Chapter 287:

“So what do you think? We've tried talking to him. We've taken priviledges away and nothing seems to be working. It's not every day but he will all of a sudden have these outbursts and gets aggressive with the younger children. I've told him that this is not acceptible behavior. Seb has even spoken to him on the webcam. It seems to help for a few days when he speaks to Seb. But then he'll have another outburst.” I just don't know what to do, especially if he won't tell me why he's so angry.”

Lisa was sitting in Dr. Jessica's office, trying to get some help about how to deal with Jeremy's recent behavior. Jeremy and Holly were here for their weekly visit and Sammy and Kayti were here also but, they now only came once a month unless Lisa had a specific concern with one of them.

“Let me have a chat with him and see if I can get an idea about what is bothering him. You said his grades have still been good?”

“Oh yes, He is so proud of his grades. Even now with this behavior, he still can't wait to come home and show us his papers and especially to tell Seb about them when he speaks to him.”

“Okay, instead of seeing he and Holly together today, let me speak to him alone first.”

Lisa joined the other children in the play area along with Maman and Jessica called Jeremy. He looked back at Holly, expecting her to follow him as usual.

“Jeremy, I'd like to have a chat with you by yourself if that's okay.”

He turned and looked at Lisa like he knew he was in trouble.

“It's okay Sweetheart. Holly will come in with you in a while.” Lisa said with a reassuring smile.

He didn't looked too convinced as Jessica came and placed her hand on his shoulder and guided him into the room where she played with the kids and tried to get into their heads to help them deal with all of their issues.

“Am I in trouble?”

“No Jeremy. I just thought maybe you'd like to have some time to talk to me without your little sister hearing everything.”

“Oh.” he said looking at the carpet and dragging the toe of his shoe back and forth.

“Come sit on the carpet here with me and we'll have a chat.”

Jeremy went and sat down but, did so very slowly and still not looking at her.

“Jeremy, how are you doing?”

“Fine.” he said looking at his hands that were lying in his lap.

When he and Holly had first come, they had both been very quiet but in the last months she had seen them both blossoming as they adjusted to their new lives of having a permanent family. They had both become quite talkative in telling her about their former lives as well as about all the fun they were having living with the Izambards.

This quiet Jeremy was one she hadn't seen for quite some time.

“Your Mom says you've seemed upset a lot lately and that you can't tell her what is bothering you.” she said and left it hanging, hoping that it would open the door for him to talk about what was making him so angry.

“I miss Papa.”

“ Oh Sweetheart, I know you do. Your whole family does.”

“And Mama is going to leave too. Then Holly and me won't have no one again.”

“Where did you get the idea that Mama was going to leave you?”

“I heard her talking to Aunt Alex. Aunt Alex is going away too.”

“And that makes you very upset to think they are leaving you?”

Jeremy just nodded his head.

“I'm going to give you some paper to draw on for a few minutes. Will that be alright? Then I'll be back in a few minutes.”

“Okay.”

Jessica was surprised at how quickly Jeremy had told her what was bothering him but, it was an issue that could be remedied right away. She had Lisa called into her office.

“Is everything alright?” Lisa asked, nervous at the speed with which Jessica had spoken to Jeremy and had brought her in to speak with her.

“He thinks you're leaving him.”

“What?”

“He's overheard you speaking about the plans for the trip, only he doesn't know that he and the other children are going along too. He's afraid Lisa. He thinks that he and Holly are being abandoned again. That very well explains his behavior. He's afraid and angry and letting it out the only way he knows how.”

“Can I go speak to him now?”

“Of course.” I'll take Holly into the other room and play with her there.”

Lisa went into the room where Jeremy was supposedly drawing but he was just sitting there staring at the blank page.

“Hi.” She said, trying to figure out his mood.

“Hi Mama.” he said like he still thought he was in trouble.

Lisa turned the chair next to him so that she wasn't just sitting beside him but was facing him.

“Can we talk?”

He looked up at her then, trying to see what her expression would tell him.

She reached out and stroked his cheek.

“Do you have any idea how much I love you Jeremy?”

He shrugged his shoulders and that hurt Lisa more than she could eve have imagined.

“I do, Jeremy. I love you so much.”

“Why are you goig to leave us then?”

In the beginning, right after Seb left, they were busy planning and decided not to tell the children because things weren't definite. Then as they got things going in the right direction and realized that they would indeed be going they decided to still keep it from the children because it was still such a long time away in the life of a child. Sammy had just about driven everyone crazy before they left for Paris and that had only been a few days and then Lisa decided to keep it as a surprise and wait to tell them just before they would go.

She thought she had been so careful in not talking about plans around the children but at some point Jeremy had heard and gotten a very wrong impression.

She slid off of her chair and kneeled right next to him and spun his chair around so he was facing her.

“Jeremy, I am so sorry that you heard what you did because what you heard was only part of what we were talking about. If I tell you something, can you keep a very special secret?”

He nodded his head and finally met her eyes.

In just over a week, not only will I be leaving but all of us will be, our whole family. We are going to go on some of the tour with Papa. We will meet him in London. Grandma and Grandpa are coming too to help.”

“And Auntie Alex too?” he said as the excitement began building inside of him.

“Yes, Auntie Alex and Aaron are going to be going to be with Onkle Urs.”

Tears began to fall from Jeremy's eyes as the relief washed over him.

Lisa drew him against her and just held him.

“I'm sorry Sweetheart. I'm so sorry that you were afraid. Please talk to Mama when something is bothering you. We can always talk about it and fix it as long as we work together, okay.”

He nodded his head against her shoulder and was clinging to her tightly.

“Look at me. Your last name may not be Izambard yet but you are an Izambard in every way that matters, in here.” she said laying her hand against her heart then against his.

The adoption may take a little while because it is very important to Papa that he can be there when we go see the judge. But do not worry any more about it. You and Holly aren't going anywhere. You belong to us now and forever.”

Lisa hugged him again.

“Were you going to draw a picture?”

“I didn't know what to draw. But I think I will draw a picture to give to Papa when we go to London.”

“That is a great idea. Now don't forget, we are keeping this as a surprise for the other children okay?”

“Okay Mama, I can keep a surprise.”

“I knew you could. You're a good boy.”

Jeremy's chest puffed out in pride as he saw the smile on his Mama's face.

*

The plane was decending, coming to land at Heathrow, none too soon for Lisa. Jessica had become upset over an hour ago and nothing was helping. She'd tried walking her and made sure she was dry and not hungry. It had only been about ten minutes ago that the baby finally fell asleep in her arms.

The rest of the children had tolerated the trip well. Mom and Dad had taken Holly, Kayti and Lauren to sit with them and Lisa and Maman had Sammy, Jessica and Jeremy in their row, in the center row of the plane, with Mami, Alex and Aaron just across the aisle.

Everyone was very ready to get off of the plane and stretch their legs. They made their way to the baggage claim area and Lisa was very much relieved to see that their driver, complete with the hotel van, was waiting there with a sign with their name on it.

Both Urs and Seb were waiting for the girls to get to London to look at some permanent housing. Especially for the Izambard's, the flat that Seb had been staying at before was not large enough for them all.

As soon as she introduced herself, the driver hurried to help get a luggage cart to transport their luggage to the van.

She knew that Seb wouldn't be here. They had rehearsals today until two and then he'd have the rest of the day with them.

She couldn't wait to get to the hotel and take a shower and change into a fresh outfit so she would look presentable when she saw him. Every nerve ending was jumping as she thought of being in his arms again. It had seemed so much longer than the six weeks that had passed since he left Tampa.

When the van pulled in front of the hotel, several employees who had obviously been told of the arival of the large entourage, came to their aid and help to unload luggage and children.

Keys were handed to them and they were told that everything had been handled prior to their arrival and no checking in was necessary. They could head straight for their suites.

Lisa's jaw dropped when she saw the suite they were led into. It was amazing. The large common area had several sofa's and chairs and a small kitchen area with a long dining table and chairs. Off of the living area were six doors. Five of them were bedrooms, three of which had full bathrooms and the last door was another full bath.

As they went through looking at the rooms, Lisa smiled when she saw some of Seb's clothes laid over the back of a chair. When everone had moved on to the next room, she went over and picked up his shirt and brought it right up to her face, inhaling deeply, enjoying his scent.

“PAPA! PAPA!!!” Lisa heard being screamed by the children.

She dropped his shirt and hurried out of the bedroom to find that Seb had literally been tackled to the ground by Jeremy, Holly Kayti and Sammy. Mom was just putting Lauren down so she could walk to her Papa.

As much as Lisa wanted to run and join the children in throwing herself at him, she hung back and let them have their time with him.

Seb reached out of the pile, got onto his knees and leaned out to let Lauren get to him without getting knocked over by the other children. When she reached him, he scooped her into his arms and cuddled her against his chest and spoke softly to her, telling her how proud he was of her, being a big girl and walking.

He sat down on the floor, still holding her and Maman passed Jessica down to him so that now he was surrounded by all six of his children and what a sight it was.

The children were so happy, all talking at the same time. Even Lauren, who didn't have much of a vocabulary yet, was sounding like she was trying to talk to him. He snuggled the two babies close for a minute then handed them up to Mom and Maman so he could get up.

He locked eyes with Lisa and carefully moved away from the children so he wouldn't step on any of them.

Without a word Lisa and Seb fell into each others arms, hugging and kissing each other like they needed it to live. Jeremy and Sammy giggled and Mom took that as her cue to distract the children by getting them seated in the kitchen and after finding a fully stocked kitchen, complete even with a high chair for Lauren, she made them a quick lunch with Maman's help.

Seb took Lisa's hand and drew her into their bedroom and shut the door, locking it for good measure.

“I missed you so much.” The spoke in unison and giggled.

“That was the longest six weeks of my life.” he said.

“Mine too.” she said as she laid kisses along his jaw at the same time her hands were roaming over his body, reassuring herself that it wasn't just another dream.

“Do you think they'll miss us if we don't come out for a while?”

“Maybe, but they'll survive.” she chuckled and he pulled her straight into the bathroom where they quickly disrobed and took a very long shower.

*

In the suite down the hall, Urs entered to find Alex sitting on the sofa feeding Aaron a bottle.

“Hi Liebe.”

“Hi I thought you guys wouldn't be finished till two.” she said as she passed Aaron to Mami and ran into his arms.

“We weren't getting much accomplished knowing that you were all almost here. So we just called it a day.” he managed to get out just before she covered his lips with her own.

“Don't mind me, I'll just take Aaron for a walk and stretch my legs.” Mami said, trying to remind them they weren't alone.

“Wait Mami.” Urs said and gathered her into a huge hug, careful not to squish his son.

He took Aaron from his mother and exclaimed at how much Aaron had grown in six weeks.

“I've stopped nursing and he's totally on formula and baby food now. Wait until you see how much he can eat.”

“I can't wait to feed him and even change his diapers. I missed all of the little things so much.”

Aaron patted Urs's face and smiled at his Papi, showing off his two bottom teeth that had popped through while Urs had been away. Now he had all four front teeth in, making him look so different when he smiled.

Mami gave Urs some time with Aaron, waiting while Urs changed his diaper and then she put Aaron in the stroller, took a room key and told them she'd be back in a while. She was going exploring.

She hadn't fooled either of them for a second but they weren't complaining as this gave them some private time.

Urs kissed her until she had to come up for air and they moved their reunion into one of the bedrooms, never loosing physical contact along the way.

This was a carbon copy of the suite Seb had and was just down the hall. With a bedroom for Urs and Alex and one for Aaron, that left the other two for Mami and Mom and Dad.

Urs kicked the door shut before he began shedding his clothes and was helping Alex with hers, anxious to feel her nakedness against his.
Both couples spent the next hour reaffirming their love and showing each other just how much they had been missed.