Precious Ties: The Gift

Chapter 16: October

"Oh my goodness! Dean!" Rory exclaimed, noticeably shocked at the identity of the stranger who came to Liam's rescue. "How can I ever thank you? ...You have no idea how relieved I am....He could have been....."

Dean released Liam from his grip and the small boy very quickly clung to his aunt's side. Dean noticed the tears that had already escaped from the blue depths of Rory's eyes.

"Liam...I was so scared...Are you okay?..." Rory asked as she hugged her nephew.

"I just wanted you Auntie Rory...I wanted to tell you something but I couldn't see you..." Liam cried, clinging onto Rory even tighter.

"Thank you so much Mr Forrester," Mrs Brown said as she finally arrived on the scene, "It's just a good thing you were there ....I hate to think what could have happened! Now come along Liam, let's get back inside...the class is waiting for us...and I don't think we quite finished feeding the fish!"

"I feel sick....I can't go in there without you Auntie Rory..." Liam cried as he tried to pull Rory the other way.

"Hey Liam," Dean said, crouching down to make eye contact with the six year old, "I'm Noah's dad...maybe we could organise a playdate...We have a new trampoline at our house...would you like to come over and try it out? I'm sure your Auntie Rory would be okay with that...we are old school friends..."

Rory was surprised at the invitation but would try anything to distract Liam. "Oh that sounds like fun! How about we go inside and then we can arrange a time and date?"

Liam looked deep in thought. He really did want to be Noah's friend but had not really had a chance to get to know him since he moved to the area. Trampolining was one of his favourite things to do, so he decided to walk to class again.

When they all arrived, Mrs Brown called Noah out to talk with his dad about the playdate. Within moments it had all been arranged and Rory said goodbye to Liam once more. Mrs Brown explained that each morning she wanted Liam to come in and help to tidy up the class book corner, as well as feed the fish. His Aunt could watch for a little while and then she would say goodbye while he waved from the window. They practised the routine and Rory prayed and held her breath as she slowly waked away. This time the classroom door was secured, as were the school gates. Rory thought she could hear Liam calling her name, but she quickened her pace and continued to pray that Liam would settle quickly.

As Dean and Rory walked out to their cars, Rory filled her old friend in on the tragic loss the family was trying to come to terms with. Dean could see that Rory was still quite shaken so suggested that they have a coffee at the cafe across the road. Rory hesitated at first but since she was still feeling rather shaky after Liam's near miss, she agreed.

"That's great...I'll just text Jenny to let her know I will be a little later getting home. I'm working from home at the moment, which has been real good while Charlotte has been young. I get to do the drop offs most mornings so I am getting to know all of the moms and dads...I had heard about Liam losing his mom...I just hadn't made the connection with you," Dean said as he tapped out the message.

"It's great you get to spend so much time with your children...they grow up so fast! ....I just feel so terrible about what happened this morning. School drop offs are a completely new thing to me. I knew it was going to be a bit difficult the first time...I just didn't realise how bad his separation anxiety was...." Rory said feeling quite emotional at the thought of everything ahead of her with the boys.

"Hey you are doing an incredible job! I think it would be so hard to deal with having a new baby and two grieving boys to deal with....I guess Logan is grieving too..." Dean said feeling sad for his friend.