Grace Alive (A Christian Romance)

Part 24

Chapter 24

I sat on the floor of Branson’s living room holding up some blocks in front of Bree, making kissy faces at her. Branson was in a deep discussion on the phone, pacing back and forth, his brow flexed with frustration.

“No, I’m sorry, Rachel, this was not what I wanted.” He walked toward his bedroom his phone against his ear, giving me an apologetic look. It’d been a couple weeks since he’d hired the lawyer from his church, and he was still fighting for custody of his daughter. The length of the process was uncertain, but Rachel had been letting Branson have Bree for longer periods at a time, knowing that their daughter was unsafe with her. Bree’s eyes sparkled with laughter as she slammed the blocks against each other.

“Dadadada….” she said and reached the blocks out toward me. “Ummmm…”

I took them from her and smiled, blowing kisses into her neck, making her squeal with laughter.

“Thanks, Bree Bree! Why don’t we build a castle for Daddy?” I started stacking the blocks on top of each other humming to myself. I’d been writing a couple new songs lately, and Branson had helped me with one of the melodies earlier today. I sang what we’d come up with—it was funky and I really liked it.

“No, you can’t come and take Bree! Not until that guy is out of your house,” Branson said, and I heard something slam, making me jump slightly. He’d been more agitated ever since he’d started this war with Bree’s mom, and he’d had a few meetings with Pastor Dom, and each time it seemed to really help cool him off.

“No!” Bree said and slammed the block tower down, while I stared in Branson's direction.. I laughed as she spread the blocks all over the place with mad swipes of her small hands.

“Boom!” I said with a giggle. “Bree, do you want a cracker?” I asked her as I stood up and lifted her off the floor.

“Ummm!” She clapped her hands together, so I took that as a yes. We headed toward the kitchen, and I reached into the cupboard and found the crackers. The twins were coming over later tonight, so I had stocked Branson up with extra cookies. He was going to love that. Ha! I heard Branson’s footsteps and looked up after I’d set Bree back down with a cracker in each hand—she’d cry if she only got one, I’d learned that pretty fast.

“Sorry, Zoe,” he said, and I went into his arms, pressing my face against his chest, still feeling the tension in his body from his conversation with Rachel.

“It’s okay,” I said and gave him a quick kiss.

“You’re moving in with Alison tomorrow?” he asked, and I could tell he desperately needed to change the subject.

“Yeah, my parents aren’t too thrilled with my decision, and they haven’t been shy about telling me.” My dad still hadn’t told my mom about the affair, and the longer I stayed there, the more it ate at me.

“How about we snuggle on the couch tonight after Bree Bree and the twins are in bed and watch a chick flick? Would that lighten the mood in this place?”

“Seriously? You’re offering to watch a chick flick?” I drew him in for a kiss, laughing softly.

“I don’t care what we watch, as long as we get to snuggle together,” he said, kissing me back.

“Good, because I’m going to pick the sappiest, most romantic movie available on Netflix,” I said in his ear.

“Which probably has horrible acting and a random dinosaur in it. I’m alright with that.”

“It’s a date then,” I said. We walked back toward Bree, who had crushed the crackers and was squishing them into the carpet. Branson gave a loud laugh and swept her up in his arms.