“Ask me again later. For now, I just want to be here with my guys. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, baby, it’s more than okay; it’s everything.”
When it was time to put Wyatt to bed, Shane raced him up the stairs to his room. I trailed behind them and declared Wyatt the winner when Shane slowed down for him to pass him. Every moment we have spent with this little boy has been amazing, and I never wanted the feeling to end, but after today, I was scared if it might be too much for Wyatt. While he was brushing his teeth, I asked Shane if we could talk alone for a minute.
“What’s up?”
“Shane, I don’t want to burst the bubble here—Lord knows I love it—but something just occurred to me as I watched you with him.”
“What? Come on, babe, you’re scaring me.”
“We know what we want, but has either one of us asked Wyatt what he wants? We jumped over a lot of steps here, and now with the hearing in two days, it’s really hitting me. I’m sorry, maybe it’s my talk with Tenley today, but I just need Monday to be perfect, but more so I need Wyatt to want to be here. He has to want us for his parents, and it feels as if we have been playing house.”
“Okay, what do you want to do?”
“What we should have done before we started all of this. We need to talk to him and ask Wyatt what he wants, because no one has ever put him first. We have to be sure before Monday.”
Shane
“You’re right, Shelby. We have to talk to him.”
“Okay, let’s put him to bed, and tomorrow we will talk.”
I kissed Shelby on her forehead and breathed my beautiful wife in, while I was silently praying that we would finally get our happily ever after with Wyatt. Then we really would be a family.
“Okay, little man, hop up, and I will tuck you in like a burrito.”
“What’s a burrito?” he asked with his curious brown eyes.
“Shelby, please tell this boy what a burrito is and how it is needed in his life.”
“Well, if you haven’t figured it out yet by Shane’s excitement, he loves burritos. The outside of the burrito is called a tortilla. It’s like a round flat thin bread. You can stuff it with meat, vegetables, and cheese. After you fill it with what you like, you just fold it over or roll it, and voila! You have yourself a burrito. And what Shane meant about tucking you in like one goes something like this.” I watched Shelby tuck in the covers really tight around Wyatt, while he laughed.
“Okay, you are now a burrito. How do you feel?” she asked.
“I can’t move.”
“Yup, that’s the idea.”
He wiggled and loosened the blankets and then did something I didn’t expect. He sat up and hugged Shelby, and then reached for me to join in on the hug. He was so small in between the two of us, and as his little arms were around our necks, I think we had our answer on what Wyatt wanted. I kissed him on the top of his head and quickly wiped away my tears. I hadn’t felt this happy in a really long time. The next morning, Shelby and I practically jumped out of bed, excited to spend every waking minute with Wyatt.
“So, who wants seconds?” Shelby asked as she plated the rest of the French toast and sausage. We both raised our hands and shouted “Me!” and then Wyatt said I could have the French toast if he could have the sausage.
We compromised and split everything equally. Before he took another bite, I raised my fork and he did the same, and then I said, “Give me some fork,” which made him laugh.
We clinked our utensils and then dug into our pile of food. In just a short time, he had come to life living with us. I looked over at Shelby, and she knew it was time to talk to him.
“Hey, Wyatt, can we talk for a minute?” I asked.
“Sure! If it’s about mucking up the stalls, I’ll do it for you.”
“It’s not, but thank you. Any kind of help is always appreciated, especially in the barn.”
After I hesitated for a bit, Shelby came over and stood beside me. Wyatt’s happy expression fell a bit, but he just sat there quietly, waiting for me to talk. I let out a breath and then simply pulled off the Band-aid.
“Wyatt, do you like living here?”
“I love it. It’s the most beautiful place on earth.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty special, but what I want to know is if you’re happy living with us.” I reached for Shelby’s hand and linked it with mine. “Because we really like having you here, but we need to know how you feel.”
He looked all around the kitchen and then back to us before answering our question. “Are you sending me back?”
“No, Wyatt, we want you here with us. We want you as our son. And we—Shelby and I—will be your mom and dad, if that’s what you want.”
“I really don’t have to go back to the home?”
“No, not if you don’t want to. You never have to go back to that place again.”
“What about Mrs. Rosie? Will I be able to see her again?”
“Um, we can talk about it and maybe arrange a visit once we meet her. Wyatt, what do you think about the question I asked you? How do you feel about us becoming your parents? Is that okay?”
“I never had a mommy or a daddy.”
“Well, you do now. That is…if you want to.”
Oh, my god! I feel like I’m going to throw up. Shelby let me take the lead on this because she knew she would cry all the way through it, but damn, this is hard. I feel as if we are laying down our entire future in his little hands, and his answer will decide our fate.
He climbed down the stool and gave me a hug. I was a tall man, over six feet in height, so he measured up to my thigh. I placed my hand on his back, and then Shelby joined in for a group hug.
“I love you, daddy.”
It took everything I had inside of me not to break down in front of him, but that didn’t stop Shelby. I lifted him in my arms and hugged him with all that I had and prayed he felt my love—our love—for him.
Shelby was right. I was over questioning fate. We were a family, the three of us, and the next time I visited Jamie, I’d thank him for sending Wyatt to us.
The doorbell interrupted our moment, and Shelby went to answer the door while I stayed back to hug our son.
“Shane!” she called out.
I put Wyatt down and held his hand as I made my way to the door.
“Mrs. Rosie! You found me,” he happily said and then ran into the arms of the stranger standing in our doorway. She wasn’t alone though. Tenley was here, along with another woman.
“Let me look at you, Wyatt. Oh, have you gotten taller?”
“Maybe. They feed me a lot of pancakes.”
Mrs. Rosie laughed and then gave him a hug. She was older but not what I had pictured based on how he described her.
“Hey, it’s cold out there. Please, come into our home,” I said and then gestured for everyone to go into the living room.
We had a fire going, which Wyatt loved. He took a seat by the fire, and Mrs. Rosie sat beside him on the chair.
“So, what’s this all about?” I asked Tenley.
She placed her briefcase down and asked if we could speak privately and without Wyatt. I felt sick to my stomach. Something wasn’t right here, and I still don’t know who the other woman was. I was speechless, so was Shelby, and then the front door opened, and it was Jagger.
“Hey, who wants to ride Joker?” he asked and then clapped his hands together.
“Me!” Wyatt said, practically springing to his feet and over to Jagger. “I can really ride Joker again?”
“Well, not by yourself, but it should be fun.”
“Can I, daddy?” he turned back and asked.
All eyes in the room were on me. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. This was the second time he called me daddy, and it just made me want to cry and drop to my knees on how great it felt.
I cleared my throat and simply said, “Sure you can. Listen to Jagger, okay?”
“I will.” He put his coat on and th
en came back over to Mrs. Rosie. “Will you be here when I get back?” The look on her face told me no, but she said nothing in return and just hugged Wyatt and told him to have fun.
After the front door closed, Tenley interrupted my thoughts. “Okay, let’s all take a breath and have a seat. Shane, Shelby, I would like you to meet Roberta Davidson. She is a friend of mine and a caseworker for family services. She works closely with Judge Clayton and will be overseeing Wyatt’s adoption.”
“Hi, a pleasure to meet you. This is my wife, Shelby.”
“Hello, Shane and Shelby. Please, there is no need to fear my presence here. I know you are probably wondering why I’m here when your hearing is on Monday, but this is the first opportunity I have had to meet you, and I have wanted to. I also wanted to formally introduce you to Rosie, Wyatt’s grandmother.”
We gasped. “Grandmother? We thought you were a volunteer at the group home,” I said and then took a seat as Shelby’s grip tightened on my hand.
“I do volunteer at the group home. It’s my way of remaining close to my grandson.”
“Forgive me for being blunt, but if he’s your grandson, then why is he living at the group home and not with you? And why does he call you Mrs. Rosie if you’re his family?”
“He doesn’t know that I’m his grandmother, and I would like to keep it that way. I don’t have the means to care for him, and I am not in the best of health. I never knew my daughter had gotten pregnant, or the fact that she gave him up. I only discovered this about nine months ago. After months of searching, I found out that he was here in Wyoming, and recently back at the group home for children. I just wanted to make sure he was okay, and then after spending some time with him, I couldn’t just walk out and never see him again. So, I became a volunteer and visited the home when I could.”
“Why don’t you want him to know who you really are?”
“Mr. Rhodes…”
“Call me Shane.”
“Fine, Shane. I can’t hurt him with the truth, so I lie to protect him. My daughter is a train wreck, but she did one right thing in her life, and that was giving up that boy for a chance at a better life. I know living in an orphanage is not that dream, but it’s better than the alternative. I haven’t spoken to my daughter in years, and if you ask me if she’s alive, I won’t be able to say. I only found out about Wyatt missing last week, but it has taken me this long to find the courage to come out here. I was so upset when I heard he took off from his group, but then again, I wasn’t really surprised by it. He was so unhappy in that place, and all he wanted was a family, but it wasn’t anything I could give to him. So I kept on going back to visit and be as close as I could to him.”
“So what happens now? Will you try to stop our adoption of Wyatt?”
“No, I will not. I can see how much he has changed in the short time he’s been with you, and to hear him call you daddy is music to my ears. You have given him what he has always wanted, and that’s a family. No one will stand in your way of that happening. I have to get going, but I have signed all the necessary papers you’ll need for Monday. Although my daughter forfeited her rights, now that I’ve come forward as his next of kin, I have had to do the same.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, it’s the right thing to do for Wyatt. Rest assured, I will not stand in your way. The only thing I ask is if I may come back to see him again before I leave for my trip.”
“Of course, just tell us when.”
“I’ll have Roberta here arrange that for me, and when it’s set, I’ll be here.”
I was stunned and in complete shock, and I think Shelby was too. We walked Mrs. Rosie out, and then we joined Tenley back in the living room with the social worker.
Roberta explained, “I know it’s a lot to take in and all at once, but it was quite the revelation for me as well. I’ve known Rosie for a long time now, and I never connected the dots that she was related to Wyatt. I’ve met a lot of people in my line of work, with each story being very different from the other. I’ve learned not to question most of them and just do my job to the best of my ability. Thanks to your lawyer here, everything I would have done over a course of time has been done at a rapid speed, but it was Judge Clayton that signed off on this case, and he is one judge you never argue with. So, I’m going to leave this paperwork with you to read and sign for me. You can give me the file on Monday when we meet with Judge Clayton.”
“Excuse me, but are you telling us that after Monday, Wyatt will be our son? He will legally be our son?” I asked.
“Yes, is there another way I don’t know about?”
“No, I guess not. I’m just trying to wrap my brain around this.”
“Yeah, me too. Again, Mr. Rhodes, there are some things I don’t question, and this is one of those times. I’ll see you all on Monday.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Tenley said, and then she walked Roberta out to her car, leaving just Shelby and I, staring at each other.
“Oh my god, Shane, is this really happening?”
“Yeah, baby, I think it is.”
“I can’t believe that woman is his grandmother. It must be killing her to walk away from him.”
“No, not as bad as knowing she would be leaving him to the state,” said Tenley, as she walked back into the room.
“Why, Tenley? We need to know.” I asked.
“No, what you need to do is read this file and sign the papers. His medical file is also included. Thankfully, he’s up to date on his vaccinations, and for a young child, he’s hardly ever been sick. Everything you need is in there. Birth certificate, social security card, medical, and family history. There’s not much on that, but as far as I know from Rosie, they don’t have any genetic cancers or any significant heart issues, diabetes, etc.”
“What’s wrong with Rosie?” Shelby asked.
“She has lung cancer, stage four. It’s pretty sad. The poor woman worked two jobs her entire life, providing for her family, and she never smoked a day in her life. It says she worked for a chemical company, and it’s due to longtime exposure. During the time Wyatt ran away, she was down in Denver at the Cancer Treatment Center.”
“How much time does she have left?”
“A few months, maybe less.”
“Tenley, I don’t know the right words to express how thankful we are to you for helping us. I still can’t believe this is real.”
“Shane,” she began to say, and then looked over to Shelby, and then back to me. “Just be the best parents you can be for that little boy. That’s all the thanks I need. Okay, I have to go. I’ll see you on Monday.”
Shelby practically jumped into my arms, and as I held her, I looked over to my friend. Tenley mouthed the words “I love you” and then walked out, closing the door behind her.
“This is real, Shane. We are going to be a family, and Wyatt is going to be our son. Oh my god, Shane, I’m so happy.” She cried, and then at that very moment, Wyatt was back from riding and running happily toward us with the rosiest cheeks we had ever seen. I watched Shelby take him into her arms and listen to his animated story about riding with Jagger and how much he loved Joker.
“Will you be alright on your own? I just want to walk Jagger out,” I asked.
“Sure, we’re fine,” she happily said and then hugged Wyatt before helping him out of his coat.
Jagger waited for me while I had another happy moment with Shelby and Wyatt, and then I grabbed my coat and walked out with him.
“Talk to me, man. How is this all happening?” I asked.
“It’s not for me to tell you, brother. It’s up to Tenley.”
“Come on, Jagger, what does that even mean? I can’t have any surprises when we go before the judge on Monday.”
“Shane, there won’t be. You have to trust Tenley. She knows what she’s doing, and when it’s all over, you are going to walk out of that courthouse on Monday as a father to Wyatt. Your dream has finally come true. Don’t stand here and fucking question
it. Just be grateful. Leave it at that.”
“Yeah, I hear you, man, but I have to protect my family and that boy in there. He is so happy right now and so is Shelby. I have to know that it’s not just going to be ripped out from under us. We’ve lived through that too many times, and I can’t go through it again. We won’t survive it, Jagger. You should know; you bore witness to it.”
“I promise you that Tenley would never allow that to happen. If you don’t believe me, then look up at the sky tonight, and he’ll be there waiting for you.”
I knew what Jagger meant, and he knew how I felt. I trusted him and Tenley with my life, and I knew without a doubt that they would move heaven and earth for me if it meant for our dream to come true. She did that for me today, and so much of me wanted to just ask her how she pulled it off, but after she looked at Shelby, I knew I might never know, and I guess I would have to be okay with that. People have lived with worse, and this was not anything that came close to that. This was a miracle and the very best gift we could ever be so lucky to receive. I didn’t need to challenge fate and seek out the divine intervention I needed in the past, because I felt it in every part of my being.
Shelby fell asleep smiling, and Wyatt did too. It was a perfect day, just the three of us spending time together.
I wore many hats in this life, sometimes too many, but I had never been more prepared to take on the role as a father to Wyatt. With all that I had accomplished in my life, nothing came as close to perfection as the feeling I felt that washed over me tonight when I read Wyatt a bedtime story.
Right before he closed his eyes, he whispered, “I love you, daddy.”
Shane
I was never one to observe Sunday as a day of rest, not in a rancher’s life, but today was different. I didn’t ever remember a time when I slept in, but again, today was different.
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