by Kay Gordon
I forced her over to the couch and placed Chris on the floor, where a blanket was spread out with a bunch of his toys. I took the spot next to her and pulled my girlfriend to my side.
“Did you talk to Robin?”
She nodded and pressed her cheek to my shoulder. “Yeah. She refused to bring me my laptop. I couldn’t bribe Keon to do it, either.”
“Good. You don’t need to be working. The office will survive without you for two weeks.”
“Maybe,” she grumbled, causing me to laugh. “When are you going back to work?”
“Monday. There’s no sense in going back one day before the weekend.” I hesitated and tightened my hold on her while looking at the baby. “Besides, I’m kind of nervous to take him back.”
The manager of the childcare facility had called and apologized profusely a few days before. Angela had given them a fake ID to get in and knocked a bunch of baby food items and bottles off of the counter in the infant room. When the teacher and the director, who had been giving the tour, bent down to clean it up, Angela had snatched Chris and slipped out the door before anyone realized it.
Now, I think they were afraid I was going to sue them. New policies were in place that didn’t allow parents touring to actually go in the classrooms and Vandines had hired security to staff the center.
I didn’t want their money. I just wanted to be sure Chris was safe.
“I’m nervous, too, but she’s locked up and you know the daycare is going to be on constant alert now.” Her lips pressed to my chin. “He’s your son, though, so you need to follow your gut.”
“Stephanie. He’s never really been just my son.” I shifted back so I was looking into her eyes. “He’s ours and so what you feel in your gut matters, too.”
She looked away with a long, shaky sigh. “I feel like you’re just trying to make me cry today.”
I couldn’t help laughing and she joined in after a moment. We stayed on the couch until Chris started babbling angrily. I picked him up and fed him dinner before getting him ready for bed. Steph moved slowly until she was sitting in the nursery’s glider and held her hands out for the baby. I reluctantly gave him to her, making sure he was settled on her uninjured side before stepping away.
I stood in the doorway while she read him Goodnight Moon and Christopher’s eyes were heavy when she closed the book. She kissed his forehead and didn’t protest when I gently pulled him from her arms. I pressed a long kiss to the same spot Stephanie had and laid him in his crib.
He grabbed his lovey, held it to his face, and immediately rolled over with his eyes closed. I smiled down at him and turned to offer Stephanie my hand. She let me help her to her feet and the two of us walked down the hallway to our bedroom.
She brushed her teeth and put her pajamas on while I went through the condo to make sure everything was locked up. When I returned, she was just appearing from the bathroom.
“I suppose asking you to ravish my body is out of the question, huh?” she joked as she took a seat at the edge of our bed. I nodded and kicked off my pants so I could pull on my sleep shorts.
“Humor me, Vanilla Latte, and I promise to reward you with some amazing orgasms next week, okay?”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” she replied, moving slowly until she was laying against her pillow. “Oh, I missed our bed so much.” Her eyes tracked me until I was in the spot next to her. I grabbed the remote but didn’t turn on the TV just yet.
“I love you, Jared Hart.”
I smiled and leaned in to kiss her nose. “And I love you, Stephanie Gibson. Now be good and watch some TV with me and I’ll make a donut run in the morning.”
She grinned and her eyes gleamed happily. “With double chocolate glazed?”
“And apple fritters, sweetheart.”
“Deal.” She gave me a long, sweet kiss and settled up against my side. I dropped my cheek to the top of her head and turned on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy for us to watch from bed.
Laying there with that woman and our little guy in the room across from ours, I wasn’t quite sure how life could get any better.
Epilogue
Stephanie
“Ma! Ma!”
I smiled down at the little human as he crawled towards me with a huge smile on his face. I put my bag down, kicked off my heels, and dropped to my knees. As soon as he was close enough, Chris used my outstretched hands to pull himself to his knees, too. He held his arms out to me until I swept him up in my own.
“Oh, sweet boy. I missed you.” I hugged him to me for a moment before pulling back so I could look into his dark blue eyes. “Were you a good boy today?”
He shook his head, causing me to laugh, and I moved to my feet so I could smile at Jared.
“Hey, handsome.”
“Hi, Vanilla Latte. How was your day?” He leaned in and gave me a swift kiss, making Chris squeal happily when he was sandwiched between us. I shrugged and propped the baby on my hip so I could follow my boyfriend back into the kitchen.
“It was okay. Kind of boring which I suppose is a blessing. How was yours?”
He picked up a spoon to stir the noodles he had boiling on the stove. “About the same.”
“Da!” Chris smiled at his father and Jared put down the spoon so he could hold out his arms to Chris. The baby shook his head and burrowed himself back against my chest with a cheeky smile. “No. Ma.”
“I know. Mama is your favorite, isn’t she?”
Hearing myself referred to as his mother was still shocking and had the power to bring tears to my eyes. It was a title and role I was incredibly lucky to have, though. Every time Chris looked up to me and said that word, I felt like my heart was going to burst.
“Can you blame him?” I teased, leaning in to kiss Jared’s shoulder. “What can I do to help?”
“Occupying the baby is all the help I need, sweetheart. Relax.”
It was the beginning of October and it had been nine months since I first found Chris in the trash. It had also been three months since the shooting and since I had moved in with my favorite boys. Chris had been crawling for a few weeks and we were on the verge of his real first words.
Everything looked completely different than it had the year before and not just with me.
Kate and the kids were still living with my parents and the divorce between her and Eldon was getting nasty. Several continuances had pushed the court date back until right before Christmas and he continued to live life as a free man. The police department allowed him to work under the guise of innocent until proven guilty and it made me sick to know that a man like that was supposed to be protecting our citizens.
The kids were doing a bit better, though. Kate was dutiful about making them all go to counseling and Ryder was flourishing under the constant love of our family. He wasn’t quite crawling yet but he watched Chris and Lila with such wide eyes that I knew it would be happening any day.
Angela Roberts had ended up pleading not guilty by reason of insanity and would spend an indefinite amount of time in a state mental facility. A simple dose of penicillin had cured her of the syphilis but they were trying out different drugs to see if they could counter the damage that had already been done to her brain. She had written a letter to Jared and me, apologizing for everything that had happened and promising never to contact us again.
We didn’t forget what she had done and we never would be able to. When I looked down and saw the small, puckered scar on my stomach where the bullet had penetrated me and the long line where they had cut me open to save my life, I was constantly reminded of how close Angela came to damaging us all for good. I knew that same thought hit Jared’s mind every time his eyes grazed over my naked body or his mouth gently kissed that same spot. The thing was, she had changed our lives. She had given us Chris and brought the three of us together, albeit not in the best way. Forgetting wasn’t possible but we were definitely working on forgiveness.
Jay and Maureen visited their daughter weekly and said she was in great spirits. The facility she was in was a nice one and she was happy there for the most part. They also seemed optimistic for her future, regardless of whether she was released or not.
The two of them saw Chris often and Jared had started letting them take him for the day. Chris being the universal lover he was, adored his grandparents and had stolen their hearts almost instantly.
Things at work were better, too. Although Robin still had a few more chemo treatments to go, the doctors were extremely optimistic of her progress. The only work she missed were the few days immediately following chemotherapy and even when she wasn’t there, I felt like I’d found a really good rhythm.
I sat on the floor next to the dining room table and rolled a ball in Chris’s direction. “I got a call from Bryson today. Carin finally had the baby. It’s a healthy little girl.”
“Finally.” Jared looked over at me with a grin and chuckled when Chris tried to grab the ball with a happy screech. “I can’t believe she almost made it to forty-two weeks.”
“Yeah, I won’t ever let it get that far. I’ll make the doctor induce me at forty weeks.”
“Oh, yeah? Something you want to tell me, sweetheart?” His tone was playful but I saw a spark in his green eyes. I shook my head but it didn’t stop my imagination from going wild.
“Not at this time.” I paused and stood from the floor. “That doesn’t sound bad, though, does it?”
I could feel Chris tugging at my pant leg but my eyes didn’t leave Jared as he strode across the kitchen and placed his hands on my hips. He leaned down and gave me a soft kiss.
“It sounds amazing, honestly.”
We broke apart when Christopher pulled himself to standing using our legs and whined at our feet. Jared lifted him into his arms and tossed him into the air, causing the baby to giggle uncontrollably. I let the two of them play and finished getting the spaghetti dished up so we could eat.
Despite having a bib on, Chris managed to get pasta everywhere. He even had a noodle hanging from his ear at one point, something both Jared and I had to take a picture of. When we were done eating, I leaned over and kissed my boyfriend.
“You want the baby or the kitchen?”
“I’ll take the kitchen.” He gestured to Chris. “He’s been asking for you ever since we got home. I’m pretty sure he’ll rebel if it’s anyone but you.”
“Should we get you into the bath?” I asked the baby and he offered me a big smile while shaking his head. I chuckled and pressed my lips to his nose.
“Too bad.”
After cleaning his hands and face and taking off his bib, Jared pulled the tray away for me. Noodles fell from Chris when I lifted him from his highchair, causing Jared and me to laugh,
I walked down the hallway and into his room. He babbled the entire time and wiggled as I tried to get his pants off. I pulled the little t-shirt over his head, leaving him in just his onesie, and laid him down. I reached out to unsnap his buttons and suddenly froze.
The onesie he was wearing was one I’d never seen before and I read the lettering on it twice before the words started to make sense.
Mommy, will you marry my daddy? And…
The text had a small arrow next to it, pointing to the side, so I reached out to pick Chris up. I lifted him by the armpits and turned his body so I could see the back of his onesie.
Officially become my mommy by adopting me?
Tears clouded my vision as I moved Chris so I could reread the front and then the back again. He giggled like it was the most fun game we’d ever played and I finally pulled him against my chest so I could go find Jared.
I didn’t have to go far, though. He was standing in the doorway, leaning up against the frame with a smile on his face.
“Is this for real?” I managed to choke out and Jared stepped forward.
“Will this make it more real?” He dropped to his knee and held out his fist. His fingers opened slowly, revealing a beautiful ring. The square diamond sat on a platinum band with small diamonds surrounding it. I tore my eyes from the jewelry so I could meet Jared’s. He was still smiling, looking cool as a cucumber.
“Even before we knew Chris existed, I was smitten with you. Your sense of humor, your positive outlook on everything, your adorable obsession with carbs…” I laughed softly but he kept going. “And then once Chris entered our lives, the way you loved him completely. I love you, Steph, more than I thought I could possibly love someone. I want to be by your side while we raise Chris to have the best of our qualities. I want to go to bed at night with you in my arms and wake up knowing I can have coffee with you each and every day. I want to have babies with you and give Chris siblings he can grow up with.” He swallowed while the baby and I both stared at him. “Stephanie Nicole Gibson, will you marry me?”
“What do you think, Chris?” I asked the little guy in my arms through my tears. “Should I marry Daddy?”
“Hey, that’s not fair. He doesn’t have nodding down yet.”
I held my hand up and gave him a teasing smile. “Shush. Let Christopher answer. Should Mommy marry Daddy?”
“Ma!” Chris placed one hand on my cheek and let out a content sigh before turning to look at Jared with a big smile. “Da!”
“That sounds like an agreement to me,” I said with a small laugh, dropping so I was on my knees, too. I wrapped one arm around Jared’s neck while still holding onto the baby. “I want nothing more than to be your wife and his mother, Jared Hart.”
“Good, because I was ready to lock you up until you agreed.”
I laughed softly and watched as he put the ring on my finger. Chris also kept his eye on it and immediately began grabbing at the jewelry like it was the coolest thing ever. I looked at the man in front of me and shook my head.
“Thanks for taking the last apple fritter that day.”
“It was my pleasure.” He leaned forward and gave me a sweet kiss, causing Chris to lean in, too. A noodle that was still in his hair smashed to Jared’s cheek and was still stuck there when we pulled apart. I stared at it for a second before breaking down in a fit of laughter.
Jared joined in and a beat later, Chris did, too, although he had no idea why we were laughing.
Sitting there on the bedroom floor with smashed noodles falling between us, I knew that I’d found exactly what I had always wanted.
The End
Extended Epilogue
Christopher
I would never forget the first time my parents sat down and told me that Mom wasn’t biologically my mother. I was eight and they explained that they never wanted me to feel like they were lying to me but as far as they were concerned, Mom was my mother and always had been.
It hadn’t meant that much to me at the time, honestly. I didn’t have a single memory that didn’t include Mom in it. If she ever treated me differently than Emma or Michael, I never saw it. It wasn’t until I became a rebellious teenager that it became an issue.
I ditched school one day to go to the movies with my friends. I don’t know why I did it. It wasn’t like my parents wouldn’t have let me go to the movie any other time. I left school, though, and if that wasn’t enough, I missed a huge science test.
Dad wasn’t home when Mom got the call and she immediately took my phone and told me I was grounded. A year before, disappointing her would have gutted me but all of my hormones just caused me rage.
“You can’t do that! You’re not even my real mom!”
Mom flinched and I saw the hurt hit her face instantly. Remorse filled me but I was still too angry to listen to it. I grabbed my backpack and rushed out of the house while Mom called my name behind me.
I was only fifteen and couldn’t drive so I found the closest bus stop and hopped on. I had no idea where I was going at first and it wasn’t until I ended up on the west side of Phoenix and in front of the Desert Hope Treatment Facility that I realized I had me
ant to head there all along.
About a year before, I was curious and had looked up my biological mother online. I found out that she was sentenced to spend time in the facility until she wasn’t a danger to herself or others. As far as I could tell, she had never been released.
“Can I help you?” asked the woman behind the desk and I nodded while clutching my backpack.
“I’m here to see someone. Er, she’s my mother, I guess. Angela Roberts.”
The woman shook her head and offered me a sympathetic smile. “Minors have to be accompanied by an adult to see an inmate.”
“He’s with me,” someone spoke behind me and I turned to see my Dad standing there. He was in his suit, obviously having just left work, and he looked sad. He pulled out his wallet and produced his ID, not saying a word to me. She nodded at us both and gestured to the waiting area.
“Put these badges on and give us a few minutes. We’ll call you back.”
Dad’s eyes burned into me when we sat but he didn’t say anything. Finally, I spoke.
“Dad.”
He held up his hand and shook his head. “I don’t want to hear it, Christopher. Apparently you feel like you need to do this so, let’s do it.”
“Is Mom-” I started, but Dad cut me off again.
“I’m not talking about your mother with you while we’re sitting in this place.”
Shame filled me. I had never seen Dad so upset with me and I knew it wasn’t because I was sitting in that facility. It was because of what I’d said to Mom.
Neither of us spoke again and it was about fifteen minutes before someone called our names. We were directed to a set of lockers and told to store everything, including Dad’s keys, phone, and wallet and my backpack. Once we didn’t have any objects, we had to go through metal detectors and then were led to a room that looked like a small office. One of the walls had bars, however, and there was a camera in the corner. In the middle of the room were four plush chairs and nothing else.