chapter 85

word count: 1554

john and lisa had been so thoroughly engaged in planning their future together, that they hadn’t even noticed it took elliot nearly twenty minutes to ‘go to the bathroom’.. in fact as elliot slipped back into his chair in the hospital cafeteria he couldn’t help but wonder whether or not they had even noticed that he had been gone at all..

as they sat there hand in hand,, eyes blinded to everything accept each others existence, elliot shifted uneasily in his chair, waved his hand in front of their faces, as if to break their gaze,, and said, “hello!!!”

john shook off his preponderance with lisa long enough to ask “so what’s up buddy?? you wanna get something to eat??”

“i want a milkshake and some fries.” elliot stated flatly.

“sounds good.. umm yeah,, think i’ll have the same.. how about you lisa??”

“just a cup of black coffee for me.” lisa fidgeted uncomfortably in her chair.. “erik is gonna be home from school in less than an hour,, and i’ll have to fix him something to eat then, so i better not have anything now..”

“i’ve got an idea,” john said as he peered longingly at lisa from just under his brow, “how about if we pick erik up,, and the four of us go out and get a real dinner?” 

“i want a shake and some fries!” elliot demanded.. 

“well, i don’t want to start any trouble..” said lisa meekly as she peered back lovingly at john.. 

“ok.. so elliot wants a shake and some fries.. how about if we pick erik up,, and the four of us go to steak and shake?? then elliot can have his shake and some fries,, and the rest of us can have a nice dinner and talk.. seems the four of us have a lot to talk about.”

“i want a shake and some fries,, now!!” elliot exclaimed,, putting much emphasis on the word ‘now’..

john looked sternly at elliot.. what he saw before him was a budding young tyrant.. a little boy that was used to having to demand what he wanted,, and had no concept of what it meant to act as a part of a family.. how could he?? he had lived his entire life in spite of trudy.. in spite of her drinking,, her flamboyant sexual escapades,, her forever putting elliot on the back burner as she clawed and scratched her way through man after man trying to find someone that would make her happy.. ‘her’, john thought to himself.. everything had always been about her.. 

“el, lisa and i have something very important to talk to you and erik about.. i am not disregarding your feelings,, i know you want a shake and some fries,, and you will get them.. but you will get them after we have picked up erik, and when the four of us are together at the steak and shake,, so lisa and i can share with you and erik some of the things we have been talking about here..”

elliot snarled at john, let out a disgusted sigh,, and jumped to his feet. “fine.”

“alrighty then,, i guess that has been decided.” said john with a lilt in his voice, grateful elliot had not put up more of a fuss.. it was a small victory,, a very small victory,, but it was a start. 

“so what do you say young lady? will you accompany me to the car?” john stood and extended a gallant hand toward lisa,, who immediately placed her hand in his.. 

“my pleasure.” she answered with a smile.. 

as elliot stomped across the cafeteria,, john slid his arm around lisa and said, “it’s not gonna be easy, you know that don’t you?”

“i know.” lisa replied. “but in the end,, i think it is all gonna be worth it!!”

they shared a quick peck on the lips,, as they followed a still stomping elliot out to the parking lot.

***

it wasn’t long after elliot had dropped the bomb on him about possibly poisoning his own mother,, that a lady in a business suit showed up in adam’s room.. she introduced herself as adrian beaumont,, and explained that she was from child protective services.. 

she continued to talk,, but adam was so lost in thought he only caught a few of the words.. custody. court. protection..until further notice.. 

“so you see adam,, you and i are going to spending a lot of time together between now and the trial.. i will be with you every step of the way,, so you can rest assured you will never be alone..”

adam realized now that he must have missed something very important.. “what trial?”

ms. beaumont gave him a rather puzzled look,, but proceeded to patiently explain it all to him again,, realizing this was a lot for anyone to grasp,, especially a seven year old boy..

“well, the court has decided that it has enough evidence against you to proceed with a juvenile hearing in order to determine whether or not it was you that put the oleander in the mayonnaise. the oleander that sickened your mother, your….”

“i did it!! i did it!!” adam cried out.. 

“but i never meant to hurt my mom!! did i hurt my mom?? i gotta know!!”

“i am afraid i cannot answer that at this time.. that is for the court to decide.. my primary duty here is to see that you are kept safe and are well taken care of while the court proceedings are under way..” ms. beaumont stated.

adam buried his face in his pillow to muffle his sobs..

ms. beaumont reached out and gently stroked his hair..

“now, now,, everything is gonna be alright. we’ll get thru this together..” she whispered as she tried comforting him..  

“no it’s not.” sobbed adam..

“nothing is ever gonna be alright again!”

ms. beaumont took a seat at the side of adam’s bed.. she sat in silence,, as adam cried out all of his guilt and frustrations.. although she wished there was something she could do for the boy,, she knew in her heart that there wasn’t... adam’s  little world was about to be changed forever,, and he was right,, nothing would ever be alright again..

***

john stopped by the house,, to let lisa pick up her car.. he would follow her over to her apartment,, and there they would wait for erik’s bus.. a thick silence permeated the car as he and elliot drove to lisa's.. he wanted to just spill it all out to elliot.. he wanted to let him know that he had his best interests at heart.. that he really believed the four of them could become a real family.. the kind of family elliot had never had,, but surely the kind of family every little boy would want.. but instead,, he allowed the silence to carry them all the way to lisa’s apartment.. 

‘better wait,’ john thought to himself..  better wait till he had lisa by his side,, and together they would do their best to ease the two boys into their plans.. 

johns heart skipped a beat as the thought of having lisa beside him rushed over him like a breath of fresh air.. sure,, there was still trudy to contend with,, but even that paled in comparison to the joy he knew lisa would bring to this life.. 

as they pulled up into the visitor parking at lisa’s complex,, the bus was just pulling up.. john and elliot sat in silence,, as lisa approached erik and evidently explained to him they were going out to eat with john and elliot.. john couldn’t help but wonder how erik was gonna take the news.. 

as a less than enthusiastic erik approached the car,, a flush of confusion washed over john.. he knew this was the right step for him,, and for lisa.. but suppose they couldn’t convince the boys.. suppose…

‘no!’ john admonished himself. ‘it’s gonna work out.. it has to work out..’

with that, lisa opened the door to the car. “you guys remember my son erik, right?? erik,, this is john,, and that little guy in the back is elliot. i have a feeling you two are gonna become great friends!” she said as she settled into the front seat and erik stiffly sat down in the back.. 

a glance passed between him and elliot.. neither spoke,, but it was evident they were sizing each other up.. 

“alrighty then!!” john exclaimed, “let’s get this party started!!” he reached over and squeezed lisa’s hand,, as he pulled the car out of the parking lot.. the feel of her flesh against his gave him all the courage he needed.. touching  lisa made him feel like a man.. something trudy had stolen from him,, or maybe he had sold it to her in exchange for some amazing sex.. 

either way,, it didn’t matter anymore.. that chapter of his life was quickly coming to  close.. he was ready to move on,, ready to be happy,, and more than anything he was bound and determined to take elliot with him.. 

as they turned into the parking lot of the steak and shake,, elliot broke the painful silence between the two boys.

“i’m gettin’ a shake and some fries.. what are you gettin’?”