Forever With His Boss

by Rheland Richmond

“Maybe the kids won’t have to see their mother taken away in handcuffs?”

  Ford nodded.

  “Okay, do it,” Sawyer said.

  He started to leave the office after grabbing a pen to make it look realistic, trusting Ford to handle everything else. Sawyer wanted to keep an eye on Cynthia. Besides, he intended to have her picked up outside the house so the children would witness what was going to happen.

  It was at that moment he heard a commotion from the other room and looked back at Ford before hightailing it towards the foyer.

  “Just go, Mom…leave!” Savanna was yelling.

  Ford was on his heels, and they got from the office to the foyer in record time, and Savanna was still yelling at Cynthia.

  “I heard everything,” Savanna shouted. “You demanded money. You want money to leave us. You don’t love us.”

  “That’s not true, baby girl.” Cynthia stepped towards Savanna.

  Ford started to move towards them, but Sawyer reached out and stopped him with his touch. Maybe Savanna needed to say her piece.

  “Don’t lie, Mom.” Savanna’s voice was thick like she was going to cry. “You’re asking for money in exchange for leaving us behind. If it was about us, then nothing would stop you from, from”—she gestured wildly—“taking us. You definitely wouldn’t ask for money.”

  “I’m doing it for us.” Cynthia reached out and put a hand on Savanna, but the girl shrugged her mother off. “Can’t you see that?”

  “No! You’re a liar! You said that dad paid you to stay away too.” Savanna stepped away from her mother. She turned to head back to the living room where Gavin and Callum were, but Cynthia reached out and grabbed her arm. “Let go, Mom, you’re hurting me.”

  “Don’t ever call me a liar. I am your mother, and you will show the proper respect to me.”

  “Get your hands off of her.” Sawyer rushed forward, pulling Savanna away from Cynthia and shuffling her behind him.

  “Don’t tell me what to do. I’m their mother,” Cynthia yelled and swung at him, but he blocked it before she could connect. Cynthia swung at him again, but she was much smaller, so he blocked that, too, holding her wrist this time to keep her from attempting to strike again.

  “Keep your hands off me. I swear it, I’ll sue you.” She seemed to be getting more agitated.

  As Sawyer stood there, he felt anger welling deep in his core as he replayed what Cynthia had done and possibly leaving bruises on Savie’s arm. He fought to keep it at bay and remain calm now that his sleep-addled brain was more alert.

  “Cynthia,” Sawyer began, his voice laced with ice. “You’re either going to control yourself, or you can leave. The children have been through enough and don’t need any more upheaval”

  “Fuck you,” she spat.

  Sawyer frowned. Okay, something was different. This was not the same woman they’d seen at dinner. Even though she had been manipulative, she refrained from any such displays in front of the kids.

  “You ran from rehab and came into my home, disrupting our lives, and then think you are going to extort money from me.” Sawyer leaned in closer and lowered his voice. “You have no rights to the children, Cynthia. Those were lost due to your own choices. Go back to rehab and finish your time there. Then, when you can act like an adult, maybe you can come back and discuss having visitation with the kids.”

  The woman managed to get a hand free and swung at him again. “No. No. I’m taking them with me. You’ll never see them again. You’re just like your bastard of a father. Thought he was better than me cos he quit.”

  “Quit?” Sawyer wasn’t sure what she meant.

  “Who do you think got me hooked,” she spat.

  Sawyer rocked back on his feet. Okay, so he hadn’t seen that coming.

  “He wanted them too. You want them, you gotta pay up, just like he did,” Cynthia said “Not that he ever paid much.” Her face was best described as a sneer, and she paused to look around their house. “But I’m sure you can.”

  Sawyer studied her and by her actions and the crazed look in her eyes, that she must have brought some form of drug with her and taken it at some point in the last few hours.

  “Pay up. Pay me,” she screamed, “and I’ll be out of your hair.”

  At that moment, there was a knock on the door. “Police. Open up.”

  Sawyer said a prayer they didn’t wake Callum up or have Gavin coming out to see what all the noise was. He, out of all of them, didn’t need to see or hear this.

  Sawyer shot a look at Ford, and he held up the phone and shrugged. He didn’t think Ford had made the call that quickly, but he was glad he did. Ford rushed to the door and unlocked the deadbolt, and an officer entered the house, followed by another man in plain clothes.

  Savanna had remained standing by the staircase, her face blank of emotion as she watched. Sawyer didn’t think it was wise to let go of Cynthia, so he turned them both to face the men who had now entered their home.

  “Thanks for coming, Dean.” Ford shook the man in plain clothes’ hand, then turned to the officer whose nameplate said Palmer. ”You, too, Rick.”

  “Of course.” The plain clothes man smiled briefly, then glanced first at Cynthia and then over to Sawyer.

  “Officer, this is Cynthia Mayhew.” Sawyer started. “She’s the mother of Savanna, Gavin, and Callum. There’s a New York court order that she is not allowed near the children until she completes her rehab, and if she doesn’t complete her time there, she’s required to serve out her term in prison.”

  “What?” Cynthia’s eyes narrowed, and her lips pressed into a thin line. If looks could kill, then both Sawyer and Ford would already be on the ground. “Don’t you dare do this.” She turned to Savanna and schooled her face trying to look the victim in all that was happening. “Baby girl… tell them he’s wrong. Tell them he’s been threatening me since I arrived.”

  Tears rolled down Savanna’s cheeks, but she didn’t speak. Instead, she rushed into the living room. Sawyer thought she would disappear in there, but she blocked the doorway and stood silently watching her mother.

  Sawyer felt like someone had used his heart for target practice at the silent tears being shed by his sister. He glanced at Ford, who headed over to Savie and wrapped his arm around the teenager, which she let him do, leaning her head into his arms.

  “I’ll get the paperwork.” Sawyer hurried back to the office, and opened the top drawer of his desk, picking up the file that had been sitting there since two days after he’d heard about Cynthia leaving rehab.

  Sawyer prayed at the time that it wouldn’t be necessary. Still, he strictly believed in hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.

  He grabbed the guardianship papers, a copy of Cynthia’s judgment, and also the court order giving their father—his father—full custody of the children, then went back to the officer and handed them to him. The officer read over them and nodded, then returned them to Sawyer.

  “We’re taking you into custody, ma’am,” Dean said. “I will be contacting the NYPD and informing them of your whereabouts.”

  He grabbed her arm and started to pull her towards the door, but she dug her heels into the carpet.

  “Mommy? Where are you going?” Gavin rubbed his eyes.

  Sawyer’s eyes rounded, and he turned to where Gavin’s voice came from. Damn, when did Ford and Savanna leave?

  “Your mom just needs to go and get some help. Everything will be fine.” Sawyer walked towards Gavin.

  “No.” Gavin’s voice got louder, and he lunged himself toward Cynthia, who was being led out.

  Sawyer rushed over and lifted Gavin into his arms, but the kid reached for his mother.

  Ford and Savie ran from the direction of the kitchen and stopped when they saw Gavin flailing in Sawyer’s arms. Even though he wanted to hold onto Gav and tell him everything would be okay, he handed his brother over to Ford, and when Gav moved to walk back over to Cynthia, Savie reached forward, placing her hand on his
shoulder to help Ford keep him back.

  Sawyer watched the officer leave with Cynthia, but Dean stayed.

  “I know it’s really early, but we’ll need you to come down to the station later this morning so we can get a written statement,” Dean said.

  “We’ll be there, thank you.” Sawyer shook the man’s hand, and he nodded before leaving.

  He walked over to the door and watched as both the patrol and unmarked cars pulled away, the covered his face with his hand. Crap, what was he supposed to do now?

  And now he had a damn rental car to return.

  He closed the door and braced himself. He was prepared for the fallout of everything because there sure as fuck would be some. Sawyer turned and saw Ford and Savanna were still holding Gavin.

  “I hate you!” Tears spilled from Gavin’s eyes. Sawyer took a step forward, but Gavin ran away, and they heard his footsteps stomping up the stairs. A minute later, Gavin’s bedroom door was slammed.

  Sawyer heaved a sigh and then turned to Ford, who was standing beside Savanna. His sister was leaning against Ford’s shoulder. Sawyer shook his head. He had no words. He left the foyer and went into the living room where Callum was still fast asleep. Thankfully, at least one person had slept through it.

  It was going to be a long morning… day. He had a feeling none of them were going to get any rest. Even if he managed to go back to sleep, Sawyer knew Gavin’s face would haunt his dreams.

  It was barely daybreak when Callum woke up fussy and inconsolable. Hours later he was still up, fighting his sleep and wailing like a siren. Sawyer rocked him, hoping the two-year-old would go back to sleep, but the kid looked determined to stay wide awake.

  But every time Sawyer tried to leave him in the baby playpen, he stood along the padded rail sniffling.

  Callum sucked on his pacifier, but he remained restless. They had begun to try and wean him off using it, but it still helped when he was really upset… except right now.

  “You’ve got to sleep, Callum.”

  Sawyer was not above pleading as he got to rocking him some more. He closed his eyes and all he could see was Gavin in tears, his cries still echoing in Sawyer’s mind. It tore at his heart. He and Ford were doing the divide and conquer thing. Ford was with Gavin since his brother didn’t want to see him. The crying had stopped, but somehow, the silence was worse.

  Savanna had locked herself in her room. The last time he’d checked, she was in bed with headphones on staring at the ceiling. Sawyer imagined everything going through her mind, and he felt powerless.

  He heaved a sigh. It was the soundtrack of his day thus far. When he looked down, Callum was dozing off, so he stood up from the couch and walked out of the living room and headed for Callum’s bedroom. He tried putting Callum down, but the kid woke up crying again. Sawyer groaned, but started the rocking motion all over again. “It’s alright, I’m here.”

  He moved towards the wingback glider and lowered himself into it, leaning back and closing his eyes.

  “Need a hand?” The sound of Ford’s voice had him opening his eyes slowly.

  Ford brushed a kiss over his lips. Gosh, he didn’t know what he would do without this man.

  When he stepped back, Sawyer could see how exhaustion written all over Ford’s face.

  “He won’t settle down he’s so worked up.” Sawyer raked a hand through his hair, “He might be little, but I swear he knows what happened.”

  “Cynthia really...” Ford gestured searching for a word.

  Sawyer looked down at Callum, his eyes half-closed. Yeah, he knew what Ford meant. Cynthia had done a number on her children, blowing into their lives again like a storm and then gone just as fast after her disruptive antics. He looked up at Ford. “Did Gavin finally go to sleep?”

  “Not exactly,” Ford said. “He’s taking it hard. He thinks we threw his mom out of the house when all she wanted to do was be with them.”

  “He’s too young to understand,” Sawyer said. “The worst thing was for him to see her taken out of the house in cuffs.”

  Ford nodded. “Savanna came in and is trying to explain things to him, without… you know.”

  “What?” Sawyer grimaced. “Without letting him know she was willing to sell them to the highest bidder? Savanna should not have to deal with this. She’s so young.” He felt a headache building behind his eyes. “I wish she hadn’t heard what Cynthia said. I know what it feels like knowing a parent doesn’t want you.”

  Callum was snuggled up in Sawyer’s lap, sucking on his thumb. Sawyer looked up at Ford and smiled. He got up from the rocking chair and walked over to the crib, then slowly lowered Callum down, hoping the little guy didn’t wake up.

  Ford covered him with his little duvet and let out a sigh of relief when Callum remained asleep.

  They slowly backed out of the room. Sawyer groaned and rested his head on Ford’s shoulder.

  “Come on, let’s go to our room.” Ford rubbed his hand up and down Sawyer’s back.

  Sawyer nodded. “Give me a moment.” He stood up straight, then walked over to Gavin’s room and heard voices—Savanna’s mostly, trying to calm Gavin down. It warmed Sawyer’s heart. At least Gavin had his sister.

  Ford waited outside their door and put his hand out, and Sawyer walked past Callum’s room to theirs and took it, then Ford led him into their room, shutting the door behind him. He shuffled over and sat down on the bed.

  “This has been a long morning already.” He couldn’t help the yawn that escaped.

  “It’s not even ten yet.” Ford pointed out as he sat beside him.

  “Tell me about it.” Sawyer reached out and took Ford’s hand. Sawyer licked his lips before meeting Ford’s gaze. “I’m sorry, Ford.”

  Ford’s brow furrowed, and he tilted his head to the side. “Sorry? For what?”

  “Everything,” Sawyer replied. “Letting her stay. I should have held my ground after dinner and made her leave.” He shook his head. “None of this would have happened.”

  Ford shrugged. “That may have just delayed this. We don’t know,” he said. “Either way, the kids would have been just as upset.” Ford patted his thigh. “We’re going to get through this, babe. I promise.”

  Sawyer nodded. God, he hoped Ford was right. Ford rested his head on Sawyer’s shoulder, and they just sat there.

  He wasn’t sure how long they remained like that, and he might have dozed off because a knock on their door had him jerking upright.

  “Come in!” Sawyer called and raised his hand to cover his yawn.

  Savanna entered the room and shut the door, but didn’t come in any further. She shot him a faltering smile. “Gavin’s asleep...” She shrugged. “Probably for the rest of the day.”

  Sawyer made a mental note to call the school and let them know the kids wouldn’t be in. He should have done it earlier, but he’d been so busy comforting Callum and trying to get him back to sleep, it had slipped his mind.

  “I don’t blame him,” Sawyer said. He smiled at Savie. “Thanks for helping out.”

  Savie shrugged. “I think that should be my line.” Her lips curved, but the smile was sad. “Gavin will come around, I promise.” She looked down at her feet, and he waited. “I’m glad he didn’t hear what she said.”

  “I’m sorry you did, Savanna.” Sawyer wanted to pull her in for a hug, but he wasn’t sure it would be welcome.

  She was quiet for a moment, and Sawyer searched for what to say, but thankfully she spoke up, sparing them both from awkward silence. “You were going to pay her money so she would leave.”

  He looked at Ford before explaining what had really been going on

  “Um… well…” Sawyer cleared his throat. “Actually, I only told your mother that so she wouldn’t try to leave with one or all of you. I motioned for Ford to come to the office so he could make the call while I came back out and kept her distracted.” Sawyer became more serious before he went on. “It’s our job to keep you safe, and if there had been no
other way, then I would have. But there is always something else that can be done to solve a problem.”

  She studied them for a moment. “I was hoping this time would be different.” She shrugged. “I guess the money part is, right?”

  Sawyer thought it best not to answer. She was in enough pain realizing that her mother thought of them as nothing more than a bargaining chip, and he was not going to add more fuel to what she was going through.

  “She wanted money and not us.” Savanna’s voice was just above a whisper. “My mom was willing to leave us for money.” Her words ended on a sob that had him and Ford on their feet immediately.

  Sawyer walked over to his sister and pulled her into his arms. “I’m so sorry, Savanna.”

  Could this day get any worse?

  Savanna cried into his shirt, and he just held her. This was one of those times words couldn’t help.

  “I’ve been pretty awful the past few weeks.” Her voice was small, and Sawyer suddenly wished for the sulky teenager with attitude. “I’m sorry.”

  “You don’t need to apologize.” Sawyer’s voice was firm. “I get it. We uprooted your life. You lost your father”—he didn’t mention Cynthia—“and I was just some dumb guy—a stranger that took you from everything you know.”

  Her shoulders shook, and he was glad he could make her laugh.

  “You weren’t just some dumb guy,” she said, rolling her eyes and sniffed. “You’ve been an amazing brother, Sawyer. Thank you for being there for us.” She stepped back and turned to Ford. “And thank you, too, Ford. We’re lucky to have you both.”

  Sawyer was at a loss for words at first. Savanna’s words touched him so deeply and were unexpected. He gathered himself and smiled at his sister. “Savie, I… we will always be here for you, Gavin, and Cal. We’re family, and I won’t let anything happen to you, any of you.” He held her gaze making sure he heard what he was saying.

  Savie lips curved.

  “And your words mean more to me than you know.” He looked over to Ford and shared a smile with him.

  “I think this requires a group hug.” Ford chimed in.

  Sawyer laughed but held his arms open. Savanna looked between them and rolled her eyes, which made him smile this time. His smile got even wider when she walked into his arms, though.