“Okay. You married Myles, Oren’s father. How is that going?” Now, the smile that crosses my face must tell her everything because she chuckles, and nods. “Okay, I can tell by that look alone things are good.”
“We are good. We do everything together when we can, and that includes Oren. We’ve purchased the house, so we don’t have a mortgage over our heads. We are opening a college account for Oren, too. Things are wonderful, Amanda. I can honestly say I’ve never been happier, and to be Oren’s mother is icing on the cake.”
“Tell me why you want to adopt Oren.”
“He’s mine. He is my son in all but legality. He calls me Mom, and he loves me as much as I love him. I want to give him the knowledge as he grows older, and truly understands, that I wanted him from the start. Myles and I have decided to add a child to the family, if we can that is, but I want Oren to be mine first. I never want him to think he was second best.”
Amanda continues writing for a moment before she looks at me seriously. “This is a tricky one, Maylee. But I’d like you to be honest with me.”
I give Amanda a nod, and swallow hard because I’m not sure what she’s going to ask me now.
“What are your thoughts on Oren’s mother?”
“Oh, my goodness. That isn’t a question I expected. But if you want honesty, I’ll give it to you. Oren’s mother is a horrendously disgusting human being, and I hope Oren never sees her again. She really is the scum of the earth, and I never want to meet her either. She sold her son, and Myles paid her off by selling the home they lived in, and he brought Oren to his brother here. It’s a long story, and I’m sure you know from that point. But I think she is a disgusting person.” I close my mouth before I really go to town on what I think. I’m holding back, and I don’t want to blow my fuse in front of Amanda.
“Okay,” Amanda smirks, which tells me she knows I’m holding back. “What do you think about discipline, and how to handle anything that may occur?”
“I think discipline is necessary, but it is how you handle situations that counts. For example, I see parents allowing their kids to throw tantrums in the store. Oren wouldn’t do that, and if he did, I would ditch my cart and walk out of the store. Taking him out of the situation and home, where he’d be placed on the couch and told why I felt what he’d donewas wrong and that he is a better person than that, and I expected better behavior from him.”
“What about support? Do you have friends or family that are involved with Oren, Myles and yourself?”
“Clem and Whitney live in the cottage next door, and they are active with Oren all the time. They are like second parents to him. Myles has always been close to his brother. They own the garage together and are solidly bonded. If anything happened to Myles or me, Clem would look after Oren without a second thought to the matter.”
The door opens, and Oren rushes into the house, giving me a huge smile. “Hi, Mom. It’s been a hell of a day.”
“Oren, what have I told you about being pottymouthed…”
“Sorry, it just popped out.” Oren gives me a huge grin before throwing his arms around me and kissing my cheek.
Myles steps into the kitchen, gives Amanda a look that I’m not sure of but steps to me and kisses me gently before folding his arms and waiting to see what happens now.
“Okay, Oren, this is Amanda. She’s here to check the house is nice and that you like it. Do you want to show her around with your dad?”
“Okay…” Oren takes Amanda’s hand and leads her around the house. I can hear him telling her about where I keep everything, what he does when he comes home from school. What his school is like, and how he loves living next door to his Uncle Clem, and Aunt Whitney who is going to have a baby like him when she can.
Finally, I give Amanda a wave as she leaves. Thankfully, she shook my hand and told me I had nothing to worry about and I’d hear something soon.
“How do you think that went?” Myles asks as I step back into the kitchen.
“Well, I think good. It was tricky when she asked me for my thoughts onher that must not be named,but I behaved myself and gave her the bare minimum of my thoughts.” Myles chuckles because he knows how much I dislike Oren’s mother.
“Come on, let’s go out and eat junk food for once.” Myles kisses my nose, and I rush to get ready, along with Oren who is cheering and shouting about burgers and fries.
Chapter 17
Myles
Lou has given Clem the go-ahead since the mortgage has gone through without an issue. The property is ours, and we can get a move on with sorting it out. The quicker we get it done the quicker we can get more work in and finances flowing.
“After work I’ll start ripping out cabinets in the kitchen,” Dan says as he sips the coffee we are all having. Our break at lunch has become a time we discuss the building and anything associated with the garage.
“Okay, we can get moving now that we know it’s ours. I’ll check with Maylee if we have anything I need to dash home for, then I’ll give you a hand. All good on the plumbing side?” I ask him because we don’t want a water leak anywhere.
“No, but one of my neighbors is a plumber, and I’m sure I can get him to do that side of things for us. He’s outof work at the moment, so let me speak with him.” Dan rubs the back of his neck and waits for either me or Clem to give him a nod to go ahead.
“Okay, speak with him and let us know. He’ll have other work to help if he wants. We can pay him cash, and then he can do what he likes with it. Anyone asks, he’s a friend, and he’s not being paid. He’s just helping his friends out.” Clem looks at me and I nod in agreement.
Brad Abbots turned up to sort out the sign, and he doesn’t mess around. He has everything he needs in his truck and he gets on with the job. We leave him to it because we’ve enough to do.
