by Susan Stoker
He didn’t know what she was thinking, but prayed whatever it was, it wouldn’t get either of them into trouble.
Piper couldn’t get the faces of the little girls who had been playing in Amisha’s backyard out of her mind. Nor the faces of the older girls cooking in the kitchen. She wondered if they had any idea what was in store for them. She hoped not, for their sake.
The visit had turned her stomach and opened her eyes to the plight of the less fortunate in Timor-Leste, but it had also strengthened her resolve. She was not leaving Rani, Sinta, and Kemala in this country. She’d do whatever it took to take them home with her, and hopefully this visit to the American Embassy would bring her one step closer to that goal.
She felt bad about not warning Ace what she was going to do, but she was half-afraid he’d try to talk her out of it. She trusted him, down to the marrow of her bones, but her plan was so crazy, she was afraid he’d say something that would make her chicken out.
They were led into a room where they met up with Rocco and Phantom. The second they walked in, both of the other SEALs tensed and stood a little straighter.
“What happened?” Rocco asked. He’d obviously seen something on their faces.
“It was a clusterfuck,” Bubba said with a shake of his head.
“Explain,” Phantom ordered.
Piper saw Ace look at her, as if asking permission to take the lead, so she nodded at him. The last thing she wanted to do was think too much about the poor orphans in Amisha’s house.
By the time Ace had finished explaining how “adoptions” worked at the private home, Rocco and Phantom both looked outraged.
“We need to report her,” Rocco said.
“To who?” Ace asked in frustration. “It’s not like there are enough homes for orphaned kids, and on the surface, Amisha isn’t abusing the girls. They’re getting an education, even if it’s only until they’re twelve. They’re getting food, they’re learning skills…and let’s face it, this isn’t America. A girl getting married in her early teens isn’t exactly unusual here.”
“But she’s selling them. And I’d bet a million bucks she’s not vetting the men,” Phantom said in a low, pissed-off voice.
For once, Piper was on the same page as the scary SEAL.
“Piper Johnson?” a woman said from a doorway on the other side of the room.
All four men turned to look at her, and Piper saw her actually take a step backward when she was the recipient of their full attention.
“That’s me,” Piper said.
“If you could come with me,” the woman told her.
Piper nodded and started for the doorway, Ace right on her heels.
“Just Ms. Johnson,” the harried employee said impatiently, staring at Ace.
He shook his head. “All due respect, a couple of days ago Piper was hiding in the dirt under the floor of an orphanage, scared out of her mind that rebels would find her and kill her. Her best friend was killed by those same rebels. She’s feeling a bit off-kilter and isn’t comfortable not having either me or one of our friends with her. It’s my understanding that you’re just going to be verifying her identity before you reissue her passport. If there’s any confidential information that comes up, I’m happy to step out of the room, but for now, we’d all feel more comfortable not letting her out of our sight. I’m sure you understand.”
Piper looked up at Ace in surprise. He’d stuck to the facts, for the most part, but honestly, Piper felt pretty safe behind the gates and doors of the embassy. While she couldn’t deny she felt safer with him at her side, or one of his friends, she figured she could probably go half an hour without being in his presence and not freak out.
But when the embassy employee glanced at her with a look of sympathy, Piper decided to just go with it. Besides, she might ask questions that she didn’t know how to answer. She hadn’t discussed anything with Ace about what she could and couldn’t say about his team’s mission. It was better he was there with her, so she didn’t screw up and say something she shouldn’t.
Feeling Ace’s hand on the small of her back made goose bumps break out on her arms. Yeah, having him at her back was a good decision. He made her feel as if nothing could touch her as long as he was around. It was a scary feeling…but a good one.
They followed the woman into a dull office with no windows. Piper had no idea how the woman was able to work. She could hear the hum of the fluorescent lights overhead but otherwise, it was almost as if she was back inside that crawlspace. If the lights went out, it’d be pitch dark in the room, much as it was up in the mountains in the hole in the ground where she’d hidden with the girls.
Thinking about the girls strengthened Piper’s resolve.
She sat patiently as the woman shuffled through papers and asked some basic questions about her identity and address back in the States. It seemed as if Ace’s commander had sent in all the required papers necessary, and her being there was merely a formality.
When the woman wound down, and after she’d handed her brand-new passport across the desk, Piper took a deep breath and asked the question that was on the tip of her tongue before she chickened out.
“I have a question,” she blurted.
Piper could see Ace staring at her from the corner of her eye, but she looked straight ahead at the embassy employee.
“Of course, go ahead.”
“There were three girls who escaped the rebels with me. I’d like to know what the process is to adopt them and bring them back to the States with me.”
The woman looked surprised. She sat back in her chair and stared at Piper for a long moment before straightening and turning to her computer. She clicked a few keys for a minute or two before looking at Piper once more. “American adoptions from Timor-Leste are extremely rare. In fact, in the last decade, there have only been around five adoptions from American citizens.”
“Wow. That few?”
The woman shrugged. “Yeah. Anyway, you have to file an application with US Citizenship and Immigration Services, which includes a home study, among other things. You’ll need to give proof you can provide for the children. Supporting documentation—including proof of marital status and citizenship—will have to be included as well. Are you married?”
Piper blinked. The question surprised her. She hadn’t thought very much about the adoption process before now, but she hadn’t suspected it would make a difference if she was married or not. “Does it matter?”
Piper forced herself not to squirm in her chair at the look the woman was giving her.
“Technically? No. But the authorities here are very strict about who can adopt. Part of it’s because Timor-Leste is one of only two predominantly Christian nations in Southeast Asia. They tend to take a stricter stance on adoptions by outsiders.”
Piper felt sick. She’d been so hopeful that she’d be able to bring the girls home with her. She could figure out the money thing, take out a loan if the adoption fee was too large, but she couldn’t exactly produce a husband out of thin air.
Before she could do anything—like thank the woman for her time then exiting the room and breaking down in tears—Ace reached over and took her hand in his as he asked, “She’s got a fiancé. Is that good enough?”
Piper turned to stare at Ace. He wasn’t looking at her; his attention was focused on the embassy worker.
She smiled at him. “Unfortunately, no.”
Ace shrugged and turned to Piper. “Then I guess our timetable for getting married was just moved up, sweetheart.”
Piper couldn’t think of one thing to say.
“Am I supposed to believe that you guys are engaged?” the woman asked skeptically. “Seems awfully convenient.”
The smile on Ace’s face disappeared in a flash—and irritation replaced it. His eyes narrowed as he turned to stare down the woman behind the desk. “Convenient? If you consider the fact that my fiancée came to this country expecting to visit a good friend and meet the children she’d been
writing to for the last few months convenient, then you’re right. We met the girls because her best friend was a member of the Peace Corps in Timor-Leste. We’ve always wanted a large family, and since her friend was volunteering at an orphanage, it seemed like fate.
“But it wasn’t convenient when the rebels decided to revolt while my fiancée was visiting the girls we hoped to make our own. It was decidedly inconvenient when she had to hide in a hole in the ground for three days with our girls, so they wouldn’t get shot or worse. And it definitely wasn’t convenient when her best friend was killed in that raid, and Piper and the girls had to flee the mountains on foot.
“I flew over as soon as I heard what was happening. The plan was for us to get married in about a year, but I don’t care if the ceremony is today or ten years from now, as long as Piper’s happy.”
Piper had been holding her breath as Ace spoke, but she let it out in a whoosh when he was done. He turned to her, and she would’ve sworn the look on his face was actually reverent when their eyes locked.
“We can actually perform legal ceremonies here at the embassy,” the employee said. “And being married will certainly make things easier when it comes to dealing with the Timor-Leste red tape. But you still have to fill out the application with the USCIS, and that takes time to get approved.”
Ace glanced at Piper. She couldn’t look away from him, wondering what in the hell he was doing. “I’ve got a friend of a friend who can expedite the paperwork,” Ace said. “We can get this done.”
Piper knew he was talking to her more than the woman.
“I’m not sure it’s that easy, but if you’re willing to get married right now, I won’t stop you. I’m a sucker for a love story. Stay here, I’ll be right back with my coworker, the one authorized to marry people.”
Piper still didn’t look away from Ace as the woman left the room.
The second the door closed behind her, he pushed back his chair and actually got down on one knee right there in the small, claustrophobic office. He took her hand in his and said, “Will you marry me, Piper? Right here and now? You might’ve wanted a big proper wedding, and we can do that when we get back to the States. I can’t bear to leave the girls here, not after everything that’s happened, and I know you can’t either. Marry me?”
Piper’s mouth was bone dry. She couldn’t even swallow.
She noticed Ace hadn’t said anything about his job, or about loving her. Most of what he’d told the embassy employee had been the truth, but carefully worded. She did the only thing she could at that moment.
She nodded.
Ace smiled and stood, bringing her up with him. He put his arms around her and she hugged him back.
Eventually, she whispered, “What are we doing?”
“Getting married, apparently,” he said with a smile.
Piper shook her head. “You can’t marry me.”
“Why not?”
“Because.” Her brain wasn’t working right.
“That’s not a reason,” he retorted.
“You don’t love me,” she told him.
“But I respect you. And admire you. And trust you. That’s a hell of a lot more than a lot of people have. Do you trust me?”
“You know I do,” Piper said. “But still…getting married?”
“I saw your face at that farce of an orphanage today,” Ace said. “There’s no way we could ever leave Rani, Sinta, and Kemala there.”
Piper shook her head, feeling sick just thinking about it. “Do you really know someone who can help with the application process? I know most people have to wait months and years to be approved to adopt.”
“I do,” Ace told her confidently. “He’s a computer genius, and most of the time no one asks how he does the things he does. We just go with it. He’ll help us, I know it. I’m thinking within a couple of days, or sooner, he’ll have all the paperwork signed by the right people and delivered here to the embassy so they can issue the girls passports.”
It sounded too good to be true. Piper hesitated. “What if the government here says we can’t have all three?” she whispered. “What if they say we can only have one?”
Ace’s lips pressed together, then he said, “I don’t think they’ll say that.”
“But what if they do?” she insisted.
“Then we pick one,” was Ace’s response. “And do whatever we can to convince them to let us have the other two.”
Tears formed in Piper’s eyes and she closed them to try prevent the tears from falling. She couldn’t break down now. This was supposed to be a happy day for her. Her wedding day. If she seemed upset when the woman came back, she might be more suspicious than she was already.
Ace didn’t push her to say anything. He just held her against him, supporting her.
Taking a deep breath, Piper opened her eyes. “Kemala,” she whispered. “I’d have to pick Kemala.”
Ace simply nodded.
He didn’t ask for her reasoning, but she gave it to him anyway. “She’s the most vulnerable right now. As the oldest, she’d be expected to get married within a year or so. Rani and Sinta are younger, they still have time to acclimate to whatever their situation might end up being. I know Kemala doesn’t really even like me much, but that would also give me time to get together the money and resources to maybe get the other girls out before they got old enough to be married off.”
“If it comes down to it, we’ll find someone trustworthy here in Dili to keep Rani and Sinta until we can get back and take them home.”
She loved that Ace was using the pronoun “we.” Still, she looked away briefly. “We can annul the marriage when we get back to California.”
He shook his head. “No. I’m sure the USCIS checks up on adoptive parents and the children in their care. Especially in our case, since my friend Tex will be fast-tracking the application. They’ll want to make sure everything is on the up and up. You and the girls can move into my house, I’ve got plenty of room. We’ll make this work, Piper.”
Her head spun. What had started out as merely a long-shot idea was quickly morphing into something huge and out of control.
Ace lowered his forehead and rested it against hers. “I love those girls as much as you do,” he said. “It’s only been a couple days and they’ve wormed their way into my heart. Let me help you bring them home. Please.”
Piper nodded. How could she do anything else? Her best chance at getting the girls was to go along with his crazy plan.
A moment later, the embassy worker came back into the room along with a man wearing a navy-blue suit. His tie was askew and he looked extremely harried. Behind him were Rocco, Phantom, and Bubba.
Piper had to give the guys credit; not one of them asked Ace what the fuck he was doing. They just went with the flow, congratulating both her and Ace and smiling as if they were happy to be attending the impromptu wedding.
Five minutes later, Piper was staring up at Ace while the embassy worker ran through the fastest wedding vows in the history of man.
“Do you, Beckett Morgan, take Piper Johnson to be your lawfully wedded wife? For better or worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
“I do.” Ace’s words were immediate and heartfelt. He stared into her eyes as he said them, making Piper’s heart beat faster in her chest. She was really doing this. It seemed unreal, but beautiful at the same time.
“Do you, Piper Johnson, take Beckett Morgan to be your lawfully wedded husband? For better or worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
“I do,” she said in a voice that shook with emotion.
“By the power vested in me by the United States Government, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride.”
Piper stilled. She hadn’t even thought about this part of the ceremony. She’d married a man she’d never even kissed.
But Ace didn’t seem fazed by the bizarreness of what was happenin
g. He took her face in his hands and stared at her for a heartbeat, before lowering his head.
Piper’s eyes closed and she lifted her chin, waiting.
At first, he just brushed his lips against hers. She made a sound in the back of her throat—and when he kissed her again, he did so like he meant it. Her lips parted and Ace’s tongue swept inside her mouth.
It felt right. So good. As if they’d kissed a thousand times before.
His beard tickled her face, and Piper tilted her head so he could kiss her even deeper. Without hesitation, Ace followed her unspoken demand, and she couldn’t stop the small moan that rumbled up the back of her throat.
Way before she was ready, Ace pulled back. Her eyes opened and she stared up at him. His pupils were dilated, and he licked his lips as she watched. Her heart was beating a million miles a minute, and she felt more alive in that moment than she’d felt in years.
Before either of them could say a word, Rocco slapped Ace on the back and congratulated him. Bubba did the same, but Phantom stayed quiet near the door. The embassy employees caught their attention and had them sign the proper paperwork to legalize their marriage.
Piper’s hand shook as she signed the document, but she noticed that Ace didn’t hesitate. He seemed almost eager to put his signature on the piece of paper.
“We’ll make a copy of this so you can take it with you,” the woman told them.
Ace nodded. “Thank you. And expect correspondence from a John Keegan soon. It’ll be our adoption packet from the USCIS.”
She looked surprised…and skeptical.
Ace ignored her. “I’ll write down our address where we’re staying with the girls.”
“This is all highly unusual,” the woman stammered. “Usually the children being adopted stay at an orphanage or a private home.”
“They’re staying with us,” Ace said firmly. “They’ve been traumatized, and there’s no need to separate them from us. Besides, we have no idea if, or when, the rebels might decide to bring their fight out of the mountains and here to the capital. Piper and I would feel better knowing they were safely with us.”