ALWAYS BEEN THERE: A Lloyd Hansen Story

chapter twenty-six

I sat in a visitation center in New York with Lloyd and Max. Lloyds leg bounced beside me. I set my hand on his leg, making him pick up my hand and hold it.

Max was tired. It was around his nap time and he was jet lagged. I moved his hair out of his face and smiled.

"Hey baby. You can sleep on mom if you need." I whispered. He nodded and rested his head back. Lloyd put his jacket on top of his son.

I watched as max slowly fell asleep. I looked over at Lloyd.

"You okay?" He asked.

"I'm okay."

I nodded. The door opened.

In walked Amy, the mother of Lloyd's child. And there stood ten year old Brittney.

Lloyd stood up. I stood up as well, keeping max steady. Lloyd hugged Amy softly. It was one of those awkward hugs.

Brittney looked nervous. But god did she look like Lloyd.

I moved to shake Amy's hand.

"Sorry about my handful. He's jet lagged and this is nap time." I said.

"No problem. It's understandable. They love their routines. This is your first?" She asked. I nodded.

"Hi brittney. I'm Camille I'm Lloyds wife."

She waved softly. "What's your sons name?" She asked.

"This is max. Max is very tired." I said. She smiled.

"I've got three year old twins at home. I know the pain of getting them up." Amy said. "My husbands outside. He didn't know if we were having like a mixed group thing or not."

"I can go outside too." I said. Lloyd looked at me. Amy smiled.

"Can dad come in?" Brittney asked. Amy nodded.

She went outside to call Amy's husband, Joe, in. I looked at lloyd. He was practically shaking.

We all greeted before sitting down on the couches. The twins came in too. Their names were Jasper and Jason.

"Thank you for taking the test. There were five guys that took it and I didn't know. I'm honestly happy it was you. Two are in jail that had to take it."

"Oh...well yeah no problem. I'm sorry for the delay. We're very busy up in Croatia and we don't really associate with the states anymore."

She nodded. "It's nice up there?"

"It's great." Lloyds said. I nodded and smiled.

"So Camille. How have you been?" Amy asked. I mean she knew of me. She knew I lived in the house when Lloyd was there and they really did hook up a few times.

"Good..yeah. I mean I have this child to now take care of which is fun. I've kinda always wanted to be a mom."

"You're really pretty." Brittney said. Amy chuckled.

"She says what's on her mind. Sorry."

"No. I'm flattered thank you." I said. "How about you Amy how have you been?"

"Good. I got married in 2013 and now I have these two rascals and this one. Tell Lloyd and Camille what you do brittney."

"I'm in dance and I figure skate. I go to school. I am learning how to ride a horse and I like helping my baby brothers."

"Wow. You've really got it all down." Lloyd said and smiled. She nodded.

Amy smiled before kissing her head. "You wanna take your brothers out to the playroom?"

Brittney nodded and walked out with them. Amy smiled.

"She's great." Lloyd said. "Uhh does she know I'm her bio dad?"

"Yes. I know I've been saying lloyd. She found out and politely asked if she could still call Joe her dad. Sorry if you weren't expecting that."

"No that makes total sense. I mean I didn't raise her so I don't really deserve the title."

"She'll get used to you. She's not shy." Amy said.

"So visits?" Lloyd asked.

"We were thinking one weekend every six months for now? In New York if you can."

Lloyd looked at me. I nodded.

"Yeah." Lloyd said. "And we're in New York overnight if you would like to find dinner somewhere or something."

Amy nodded. "Sure. Where are you staying?"

"The plaza." Lloyd said. I mean we could afford it.

"Oooh fancy night." Joe said. We smiled.

Max whimpered in his sleep. I pulled the jacket up on him more.

"She wants to get to know you two. She's excited." Amy said. Lloyd nodded.

I smiled softly. This was a change, but I didn't feel as awful about it.

•••

I sat with Lloyd in bed as he ordered max and I ice cream from room service. Max was playing with toys on the floor.

I smiled as max looked up when his dad said ice cream.

"...thanks. Bye." Lloyd said. He hung up the phone and kissed my cheek before looking at me.

"You feeling okay?"

I nodded. "It went better than I thought."

He pulled me straight into a kiss. I smiled. After the kiss he moved to hug me. I giggled.

"I love you so much." He whispered.

"I love you too."

Max ran over to Lloyd's side of the bed. "Up."

Lloyd chuckled and picked his son up. He had his stuffy with him.

"Guess what? Dad got us ice cream."

"Yay!" He said. I smiled.

•••

Max was asleep in his bed. Lloyd and I sat on ours. He was tired. His head was on my shoulder as we were curled up under the covers.

"Thank you for coming. I know you didn't want to."

"I like New York. It's kinda nice to get out."

"Mhm. Let's go shopping tomorrow."

"Really?"

"Times Square. We could take Max on a walk in the park. It'll be nice."

I smiled. "Thank you."

"I love you to death Camille Marie."

"Shhhhhut up." I said while laughing. He smiled.