last part and he shakes his head. "I'm sure they will their probably just busy and Ocean's been really stressed out latey and..."
"Yeah, sounds like it" he cuts me off. "And how do you think Janet's feeling? You don't think she's been stressed out with all this? She hasn't seen her son in over a week and those two are doing their best to keep him away from her"
"That's not why they left and they had no problem with Janet seeing Mikey. The only problem they have is her screaming and yelling at them all the time for doing something all of you wanted them to do in the first place. Do you understand how messed up that is? Y'all get pissed off when they don't do what you want and when they do you still get pissed off with them. You, Janet and everybody else wanted them to adopt Mikey and now they have"
"Yes I know, but that was a mistake and Janet wants him back and..."
"But that's never gonna happen and you know it. Their not gonna give up their son" I cut him off. "Mikey's NOT their son. Are you actually agreeing with what their doing?" He frowns. "Legally they are and I don't agree with how they adopted him, but I don't think it's fair for Janet to take him from the only home he's ever known either"
"He'll get used to her again eventually they just need to spend more time together and Janet will be getting all the support she needs with me and Kathrine"
"You say that, but how do they know their gonna be able to trust her with him? They haven't seen her in over a year and..."
"Which wasn't her fault" he cuts me off "And I'm sick of all this running around in circles after them. Janet's gonna be getting Mikey back one way or another and they need to except it. I'm not playing these stupid games with them anymore. Now next time they call. Tell them to call me"
"I'll ask them but..."
"TELL them!" He snaps and walks out, slamming the door behind him.
I feel really bad for Janet's situation and about what happened to her, but at this point, I honestly think she's being selfish, trying to take Mikey from them. Mike and Ocean have been raising that little boy since day one and he has a happy stable home with siblings and two parents that love him and take care of him and they want to take all that away from him and give him to a pregnant 15 year old. I don't have an issue with single teen parents because my mom was one herself, but personally I think Janet should just concentrate on her new baby and let Mikey stay where he is.
****
Ocean's POV
"Did kings and Queens really live in there!?" DJ asks "In mediaeval times they did" My dad smiles "Woooow! We don't have these in Mi...."
"Where we live" I quickly cut him "There's no castles where we live" DJ smiles then runs off to play with the others. "You don't have to do that. I'm not gonna just randomly turn up at your house one day"
"I know. I'd just rather not talk about home right now" I shrug. "Well wherever your living, I'm sure it's warmer than here" he chuckles, refering to the rain. "Hopefully the weather will pick up during your stay"
"It's fine. A little cold and rain won't hurt" I smile. "So your planning on staying for awhile?" He asks but before I can answer, Michael calls my name as he's walking over.
"Ray's just called and said my dads been to the house again"
"What for this time?" I sigh slightly and he tells me what Joesph said to Ray.
"But they can't take us to court can they?" I turn to my dad. "That can, but they'll be wasting their time. If you adopted him legally then..."
"We did" Michael cuts him off "We went through all the proper channels and did everything our soical worker said we had to do"
"Then your fine then"
"But what if we're not? Can they really take Mikey away from us?" I ask nervously. "Sweetie, you have nothing to worry about, I promise you. You've done everything legally and as you were told and you haven't dont anything wrong. All going to court is going to do is waste everybody's time. Their not going to make you had him over to a pregnant 15 year old and it's pretty obvious Mikey would and IS better off with the two of you"
"But what if..."
"Just try and relax" he cuts me off. "If they do decide to take you to court then I'm more than happy to go with you and stand up for you both"
"You would?" Michael cuts in and he nods. "Of course. Mikey's in a stable home and is clearly well taken care of, just like your other 3 kids are and I'm more than happy to stand up in court and say that"
"You think that would make a difference though?" He asks "Well like I said, they'll be wasting their time regardless, but having a doctor who was also guardian for Duncan would help you even more. Why don't we just enjoy the rest of the tour and we can talk in more detail about this latler. And quit worrying ok?" He smiles and we both bnod and smile back.
****
Janet's POV
"What the hell do you mean? unlikly? Mikey's MY kid and I never signed him over to them or anything. They can't just randomly adopt peoples babies like this" I snap at the lawyer. "Janet, stop yelling. She's only trying to help you" Mother cuts in.
"But they didn't just randomly adopt him. He was taken from your custody because protective services felt you were a danger to yourself and your son and you were fully aware of this right?" The lawyer asks and I nod. "Well yeah, but I never signed anything or signed any adoption papers"
"You didn't need to because Mikey was taken from your care due to saftey reasons and it's all right here in your files that you also turned up drunk and almost dropped Mikey in front of the social worker and on your last visit he ended up in hostpital with serious head injuries and you made no contact for just over a year and.. "
"Which wasn't her fault" my dad cuts in. "I understand that, but at the time nobody knew what was going on and in that time Mikey was classed as abandoned and with Mikey's biological father signing over his right and agreeing to the adoption then..."
"Timmy did what!?" I snap "It's right here in the files" she says, handing them to me. "Timmy agreed to the adoption and since he was the only biological parent they could find they were able to get the adoption done much faster"
"But surely these things can be reversed can't they?" Mother cuts in and she nods "Under certain circumstances yes, but to be honest. This doesn't look like one of those circumstances. Michael and Ocean have proved to be more than capable of being parents to Mikey as well as their own 3 and can offer him a stable and safe environment. There's alot of evidence to back that up and..."
"Safe!?" I cut her off. "Their both ex heroin addicts and Michael has beat and raped Ocean since day one which by the way is how their kids were conceived PLUS they had their first kid taken away from them because of all this. How is that safe for him?"
"The courts and protective services are already fully aware of their past drugs issues as well as Duncan's case and as for the raping and beating his wife part, there's nothing on Michael's criminal record about him ever being abusive to his wife"
"Because she never reported him obviously"
"But you knew about this?" She asks and I nod "Everybody knows about it. Michael's had a violent temper for years"
"Have you ever reported this yourself?"
"No"
"So you've known about your brothers violent temper for many years, yet you still chose to leave your newborn child alone with him?"
"Michael would never hurt a child" my dad cuts in. "Yes he has a temper, but he'd never harm a child and Janet wouldn't have never left him there if she thought he would"
"Which is exactly my point. She was clearly happy to leave her son there and live with your oldest daughter and there's never been any reports about domestic abuse"
"So your sticking up for them too? Your supposed to be on my side. Not there's" I frown. "I am on your side, but I'm also not going to give you false hope. I've been looking through all your files and from what I've seen and from what you've told me. You willingly left with Chad who you claim was abusive towards you and you stayed with the man knowing he had a sexual interest in underage girls and was abusive and it's also in your files that you went you rehab after a drug overdose and attepted suicide and then moved in with your sister, leaving your son with Michael and Ocean"
"I was in a really bad place at the time, but I'm ok now"
"Plus your only 15 and also expecting another child. It's clear from this you had trouble coping with just one child and..."
"But she'll be living with us and she'll be getting all the suport she needs" my dad cuts in. "I'm sure she will, but from looking through these files, it's unlikey any judge will agree to reverse the adoption"
"So there's nothing we can do? I'm just supposed to give up and forget about him?" I frown. "Well you could file for visitation"
"I don't want visitation! I want my son!"
"Janet, calm down" mother cuts in. "How can I calm down!? She's sticking up for them when she's supposed to be on my side"
"I am on your side and I'm sorry this isn't what you wanted to hear but...."
"Do I have a case?" I cut her off "Well yes but..."
"So I can go ahead and file for full custody of Mikey?"
"You can, but like I just said. It's unlikley you'll..."
"Then that's what I'm gonna do. I wanna file for full custoday"
"Why don't you try for visitasion first and then..."
"No" I cut her off again. "I'm so sick and tierd if everybody telling me what I should and shouldn't do! Mikey's MY son and I want him back! I don't want visits or joint custody. I want FULL custody. Now can you help me or not?"
"I can take your case to a judge if that's what you really want, but as I've already told you, I think you'll be wasting your time"
"I don't care what you or anybody thinks. I'm getting my son back one way or another"