Thunder continued to roar above Kara as she held onto Greyson tightly, running town the sidewalk to where her mother's home was—-she paid almost no attention to the spot on the sidewalk that lightning had struck earlier on her way to the Thao residence.

     Greyson continued to cry in Kara's arms as she tried to shelter him from the rain with her jacket.

     "It's okay, bud," Kara whispered to the little boy. "We'll be out of the rain soon. I promise." She continued to move quickly down the sidewalk in the direction of the Lieux residence.

     Kara speed up when she saw her mother's home—-she practically sprinted towards it.

     Kara raced up the steps and got to the door. "Hold on, bud," she whispered to the crying child. "Almost done. Give me a moment." She reached one hand into her pocket, fishing out her keys to the home. She slid a key into the door, unlocking it before quickly entering the home—-she closed and locked the door soon after before sliding her keys back into her jacket pocket.

   Kara bounced Greyson up and down in an attempt to comfort him. "Shh… It's okay, Grey. You're home now… You're safe." She stroked his wet hair.

     Greyson continued to whine.

    Kara headed up the staircase to her room, quickly. "Come on, bud… Let's get you dried off."

    Kara turned on the light to her bedroom, sitting Greyson down on her bed. She took the blanket off of him before running over the bathroom and grabbing a towel. She entered her room again, beginning to dry off the little boy.

     Once Kara was sure Greyson was dry, she set the towel aside. She continued to kneel by the edge on the bed, looking into the little boy's yellow eyes. "How are we doing now, Grey?"

     Greyson continued to cry. "Mama…" He sobbed.

     Kara could feel her heart shatter when she hurt Greyson cry that. "You want your mama, huh, little guy…"

     Greyson continued to whine.

    "Bud…" Kara began to say to Greyson, both her expression and voice softened. "I know you want your mama… But she's not here right now… and she won't be for a long time… But I'm here for you. I promise." She stroked Greyson's hair.

     Greyson calmed down just the slightest bit.

    Kara's gaze turned to the darkened hallway; through the hallway, Kara could see that Bethany's room was empty. Huh. Strange, she began to think to herself.

     Kara stood, heading to the door, much to Greyson's dismay. She peered into Bethany's room.

     When Anais walked past a few moments later, Kara called out to her. "Mom," Kara began to say, gaining Anais's attention.

     "Oh, Kara. You're back," Anais responded, stopping in her tracks. "How was the walk? Not good, I'm assuming… It was storming a lot out there."

      "I went and visited Dylan," Kara replied. She then asked, "Where's Bethany and Gaël?"

      "They went to the airport after dinner," Anais said, explaining this fact to Kara. "They were heading back to Caesar Falls."

     "Oh," Kara responded. So much for thinking about Gaël and Greyson playing with each other, Kara thought to herself, suppressing a sigh.

     "Something wrong?" Anais asked her daughter.

     "No. I just—" Kara was cut off.

     Greyson started crying from Kara's bed once more.

     Kara turned to look at the soon-to-be two-year-old. "It's okay, bud. You'll go to bed soon. I promise."

    "Kara," Anais began, wide-eyed. She entered the room staring at Greyson. "Who's this?"

     "Mom… Do you remember my ex-girlfriend Aubrie Thao?" Kara began as she once again approached Greyson.

     Anais nodded. "Yeah. I do. Dylan's sister? You grew up around her…" She shifted her weight onto the other leg. "Wasn't Aubrie also the one who treated you like shit when you dated her?"

      Be more specific, Kara began to think to herself about her mother's comment. Most of my exes treated me like that. Kara nodded. "Yeah. She was." Kara wetted her lips. "Well, it turns out when she broke up with me, she was pregnant."

     "And this is your son?" Anais asked as she moved closer to the bed.

     Kara nodded. "Yep. This is Greyson."

    Anais scooped up the little boy in her arms, bouncing him up and down. "Hello, little one," she said to him. "How old is he?" She then asked Kara.

     Kara responded with, "Almost two."

     Anais rocked Greyson back and forth. "Oh, so you're Gaël's big cousin then? Well, I'm sure he'll like you! Yes, he will!"

     "Aubrie wasn't treating Greyson very well," Kara began to explain to Anais. "She said she hated Greyson."

     Anais looked up from Greyson and over to her daughter, gasping. "No. She didn't."

     Kara nodded. "Yes… She did." She sucked in a breath. "Aubrie signed some legal documents… and I signed them too… Greyson's in my custody now."

     "Well, I'm sure you'll take better care of him than Aubrie did," Anais responded. She looked back down at Greyson. "You've got a new mama now… and she'll make sure you're clothed and you've got lots of fun toys…"

    Kara then added on, looking down at Greyson. "And she'll make sure you never go hungry again. I promise."

    Greyson let one tiny leg kick the air as he yawned.

    "Someone's a tired little boy," Anais commented. "Which is pretty valid honestly… It's almost three in the morning… You should be in bed."

     Kara looked around the room, trying to figure out what to do. Finally, she got an idea. "Mom. Do you still have Nicolas's old crib?"

      Anais nodded. "I should… It's in the attic."

     Kara then headed out of the room, opening the door to the attic, and pulling down the steps. She headed into the attic, searching for the crib—-it didn't take her long to find it at all.

      Kara gripped onto the crib before dragging it to the attic door. She started to back down the steps, still dragging the old crib along.

      Anais watched this, cringing a little. "Are you sure you don't need some help?"

      "I'm fine. I got it," Kara said as she finished pulling the crib down the stairs, biting down hard on her lip as she did. Once she got the crib into the hallway, she pushed the stairs back up and closed the attic door.

    Blood trickled from the bite marks on Kara's lip, but she did her best to ignore it. She inhaled deeply before reaching the the sides of the crib and lifting it a little bit above the ground as she headed into her room.

      Kara set the crib down by her bed. Then, she took Greyson from Anais.

      "You tell me if you need anything else, okay?" Anais began as she left the room, yawning.

      "Will do, Mom," Kara responded before she laid Greyson down in the crib. She then grabbed the blanket with elephants and giraffes on it and tucked it over Greyson.

     Though Greyson had his favorite blanket, he still seemed sad.

     "Let me guess," Kara started to say. "You had a stuffie you really liked, huh…? And Aubrie didn't drop it off with you…" She exhaled. "Well, I'll have to stop by Aubrie's place and get it for you soon. But until then..." She looked away from the crib before picking up a stuffed tiger. "This was my favorite stuffie as a little kid, okay, Grey? I need you to take very good care of her. You think you can do that?"

      Greyson babbled in response; his golden eyes seemed to light up when he saw the plush tiger.

     Kara put the tiger in the crib next to Greyson. She smiled at him. "There you go… Now you look happier." Kara leaned down and placed a quick, gentle kiss on Greyson's forehead before turning off the light in her room and collapsing onto her bed. Kara continued to smile softly as she whispered, "Goodnight, Greyson."