The Dance continues

I did not sleep much that night, I kept seeing the hurt in Chris's eyes, and hearing the hurt in his voice, and I knew at that moment that he loved me for me and truly wanted to be with me.
We spent the entire week the boys were at the grandmothers together talking and laughing and that is the first time I heard him sing, he has a beautiful voice, and I was actually happy, Chris had to work the day I picked the boys up, he was worried about me driving to Memphis all by myself, so I took a friend with me, he was more worried that I was playing him and going to bring the bio back, but I knew and tried to reassure him as much as I could.But as I was leaving I saw fear in his eyes.
An 9 hour road trip is hard especially if you did not enjoy driving to the place you despise, We were on our way back having a good time when Shane out of the blue started crying, not loud I want attention cries, these were from deep with in him, it was at that time I had found out that one of the people that was suppose to love and protect them was in fact physically  abusing them, he went into detail about what had happened, at the grandmothers, I was shocked, the abuse my kids suffered was uncalled for and I would have gone to jail for murder had my friend not calmed me down, Shane and I had talked the entire way home, and he kept saying that he thought his dad loved him. When he told me his father thew a metal object at his head for calling him Chris that was the last straw, the police were called, nothing could be done because there where no marks on either of the boys.
We dropped off my friend and went to Wendy's to pick up Chris, my boys had never met him, I was nervous about the initial meeting, no need to be, Matt walked up to Chris sitting outside picked up his cup of Dr Pepper no ice took a drink and said hello, Shane a bit more reserved said hello, We took the boys to the Round Table Park by the community college, they had fun playing on the knights of the round table and tried their best to pull the sword out of the stone, we had a blast and for the first time in a long time my boys were laughing and playing, being kids, no yelling or hitting.  Chris was great, kind calm and patient, I tried to tell him how the boys were, the melt downs and quirks they each have, he did not see those, he saw two boys in desperate need of a positive male figure in their lives. He went with me to appointments and the school. Always paying attention to the boys needs and wants, never raising his voice to the.
During this time the vile hate filled emails began to come to the boys email address, the Bio wanted me dead, Chris dead, said he would kill the boys to hurt me. I kept them all and to this day still have them.  My dad became quite ill during this time and Chris was my rock. My dad loved Chris, the first guy I was ever with he did not call a squirelly bastard, they would talk for hours, I would go to visit him in the nursing home alone and he would not say hi but where is Chris. I loved my dad dearly and the day he passed away was one of the worst days of my life, I will always remember his last words to me, now before you get all sentimental I will tell you the last words he ever spoke came when I was trying to get him to eat,  he sat up a little and in his gruff voice said I don't want any F*cking Ice Cream, the next morning, the man I had been taking care of was gone, I was devastated, now what.... I called the bio and told him I had to bring the boys earlier to see him, you see in Kentucky I can go to jail if I deny visitation, and since there were no physical proof of abuse they had to go, I was trying to explain what happened, I could hear the joy in his voice when he said two down three to go....he is and always will be a cold heartless man.
My brother had been down to help and visit, asked Chris to be a pallbearer, he was honored, as with my mother the entire Clarksville Police department, covered their badge numbers, both of my parents volunteered at the police department for many years, My dad had a full military funeral. After the flag was given to my older sister, we went back to the nursing home he had spent two years of his life in and spent some time with his friends, the outpouring of love for my father showed me how many peoples live he had touched.