Chapter 8 New Baby

• Early August, 2017
• It had been two weeks since Grace found Liam, but no one had stepped forward to claim him. Olivia and Edward had finally announced their engagement. They chose to get married on the 1st of January, just over five months later. The explanation for their decision was short and understandable. They had known each other for a really long time and were deeply in love. They didn’t want to wait any longer.
• Around that time, Edward started spending more time at the Newman house. Grace was finally getting to know Edward and having him around was better for Liam, who needed a guy to spend time with him for things he couldn’t open up to Olivia or Grace about.
• Liam took no time to bond with the family, especially Edwin. Liam had found the older brother he had always wanted. Liam had also won over every female he came across, including Emma Harrison, with whom Grace had a bad relationship. With Gina and her parents coming over every so often, it was certain, everyone liked Liam.
• - - - - -
• October, 2017
• Months went by and there was still no word from Liam’s family. Grace and Olivia went to court and were granted official but temporary legal custody of Liam. In mid-October, Gina threw out the idea of matching family costumes for Halloween.
• Only, Grace was kept in the dark about this. When the last day of October came around, Gina came over with the low budget costumes she had bought and assembled. Gina had laid out all the clothes on Grace’s bed before going to Liam’s room to help him into his outfit. The little man was beyond excited to go trick or treating. He had never been, it seemed. But he had seen the celebrations in movies and television.
• Grace looked into the plastic bag on her bed and sighed. The items in front of her made her cock her head to the side. She tried to figure out what it was supposed to be. The cow print jeans, blouse and ensemble had thoroughly confused Grace.
• “Gina!” Grace called, walking into the hallway. Gina peered out of Liam’s room, smiling like she had no idea what Grace was going to ask.
• “Yes, cousin?”
• Grace narrowed her eyes at Gina. “What is this?” she asked, showing the costume in her hand.
• “That’s Bess!” Liam chimed in, stepping around Gina. Grace laughed when she saw his outfit. He was dressed in cowboy clothes and even had a lasso in his hand. Grace clapped her hands when he tipped his hat in her direction. He immediately covered his face and giggled in embarrassment. Gina, too joined in on the laughter.
• “Samuel taught him how to use the lasso, too. You should see how well Liam tosses it!”
• “Grace, dress up! We take pictures!” Liam squealed at her. He had progressively had an easier time talking. It seemed that people talking to him constantly had helped him out a lot.
• “My god. Everyone is pushing me. I’m going, okay?” Grace laughed as she went back to her room to change.
• Gina walked in a few minutes later to braid Grace’s hair. Once Grace was all suited up, Gina threw a pair of yellow earrings at her. Grace looked into the mirror and burst into laughter. She looked like a sexy cow, that was for sure. The name Bess was a dead giveaway too.
• “Thank you for going into all the trouble to make Liam happy. I can’t say it enough.”
• Gina huffed and waved it off. “Don’t thank me. Liam is such a cool kid to hang out with. It was my pleasure. I can see why you love him so much in such little time.”
• Grace pushed back tears.
• “Well, then. Let’s get down to business!” Gina announced with a slap on Grace’s back.
• The girls skipped downstairs and found Liam seated next to Olivia on the couch, watching television. Once Liam noticed her come down, he jumped up and chuckled.
• “Grace is so pretty!” he announced.
• Grace grinned and thanked him.
• Grace noticed how her mother bit back her laugh. “Come on. You can laugh, Mom. You are lucky you weren’t dressed up as a cow like I was,” she commented.
• There was a look of horror in Olivia’s eyes as she turned to Gina.
• “I planned on putting you in a cow costume but I knew you would throw me into jail. How about we go Pokemon theme next year and you can dress up as Snorlax, Aunt Olivia?” Gina said.
• Olivia blanched and turned back to watch the television series on the screen. Grace laughed and gathered her jacket in case it got cold enough to need it. She had even picked up a jacket for Liam to wear.
• “I have to go for a field inspection early tomorrow morning, so I will go to sleep early. So, I won’t see you until tomorrow evening, okay?” Olivia called after them. “Have loads of fun and be careful!”
• “Will do, Mom!”
• “Night, Mrs. Olivia!” Liam answered in a sing-song voice. He clutched onto Grace’s hand and walked down the street, ready to grab a lot of candy.
• - - - - -
• November and December, 2017
• Thanksgiving passed by without a hitch. An enormous dinner was held at the Newman house, friends and relatives joined into the festivities. Edward came early that morning and helped Olivia and Grace to prepare the meal and desserts. He was a single father and extremely good at household work.
• Lily had also come with her father and siblings. Gina came with her parents, and even brought along Samuel, who seemed very close with Gina’s family already. Edwin and Emma had also come along with Jarred and his parents, who were friends of Olivia’s.
• Everyone loved the boisterous dinner and fawned over little Liam who had joined the family suddenly. All with the exception of Jarred, who looked put off that no one paid him any attention. This did not escape Grace’s notice.
• Grace had barely spoken to Jarred in the past few weeks. Their texts became less and less frequent. Most of Grace’s time, when she was not at university, was spent around Liam. Jarred wasn’t thrilled about this change. He hadn’t revealed negative opinions on it, but Grace knew it was coming and she dreaded the conversation.
• Emma had her own apartment, so it was left to Edward, Edwin, Olivia, and Grace to sit down and talk about where they would live after the wedding. As a family, they decided against moving to a bigger place. Instead, they would renovate the house and basement so that Edwin had a whole floor to himself. The guest room was officially Liam’s room and Grace had taken it upon herself to paint and decorate it a month after he had arrived.
• A couple of weeks after Thanksgiving, Grace took Liam and Lily shopping at Crowell’s biggest mall to pick up Christmas presents. Just as they went in search of lunch, the group passed the mall’s designated Santa Claus. Grace saw Liam looking in the man’s direction and asked if he wanted to sit on Santa’s lap.
• It must have reminded him of something because Liam proceeded to throw a tantrum of how he wanted to see his Dad. It wasn’t the first time something like that had happened, but it was the worst hence far.
• Grace knew that Liam needed to see a therapist. She had put it off long enough. She booked an appointment with a therapist. Liam started seeing the young woman with a kind smile once a week since then. The therapist specialized in treating children who had been kidnapped or abandoned. Liam attended some of the sessions alone, while for others, Grace stayed right by his side.
• He had recurring nightmares since he came to live with Grace and Olivia. After a few weeks of therapy, the nightmares seemed to get less intense. Slowly but surely, his nightmares only came when he was under immense stress, which thankfully happened rarely.
• The therapist asked Grace to make Liam comfortable enough to speak about his family and life was like before he came to live with her. Talking about them would help Liam deal with the grief of losing them.