Everything Has Changed: Book Three

Chapter Three: Burning Water

I made a typo last chapter. Micah is five and three quarters, not four and three quarters. It was fixed and changed in this chapter

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Chapter Three: Burning Water

"Micah, this is my husband Danny. You stay with him for a minute, okay?"

"Yeah." He says.

I walk down the hall, increasing in speed as I go until I reach the half bathroom.

I don't even shut the door, I just start throwing up.

As I kneel on the floor hacking my stomach out, I only have one thought.

This is reaching out?!

I throw up until I'm dry heaving and then I flush the toilet and brush my teeth crazily, and then I glare at the sink for a minute or two, clear my throat, and walk back into the living room.

"Did you throw up? I heard you throwing up." Micah says.

"No, I was coughing." I lie. I grab his backpack and unzip it.

There's a paper on top of his stuff with my Dad's messy handwriting. The bag smells like my parents house. I bury my head in my hands, shaking my head.

This is absurd!

All that is written on the paper is a phone call and the words do not call unless it's between 10PM and 5AM

I look at the clock.

10:23PM.

I grab my phone from my back pocket and dial, my hands shaking.

It rings three times and stops.

"Hello?" Dad asks.

"What the fuck!" I whisper shout, standing up. I walk into the kitchen, ripping my fingers through my hair.

"Oh, hey Grace."

"Dad!" I say loudly. "What the hell!"

"So he got there okay?"

"Uh yeah, he got here okay! This is what you call reaching out?!"

"Of course not." He says. "But I don't have a choice."

I hear Danny saying something to his parents and then he walks into the kitchen. I grab his hand and pull him through the kitchen to the laundry room, slamming the door. I put it on speaker.

"What do you mean you don't have a choice?" I ask angrily.

"I don't have anybody else, Gracelyn. I had to jump through multiple hoops to find you."

"You better start explaining." Danny says.

I hear him sigh.

"Eileen and I are in a full swing custody battle and because of her history with abuse, Micah can't stay with us. They said he has to stay with somebody until somebody wins the case or they will provide temporary housing, like a foster home."