Love Me Chapter 22

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None of the characters are based on real people nor are they meant to resemble any living or dead people.

This story contains some adult language as well as sex, or some hints of sex. I cannot promise that there will be sex in each chapter, but if you find my writing to be offensive or distasteful in any way, you're visiting the wrong website and need to move on.

Love Me

Chapter 22

CPS Visit

Yesterday, the household celebrated the end of the school year. Riley had friends over for pizza and fun. For Riley, it is an incredible day filled with joy and planning out the summer. For Caden and Jared, it means trying to figure out what to do with Riley during the summer. For Ryan, it means graduation is not too far off. It's just one day away, which excites Ryan, and it makes Riley happy too. For Riley, when the new school year starts, he will be a junior. During their time outside, Collin, Jared, and Riley were in the front yard when Riley lost his balance while playing basketball with Collin and Jared. This is what happened, The basketball thrown by Riley bounced off the hoop and came towards Collin. Jared stepped up to block the ball from hitting Collin, and when he reached out with a hand, he came close to hitting Riley. It startles Riley causing him to fall. Riley still has issues with his balance, and because of that, he has had a couple of falls lately. The results of these falls are two very dark bruises. Riley is in shorts, so his bruises stand out.

***

Sometimes, people see things that aren't there. It seems that someone passed by and saw the bruises and, without knowing Riley, jumped to the conclusion. The stranger assumed that the bruises were caused by abuse. If the teen was being abused, then certainly the younger child is being abused. They write down the address and describe the teen that they believe is being hurt someone within the house. He doesn't mean to cause any strife, but he feels reporting this "abuse" is important. Important because no child should ever be abused. He finds a place where he can safely pull over and calls CPS to make the report. He's doing the right thing in his mind, and honestly, he is doing the right thing.

***

The next day around 10 in the morning, there is a knock at the door that halts Jared's work. Jared opens the door to see a woman standing there. She is dressed like she means business, holding a manilla folder, and her overall body language looks like she means business.

"Hi, I'm Maxine Synder from Child Protective Services."

She says, pulling out her wallet. Jared isn't just going to take her word for it.

"No offense, but I would like to see some form of identification."

She doesn't take offense to his request and quickly pulls out her id for him to see. Confirming the id, Jared welcomes her into the house. Jared invites the woman to sit down in the living room.

"Now, how can I help you?"

Jared asks her, wanting to get to the bottom of the problem. She opens her folder, scans its content, and then looks back at Jared.

"I'm not here to be social, sir. I believe there is a teenage male and little boy that live here. I need to see them one at a time and talk to them without interruption."

Caden didn't mention anything about CPS coming to visit, so what in the heck is going on here.

"Sorry to say it, but your information is wrong. We don't have a little boy living here. We do have a teenager living here."

Her face becomes serious. It's like she doesn't believe him.

"The little boy that was here yesterday doesn't live here?"

She is asking to make sure that the information is correct in her notes.

"No, we were having a party at the house. I can go upstairs and get him for you."

She nods her head.

"Just one second before you head upstairs, what is his name?"

She doesn't have his name on her records yet.

"His name is Riley Bishop."

She writes down his first and last name in her notes. Jared hasn't headed up the stairs yet; he's waiting to see if she had any more questions.

"Can you please go upstairs and have him come downstairs?"

Jared heads up to get Riley from his room. As he leaves the room, Maxine starts to write down notes.

"The teen's name is Riley Bishop. The young boy that was spotted by the reporter doesn't live here. The house is huge and spotless. The adult who answered the door has been very kind of cooperative with me."

Jared comes down the stairs, followed by Riley. She watches with great interest as the teen descends the staircase. She notices the man is staying close by the teen for some reason. Course, he's close by in case Riley needs him to assist or in case he needs to catch Riley. When the two guys get to the bottom of the stairs, she notices Riley walks as if he has a disability. She makes sure to add a note in her folder about the way that Riley is walking. As she is making notes, Caden walks in through the front door.

"Hey, Jared, who's car is in the driveway?"

Jared looks at him, and he has a serious look on his face.

"Caden, this is Maxine Synder from CPS. Maxine Synder, this is Caden Bishop; Riley's older brother and his guardian."

Caden is very concerned.

"CPS?"

Maxine turns and looks at Caden.

"Yes, I was just about to question your brother when you walked into the house."

Caden isn't sure why she is here, but he decides to run upstairs and get the hospital's paperwork and the courts.

"I'm going to ask that you hold off talking to him until I get back. I want to grab some paperwork that may answer some of your questions."

She isn't happy about his request, but she is interested in whatever information might be in the papers. He walks upstairs to get Riley's medical file and then returns to the living room. Caden is gone for just a couple of minutes.

"Here, this Riley's medical file and his court files."

He hands Maxine the files, and she spends a few minutes scanning each page. She remembers hearing about this case on the news. It wasn't her case, though. As she is looking at the medical information and the court papers, she gets a bit emotional.

"When he was in the hospital, was there a social worker assigned to him?"

Caden thinks for a minute.

"It was Linda Moore; I believe she put her notes into the paperwork if I'm not mistaken."

She hands the file back to Caden.

He flips through the pages until he finds the information from Ms. Moore. It's on the third page of the material. He hands back the paperwork and then feels that she needs an explanation about him.

"Ms. Synder, I wanted to talk to you about my brother for a second. Our father attacked my brother. Our father punched Riley after coming out to our mom and him. He was hit so hard that his head bounced off the hardwood floors, and was knocked off unconscious. Our father carried him outside and dropped him along the sidewalk. Riley wasn't breathing when a passerby found him. Riley's sustained a traumatic brain injury from that attack. It affected his memory; he had to learn to do somethings all over again. He still has memory issues, and he doesn't walk very well at times. It's the reason why he has bruises. I just thought you should know.

Caden and Jared get up and walk into the dining room. Caden watches with much interest in the activity in the living room. Maxine is reading over the papers that Caden gave her. She stands up and walks over to Caden and Jared.

"I am going to make copies of this information, and I will return it when I am done with them."

Caden just wants her to leave the house.

"Sounds good."

Caden says in response to the comment from the CPS agent. She then returns to Riley. Once she is back in the living room, there is only one thing left to do. Maxine has to question Riley to see if his story connects with what his brother said to her.

"Riley, my name is Mrs. Synder, and I would like to ask you some questions about the bruises on your legs. Did your brother or his boyfriend hit you or kick you?"

She might have come off as lovely and kind, but don't let her sweet attitude fool you. Maxine will surprise at every turn.

"No, they...they...would never hit...me."

Her question caught Riley off guard, and it also made him a little upset.

"Did they allow the kid that was over yesterday to hit you?"

Again, she threw the guys under the bus.

"Collin...is...my friend. He...wouldn't...wouldn't...do...that."

She writes down his responses in her notes. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong in the house.

"Riley, I need to visit with Collin, so I'm going to go, BUT if I find out that someone isn't telling me the truth, I will be back, and then I can figure out what to do from there."

She stands up and approaches Caden and Jared.

"I appreciate the fact that you were polite to me. Thank you for allowing me to talk to you. I may be back if I find something that doesn't add up when I visit Collin's house."

Caden feels sorry for Riley and Collin. He wonders if he needs to warn Ian and Trace about the impending visit. He feels that he needs to call them. Caden opens the front door for Maxine and watches as she goes to her car.

"Is...she...taking...me?"

Jared can see the fear in his boyfriend's brother's eyes. He needs to be reassured that nothing is going to happen to him.

"You are not going anywhere, okay?"

Jared says to Riley.

"Riley, you can go back upstairs, buddy."

Riley smiles at his brother as he returns to his room. He wanted to get back to what he was doing before Maxine pulled him away from his place.

***

Maxine Synder is sitting in her car looking over her notes from the short interview with Riley, speaking with the teen, and the information that Riley's brother gave her. She puts Collin's address into her phone and then drives out to the house. She doesn't want to call the home ahead of time so that no one can leave the house to avoid questioning. Maxine likes to stick to her schedule, and today she has two house visits. One visit is already done, and she has one more to do. Once the visits are over, then the paperwork begins. She pulls out of the driveway and heads out to her second destination of the day.

***

Caden waits till she is out of the driveway; she closes the door and walks downstairs to the bathroom called Ian. It doesn't take long for Ian to answer the phone.

"Caden, what's up, man?"

Caden doesn't even want to tell him what's going on, but he thinks he had better tell him.

"We just had an exciting visit from CPS. She was interested in the bruises on my brother's legs. She also wanted to interview Collin, and she is on her way to your place right now."

Ian is silent for a second and then says.

"What the heck are you serious?"

Caden is deadly serious at the moment.

"I'm dead serious."

Ian has to ask about the big man.

"Is Riley okay?"

Ian asks because he is worried that Riley might be overly upset.

"Well, he asked to go to his room, and he didn't look thrilled at all during the interviews.

Caden doesn't think that his brother is overly upset. Riley is upstairs stewing a little bit.

"I think under the circumstances, I am going to let you go and call my hubby."

Ian doesn't want to be alone with the woman.

"Okay, Ian, I will let you go."

Ian immediately hangs up with Caden to make his call.

***

Before Ian could call Trace, a car pulls into the driveway. A car door can be heard, and it doesn't take long for someone to knock at the door. Blake races down to answer the door, but Ian stops him.

"Don't answer that, Blake! I want you to get your brother into the living room, and then you can go back upstairs. We have a special visitor."

Blake isn't sure that he wants to know who is here to see his little brother. Listening to his dad, he heads upstairs to get his brother. Ian opens the door and sees Ms. Synder standing there with her identification already out to show whatever adult might come to the door.

"Good afternoon, I'm Maxine Synder from CPS. I'm here to investigate some bruises on the legs of a young man named Riley. Your son, Collin, was over at Riley's house yesterday, and I would like to speak with you as well as your son."

Ian welcomes her into the house and takes her into the living room, where Collin is already waiting for them. Maxine takes out her notebook to ask questions that she wrote down in her notebook after speaking with Riley.

"You can stay in the room with Collin while I talk to him, but I ask that you don't interfere in the interview."

Maxine says to Ian.

"Okay, thank you."

Ian tells her as he begins working on the dishes leftover from breakfast. She smiles as she watches Ian going about work in the kitchen.

"Hi Collin, my name is Maxine. I would like to talk to you about your visit with Riley yesterday. Is that okay?"

Collin studies her face for a second or two.

"Are you the police like my daddy?"

Collin asks the woman in front of him.

"No, I am not a police officer, but I sometimes work with the police."

She is getting a little impatient with the little boy, but she doesn't show it.

"So, is it okay if I talk to you about visiting Riley's house?"

Collin nods his head.

"Thank you! Did you play outside in the front yard yesterday with Riley?"

She asked him.

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun."

She wants to make him feel comfortable, so she smiles at him with a bright smile.

"I'm glad that you had fun. Collin, did you see anyone hit Riley?"

Collin thinks back to yesterday, but he doesn't remember anyone laying their hands-on Riley.

"No, no one hit my friend."

Again, she smiled at the boy.

"What did you play?"

For whatever reason, Ian doesn't like her questioning. It feels like she is trying to dig for the truth. Why not just come out and ask what you need to know. The truth is coming out. Ian is proud of his son for being brave and not coming up with lies. Trace would be so proud.

"We played basketball."

She immediately followed that with another question.

"Did Riley fall playing basketball?"

Again, Collin became serious for a second.

"Yeah, but he got back up."

The CPS worker didn't pick up the little boy's attitude, but Ian picked it up right away. She pauses her questions so she can add more notes in her notebook. Ian has been very careful not to say anything to Collin or to even look at Collin, so he doesn't influence a question.

"I'm going to pee."

Collin says as he gets off the chair.

"Can you finish talking to me first?"

Maxine says as she looks at Collin.

"No, I have to pee."

She looks at Ian, hoping that he would step in, but she didn't get what she wanted.

"Please, I have two hours of paperwork in front of me, and I need to finish this interview. I have four more questions."

Ian is not about to keep his kid from using the bathroom. He's tried, and it's not worked out for him. It usually results in a mess that has to be cleaned up.

"He's going to use the bathroom, so I don't want to clean up the mess, and neither do you."

She looks at him in complete disbelief. Ian quickly texts his husband.

"Trace, a CPS agent is here questioning Collin about his visit with Riley yesterday. Are you in the area?" She tried to convince me to keep Collin from using the bathroom. I may have told her that I expected her to clean it up if she kept him from using the toilet. Don't worry; I was not about to stop him from going."

Luckily, Trace is just a few blocks away, so he agrees to come to take a break. Trace texts back to Ian right away.

"I'll be right there."

Maxine didn't take too kindly to Ian's words.

"I'm sorry, but are you threatening me?"

Ian shakes his head.

"No, but my son needs to use the bathroom. I am not going to stop him from going to the bathroom. If you insist that he stay sitting here, then yeah, you can deal with the smell of urine sitting next to you, and besides that, you wanted me to not interfere in your interview, so I'm not."

She is not happy and is about to leave some ugly notes in her file when Trace and his partner knock at the door. Ian walks away, but she follows him to see who might be at the door. Ian opens the doors, and Maxine sees two police officers.]

"Hi, Ian, what's going on?"

She gives the officers a questioning look.

"You know him?"

She asks an older looking officer.

"Yeah, that is my husband, and this guy is my work husband."

Trace says, pointing to Ian and then to his partner.

"Is there a problem?"

Trace's partner asks both the adults sitting in the house. Trace looks at Maxine, then looks at Ian.

"He threatened me."

Maxine claims. Trace looks at his husband, knowing that Ian will be honest.

"She was questioning Collin about his visit with Riley, basically grilling him about Riley being hit or kicked by Caden or Jared. Collin was awesome. He answered all her questions honestly, and then he needed to go pee. She wanted him to wait to use the bathroom until she was done with her interview. I know he needs to use the bathroom, or you know what's going to happen. I told her that I wasn't going to clean up the mess if he peed himself. Then she said that I threatened her."

Trace looks at his husband and gives him a nod.

"Is that what happened?"

Trace asks the CPS agent.

"Yes!"

She gets the feeling that maybe asking Collin to hold off using the bathroom was wrong.

"I apologize to you for my comment."

Ian says to the woman.

"Thank you!"

It's all that she can say. She walks away and starts to write in her notes. Course, she leaves out the part where she asked Ian to keep Collin from using the bathroom. She wants to escape the house, knowing that her request might be reported to her manager.

"I'm sorry for my actions."

She sincerely tells both Trace and Ian. Giving an apology is one way for her to get out of trouble.

***

Maxine decides she needs to leave the house. Her first part of the paperwork is already filled out. She also realizes that there isn't anything else to be gained from interviewing Collin. She excuses herself and is escorted to the door by Ian. She opens the door and walks out to her car. Luckily, Trace's squad car isn't blocking her car so that she can leave. She wants to wrap all of this up, so she can return to the office to wrap things up.

***

She gets into her office and works on some paperwork before getting called into her boss's office.

"Maxine, I see you faxed me your latest paperwork. Thank you for that, but did you question the kid at the other family house? I could tell from the paperwork from the hospital that Riley's bruises were not from abuse. There shouldn't have been a reason to investigate any further. Was there something that you didn't put into your report that might warrant a reason to investigate Collin as well?"

Maxine isn't like the way this interview is going. Her boss is roasting her over an open fire at the moment.

"I felt that one of the boyfriends was hiding something from me during the interview."

Her boss looks over the notes that Maxine sent in and frowns.

"It must have been something in his body language, something that isn't in your notes."

Her boss just wants some reasoning behind her investigation over at Collin's house. Right now, she wants her employee to figure out what went wrong.

"I want this case closed if you haven't done it yet.

The case is closed, so it might not be showing up at the boss's end.

"I closed the case just before you called into your office."

Her boss smiles at the news.

"Finish your paperwork, and I want you to visit the teen household and return their paperwork to them."

Maxine nods her head.

"I will."

She promises to revisit Riley's house. Maxine has had other problems at work, and her boss is very much aware of the fact.

***

Back at Trace and Ian's house, Trace and Ian want to know what is going on with Riley that might have caused CPS to visit. Trace calls Caden's phone.

"Hey Trace, what's going on?"

Trace doesn't usually call Caden; it's usually Ian who calls. When Ian does call, it's usually to invite Riley over to the house or check in every once in a while.

"We just had a CPS employee stop by the house. They were asking Collin about Riley's visit yesterday, and if Riley was hit, kicked, or if he fell while Collin was there, I was just hoping everything is okay over there?"

Caden has no idea why CPS was at his house either, other than to annoy them.

"Honestly, Trace, I have no idea why CPS was over; she seemed quite concerned about the bruises on Riley's legs. I explained what our father did to him and the consequences of that incident on his health. I even gave her a copy of the report that I received from the hospital's social worker and the emergency room report when he first came into the hospital. She still was not satisfied."

Maxine Synder was very pushy. Luckily, Trace knows many CPS employees who are lovely people, and today they had someone who did her job but wasn't exactly great at it.

"Yeah, she was pushy. Collin needed to use the bathroom during the interview. She wanted Ian to keep him from going to the bathroom. Ian told her that if he had an accident, someone else would clean it up, and I guess she took offense to it. At that point, he had enough of her, and so he texted me to stop by, so I did. She told me that Ian threatened her, which one could argue that he did. Maybe I am biased, but I think if he did have an accident, that it should have been her job to clean it up."

Caden doesn't know what to say to that, but his jaw dropped.

"Wow! She wanted Ian to keep Collin from using the restroom."

Caden would have flipped out if someone had done that to Riley. Maybe, for now, CPS is done with the two families.

"Well, I am going to hope that things are quiet now. Talk to you later."

Trace hangs up with Caden, and they go back to living their lives.

***

Riley is upset over the visit, and he still hasn't settled down since Maxine's visit. He is still up in his room by himself while Caden and Jared are downstairs taking care of things. When Caden goes upstairs to check on him, he finds his brother on his bed crying. Caden walks into the room and approaches the bed. He sits down on the bed and rubs his brother's back.

"Talk to me, Riley."

Riley is worried that he might be taken away from his family. He considers Caden and Jared, his family. He is concerned about removing him from his family would break him at this point.

"What...what...what is going to...happen?"

Caden looks at his brother. Caden smiles softly.

"Nothing is going to happen, okay?"

Riley looks up with a tear coming down his face and a smile beginning to break on his face. Riley seems to be feeling better. At least, he is smiling.

"When you are ready, come downstairs, okay?"

Riley nods his head in agreement. Caden understands the need to give him space, so Caden heads downstairs.

***

Caden gives himself some space, even stepping away from his boyfriend. He is so angry that Caden could hurt someone. It's bad enough that his father hurt Riley, that bullies hurt his brother, and now a stranger has hurt his little brother. Someone was trying to protect his brother from potential abuse. He would like to talk to the stranger who made that call and causing his brother all that pain.

***

Caden enters the office, where he finds his boyfriend working on a project. Jared became aware that someone had entered the office, so he turns around to see his babe.

"What brings you to my domain?"

Jared says as he sits there looking up at this boyfriend.

"I had a little cool down time after talking with Riley and getting him settled down after our little CPS visit. Riley was afraid that he was going to be taken away from us. I was so angry that I needed a chance just to calm down a bit."

Jared was angry too, which is why he is in the office working away on a project. The office is the one place where Jared can escape the craziness. Caden can see that something is bubbling inside Jared's mind.

"What going on in your head?"

Caden asked, wanting to know what is going on in his boyfriend's head.

"I just wonder who called CPS."

Jared has no clue who called Child Protective Services, and neither does his boyfriend."

"I think we are best just to quit worrying about the problem."

Caden says to his husband. Jared isn't going to sweat it, but it would still be nice to know. In truth, the caller was a stranger who was just concerned about the bruises. For now, though, they will just have to deal with the mess that happened.

***

After a while, Jared also needed a chance to vent. Jared decided whether then go for a walk; he would call his mom. Up till now, she has no idea what happened to her grandson.

"Hi, Mom, what's going on?"

Lisa didn't say anything right away. She knows her son is having a bad day. Deciding to dig a bit, Lisa tries to get him to talk about it. I guess it's something that comes with being a mom.

"Nothing, what is going on with you? Don't you dare tell me that nothing is going on with you?"

Jared doesn't know how she does that, but he knows that he had better answer her question.

"Well, we had a visit from CPS today, and it left a bad taste in my mouth and Caden's mouth."

Suddenly, Lisa's grandmother instincts kick in, and she is just as mad as her son and his boyfriend.

"What? What do you mean CPS visited your household?"

If he doesn't speak up soon, she might just get in the car and drive to the CPS main office and find out herself precisely what happened. She wants to know what happened, and she wants to know now.

"Jared, does this have something to do with my grandson?"

Jared decides it's time to speak up before he has to deal with his mom.

"Best I can figure out, someone passing by the house saw Riley in the front yard and saw his bruises on his legs. They assumed that he got his bruises from abuse and not a fall."

She understands how someone might think that Riley's bruises are from abuse, but she also understands her son's anger.

"Jared, I know you are angry over this, but I think the person who made the call was just worried about Riley. Take a deep breath and get back to being Riley's much needed big brother and his future daddy."

Lisa is right on; Jared needs to relax and get past whatever anger he feels at the moment.

***

Ryan got a call from Blake about the visit from CPS, so he heads over to Riley's house. He knocks at the door, and Caden answers the door.

"Riley is up in his room. I don't know what you're going to find. He's been in a bad mood today. Maybe, you'll cheer him up. You can head upstairs, Ryan."

Ryan walks into the house and heads for the stairs. Riley has not been in the mood to leave his room. No one can blame him for being a bit down at the moment. Ryan came over to see how his boyfriend is holding up after the visit. He knocks at the doorframe to announce himself.

"Riley, can I come in?"

Riley has his back to the entryway and didn't see Ryan standing outside his room.

"Are you doing okay?"

Ryan sits next to his boyfriend so they can talk. Riley isn't okay, but he's doing better. Thanks to Caden and Jared, they helped him to relax a little.

"I...I...doing better. Glad, you...you...are here."

It feels good to be here for his boyfriend.

"I...I...was afraid, they...they would take me away."

There was a point where there was some fear that Riley might be whisked away to another family. Well, it might have happened in Riley's mind anyway. Despite the fear, nothing came of it, which was wonderful.

"Blake told me that the lady was not very nice."

Riley nodded his head.

"You...stay...for...dinner?"

It isn't up to just the boys. Ryan knows that Caden and Jared don't mind him staying, but it's best to ask first.

"Let's ask your brother."

Ryan tells his boyfriend. The guys quickly find Caden, and they get permission for Ryan to stay for dinner. Ryan stays for dinner, which is a casserole made of chicken and tortillas. After dinner, Ryan heads home.

***

On the morning of the next day, there is a phone call at Caden's house. The call comes from CPS, and the call's purpose is to let the household know that everything is fine. Nothing was found in the investigation. They were told that the copies of Caden's paperwork to Maxine Synder would be sent back to them. Caden hangs up the phone and goes off to look for Riley. Finding Riley in the backyard, Caden comes over and sits down next to his brother.

"I have good news, little brother. CPS called the house today, and nothing was found in the investigation. You don't have to worry about being taken away from Jared and me."

Riley is happy with the news that Caden gave him. Caden pats his brother on the back.

"I...I...can, I can stay?"

Caden laughed, not at his brother but the situation.

"Yes, Riley, you can stay with us."

Caden gets up and heads inside to give his brother some alone time.

***

Caden goes back into the house to speak with Jared about the call. Caden finds Jared hanging out in their bedroom. He's waking up from a nap as Caden approaches the bed.

"You had better be coming to cuddle with me."

Jared says to his boyfriend as he smiles invitingly at him.

"I came to tell you that CPS called. They found nothing in their investigation, so all is good."

Jared doesn't smile at the news; instead, he frowns.

"I cannot believe that they wasted our time with the investigation talk about crap."

Jared says as he gets up and heads downstairs. If Caden isn't going to cuddle with him, why stay in bed, right? Jared walks into the kitchen and gets a drink of water. At the same time, he looks in the fridge for some inspiration for dinner tonight. He decides on balsamic chicken breasts with roasted veggies. Once a week, Jared likes to try out new recipes, and this is the unfamiliar recipe of the week. As Jared is gathering the ingredients, Riley walks into the house with a smile on his face. Jared can't help himself, so he stops Caden's brother by asking him a question.

"Why are you smiling?"

Jared says as he looks at Riley. He hopes Riley will tell him about the phone call.

"I...I...got good news. I...I...don't have to go away."

Jared puts his right hand up to show Riley that he wants a high-five. Riley gives him a high five and then heads upstairs. The older male wanted to say something to Riley, but he didn't stick around to hear what Jared had to say.

`Oh well!'

Jared thinks to himself as he gets back to the recipe. As he does, Caden pops up in the kitchen.

"Do you need any help in the kitchen?"

Jared heard his boyfriend, but he's preoccupied with dinner so, he doesn't respond right away.

"What's for dinner?"

Caden asks, trying not to be in the way, but Jared quickly lets him know that he needs to give him space.

"Babe, if you want dinner, you may want to go find something to do until I call you and Riley to eat."

Jared tells his boyfriend.

"Oh, it's experiment night?"

Now don't get the wrong idea; Jared does a pretty good job with picking recipes. In the last couple of months, only one recipe was not well-liked by the family of three.

"Yes, it is, and this is a good recipe, so I don't want to mess it up."

Jared tells his boyfriend.

"Okay, I'll let you get back to it."

Caden escapes to the family room so that he can read in peace. Jared is super pleased tonight; not only was the recipe spot on, but Riley won't have to face a foster home.

***

Maxine has to make a special stop to deliver papers that were promised to Caden. There is a knock at the door, and Jared answers the door. Jared is surprised to see the woman standing outside.

"I just wanted to tell you that I am sorry for everything. I promised Mr. Bishop that I would return his paperwork on Riley. Can you hand these to him?"

Jared is surprised by Maxine's apology. It just feels good to hear those words coming out of her mouth.

"Thanks for the apology; on behalf of my boyfriend, thanks for bringing the paperwork back as promised."

He reaches out his hand to Ms. Synder. She accepts his handshake and then turns to leave.

`Maybe, she isn't all that bad after all.'

Jared thinks to himself as Riley comes up behind him. Riley doesn't say a thing as he turns and walks away. Jared knows that Riley was behind him, though, and quietly closes the door. He's worried about Caden's little brother, so he catches up with him.

"How are you doing?"

Riley stops in his tracks.

"I...I...I...don't want to see her."

Jared pulls him into a hug.

"I didn't want to see her either, but you know she apologized to us. What do you think about that?"

Riley is quiet for about 30 seconds before he speaks up.

"I...I...still don't want to see her."

The way he said it told Jared everything. Riley had forgiven her even though he didn't vocalize it. Riley paused for a few seconds.

"Did you need something, Riley?"

Riley shakes his head and then turns to head upstairs.

Jared isn't sure why the young man paused before heading upstairs.

"Well, I need to find your brother."

Jared turns to leave the room. Caden had returned to the family room to finish reading his book after dinner. It's the first place that Jared looked only because he was in there before dinner. Jared sits down next to his man and slides the paperwork onto his lap. Caden glances down at his lap.

"What is that?"

Caden asks as he picks up the papers, and when he sees them, and I mean he sees them, there is another question running through his mind. Jared can see the question as it forms on his boyfriend's lips.

"Ms. Synder brought these over for you. She also apologized to us, which I accepted for both of us. I hope that I didn't overstep?"

Caden kisses his boyfriend, and that tells Jared that he did a good thing.

***

Finally, the day has ended, and it feels good. For Riley, it ended with him knowing that he doesn't have to worry about being removed from his family. It means he can go to bed and dream of Ryan instead of having nightmares. For Caden and Jared, the day has ended by them lying in each other's arms as they whisper. They talk all about the day before, and they are just winding down their day. Everyone in the house is relieved to have the whole mess over forever. As everyone falls to sleep, the house is quiet and peaceful, and that is all that they could ask for after the past couple of days.

***

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