Mine and Calum's weekend at the cabin had been better than I imagined. It was good to have that alone time with him to really talk and connect.

But we both had jobs and he had kids, so we had to go back.

After packing up his car and cleaning up the cabin we drove back to town, stopping at his parents place to pick up the kids.

We pulled up to the house and both got out of the car, Calum holding my hand as we got to the door and then walked right in.

"We're here!" He called out.

After a moment Eli and Cade ran into the room to us.

"Hi!" I laughed as they crashed into us, Cade hugging my legs.

"Hey you two, how was hanging out with Nana?" Calum smiled as he hugged them.

"Fun!" Eli grinned.

Joy walked into the room, smiling at us.

"Hello, Nessa." She hugged me.

"Hi, how are you?"

"I'm well." She patted my back before moving back.

David then walked in, smiling at us.

"Hello, Nessa. How was the cabin?"

"It was nice. We went hiking and made a fire in the fireplace, it was a great weekend."

"We need to go out there sometime." David said to Joy.

"Anyways," Calum said, "Were gonna take these two home and get ready for work tomorrow."

"Will you two come over for dinner next week?" Joy asked.

"Sure. Can we do Wednesday night?" Calum raised an eyebrow.

"Of course! 7:00."

"We'll be here."

Cade tugged on my legs.

"Okay baby come here." I laughed as I picked him up and he grabbed onto my hair with his hand.

"You gotta stop pulling Nessa's hair, bubba." Calum removed the little boys hand.

"It's fine." I assured him and then kissed Cade's cheek. "Isn't that right Cade? You can play with my hair all you want."

He grabbed onto it again, laughing.

"Alright you two weirdos, let's go." Calum laughed before leading us out. "Bye!" He waved at his parents.

Eli jumped at my side, talking with me as we walked to the car.

Calum drove us back to his place and I made myself comfortable on the sofa with Eli while Calum handled Cade.

"So, tell me about your weekend." I bumped my nose against the little boys cheek.

"Nana and I made cookies and then Papa took us to the park and the swimming pool!"

"Wow. What kind of cookies did you make?"

"Chocolate chip."

"Those are my favourite."

"Really?" He grinned.

"Mhmm."

Calum walked into the room.

"Cade's down for a nap. Eli you need to go too."

"No." Eli whined and turned into me, hiding his face from Calum. "I want to stay with Momma."

"Yeah, he wants to stay with me." I hugged Eli closer, giving Calum a cheesy smile.

"Fine." He shook his head, smiling at the two of us.

Calum sat on the floor in front of us and I ran my fingers through his hair, leaning over to kiss his head.

He tilted his head up and kissed my lips.

"Ew!" Eli giggled

"What?" Calum laughed. "Am I not allowed to kiss Nessa?"

"Kissing is gross."

"No it's not." I laughed.

Eli just stuck out his tongue.

That night Calum and I made dinner for the kids and put them to bed together before he and I went to his bedroom.

"I can't believe the summer is almost over. School is starting in a couple weeks." He said as we folded down the quilt.

"Really? Wow the time really has gone by."

"I know. I have to go sometime this week and sign Eli up for first grade."

"Aw." I smiled.

"I know. I can't believe he's already going to first grade. It seems like yesterday I was changing his diapers."

"Soon he'll be graduating from high school and you'll really wonder where the time went."

We got in bed and I pulled the comforter over me, Calum doing the same.

"I need to take him back to school shopping too but I don't know when i'll have time."

"I could do it." I offered.

"You would?"

"Yeah. I get off work early so I could take him. Just give me a budget and what he needs."

He grinned.

"What?" I laughed at his goofy expression.

"I like how you said budget. It's sexy."

I giggled as he leaned down to kiss me.

"Now I know i've found my woman."

We turned off the lights and then got comfortable, falling asleep in each other's arms.

Movement woke me and I opened my eyes to see Eli climbing in the bed with Calum and I. He crawled up and made a space between us, Calum waking up as well.

He placed a hand on Elis back when he laid down and I turned over to wrap my arm around the little boy, quickly falling back asleep.

Calum's alarm woke us in the morning and he let me take a shower first before he took one, Eli still sleeping in the bed.

"I don't want to go to work." I pouted as I fixed my hair.

"You don't want to work ten feet from your boyfriend?" He raised his eyebrows.

"I do, but i'll need a lot of caffeine. I'm exhausted." I yawned. "We didn't get much rest during the weekend." I winked.

"True. So did you feel Eli get in our bed last night?"

I heard him say "our" and froze before deciding to overlook it.

"Y-yeah. It was cute."

"He loves you." Calum squeezed my waist. "And I do too."

I kissed his cheek and then went out into the bedroom to get my clothes.

I found a complete outfit after rummaging through the drawers, and dressed quickly before Eli woke up.

When he did he sat up in the bed and yawned really big before rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Morning, bud." Calum looked over at him as he buttoned up his shirt.

"Good morning." I went over and kissed Eli's nose making him smile.

Once everyone was dressed, fed, and ready to go we left for the day, Luke tagging along.

We dropped off the kids and then Calum, Luke and myself went to the police station.

"Alright, I have a bunch of stuff to do so let me know when you're ready to go." Calum kissed my cheek and then headed to his office.

About thirty minutes into the morning Calum came out of his office with a stack of paperwork.

"I need to ask you a question."

He sat on my desk.

"Okay." I finished typing and then gave him my full attention.

"I'm filling out the paperwork for Eli's registration, and I was wondering if it would be okay if I put you as a secondary contact."

"Secondary contact?"

"It just means that if something was wrong and the school couldn't get ahold of me they would contact you."

"Oh." I said, a bit shocked. "You don't want to use your parents or something?"

"No, I want you."

"Okay then." I gave him a small smile. "I'd love to be."

He gave me the paper so I could fill out my information that allowed me to pick Eli up from school, visit him, or be contacted in case of an emergency.

Calum then took me to work at Connie's and I walked in to find Kate behind the counter.

"Hey!" I smiled.

"Hey! How was your weekend with Calum?"

"It was really good. We went up to his family's cabin and stayed for a couple days, it was nice."

I heard the bell ring as the door opened behind me and I tied my hair back.

"So Calum had me sign papers this morning so that i'm the secondary contact at the school for Eli."

She raised her eyebrows.

"How do you feel about that?"

"Good. That means he sees us as a permanent thing. And by our conversations this weekend I think that might be where this is potentially headed."

"Tell me everything!" She squealed.

"I mean, he talked about marriage and babies and stuff, so..." I said but Kate began to flip out.

"Oh my God he's totally in love with you! You two are going to get married and have six kids and they're all going to be gorgeous because I mean look at you two. Woah. And then you're going to invite me over for your 50th wedding anniversary where you'll renew your vows and wow please just marry Calum already."

I giggled at her.

"Maybe one day but for now i'm just enjoying being his girlfriend and spending time with the kids."

"And how are my grandsons?"

My eyes went wide at the voice that came from behind me and I slowly turned and looked to see April standing there at the counter.

"April." I said in surprise.

Kate's jaw dropped.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce me?" April raised her eyebrows.

"Um, April, this is Kate, my best friend. Kate, this is April, Meredith's mom."

April nodded at Kate.

"You never answered my question, Nessa. How are my grandsons? I haven't seen or heard from them since you made Calum so abruptly leave our family gathering."

"I never made Calum leave. He chose to go after I drowned in the waterfall."

"Drowned." She scoffed. "I know you faked it just to leave."

"I can't fake blue lips and no pulse." I said through my teeth.

This woman was pissing me off.

"So I hear Calum has made you Eli's other emergency contact." April continued.

"He has."

"That's a shame."

"How come?"

"Because you won't be in this town long enough for him to remember you when he's older. You're going to leave town and never. come back."

"And what are you going to do if I don't?"

Out of no where her hand came forward and harshly slapped my cheek.

My jaw dropped as Kate gasped and ran to get between us.

"You need to leave before I call the police!" Kate yelled at her.

"And you should leave town before I do the same." April glared at me before marching out of the store.

Once the door closed behind her Kate let go of me and I wasted no time in running to the back storage room.

I closed the door behind me and locked it before sliding down to the floor as tears left my eyes.

No one had ever slapped me before.

Kate came to bang on the door a few times but went away when I didn't answer, and then 20 minutes later there was a louder knock on the door.

"Ness. It's me. Open the door."

Calum.

I stood before opening the door, finding him standing on the other side with a concerned expression on his face.

He slipped inside the door before closing it and then placing his hands on my shoulders to look at me.

"Kate called me and told me what happened." He said softly and then used his fingers to gently turn my head to the side so he could look at the cheek April had slapped.

"Baby." He frowned before leaning in to press a soft kiss to my cheek.

I closed my eyes and then moved to hide my face in his chest.

"Nessa, i'm so sorry." He apologized. "I never knew April was capable of that."

"I'm sorry for being such an issue."

"You're not an issue." He shook his head.

"Then why does this keep happening to me!" I shouted back at him. "I'm sick of being persecuted by her family for doing nothing but falling in love with you and your family and i'm not going to take her abuse!"

"Nessa. Nessa calm down." He tried to shush me. "She's not getting away with this. Okay? I won't let her."

"Why aren't you angry?" I pushed away from him.

"I am angry, Nessa! I'm pissed! But before I go to their house with my pitchfork and torch I want to make sure you're okay. I'm not going to yell at you when this isn't your fault."

He was right. The only way for him to get my attention was for him to raise his voice.

"I need you to tell me everything that happened from the moment she walked in." He said in a calmer voice and I nodded before starting from the beginning.

He said nothing and sat there while I talked, listening to me and taking mental notes in his head.

"So she threatened you." He said once I had finished.

"It was an open ended threat but yeah. She just said I wouldn't be in town long enough for Eli to remember me when he's older."

Calum let out a frustrated sigh.

"Okay. Come on."

"Where are we going?" I looked at him in confusion.

"The police station."

I followed him out of the storage closet and past Kate who was watching us.

We got in his car and he drove us over to the station where he proceeded to walk me to Captain Sutherland's office.

"Excuse me sir, do you have a minute?" Calum asked him and Captain Sutherland looked up to smile at us.

"Hood. Rothchester. What can I do for ya?" He asked and Calum closed the door before he had me sit and then did the same.

"I need some help." Calum said. "Meredith's family has been adamant about not wanting me to see Nessa, and I thought it was just pettiness but today Meredith's mother came to Nessa's other job, threatened her and slapped her and I need to know if a restraining order is the best way to go or if I need to press charges."

"Calum." I looked at my boyfriend. "I don't want to cause any more issues with them."

"But that's the thing, Ness. You never caused the issues, they did." He said and then looked at Captain Sutherland. "What do we do?"

"Would you mind telling me the entire story of your relationship with them since the first time you met Meredith's parents?" He asked me and I nodded.

I told him everything. From the first time I met them to today, Calum throwing in little comments along the way.

When I finished talking Captain Sutherland looked at us.

"Do you have anyone that witnessed today?"

"Kate. My co-worker."

He nodded.

"You have enough to press charges and you have enough to do the restraining order."

"But what do we do?" Calum asked.

"If you're worried about Nessa's safety which we all clearly are, I say restraining order. That way they can't get close without being in violation. If you press charges they'll be out on bail in less than 24 hours and Nessa will be free game."

Calum nodded carefully as he thought it all over.

"Am I doing the right thing by getting the restraining order?" He asked.

"Well they're still your kids grandparents, do you think this will hurt your kids?" Captain Sutherland raised his eyebrows.

"Eli might ask questions but whenever he's there with them he tells me he gets bored because they don't play with him. There's been so much negativity in his and Cade's life already and I don't want anymore." 

"Then you have to do what is best for your family."

Calum nodded and then looked at me.

"I won't do this unless you want to do this." He said. "I won't be mad at you either way, but this involves you."

"I mean, besides a slap to the face do you think they're really capable of hurting me or the kids? Because if you think they would hurt Eli and Cade just to get to us then i'll say yes but if not then I say we hold off on doing something so drastic."

He opened his mouth to respond but his phone ringing interrupted him.

He sighed before looking at it.

"It's the daycare." He said and then answered it.

I could see his face change as the daycare spoke on the other line and his eyes went wide before his face turned to one of anger.

"No. She doesn't. I'm on my way."

He ended the call and then stood up.

"Well we have the answer."

"What happened?" I stood up as well.

"Get the restraining order." Calum said to Captain Sutherland before marching out.

I ran after him, grabbing onto his arm.

"Calum what happened?"

"April just tried to get the boys from daycare. They called because she didn't have permission from me and they wanted to see if I had allowed her to."

My whole body tensed up at this.

I got in Calums car with him, his face contorted in anger as he drove to the daycare.

When we arrived I got out of the car, following him as he marched up to the door and whipped it open, April standing there at the counter still arguing with the workers.

"You are not on the list as who picks them up." The lady said and Calum burst in.

"And she won't ever be. I'd like my kids please."

The girl nodded and went back to get them.

"So hitting her isn't enough? Now you have to kidnap my children too!" Calum snapped at April.

"They're my grandchildren!"

"They're my kids. MY kids. You have no right to take them without my permission."

The worker came out with Eli and Cade.

"Come here." I waved them over and both boys ran to me. I picked up Cade and then took Eli's hand.

"Why are Daddy and Grandma fighting?" Eli asked me.

"Don't worry about it baby, come on. Let's go to the car."

I walked the kids to the car and put them in before closing the door, looking at Calum and April.

"Those are my children! You have no right to take them without my permission! You are not in charge of them!" He roared.

I had never seen him this angry.

I took a deep breath before walking up to
him and gently placing my hand on his arm.

"Calum, let's go. Just walk away." I tugged on his arm. "The kids don't need to see this so please let's just leave."

He glared at April one last time before storming off toward the car.

I kept my head down and went to stop him from getting in the front seat.

"Let me drive."

He nodded and then walked around to the passenger side.

"Can we go to the station please?" He asked me with a monotone voice.

"Sure."

I drove us back to the police station and when we arrived Calum went straight to Captain Sutherlands office while I took the kids to my desk.

"This is where you work?" Eli asked.

"It is. And your Dads office is right behind me." I pointed at the wall.

"Cool!" He grinned.

Cade sat in my lap while Eli looked at all of the things on my desk until he got bored and I let him play games on my computer.

I was laughing with him at the monster truck game he was playing when Calum walked out of the hallway.

His eyes landed on us and he gave me a smile.

"Is everything okay?" I asked as he stepped up to us.

"It is now." He nodded. "I need to finish up some things here and then we can go home."

"Sure." I nodded at him and he gave me a partial smile before leaning down to kiss me.

"Love you." He said before going back to his office.

Eli and Cade stayed with me, the two boys making a fort under my desk while I worked on some emails. I could hear them laughing and talking and feel them crawling over my feet.

"Nessa? Can we have paper and markers?" Eli popped up to ask me and I gave him some before he went back under the desk.

I smiled at the cuteness of the two boys while I continued to work.

After a few minutes I heard the two of them giggling.

"Shh, Cade be quiet." Eli whispered and I glanced to see them scribbling on the paper.

After a while Eli popped back up and so did Cade, Eli holding the paper in his hand.

"We made you something." Eli grinned.

"You did." I moved my chair back so they had more room. "What did you make me?"

"A drawing." Eli rocked back and forth on his heels.

"Ooo. Can I see it?"

He then turned the paper around to show me his drawing.

'Mommy I love you' was written in different colored letters, and hearts, flowers, stars and even a dinosaur decorated the page.

"This is so sweet!" I smiled at them, a few tears actually coming to my eyes. "Thank you."

Eli climbed in my lap and then Cade followed so I could hug them.

"I love you too. Thank you." I kissed them both on the cheeks.

"What's going on here?" Calum's voice came from behind us and I turned us around in the rolling chair, both kids squealing.

"We drew Momma a picture!" Eli said and I passed it to Calum so he could see it.

Calum's sad brown eyes lit up when he read it and a genuine smile came to his lips.

"This is very sweet." He looked at the boys. "I think we should hang it up on the wall."

I handed Calum some thumb tacks and he put the picture on the wall behind me.

"Now I can see it everyday." I smiled at the two little boys on my lap.

"Momma can we come back to work with you and Daddy?" Eli asked.

"I would love it if you came to work with me. You could keep me company."

Eli and Cade cheered at this and I looked up at Calum who just shrugged before smiling at them and shaking his head.

There was no denying now that this family had completely captured my heart.

--

Long time no update but i'm back and dramatic as ever! ;)

How do you think Meredith's parents will react to the restraining order and how will Calum's parents react?

I promise to update soon!

Much love xx-m