“When you were born, you were so tiny, and you needed lots of help from the doctors,” Amber said.
“Remember we told you that you were born a little bit early?” Michelle asked.
Caleb nodded.
“I was so worried about you,” Amber said. “And when they finally let me hold you,” her voice cracked, “well, I just want you to know that I loved you very much.”
“Don’t be sad, Amber,” Caleb pleaded, looking very concerned.
She smiled through her tears. “I’m okay. Don’t worry.”
“Amber just wanted you to know how special you are to her, and that she loves you, too,” Michelle added. Steve caught her eye with a warning glance. “But, of course, we are always going to be your mom and dad,” she added, noticing Steve’s nod in response.
“So, it’s like she was my mom at first,” Caleb said, gesturing to Amber. “But you are my mom now.”
“Right,” Michelle replied.
“But I’ll always care about you, too,” Amber added.
“Okay. Cool,” he said, and all three of them smiled in response. “So do you want to go throw the baseball with me, now?” he asked her.
She looked at Michelle, who turned to Steve. He nodded his permission.
“Sure,” she said.
Caleb scooted off the couch and went over to her. He reached out his hand. “Come on.”
Michelle watched as a smile of joy spread across Amber’s face. Taking Caleb’s hand in hers, the two of them went outside.
Michelle and Steve scooted toward each other, filling in the gap where Caleb had been sitting. Steve took her hand in his. After a big sigh, Michelle said, “I think that went pretty well.”
“Me, too,” he replied, leaning over and giving her a kiss.
The feel of Caleb’s little hand in hers was a soothing balm to Amber’s heart. Flashing back to the feel of his tiny infant body in her arms and then looking down at his bobbing head beside her, she was so thankful that she hadn’t listened to Adam when he’d try to persuade her to have an abortion. What a loser Caleb’s biological dad had turned out to be. If only Chad could be here. Her throat tightened as a dark cloud covered her spirit.
“You stand there,” Caleb instructed her, letting go of her hand to walk across to the other side of the yard.
Shaking off her sorrow, Amber replied, “Yes, sir,” and forced a smile for him.
They threw the ball back and forth for a while, and then Caleb suggested they go inside and get some ice cream.
“Good idea,” Amber replied. “And Caleb?”
“Yeah?”
“I just want you to know one more thing.”
He stopped and looked at her seriously.
“If anything ever happens, and you need me, you just let me know. I’m older now than I was when you were born. I’m a grown up now, and I could be another mom to you if you ever needed that.”
He looked a little worried. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, like if something really bad ever happened and you needed somewhere to go, you could always come to be with me.”
Caleb just stared at her. “Like what?”
Amber realized she’d better be careful. “I’m not saying something bad will happen, Caleb. I’m just saying that if it ever does, I’m old enough to take care of you now.”
He seemed to think that over for a minute. “Okay,” he replied. “Let’s go get our ice cream.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Kelly was walking past Logan’s bedroom when she heard Caleb’s voice. “And she said I could come live with her anytime I want to.”
“Really? Where does she live?” Logan asked.
“In Arizona. It’s far away.”
Kelly froze. What is Amber up to? Is she trying to get Caleb back? Clearing her throat, she walked into the room. “What are you boys doing?” she asked.
“Just talking,” Logan replied.
“About what?”
The boys looked at each. “Nothing,” he replied. Then turning to Caleb, he said, “Come on. Let’s go outside.”
“Okay,” Caleb agreed. And the two of them walked out of the room.
I wonder if I should call Michelle. I’ll talk to Ben tonight and see what he says. She pulled her cell phone out of her jeans pocket and texted her husband. Ben often did pre-marital counseling on Thursday nights, but she’d forgotten to check with him to see if he’d be home late this particular Thursday.
R U working late tonight?
Till about 8. Why?
We need to talk about something.
Everything ok? I can cancel and come home at 5 if u need me.
No. 8 is good. Will have ur dinner ready.
Thx.
She sent him a heart icon and slipped the phone back into her pocket. She’d ask Luke what his plans were for the evening. Maybe he could keep an eye on the other kids while she and Ben went for a walk after he had his dinner.
Ben looked at the young couple sitting before him, their hands clasped and their faces eager with love and anticipation of their upcoming wedding. He flashed back to his own wedding and how breathtakingly beautiful Kelly had been as she seemed to float up the aisle in her sweeping lace gown. Pulling himself back to the moment, he asked, “Did you have any questions before we wrap up tonight’s session?”
The two glanced at each other and then both shook their heads. “I think we’re fine,” the groom replied.
“We’ll go through the next chapter over the weekend,” the bride promised as she patted the premarital workbook on her lap.
“Great,” Ben replied. Really take your time and talk about everything in that chapter carefully before we meet again. It’s about finances, and that’s an area that can cause a lot of issues in a marriage.”
“We will,” they chimed simultaneously and then laughed.
“Good,” Ben said, a smile on his face as well. “Let’s pray.” The three of them bowed their heads, and Ben asked God’s protection and guidance on this young couple as they launched into their lives as husband and wife. Then he stood, the two before him following suit. “See you next week.”
As they left, he glanced over his desk, picked up some study material he wanted to take home, and then flipped off the lights.
When he pulled up to their house, he found Luke and Logan shooting hoops. Parking at the curb, he shut off the engine and waved at the boys. A one-sentence prayer slipped silently from his spirit as he got out of the car. Help me focus on what’s important at home now, Lord.
“Hey, Dad,” Luke called in greeting.
“Hey,” he replied.
“Hi, Dad,” Logan piped in.
“Who’s winning?” Ben asked.
“Me!” Logan exclaimed. Then turning to Luke, he asked, “Right?”
“Right,” Luke replied, sending their dad a knowing smile.
“Wanna play?” Logan asked.
“I think I’ll head inside. I’m kind of hungry. But save me a game for Saturday morning, okay?”
Logan smiled and gave the thumbs up sign. “You got it, Dad,” he replied.
Ben grinned. We sure do have cute kids, he thought.
He found Kelly in the kitchen serving up his dinner. “I thought I heard your car,” she said as she placed a plate of spaghetti on the table. The smell of garlic bread filled the air as she pulled a small cookie sheet out of the oven and slipped two pieces onto the edge of his plate.
“Looks delicious,” he observed with a smile. Leaning down and giving her a quick kiss, he walked over to the sink to wash his hands.
“How was everything at church today?” she asked.
“Good. I’ve got my outline ready for Sunday. I dropped by the hospital this afternoon and spent some time with Charles Trent.”
“How’s he doing?”
“Seems better. I think they’re going to release him on Monday.” Ben sat down and bowed his head in a silent prayer of thanksgiving for his meal. Then he looked over at Kelly, who’
d joined him at the table, a cup of coffee in her hand. “So what did you want to talk to me about?” he asked.
Just then Liam and Lily came bursting into the room. “Tell her to give me my markers!” Liam commanded.
“Whoa there,” Ben said. “Hold everything.”
Both kids stopped in their tracks and looked at him seriously.
“First, that’s not how you talk to your mother,” he said sternly.
The twins looked at Kelly. “Sorry, Mom,” they said in unison.
Ben nodded. “That’s better. Now what’s the deal with the markers?”
Both kids burst into talking, each adamantly disputing the ownership of the box of markers in Lily’s hand.
“Okay. Time out,” Ben said, making a referee’s “T” out of his two hands.
“Lily, you go first,” he said.
Liam scowled silently.
“These are my markers, Daddy,” she said, holding them out to him. “See this?” she said as she pointed to a happy face on the bottom of the box.
Ben took the box and examined it. “Did your box have a happy face on it, Liam?”
The boy looked up out of the corner of his eye with a frown. He didn’t answer.
“I think these belong to your sister. Maybe she can help you find yours,” he suggested.
Liam eyed Lily suspiciously. She smiled at him. “Come on. Let’s go look in the art box,” she said, retrieving her markers from Ben.
“Good idea,” Ben replied, watching them scamper out of the room. Then he turned to Kelly. “Where were we?”
“You asked me what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Oh yeah. So what’s up?” he asked as he took a piece of the garlic bread and started scooping some spaghetti off his plate.
“I was actually thinking maybe we could go for a walk and talk about it,” she replied. “Luke will be here, so he can watch the kids.”
A noise from upstairs caught both of their attention. Ben started to push away from the table, but Kelly stopped him. “You eat,” she said. “I’ll go see what that’s about.”
By the time Kelly returned a few minutes later, Ben had finished dinner and was rinsing off his plate. “Everything okay up there?” he asked.
“Yeah. They knocked over the lamp by the art station in the playroom, but it didn’t break or anything. Lily found Liam’s markers in his backpack. So all’s well,” she added with a grin.
“Ready to go for that walk? I could use a little exercise,” he said as he patted his stomach.
They headed out the door, stopping to alert Luke of their departure. “Liam and Lily are drawing up at the art station,” Kelly said. “You might want to check on them in a few minutes.”
“Got it,” he replied before turning back to the basketball game.
“We’ve got some pretty great kids,” Ben said, taking Kelly’s hand in his.
“Yeah. We do,” she replied, giving his hand a squeeze.
Once they were out of earshot of Luke and Logan, Ben asked, “So what’s been on your mind all day?”
“It’s something I heard this morning,” she began. “I was walking past Logan’s room, and I heard Caleb telling him that Amber said he could go live with her anytime.”
“Really?” Ben asked. “She actually told him that?”
“Apparently. That’s what Caleb said, at least.”
Ben sighed. “Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea for them to let Amber tell Caleb she was his birth mother. Did he say anything else?”
“Logan asked where Amber lives, and Caleb told him Arizona.”
“Did you say anything to them about all this?” he asked.
“No. They didn’t know I heard it.”
“Did you call Michelle?”
“I thought about it, but then I decided to talk to you first. I don’t want to alarm her.”
He nodded. “Okay. I think I’ll talk to Logan first and find out the whole conversation. Then I’ll decide if I should talk to Steve.”
Kelly squeezed his hand again. “Thanks, honey. It might be better coming from you anyway.”
Ben slipped his hand out of hers and draped his arm over her shoulder, pulling her close. “This is nice,” he said softly.
“What?”
“Just the two of us taking a walk like this. We don’t get enough time alone together these days with everything going on at church and with the kids.”
She leaned into him. “Yeah. It’s not like the old days,” she added with a light tone of voice.
Ben felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him. “Do you wish it were?” he asked.
“What? Like the old days?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“Sometimes. I miss just being us. But I don’t have any regrets, if that’s what you mean. I love what you do, and the family we’ve built together.”
“We should set aside a date night every week. The kids are older now, and with Michelle and Steve nearby, there’s no reason we can’t get away for an evening once a week.”
“I’d love that,” Kelly replied.
As they approached the house again, Ben called out, “Hey, Logan, can we talk for a minute?”
Logan glanced over at Luke, who held out his hands for the ball. “I’m ready to go inside, anyway,” he said to his brother.
Logan tossed Luke the ball and walked over to where Kelly and Ben were standing. “Yeah, Dad?”
“Let’s go sit on the porch,” he replied. “I’ll be in, in a minute,” he said to Kelly, who took his cue and walked into the house.
The two of them sat down on the top step of the porch. “So I heard Caleb was over today.”
“Yeah.”
“What did you guys do?”
“We just messed around.”
“Mom said she heard you talking in your bedroom.”
Logan looked nervous. “So?”
“So what were you talking about?”
He hesitated and then answered. “Caleb was telling me some stuff about Amber.”
“Like what?”
“He said she’s his real mom, and that she wants him to go live with her.”
Ben rested his forearms on his knees and leaned down to make eye contact with his son. “You look a little worried.”
“Is she his real mom?”
“She’s his birth mother, Logan. But Michelle is his real mom. She’s the one who’s been his mother since right after he was born.”
Logan nodded. “That’s what I thought.”
“Did Caleb act like he wanted to go live with Amber?”
“He didn’t say. He just said she told him he could live with her anytime he wanted to.”
“Okay, that’s a little different than what you just told me. But either way, it’s still not right. Caleb can’t just go live with Amber anytime.”
“Really?” Logan sounded relieved.
“Really. There’s this thing called custody, and it means who gets to have a child live with them.”
“So do you and Mom have custody of us?”
Ben smiled. “I guess you could say that. It’s really not an issue when parents are married and live together. But when a child is adopted or if a child’s parents get divorced, then a court has to decide who gets custody—who gets to have that child live with him or her.” As he studied Logan’s face, he could see the confusion his son was experiencing.
“So it’s like my friend, Blake? He lives with his dad sometimes and his mom sometimes.”
“Exactly. It’s like that.”
“But Michelle and Steve have custody of Caleb? Not Amber?”
“Right.”
“So Amber can’t have him live with her?”
“No. She can’t.”
“Caleb thinks she can,” he said.
“Maybe he misunderstood something she said to him,” Ben suggested.
“I’ll tell him what you said, Dad.”
Ben hugged his son. “Don’t worry about it, champ. I’ll talk to Steve, and h
e can explain it to Caleb.”
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“If you and Mom get a divorce, will we have to live with you sometimes and with her sometimes, like Blake?”
Ben felt his heart ache at the very thought of that scenario. “Logan, that will never happen. Not ever. I promise.” And once again he pulled his son close.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Steve and Michelle were sitting alone in the living room watching the news when Steve’s phone began to vibrate. “Wonder who’s calling this late,” Michelle said.
Steve looked over at the clock. 10:30. Glancing down at the screen, he replied, “Ben.”
“I hope nothing’s wrong,” she said.
Steve hit the ‘accept call’ button. “Hey Ben. Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Sorry to be calling so late,” he began, “but I wanted to catch you after Caleb was in bed. Are you alone?”
Steve sat upright and leaned forward, feeling the tension begin in his shoulders. “Michelle’s with me. Why?”
“Not Amber?”
“No. She’s upstairs with Madison.”
“Okay. Good. I need to talk to you about something Caleb said to Logan today.”
Steve glanced over at Michelle. Her face looked concerned. He placed his hand over the phone and said, “It’s about Caleb. Something he said to Logan.”
She nodded and moved closer to him, hitting the mute button on the remote control for the television.
“Go ahead, Ben,” Steve said.
“Well, Kelly overheard them talking about Amber this morning, so I questioned Logan for the details when I got home. Apparently, Amber told Caleb that he can come and live with her anytime he wants.”
“You’re kidding,” Steve said, feeling his blood pressure rising.
“That’s what he told Logan.”
“I can’t believe that girl,” Steve said incredulously.
“I thought you should know,” Ben replied.
“What’s going on?” Michelle asked, placing her hand on Steve’s arm.
“Hold on, Ben,” he said. Then he turned to her and explained the situation. Her expression matched his emotions completely.
Around the Bend (Sandy Cove Series Book 4) Page 12