“She’ll probably be really shy at first,” Grant warned, “but I’ll hold her, and I’ll put my arm around you, like this,” he demonstrated, “and she’ll warm up eventually.”
“You are so sweet,” Hailey marveled.
“Or was that whole story just a clever ploy to get my arm around you?” Grant winked.
Hailey rolled her eyes.
“David and Melissa have really been stretched to their limits with Leah,” Grant explained, and Hailey could tell that his brother’s situation was weighing heavily on Grant’s mind. “Melissa has all but put her life on hold to try and get Leah the best help she can get her. There’s no cure. There’re no guarantees. But they hold on to hope. My brother works overtime trying to make ends meet, but with Leah’s doctors’ bills and all the money they are shelling out on various therapies and specialized diets, they’re really getting behind. Insurance doesn’t even begin to cover all of it. Bills are piling up, and it’s all David can do to keep his head above water right now. I was just a kid when Pops left me his sizable fortune, and I’ve always thought of it in terms of what I was going to buy. I thought about where I wanted to buy a house and what kinds of cars I would drive. He left everything to me, and all this time I thought it was because I was his favorite or something, but that’s not it at all! Pops left the money to me because he trusted me to do the right thing with it. I’d rather ride a bike between classes at law school and struggle for awhile to pay off any student loans than know that my brother goes to sleep at night wondering how he’s going to get up in the morning and start all over again, working from can to can’t and still not knowing how he’s going to pay the next doctor who comes along dangling hope in front of them.”
“We should pray for Leah together,” Hailey suggested.
“That would be really nice,” Grant agreed, moved by Hailey’s genuine compassion for a child she had not yet met.
Hailey reached for Grant’s hand and wove her fingers between his.
“David and Melissa can use the money to pay off what they owe,” Grant thought aloud, “and they can seek further treatment for Leah without having to weigh the costs. They can seek out the most successful therapists in the world, regardless of their ridiculously expensive fees. They can get a newer, nicer house and design a special room for Leah that might help stimulate her mind somehow. They can research and travel and find the best care available. Melissa has always talked about working with a charity that raises money to help kids like Leah, and this will give her the resources to go out and feel like she’s making a difference in her daughter’s life and in the lives of other kids who are prisoners to Autism.”
“You really love Leah, don’t you?” Hailey said, touched.
“You’ll fall in love with Leah the second you meet her,” Grant declared. “It’s impossible not to…she just radiates everything that is good about this world.”
“Do you think you’ll have kids one day?” Hailey pondered.
“Me?” Grant laughed. “I doubt it.”
“Why not?” Hailey asked seriously.
“I just don’t see myself being somebody’s Daddy!” Grant shrugged. “But maybe one day…many, many, many years in the future after I have school under my belt I would think about it. I mean it would be a shame not to pass on genes like these, right?”
Hailey laughed.
“Okay, so what about you?” Grant countered. “Do you see yourself having kids?”
“Are you kidding me?” Hailey shook her head. “There is no way that I would ever even dream of giving birth.” She shivered. “I don’t see how women do it. I have no desire whatsoever to torture myself. Don’t get me wrong; I wouldn’t be opposed to having a baby to love and take care of, but the thought of actually getting it here freaks me out.”
“Okay…and now moving on,” Grant laughed.
“You know,” Hailey said as she cuddled up to Grant’s chest. “I embarrassed myself by letting you know just how scared I am of lightning storms, so how about you tell me something that I don’t know about you?”
“Well, that’s easy; I’m not scared of anything,” Grant laughed.
“Oh, you must have some deep, dark secrets,” Hailey smiled.
“What do you want to know?” Grant asked.
“Well,” Hailey thought, “what is the most scared you’ve ever been?”
“What is the most scared you’ve ever been?” Grant replied.
“Okay,” Hailey nodded, “I’ll go first. The most scared I have ever been would have to be the day you hit your head, and you were unconscious, and I didn’t know if…” Her voice trailed off. “It’s your turn,” she gulped.
“Can we skip scariest day and move on to something else?” Grant sighed.
Hailey rolled her eyes. “Okay…here’s a goodie…what is the biggest trouble you have ever been in?”
“Pass,” Grant grinned. “What about you?”
“I don’t know,” Hailey laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in too much trouble…not until basketball camp when I met you!”
“Figures,” Grant nodded.
“Oh! I remember!” Hailey exclaimed. “Once, when I was twelve, Paul and I were playing a game, and he was being so obnoxious, so, to shut him up, I punched him where the sun don’t shine.”
“Well, that’s good to know,” Grant grimaced. “I’ll be sure to keep you on my good side from now on.”
“I got in so much trouble,” Hailey recalled.
“Really?” Grant laughed. “How much time did you do in juvie for that offence?”
“Shut-up,” Hailey rolled her eyes. “It was a big deal for me; I don’t like to get in trouble.”
“Well, I don’t think any of us like to get in trouble,” Grant commented. “Some of us are just more accustomed to it than others, I assume.”
“Hush,” Hailey scoffed. “It’s not like you have ever been to Juvenile Hall either!” She paused. “Right?”
“Only because my dad and my brother have connections and the power to make some things disappear,” Grant replied quickly. “Most kids don’t get sent away to military school to whip them into shape, and most sixteen-year-olds don’t get a tour of a maximum security prison just for kicks.”
“Was that scary?” Hailey gulped.
