Him & I

Still Fighting It

Everybody knows
It hurts to grow up
And everybody does
It's so weird to be back here
Let me tell you what
The years go on
And we're still fighting it
——Still Fighting It, Ben Folds

September 14, 2018

Cait had had a busy week. She'd met with some social workers, psychologists and representatives of the Boys and Girls Club in Salt Lake City to make them aware of Bring the Mountain and to ask them to begin to identify kids that would be appropriate for the program. She'd met with a local attorney, with Jeff Kline's participation, who was drafting the waiver that would be required of participants and talking with Vail Resorts' legal staff. And she'd continued to handle not only her own work, but some additional items that were shifted from her father.

She and Grayson had also spent time finishing their unpacking. Cait had found time to get groceries and finally felt like they were settled in. Grayson had continued preparing for training camp, which started in a little over a week. And they'd made certain they were ready for Connor to arrive.

Jack had asked Cait just to meet them at the airport, so that he could get on to LA. Cait shoved aside the hurt that she felt that her father didn't want to see her new home. He seemed determined to get to LA and back to Connor as quickly as he could.

So she stood there, waiting for their arrival. Grayson was busy, which she understood. But she had to admit that she was a bit nervous about how this visit was going to unfold.

*****

"Yo, G," Royce O'Neal was hailing Grayson in the parking lot again. "This time you spent some coin, yeah?" He gestured to Grayson's car.

"Nope," Grayson laughed.

"Not yours?" Royce asked.

"It's mine," Grayson nodded. "But it was a gift from Cait."

"You sure she ain't got a sister?" Royce frowned at him.

"Well, she picked up a brother," Grayson laughed. "So I guess I can't be absolutely certain. But not that I know of."

Donovan had joined them now. "What're you doin' this weekend, man?" he asked Grayson. "My girl's in town if you wanna go out."

"Actually, Cait's brother is staying with us," Grayson told him. "Not sure we should ditch him. Maybe another time?"

"How old is he?" Donovan asked.

"Twelve," Grayson responded.

"Let's hit up Dave and Buster's tomorrow," Donovan suggested. "I'll bring my sister. She's a little older than him, but at least he won't feel like he's stuck with y'all old married farts for the whole weekend."

Grayson laughed at that. "We were gonna take him to see Real Salt Lake at 7:30.  He's a soccer guy.  But we could meet up for an early dinner before that."

"Sure, you check with your ball and chain and I'll check with mine," Donovan grinned. "We'll even go to the game with you.  Jordan plays soccer too."

"Sounds good, man," Grayson grinned. "I'll text you."

*****