Fourth of July

Chapter 23

The doorbell rang and I looked over at it sadly. I opened the door and looked over at his family. The mom had blonde hair and was rather small while his dad was taller and a bit chubby. His brother was also tall with brown hair and glasses.

"You must be the Way family," I said.

"Yes, I'm Donald, and you're Frank," his dad said.

"Gee!" I called.

There were footsteps and Gee ran over. He looked at the people nervously and Donna started crying when she hugged him.

"H-he's small," Donald remarked.

"Yeah, he was stunted because of malnourishment," I said.

Gee cried, squirming out of her arms. He hugged me tight and I sighed. I bent down to his height and smiled sadly.

"Alright, Gee, you're gonna go and have a lot of fun now, okay?" I asked. "Like when we went on tour, you're gonna travel really far and see so many new places."

"Okay, let's go," Gee said, pulling me out the door with him.

"No, no," I said. "You're gonna go without me. You're gonna have a lot of fun. You have Squilly and Seb Seb and your binkie."

I put his paci in his mouth as his lip quivered.

"And you still have your little flip phone so you can call me whenever you want," I said. "I'm gonna miss you so much but you're gonna go have fun with your family now."

I kissed his forehead, handing Donald a pink suitcase. Donna took Gee's hand and I watched them all get into the car, driving away. As soon as the door shut I broke down sobbing. I went upstairs to Gee's room, curling up in his bed as I cried into his pillow.

"Hey, Frankie," Jamia said quietly. "They picked him up already?"

I nodded, looking up at her. Jamia laid beside me and and I wrapped my arms around her as I cried.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay," she whispered.

I nodded when my phone rang.

"H-hello?" I asked.

"Daddy!" He cried. "I'm scared. These people are taking me away from you."

"No they aren't, they're your family, you're gonna go live with them now," I said.

Someone in the background on his end said something and he hung up. I sniffled quietly, sitting up.

"D-do you think you can get us a show soon?" I asked. "I think now I can really just start focusing on my music career."

Jamia smiled and nodded, holding my hand.

"But...I think I kinda just wanna lay here with you for a little longer," I mumbled.

I wrapped my arms around her, my head resting on her shoulder as I fell asleep.

Mia was still there when I woke up, running her fingers through my hair.

"Thanks for staying here with me," I mumbled.

"Of course," she said.

I kissed her cheek, smiling as I wrapped my arms around her.

"You're the best, I love having you in my life," I said.

"Come on, I think that you should go downstairs," she said. "When did you eat last?"

"Yesterday, I was too sick to eat at all today," I said.

"It's already three in the afternoon," she said. "Come on, I'll go make you something."