Without a Clue {Diall}

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Dedicated Boy

           

Chapter thirty-seven word count: 5387 words

I never meant to put Grayson in harm's way. I'd die before I'd ever let anything happen to my son. Hell, Niall and I would sacrifice ourselves any day to keep Grayson safe, happy, and loved. I don't even get an entire day with Niall before something dramatic happens just like it always does. I just want one day with my boys. I want one day where nothing bad happens; a day to just have them near me and safe and completely happy. We have them sometimes, but life is not all shits and giggles and a lot of the time the day isn't perfect. Even average days are better than today, though.

Everything's fine until the late afternoon despite Niall's rough start to the day. My phone rings while Niall's in the living room with Grayson. I don't know exactly what they're doing, but I think they may be building homes for G's new dinosaur out of the couch pillows and cushions. Nonetheless, I watch them from the kitchen as I clean up a bit, the counters still a little dirty from breakfast this morning. My stomach instantly tumbles at the name on the screen: Lisa Houge. Part of me just wants to ignore the call, but I know I can't. That's not fair to her. I don't blame her for wanting to see Grayson; G is the most amazing kid on the planet and I can't imagine anyone that has any sort of claim to him would choose to ignore the tiny boy. That doesn't make this situation any easier, though. I answer the phone and hold it up to my ear, hoping for Lisa to just tell me she's made a mistake and she really doesn't want to see Grayson after-all. That's not what she says.

"—so, yeah, we're heading back tonight so I thought I'd just check and see if the little lad is feelin' any better." She rattles off after her greeting, but I'm not sold. Niall's here now and I would have talked to him about this already if I'd had him home for longer. Niall's conveniently walking into the kitchen, though, green sippy cup in his hand as he walks to the fridge to evidently fill it with more water for Grayson.

"Hey, Niall?" I grab his attention after telling Lisa to wait a moment while I 'check on G', "You got a mo'?" Niall nods and comes over towards me, a curious glance etched into his features. He furrows his brows and points to my phone before mouthing out a 'who is it?'

"It's Mallory's mom." I whisper so she won't hear me over the phone. I'm not expecting what happens next. Niall's face hardens immediately and he holds out a hand towards me, jaw clenched tightly.

"Give me the phone." Niall says, voice maybe a bit louder than normal, definitely not a whisper anymore. His tone is commanding, angry almost, and it scares me. I hand him my phone as quickly as I can without any question to it.

"You've got real fucking nerve, you know that? Don't you know what a restraining order is? Don't ever fucking call Demi again. This is so pathetic, honestly. What did you think would happen? Did you think I wouldn't find out? You're a fucking psychopath and my lawyer's going to hear about this. Goodbye—yeah, fuck you too." Niall pulls the phone down from his ear, and I'm speechless. He's looking at me then, and the anger in his features immediately makes me squirm. I know Niall's going to be angry with me and I can hardly breathe. I feel so fucking bad and so fucking stupid. Mallory's mom and Niall obviously aren't anywhere close to civil and did Niall just say that he has a restraining order against her? Oh my god. What if G's the one with the restraining order against her? What if this lady is literally insane and I was actually considering letting her see my son?

I'm not really paying attention when I feel Niall's hand against my arm and I flinch, pulling away from him softly. My brain is simply screaming at me to run away, to hide so he can't hurt me, while another part is screaming that Niall's never done that and he never will.