Loving Grant

Next Page

There's an audible gasp in the courtroom as a breathless Grayson yells, "Am I too late?"

The judge raises his gavel, stares at Ray and sits it back down. "Too late for what?"

Grayson looks panicked, he says the next part slowly like he's processing it as he speaks. "I'm the biological father."

My mouth drops to the floor and Grant looks dissociated. My mind begins to create scenarios where this is possible, but there are too many missing puzzle pieces. Grayson didn't believe he even had a kid, yet here he was.

The judge motions towards Prince. "That child over there?"

"Yeah, my name is Grayson Chance."

The judge slams down his gavel. "Let's go on recess while I look into this mister Chance. We'll reconvene tomorrow at 8am and I want you all to be here."

Grayson looks as though he can't believe what he's doing. I don't think he's been to court either and his face shows that he's just starting to remember that. He reaches out an envelope. "Here's the proof."

I look over at Grant, he leans back into his seat. When the judge leaves I call out to Grayson.

He walks over to us. "I just found out." He looks guilty. "I figured that it would help the chances of keeping Prince away from those psychopaths."

Grant's face shows nothing. "Why didn't you tell us that you were coming?"

Grayson sits down beside Grant. "I didn't know any of this until today, I swear. Safiya and I met with his adopted parents this morning and they told me they had a custody case the same time you did. I asked them to show me a picture of the kid, not thinking too much of it and they showed me a picture of Prince. By the time I went to find you guys you were already here, so I asked Safiya to meet me and we got a another paternity test, the one you took showed we were the kid's parents. Saf knew a guy that does them, so we were able to rush ours. It turns out we were all a match yet again. I couldn't deny it any longer, it was staring me right in the face. I feel really bad. I rushed here hoping that I wasn't too late."

"You made it just in time." Grant looks towards the door.

I'm going to miss raising Prince, but I'm happy for Grayson and Safiya, he's precious. I smile at Grayson as convincingly as I can. "Are you happy?"

"Yeah, now he doesn't have to go anywhere. I'm thrilled he's going to stay in our lives."

Grant pats him on the back. "This is a big deal man. You and Safiya are responsible for a life now. We're here to help whenever you need it, okay?"

"Thank you guys! I'm sort of freaking out so I may be taking you up on that offer."

I place my hand on Ray's shoulder. "You guys are going to be amazing parents; Prince is very lucky."

Shane coughs, interrupting us. I got so caught up in the craziness around me that I forgot he was here. "So, it looks like we need to change up our strategy here."

"Yeah, are you able to assist Grayson and Safiya in getting custody?" Grant asks.

Shane nods. "Absolutely!" He holds out a hand to Grayson. "I'm Shane Gold, it's nice to meet you."

Grayson shakes his hand. "Grayson Chance. Thanks so much for helping us, we're kind of new to all this."

"I'm happy to help!" He looks around. "Is Prince's biological mother here? I'd love to meet her too."

"Yeah, she's right outside."

"Are you guys able to get lunch with me so we can discuss a gameplan?"

Grayson stands up. "Yeah, I'm free the rest of the afternoon."