Being Grassi-Hoying

Chapter 20

**Mitch's POV**

I wake up to the sound of nurses talking to Scott, again. "No, he's fine. He hasn't slept in a while so I don't want to wake him, he's not bothering me." "I'm awake." I mumble, opening my eyes, to see my flawless man smiling at me, but I can still feel his tight grip around me. "Good morning Mitchie." he smiles as I yawn. "Am I in the way??" I look over at a nurse. "No. You're not." Indie comes in, glaring at the other nurse. "He's not. Look, you can see it from here." she snaps as she pulls the other woman over, she writes some stuff down, then leaves, apologizing. "Sorry about that. Newbies." Indie rolls her eyes. "It's cool." I laugh. Standing up, I smooth my hair, earning a whine from Scott. "What??" I say when he pouts. "You moved." "Yeah. Because I wanted to stretch!!" I glare and we laugh. "Where's Karlie??" I realize Karlie isn't in here. "I don't know." I see this piece of paper on the table by Scott's bed. "Hand me that." He reaches over and takes it, handing it to me. I open it and read it out loud.

"Mitch and Scott,

Please do not be alarmed when you notice Karlie isn't there, we took her to Avi and Kevin's house. She was falling asleep and I didn't want her to stay there, plus you two look as if you needed the room. 

With love, Momma Kaplan." 

I sigh loudly. I hadn't told anyone about Karlie's nightmares, yet. "Babe, what are you hiding??" Scott says sternly. "Well, Karlie's been having horrible nightmares the past couple of nights, ones like I used to have, where you have to shake her awake. I hadn't told anyone yet." Scott sighs. "That's horrible." I nod. "Well, I'm gonna go get some coffee, but I guess I'll swing by and get Karlie first. I'll be back, okay??" He nods. I walk out the door, only to bump into Marli. "Hey girlie." "Hi." She answers sleepily. "You wanna come with me to get some breakfast??" "Sure. But come see Esther first." She grabs my hand. I was gonna see Esther last night, but Scott put me to sleep. I follow her in there to Esther's room, where she's smiling at me. "Mitchie!!" "Hey!!" I hug her. "Oh, I missed you." She squeezes me. "I missed you too, Rosie." (One of my nicknames. Lol.) We talk for a bit before Marli and I leave the hospital. When we get to my car, my phone rings, and it's Kirstie. "Hey." I act all depressed still. "Hey. Anything??" I smile at Marli. "Well...yeah." I answer. "But I need to get Karlie so you can come see for y-yourself." I force a crack. "Alright." Kirstie sighs heavily. "See you later." I hang up. "She's gonna kill you." Marli giggles. "Yeah I know." I laugh, getting in the car. My phone vibrates, this time it's Scott. 

"Be careful babe." "Aren't I always??" "Yeah...I guess." "You really don't trust me driving, huh??" "I'm just saying don't kill anyone." "Shutup!! Lol." "Love you." "Love you too, idiot." 

I put my phone in the cup holder and drive to Starbucks. I order coffee for everyone. "So, what do you want to eat??" "Oo!! Can we go to Nickel Diner!? I love that place. Jesse, Todrick's boyfriend took us there!!" "Sure Mar." I smile. (Google is a blessing, I've never been to L.A.)  "Sure." I pull up the directions on my phone, we get the coffee and I drive to the Nickel Diner. "Awe this place is cute." I say as we're walking up to it. It's very vintage, it has old signs and things, we sit down and order food.

We are almost done eating, and I watch Marli take another drink of Dr.Pepper. "Yum." I say after taking the last bite of my food. "Right?!" Marli giggles. She finishes eating, I pay, and then we leave. On the way to Avi's house, I get a call from Jessie, the caregiver. "Hello!!" I say cheerily. "Hi, you sound happy." I explain to her what has happened, and she's really happy. "Well that's great!! But I need Marli to come back." My heart drops. "Excuse me??" My voice changes and I see Marli tense up. "No, it's nothing bad, it's just law that I have to keep her until the final adoption paper is signed." "Someone's adopting her?!" "Yes, Esther Kaplan to be exact. I just got off the phone with her." My face lights up as I look over at Marli. "Oh yes, I understand now. Can it wait until tomorrow though??" "Sure!! Give her and Karlie an extra day." Yeah, an extra day, for Marli to process all this. We talk a bit longer, then say goodbye and hang up. "You're getting adopted Marli!!" "Yeah, for two weeks, woo-hoo." She says bluntly. "No, this one's permanent. I know." She glares at me. "How are you so sure??" "Because, Esther loves you to death." I reply plainly. "WHAT!?!?" Marli screams. "Yeah." I smile. "OH MY GOSH!!!" She hops up and down in the seat. "I can't believe it." Marli stares out the window when she calms down. "I'm gonna have a home." I smile wider. "Wow..." She zones out and I keep driving.