"Hey, man" I grin as I greet my best friend and partner Lucas at the front door.
He smiles sadly and I know there's something wrong. "Hey" he greets me as I open the door wider for him to come in.
"What's wrong?" I ask him.
"I got a call through off Colton's birth momma's probation officer before—" he grimaces.
Colton's mom, sylvia was served seven years in prison for possession of illegal drugs and child neglect, after she signed away her rights of Colton she showed no remorse what so ever, though when she went through therapy, her therapist said that she mentioned him a few times to them when they were in session. I didn't know what to make of that, when they told me, Sylvia didn't ask of him, how he was or anything, it was more of what happened before prison. She was let out of prison for good behavior three years ago and was doing okay—that was, up to now.
"What's happened?" I ask my partner, though I think I know where this is going.
"Sylvia was found dead in her apartment" he grimaces. "Suspected drug overdose"
"Fuck" I hiss. "Are they certain it was drug overdose?" I ask him cupping the back of my neck.
He nods sadly. "She was found with a needle in her arm, man"
"Jesus, fucking Christ" I bellow. "Why in the fuck didn't she stay away? She was doing good, wasn't she?" I growl.
Lucas shrugs. "All I know is that her probation officer said she'd missed a few check in's—claimed she was sick" he tells me.
The fuck?!
He must see my angry expression and what I'm about to say because he holds his hand up. "I know, I know—but he said she's been clean when she got out of prison, she completed the drug cleanse and everything, I don't know what to tell ya, man" he says sadly.
"What's goin on, Michael?" My beautiful fiancée asks me. "Hey, lucas" she says happily as she sees who is at the door.
"Hey, pretty lady" Lucas croons. "When are you gonna wise up and leave this ass for me?" he teases taking my woman in his arms and hugging her close.
"Fuck off" I growl pulling her back to me making Lucas chuckle.
"You're too easy" he chuckles.
"To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?" Kathy asks him. "Would you like to stay for dinner?"
Lucas's stomach grumbles making my woman laugh. "I would, but I gotta get back to the station—thanks though, beautiful" he says with a wink. "I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" he asks me. "I'll let you know if I find anything else out" he says before leaving the house.
"See you tomorrow" I say after him, he waves in response and I sigh heavily. "Fuck" I mutter.
"Michael?" Kathy asks me worriedly. "What's wrong?"
I sigh heavily once more for what I'm about to tell her. "Sylvia—Colton's birth mom was found dead" I tell her sadly.
She cups her mouth with her hand as she gasps with tears in her eyes. "Oh, no" she says sadly. "How—" she asks me.
"Suspected drug overdose" I sigh sadly. "She was found with a needle in her arm" I tell her.
"God, bless her soul" she sobs as she walks back into the living room and sits down on the couch. "Oh, my god—Colton" she gasps.
"I know, precious" I coo hugging her closely. "We'll have to tell him, he'll need to come and say his goodbyes, get his closure" I tell her as she looks at me with understanding in her eyes.
I told Kathy everything about me and my mama being abused by my dad and how my dad murdered my mama taking her away from me and my little sister, Elora. I also told her how I missed my chance at getting the closure I needed before he died, which I regret even now, so I need to persuade Colton to have his closure to finally rid him of his demons so he can live his life with Layla, and have a family of his own.
"It's Craig and his girls wedding day today—don't tell him today" she tells me as she dabs at her eyes, she looks at the clock and sees what time it is. "He said he'd call once the wedding reception had started, they should be having the wedding reception by now" she tells me as her phone rings.
Picking her her phone she shows me that it's Colton trying to FaceTime, she answers after the first ring with a smile on her face. "Well, it's about time" I hear her scold him playfully as I walk to the kitchen to fetch a new box of tissues for her. "Oh, my lawd" she cries. "Michael... Michael, come look at our boy and his girl—they look amazing" she shouts dabbing her cheeks with a tissue.
I smile as I walk back over to Kathy and wrap my arms around her waist and rest my chin on her shoulder. "Hey, son—hey darlin' how's the shindig?" I ask them, Colton and Layla look back at us with huge smiles on their faces and I feel like a shit for having to tell him there is something wrong, but he needs to know.
"The ceremony was amazing" Layla cries happily. "Craig And Catherine have just shown up now"
"Y'all look amazing" Kathy says happily. "Where's the bride and groom?" She asks Colton, suddenly Colton and Layla start to move before we hear Layla shout.
"Lurch" Layla shouts loudly.
Suddenly that pain in the ass kid's face is in the screen, with his fucking huge grin. "Momma K" He shouts happily.
Catherine, Craig's wife waves as she stands next to Layla. "Hey momma" she says. "Hey Saint"
"Oh, sweet girl—you look stunning" Kathy cries happily. "Congratulations"
"Thankyou" Catherine And Craig say happily.
"What dya think momma? Better than James Bond, huh?" Craig says as he does a spin.
"My Brit" she cries happily. "You look so handsome, definitely better than James Bond" she winks.
The fuck?!
"Now, now, Momma K—I'm a married man now, you missed your chance to have a piece of this fine British goodness" he says whilst stroking his upper body.
The fuck he say to my woman?
I glare at the fucker. "Can somebody please hit him," I growl getting a slap to the chest from my precious.
"Don't you even think about it" I hear a woman growl. "It's his wedding day"
"Oh, baby—I wasn't gonna hit him hard" Someone huffs as he appears in the screen pouting, looking at him he looks a lot like Craig, no doubt they're related.
"Oh, my—another British man in a suit" Kathy says fanning herself.
This woman carries on, I'm gonna spank her ass...
"Heeeeey, good lookin' " Craig's brother croons making my woman blush.
For fucksake, there's two of them...
"There's fucking two of them, Colton" I groan.
Colton chuckles at me as Kathy looks up at me.
"Yeah, this ones tweedle Dee— and this one is tweedle dum" Someone comes over pointing to Craig and Craig's brother making me chuckle.
"Hey, I'm paddy—Catherine's dad" The funny man introduces himself.
"Well, how do you do—I'm Colton's momma, Kathy and this fine man here, is my fiancé Michael Saint" Kathy smiles at the screen.
"How do you do" paddy smiles at us. "Don't worry about your boy, we're all taking good care of him—he's family now" he says as he puts his arm over colton's shoulder.
I see Colton's eyes light up when paddy mentions the word, family—it's all he's ever wanted.
"Thankyou" Kathy chokes. "That means a lot"
Paddy nods towards her. "If you'll excuse me, my wife is calling me" he chuckles. "It was a pleasure meeting you both"
"You too" Me and Kathy say as he walks away.
"Oh, my lawd" Kathy sighs fanning herself again making Layla, Catherine and Amber giggle.
Seriously?
"Anyway" I growl playfully at my woman, making sure she sees the look in my eyes that says your ass is mine.
She must do because she rolls her eyes while smiling brightly at me with flushed cheeks.
I look back to the screen, dreading what I'm about to say to the person that has become more like a son to me. "I'll need to speak with you soon, son" I tell him.
The look in his eyes tells me he knows there is something wrong but he nods at me. "I'll call tomorrow? Say about 8am your time?" he asks me.
I nod, smiling at my boy and kiss my beautiful fiancée's forehead. "We'll let you go, get back to your shindig" I smile at them. "Congrats again" I say looking at Catherine and seek out Craig. "Craig" I grimace.
"Oh, my god—Michael, leave the boy alone" Kathy huffs as she swats me playfully. "Love you, all" she coos blowing kisses at the screen.
"Love you too" Colton says with a huge grin on his face as Layla wraps her arms around his waist. "I love you, my sweet boy" Kathy tells him before blowing him a kiss and hangs up.
"He's so happy, Michael" my woman smiles.
I take her in my arms, kissing the top of her head. "I know, precious" I say softly.
I'm dreading telling him about his birth mom, but he needs to know—he needs that closure...