by Maxene Novak
A big smile spread across Paul’s face revealing two adorable dimples, and Lorie’s heart melted right there in the doorway. In that very second she fell in love with that beautiful little boy and nothing would stop her from making sure he had nothing less than a happy life. She would do anything to see that beautiful, dimply smile on a regular basis.
“Why don’t you come on inside,” Lorie said. “You’ll want to eat it while it’s hot. It’s way better when it first comes out of the oven and the cheese is still melted.” Lorie held her hand out to Paul. He only hesitated for a second before releasing Cheryl’s hand and placing his small hand in Lorie’s. Lorie looked at Cheryl and saw the woman had a big smile on her face. She knew Cheryl wouldn’t be sticking around. She would make a clean break so that Paul could begin bonding with the people he’d be around on a regular basis.
Clay stood up and Cheryl passed him Paul’s bag. Paul stopped and turned around to look at her. “Ms. Cheryl, you eat with us?”
Cheryl smiled, “No, honey. I have to get back to help with the other children who need me. You have Lorie and Clay now so you don’t need me anymore.” Cheryl bent down and gave Paul a hug. He promptly released Lorie’s hand to wrap his arms around her neck. Cheryl pulled back and looked him in the eyes. “I’ll see you later, honey.”
“Okay,” Paul said. He turned back to Lorie and held his hand out to her again, and she took it with a big smile on her face. She had ten years of experience with children like Paul, and she knew just how resilient they could be. However, it still shocked her when she met a child like Paul who was still so trusting and sweet even after everything that had happened to him. They stepped inside and Clay shut the door behind them. Lorie felt Paul tug on her hand and she looked down at him. “What’s casserole?”
“Have you never had a breakfast casserole?” Clay asked him, and Paul turned to look at Clay and shook his head no.
Lorie wasn’t surprised. Given Paul’s upbringing and how malnourished he was she was sure that he was going to eat a lot of things he’d never had before living at Children’s Haven. “Why don’t you come and see for yourself,” Lorie told Paul.
“Okay,” Paul agreed. The three of them walked into the kitchen and found Heather and Spencer. Spencer was pulling the casserole out of the oven, and Heather was fixing a cup of milk that Lorie knew was intended for Paul. “It smells good in here,” Paul said.
“Yeah it does, buddy,” Clay agreed.
Spencer held the pan up while looking at Paul. “Would you like me to put some of this on a plate?” Paul nodded.
“Paul, this is Spencer,” Lorie told him.
Heather walked around the kitchen island with the cup of milk in her hand. “And I’m Heather. Do you like milk?”
Paul smiled at her, “Yeah.”
“Good,” Heather said, “then this is yours.” She held the cup out to him and he let go of Lorie’s hand to take the cup in both of his.
Clay put his hand on Paul’s back and led him to the table. He pulled out a chair and Paul sat his cup on the table before climbing into it. Spencer brought a plate of the casserole over and placed it in front of Paul. Paul looked around at the four of them. “Will you eat with me?”
“You bet,” Spencer said. “This smells way too good not to have some.” Spencer grabbed the casserole dish and some pot holders and sat it in the center of the table, while Heather brought plates over for the four of them.
Lorie and Clay sat on either side of Paul at the table and Spencer and Heather took two seats across from them. They all ate in silence for a few minutes. Paul ate his helping quickly then stared at the dish like he wanted more but was afraid to ask for it. “You want some more?” Lorie asked him.
Paul smiled and nodded. Lorie was sure she would never grow immune to his beautiful smile. She would do almost anything to keep bringing out that smile. She made him another plate and he dug right in.
“Are you excited to see your new room?” Spencer asked Paul.
Paul’s eyes grew big and he looked around the table at the four adults sitting with him. “My room?” It was clearly a question, and Lorie knew he hadn’t expected his own room. Obviously he had never had his own room, and the idea seemed almost unreal to him.
Clay put his arm around the back of Paul’s chair. “Yeah, you get your own room all to yourself. Would you like to see it when you finish eating?”
Paul’s eyes lit up and he nodded his head enthusiastically. “Uh huh.”
“Good deal,” Clay told him. “We’ll take you upstairs to see it as soon as you’ve had all you want to eat.”
“Okay,” Paul agreed. He started shoveling his food in his mouth in a hurry to see his room. Lorie and the others laughed softly.
Lorie placed her hand over his gently, “Honey, you don’t have to rush. You’ll make your tummy hurt if you keep eating that fast. Your room isn’t going anywhere. It will be there when you’re done. Okay?”
Paul stared at her for a second with a mouth full of food, then he nodded his agreement. He still ate faster than people normally would, but Lorie expected that. Kids who had grown up like Paul did, never knowing where or when they might get their next meal, usually ate any food you gave them as fast as they could so you wouldn’t have a chance to take it away from them. She knew that he was full when he started eating slowly and stirring the food around his plate. Knowing he would try to keep eating until his plate was clear because he worried he’d get in trouble if he wasted any, Lorie put her hand over his again. “If you’re full you don’t have to finish all of that.” She gestured to the remaining food on his plate. “We gave you a lot and no one expects you to force it down.” Paul swallowed the food in his mouth and let out a long exhale while putting his fork down. “All done?” Lorie asked.
“Yeah. I’m full,” he told her.
Heather stood up and started removing everyone’s plates from the table and taking them to the sink. Clay stood up and held his hand out to Paul. “Ready to see your room now?” Clay asked him.
Paul took Clay’s hand and hopped down out of his chair. Clay turned and started walking towards the stairs, but Paul stopped and looked back at Lorie. “You comin’ with us Ms. Lorie?” Paul asked.
Lorie was already following behind them and she smiled down at Paul. “You bet.” Paul held his free hand out for her to take. She looked up at Clay and they were both smiling. Lorie turned to look back at Spencer and Heather, and she tilted her head towards the stairs indicating they should come along too.
The five of them headed upstairs and Lorie noticed that Heather and Clay had shut the door to Paul’s room before they came down. When they walked into the room Lorie was surprised to see several toys spread out over the bed. There were Legos, Tonka trucks, and action figures. She had no idea when Clay could have purchased these things. They had been together since finding out Paul was coming this morning other than the time she spent getting ready at home, but that had not been enough time for him to go shopping. He must have stuff already purchased hidden somewhere in the home that she just hadn’t found yet.
When Paul saw all of the toys laid out on the bed his eyes went wide and he looked at them like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Is…is that mine?” he asked.
Clay dropped down to a knee in front of Paul so he could look him in the eye. “It sure is,” he said. “Do you like it?”
Paul squealed and jumped at Clay, wrapping his arms tight around Clay’s neck. When Clay wrapped his arms around Paul to return the little boy’s hug, the smile that spread across his face made him more handsome than Lorie had ever seen him, and that was really saying something considering how beautiful and sexy Clay was all of the time. Paul pulled back with his hands resting on Clay’s shoulders. “Can we play with them?”
“We can play with whatever you want,” Clay said.
Paul turned around to face Lorie, Heather, and Spencer. “Wanna play?” he asked them. Immediately, they all voiced their agreement, and for the n
ext couple of hours the four of them sat on the floor with Paul and played with him and all of his new toys. As far as Lorie was concerned, it was a perfect morning and she couldn’t have imagined Paul’s arrival going any better.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Lorie
After a couple hours of play Paul started yawning and Lorie tucked him his bed so he could get a nap. A lot had happened for him in one morning and she was certain his little mind had been spinning for hours, wearing him out, and he needed his rest. Lorie had to practically drag Clay out of the room. He didn’t seem to want to let Paul out of his sight even while he was sleeping. They all went downstairs and Heather, who was making sure to stick to her “volunteer” status while there went to clean up the mess from breakfast while Clay and Spencer followed Lorie to her office.
“How do you do it?” Clay asked when the three of them were in her office.
“Do what?” she asked.
“How you keep from getting too attached to all of the kids you help? I mean, Paul is only the first of many who will stay here and in just a few hours I can’t imagine going home and leaving him here, or how I’ll handle him leaving if you find him a family.”
“Yeah,” Spencer agreed with Clay. “I can’t imagine that it’s easy helping all of these kids, and then having to say goodbye to them over and over again.”
Lorie’s heart swelled for the two men in front of her. They might try to hide it from the world, but they were nothing but heart; full of love. “It isn’t always easy to keep from getting attached, and of course the longer I work with a particular child the more deeply I care for them. Children like Paul are even harder to not become attached to, and I honestly can’t say that I have truly figured out how to keep from becoming overly attached to the children I help. What gets me through is understanding that it isn’t about me. It doesn’t matter if I miss them because I don’t get to see them all of the time. If I’m no longer needed by them that is a good thing. It means that I was able to find them a real family. A family who will love them and be everything they need for the rest of their lives. In the end, that is what all of this is about. Finding these children a loving family and a safe home. If I have done that then I can live with the fact that I won’t be a part of their daily lives anymore.”
“You are one strong woman,” Clay told her, and he walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist. Leaning down, Clay pressed a sweet kiss to her lips. She felt Spencer approach before she turned and saw him.
Spencer put an arm around her and Clay and leaned in to give her a kiss himself. “He’s right,” Spencer agreed, then he turned his gaze on Clay, “but you are amazing and strong too. You are the reason this place exists. The reason that little boy upstairs has somewhere safe and loving to live right now. You made all of this happen, and you faced your own fears to make it his reality and to be here for him today.” Lorie saw the glimmer in Clay’s eyes as they filled with unshed tears, and she couldn’t hold her own back as a tear made its way down her cheek. Spencer held his palm up to Clay’s face, then he leaned into Clay and gave him a long, deep kiss. When he pulled back him and Clay rested their foreheads together for a few moments before Clay pulled back and blinked away the tears that were threatening to spill over.
Spencer was the one to break their moment up. “Well, as much as I would love to stay here and spend the whole day with both of you and play with Paul some more, I have some work I need to get done. I’ve two final Hale Hotels that I need to visit to introduce myself and review the on-site security and I want to knock that out before the end of the day. Can’t have the boss thinking I’m a slacker.”
“No, that wouldn’t be good at all,” Clay said with a chuckle. “Can the three of us get together again tonight?”
“I’d like that,” Spencer said.
Lorie smiled and nodded her agreement. “Me too. I don’t know what time I will get out of here though, if the two of you don’t mind waiting.”
“Why don’t we just meet you here,” Clay suggested. “I’ve got to get back to the office too. I have meetings all afternoon, but I know I wouldn’t mind coming back and hanging out with Paul for a bit while you finish up if you’re not ready right away.”
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Spencer concurred.
“Okay then,” Lorie smiled. “I’ll see you both later then.”
“Yep.” Spencer gave her another quick kiss, and Clay did the same then both men walked out together.
With a smile on her face Lorie sat down behind her desk and pulled up Paul’s file to complete notes on the morning’s activities. Looking over on her desk she noticed a cell phone that didn’t belong to her. Picking it up she clicked the button to wake it up and the Hale Inc. background told her it was Clay’s. She grabbed it and quickly headed for the front door hoping to catch him before he left. For the second time in just as many days Lorie ran directly into Clay’s chest as he opened the front door.
Clay laughed and grabbed her shoulders to keep her from falling over. “We might need to stop meeting like this. One of these days I’m not going to catch you before you go toppling over.”
Lorie laughed and playfully smacked him on the chest. “I was just trying to catch you to give you this,” she held up his phone, “but since you want to be an ass I think I’ll just keep it. Goodbye.” She moved to turn away from him but he grabbed her and pulled her back up against him. He bent down and pushed her hair to the side to kiss her neck, then brought his mouth up to whisper in her ear. “Now that I’ve had a taste of you, I doubt you’ll ever get away from me. There will be no goodbyes for us.”
Lorie felt his words reach into her heart and make it leap. His breath against her ear sent chills throughout her body that caused her to tremble against him. She turned her head to the side to look at him, but as soon as she opened her mouth to respond a blood curdling scream coming from the second floor drained all of the blood from Clay’s face and sent her heart racing. “Paul!” She pulled herself out of Clay’s arms and ran for the stairs. When she got to Paul’s room he was thrashing around in his bed, and he was covered in sweat but appeared to still be asleep. Lorie sat on the bed and pulled him into her arms, brushing his hair back from his face. “Shh, Paul, honey, it’s okay. You’re safe. It was just a dream.” Paul’s eyes blinked open and he began sobbing and trying to get away from her. “Paul, it’s okay. It’s just me, Ms. Lorie. Remember? We met this morning. We ate breakfast and played together.”
Paul got as far away from her on the bed as he could and pulled the blanket up to his chin. This was the little boy she had expected that morning. Something in his dream must have really scared him.
“Can I try?” Lorie turned towards the doorway and saw Clay standing there watching the two of them. She had been in such a hurry to get up here to Paul that she hadn’t even noticed Clay following her.
Lorie stood up and backed away from the bed. “Sure.” When she was close enough to Clay to speak without Paul hearing she leaned into his ear and quietly said, “Just keep your voice calm and even. Don’t force him to do anything. He needs to come to you. When abused children have nightmares or flashbacks it’s important not to force them into anything. As long as he’s not doing anything to harm himself we have to let him come to us.”
Clay just nodded his understanding and made his way over to the bed where Paul was still cowering under the blanket. He stopped to pick up the Batman action figure that Paul had been playing with earlier, and held it in his hands when he sat down on the end of the bed facing Paul. “Ms. Lorie tells me you had a scary nightmare,” Clay spoke softly and kept tinkering with the Batman figure in his hands when he looked at Paul. Lorie could hear a nervousness in Clay’s voice. Paul nodded to Clay. “You know, I have bad nightmares too, and sometimes they wake me up scared just like this one did you.”
“You do?” Paul’s voice was so small Lorie barely heard him from where she stood by the door.
“Yeah, I do.” Clay took a deep breath a
nd Lorie knew he was trying to gather his nerves for whatever he was about to say. “When I was a little boy some very bad things happened to me. My mom’s job was, uh, dangerous, and one night she left and never came back. To be honest she wasn’t the nicest mom, but she was all I had and it made me really sad when she didn’t come back.” Clay paused and cleared his throat. Lorie could hear the emotion in his voice and her heart broke for him. Even though he was telling his story for Paul, who had a terrible past as well, it was obviously still difficult for him to talk about.
“What did you do?” Lorie was surprised to hear Paul’s voice. Looking back over to him she was glad to see that he had let the blanket fall down some and seemed to have scooted a little closer to Clay.
“Well, I didn’t do anything for a couple days, but I was so hungry and there was no food in our house. I snuck out to see if I could find my mom or something to eat. We lived in a pretty bad area and the only thing close by was a gas station. I was so hungry, but I didn’t have any money. I thought no one would mind if I only took something small, so I took a pack of crackers and as soon as I tucked them in my pocket the clerk came after me with a bat.”
“Oh no! Did he hit you?” Paul was definitely closer to Clay now and hanging onto his every word.
Clay shook his head. “No, he didn’t, but he did call the cops. When they found out about my mom they put me in a home with another family.” Clay stopped and wiped under his eyes.
Lorie was fighting to hold her own tears back, and when Paul reached up and put his hand on the one Clay was running under his eyes she lost the battle. “They weren’t nice?” Paul asked like he had some sixth sense that picked up on Clay’s pain.
“No, bud, they weren’t nice.” Clay took Paul’s hand in his and looked him in the eye.
“Did they hurt you?” Paul asked.
Clay took another deep breath, and this time he let the tears fall. “Yes, they did. The dad mostly. He hurt me pretty bad, and when I couldn’t take it anymore I ran away.”