The need.

~Chapter 72~

"Thank you, Mrs. Grey, for letting me come over," Emma said as she looks up from her cookie she was frosting. I give her a smile.

"Of course." Maria looks at me and Emma. Emma was 18 with beautiful brown hair and golden eyes. She was taller than Maria and her smile was soft. She looked like a younger version of Maria. 

"Where is Mr. Grey?" Emma asked. I was about to reply when I heard his voice down the hall talking to somebody. Freya smiles. 

"Usually when you mention him he shows up." Emma laughs. I turn to the door as Shane walks in. His eyes go to mine and his smiles instantly. 

"How are you doing today beautiful?" I let out a heavy breath. 

"Much better now that you are home." He smiles. His eyes go behind me and he smiles. 

"You must be Emma? It's nice to finally meet you." She smiles at him as her cheeks go a shade of pink. 

"It's nice to meet you too." I giggle as Shane places his hand on my side. Maria stands up as the oven goes off. 

"Sit back down. I got it." Shane says. She opened her mouth to protest as he walks over to it. I watch him as he takes out the last batch of cookies. He turns around and sets them on the counter and looks at me. "What?" I shake my head. 

"It's weird to see you in the kitchen not eating." He scuffs as he walks over to me and picks up the heart-shaped cookie I was decorating. He takes a bite. 

"Better?" I roll my eyes at him. 

"I wasn't done with it." He sets the rest of it in front of me. 

"Go ahead and finish. I'll wait." I look at the cookie and back at him. 

"You can eat it now." He smiles as he picks it up again. 

"Thank you for the offering." I shake my head. 

"You're welcome." Emma started laughing causing Freya and Maria too. He smiles. 

"These cookies are amazing." He said as he walked to the fridge. 

"They are mamas recipe," Emma said. He looks at Maria. 

"Really?" Maria nods. 

"Yes, sir." He smiles. 

"Very delicious." 

"Thank you, sir." Freya looks at me and I look at her. I look down at my hands and clear my throat. 

"Excuse me while I go use the restroom," I said standing up. They all looked at me as I walked out of the room. I walk down the hallway and past the front door. I was about to walk into the next room as the door opens. 

"Mike go into the gym until I talk to Shane. I don't want Lola seeing you until Shane says so." I heard Derek say as he walked through the door. I watch an older man walk in behind him. He was skinny like he hadn't eaten in days and he had bags under his eyes. His blue eyes looked like they lost a bit of color and his brown hair was partly wet. He wore jeans with a plain black t-shirt. He didn't look any different from the photos I had seen other than the grey hair and the age lines. My heart dropped as I looked him up and down. I took a deep breath. Derek turns to me. "Shit." Mike looked at me and his eyes went soft. My mouth went dry as tears pilled up. I look down at my hands to see flour on it. I wipe it with my other hand which didn't do anything. I started to breathe heavily. Derek grabbed my hands and covered them. "Walk with me." His voice was soft but filled with panic. He finds a sink somewhere and helps me wash them. I watch as the flour runs down the drain leaving me with a small sigh. "I thought you were over this?" 

"So did I." I breathed. He turns off the water and I look at my hands. He grabs a hand towel and hands it to me. I glance behind him to see Mike looking at me confused. 

"You weren't supposed to know he was here until I talked to Shane." I look at him. 

"Shane said three days. It's only been two." He nods. 

"He showed up early." I close my eyes. 

"What's going on?" I hear. I turn to see Adam. He looked at me and Mike. 

"Adam will you go get Shane?" Derek asked. Mike looked at him. 

"Adam?" Adam looked at him confused. 

"Do I know you?" Mike looked at him for a while. 

"Adam this is Mike. Our father." Adam looked at me and back at Mike. He clenched his fists. 

"Yeah, I think I'll go get Shane." He breathed. Mike looked down as Adam walked out of the room. 

"I thought he was dead." Mike breathed. I crossed my arms. 

"That's what happens when you give away your kid to a mad man." He swallows harshly as he looks at me. 

"I'm so sorry." I shake my head. 

"You don't get to apologize." He nods. 

"I know." Shane walks into the room and looks at Mike and back at me. 

"Are you okay, Lola?" he asked as he walks up to me. I nod. 

"I will be." He searches my eyes and I look away. I clear my throat. "I'm going to go to the kitchen and have Maria take Emma home." 

"She already left. Her husband called." I nod. Freya comes around the corner and watches us. I look at her. 

"I think we should give them a minute." She said softly. Derek and Adam look at her. Shane sighs. I look at Mike who looks unsure. 

"I don't want to be alone with him," I whisper. Shane nods. 

"Adam will be with you." I look at him. Adam looks at me and nods. 

"I will." I nod. Shane nods for Derek to follow him and I turn away from Mikes's gaze. I walk into the living room and sit on the only chair in here. Adam waits for Mike to make a move towards the living room before coming in and leaning on the wall.