Found Family

Chapter 4 - Panic and Fluff

Next Day

I woke up and got ready, rushing to get to work. At work everything went smoothly until around 5 pm. I was packing up so I could leave the office and get home to the boys. I had left them with Lucy today because of my crazy schedule and Mark had the day off today. Normally I would be more worried but Jason, a member of my security team had filled in for Mark and I trusted him to take care of things. But when I was in the elevator heading down to the parking garage for my car Lucy called. I answered my phone and heard crying in the background, I immediately went into protective mode asking, "Lucy, report."

"Nolan is crying and none of us know why!"

"Okay, I need you to calm down and put Nolan on the phone."

"Okay... okay, I'm calm. Here's Nolan."

I heard the cries get louder as she brought the phone closer to him. I listened as she explained that I was on the phone and wanted to talk to him. His cries immediately calmed down to sniffles. I heard her hand the phone off and began speaking in a cheerful voice "Hi buddy! I'm on my way home now, are you okay?"

I heard him go to the text app and he typed 'I okay now.'

"Okay buddy. Be good for Lucy. I'll be home in ten minutes. Can you hand the phone back to Lucy for me?"

He handed it back and I spoke quickly to Lucy, "I'm coming home now. I'll be there in 10 tops. If Nolan starts crying again, call me."

I hung up before she could respond and raced home. I entered the house and found Nolan sitting on the floor next to the door. I walked right up to him and opened my arms for a hug. He leaped up and jumped into my arms, he snuggled into my shoulder while I walked to the kitchen to find Lucy. She moved around the kitchen fluidly, making dinner. I smiled at her headphones, knowing she loved to listen to music while she cooked. I let her be and went to find the boys. I found Liam in the living room with the Tv on, watching 'Finding Nemo'. He heard my heels as I walked in and jumped up giving me a hug. I hugged him with one arm as the other held Nolan. I smiled and said "Dinner will probably be ready once your movie is over, okay? And then after we are going to have a family meeting, sounds good?"

He nodded without letting go of my middle as he hugged me. I ruffled his hair and he glared up at me playfully. I let go of him and went to find Griffin and Wren. I found both in Griffin's room sitting on his bed reading. I cleared my throat and remained in the doorway to give them some space. I knew the younger two liked me but was still unsure how the older two would respond to these changes. They looked up at the same time and Wren just looked at Nolan in my arms with a small smile on his face. Griffin spoke first in a cool tone saying "Thank you for calming Nolan down."

I responded, "That's my job. You're all family to me now, it depends on if you want me to be your family too. Speaking of which, after dinner I would like to have a family meeting. I want to discuss some changes that will be occurring in the near future."

They both nodded solemnly. With that done I walked to my office and sat down at my computer with one arm still wrapped around Nolan. And we stayed that way for the next hour as I answered some calls. I held onto him and he curled into me, occasionally I would rub his back. When I did he got tense like expecting a hit, before he relaxed into the touch. I smiled slightly at this, glad that he was trusting me, even if for a little bit. Once I was done with my calls I walked downstairs and found dinner done and served. I whispered to Nolan "Would you like to sit in your own chair for dinner?"

He shook his head 'no' and I sat in my chair with him on my lap. We ate dinner without much talk beyond the basic 'How was your day?' After we had all eaten I told the boys to watch Tv in the basement while I made hot cocoa. Once I was done I went down to the basement to find the boys watching 'Tangled'. Wren paused the movie when he saw me come down and they each took a mug of the chocolate goodness. The boys sat down on the large brown couch and I sat on a chair across from them. I started the conversation saying "I'm sorry I was gone for so long today. I'm afraid I had several pressing calls and new hires to take care of. I will try to stay at home on the weekends however, today I had more work than usual. However, during the week I will be gone from 7 am to 5 pm, but if you need me at any time just have Lucy or Mark call me."