After Graham ate breakfast he spent some time getting things from his room all into one box to go through with his family. Lucas and Elijah stopped him after his trip down and asked if he wanted to invite his parents to dinner with the rest of them that evening as all the guys wanted to meet his family. Graham told them he'd ask.
Just before 2, Aubrey came and Graham was glad she was there before everyone else. He pulled her into a hug and held her.
"Are you doing okay?" Aubrey asked when he pulled back.
"I'm doing much better now. I'm so glad to see you. Thank you for not pushing to be here last night."
"I wanted to be but I figured you needed space to process everything."
"You're right, I did. And I'm sorry if you felt I was pushing you away. I don't want this to hurt you or us."
"It's fine, you're patient with me so I can be patient with you."
Graham pulled her back for a hug and kissed her passionately. He felt better with her by his side. That without her, he was a boat adrift and she was his anchor that made him secure and able to find his way. How could he feel so strongly after only six weeks? That utterly shocked him, it seemed so short but yet he didn't want to remember life without her in it. He would have to explore his feelings later as he knew his family was coming in a few minutes. For right now he was going to enjoy this feeling of being close to her.
Graham had already brought down the box with most of his memories in it and put it in the living area. He held Aubrey's hand and led her to a couch and pulled her onto his lap. He arranged her so her head was leaning on his shoulder and he leaned his head on hers.
"This is what I need right now." Graham whispered to her. "Maybe we could do more of this tonight." Aubrey shifted and snuggled closer.
"Do you want me to stay over?"
"I'd love it if you did." Graham said and kissed her head. Aubrey nodded, "I'll be here."
Graham smiled. He loved Aubrey, but hadn't told her those words, except when she was asleep on their trip. He wanted to tell her but also didn't want to scare her away. Graham was saved from the internal battle he was about to engage in when the doorbell rang. He groaned and pulled himself away from Aubrey, walked to the door and opened it. He gestured for his parents and Gina to come in and then led them to the living area.
"Before we start digging through the boxes, my housemates - there are 5 of them wanted to meet you by hosting you for dinner here."
"We'd love to meet your housemates, but we could be the ones to provide takeout." Samantha said.
"Lucas and Elijah love to cook and already have dinner planned so no need for you to worry." Graham said.
"They're really good cooks, they made dinner for all of our apartment a while back." Gina said. "They're all really great guys."
"How can we say no then?" Samantha smiled.
Graham pulled out his phone and messaged Lucas and Elijah to let them know that his parents, Gina and Aubrey will be there for dinner.
They then spent the next few hours going through Graham's memories, his parents commenting on some photos and relating the way he looked to relatives. After he'd basically covered the highlights of his life and hearing Lucas and Elijah in the kitchen, Graham decided it was best to start wrapping it up. As he was putting everything away, he noticed a stack of photos that seemed to be set aside.
"Son, I was wondering if we could borrow these photos." Russell said when he noticed Graham look at the stack.
Graham looked through them, they were all of him and his pseudo aunt through the years. Graham was confused. "Why these?"
Russell sighed. "To give to the FBI, we told our contact we found you and they want to find this woman and ask her some questions. And they also would like to meet with you, as soon as tomorrow but if not then we can do what works for your schedule."
Graham was slightly shocked. He should have thought about the fact that his pseudo aunt might be his kidnapper or know the person who took him as a child, but he hadn't really thought about them wanting to find her after all this time. He wanted to believe she was innocent in all of this, after all she'd been great when he was a child and still was a parent figure even when they didn't get along as much when he was a teenager. He'd actually have convinced himself that she wasn't involved and was somehow put into the situation like he was until he remembered how she left without telling him. That action spoke of guilt and he couldn't deny that she was probably guilty. Graham just didn't understand why. He realized that his mind must have been wandering longer than he thought when Aubrey squeezed his hand.
"Um, sorry wasn't expecting that. Yeah, you can have the photos and I'm out of class by 3 tomorrow if that works for them, if not we can discuss another day."
"I'm sorry to drop that bombshell on you along with everything else, but since we told Agent Sanders, our contact, that we found you and that the woman who raised you split they're anxious to follow the trail before it gets cold. It came as a shock to them as you've been presumed dead for a long time. It's not very often they get a case where the child is found this long afterward. And we are so grateful that we did find you." Russell choked up.
"It's really a miracle." Samantha agreed.
"I will cooperate with them, I want answers too. But I'm still having a hard time believing that she's a bad person. But I can't delude myself to believe she's completely innocent since she left." Graham sighed.
"I'll message Agent Sanders and see when he can meet." Russell said as he pulled out his phone and started typing on it.
Aubrey leaned into Graham and quietly said, "It just gets more complicated, doesn't it." Graham nodded then whispered in her ear, "Thank you for being here with me, you're the calm in my storm."