“Sorry,” I mumble.
“Please,” she waves us away. “I’ve caught more of you making out in this dining room than I care to think about. You all seem to really like that corner. Now, go make yourself useful and call everyone to the table. Dinner’s ready.”
Jeremy turns around and yells, “Dinner’s ready!” before he kisses me again, laughing against my lips at Rachel’s grumble of “I could have done that myself.”
“Can you stop kissing already? It’s time for dinner.”
I laugh at Maddy’s exasperated voice as we break apart, and Jeremy bends down to swing her up into his arms.
“Little Red, the day I don’t want to kiss Emma anymore will be a sad, sad day.”
“Okay but can you kiss her later so we can sit now? I never had Thanksgiving like this before, and Rachel said I could pick any seat I want, right?” Maddy glances over at Rachel for confirmation.
“You sure can, Maddy girl.” Rachel’s voice wavers a little in response and when I look at her, she’s smiling, eyes filled with unshed tears as she looks from me to Jeremy to Maddy.
Maddy glances around as everyone files into the dining room. At Molly ribbing Julie for something as Asher slides an arm around her waist, and Jordan kissing Allie, and Ben wrapping his arms around Hallie, and Steven running a hand over Maddy’s hair as he passes us on his way to carve the turkey.
“So, this is what family is supposed to feel like,” Maddy says, with a little wonder in her voice. She lets out a little happy sigh and leans her head against Jeremy’s, eyes still roving the room, taking in the whole scene.
Jeremy kisses Maddy’s forehead and then leans over and kisses mine, wrapping an arm around my waist so the three of us stand together. And when he answers, his voice is rough with emotion.
“It sure is Little Red.”
When Jeremy puts Maddy down, she takes my hand in hers, and with Jeremy on one side of me and Maddy on the other, we take our seats to have Thanksgiving with our family.
Epilogue
Jeremy
Four Months Later
“So, when are you going to do it?”
I snap the box shut and whirl around to see Maddy standing in the living room doorway, her hands on her hips. She’s giving me a look so full of attitude that I have to stifle a laugh. Her hair is piled on top of her head in a sassy ponytail that falls over one shoulder, and she’s wearing a bright pink dress and sneakers covered in glitter, no doubt a result of her recent shopping trip with Molly. A little notebook and herHarry Potterwand stick out of a pocket in her dress.
I love her so much it hurts.
But at this very moment, I’m regretting my choice to tell her I have a ring and was planning to ask Emma to marry me. Because Maddy wanted to see the ring and then she got it into her head that I should propose to Emma on the same day as her adoption is finalized, and since today is that day, she won’t stop talking about it.
“Today, right?” Maddy taps the toe of her shoe, like I’ve inconvenienced her by waiting too long to respond to herquestion. She turned eight last month and the sass is real with this one. I guess maybe I have a thing for sassy redheads because even though she can be exasperating, I’m obsessed with it.
I never gave much thought to being a parent before Maddy came into my life, but I love every minute of it, both the hard parts and the parts that are as easy as breathing.
And the best part of it is, I get to do it with Emma. She is a remarkable mom. Watching the two of them together takes my breath away on a daily basis. That they let me live here and share this life with them makes me the luckiest man alive. I love the little trio we’ve formed, and all the memories in the home we’re building together. There is nowhere else I’d rather be.
The past four months have been a whirlwind. The board finally voted on my permanent replacement at the foundation, and I have thrown myself into coaching and running the hockey camps. Whenever I’m on the ice, I can’t believe I stayed off of it for so long. Hockey is in my blood. Maddy leveled up, and I coach her on one of the girls’ teams, and I get to work with Asher every day. And stepping down has freed up more of my time to be at the bar with Ben and to be present for my girls.
I’ve been seeing a therapist twice a week since the week I met my brother. She has helped me see that, for years, I used my cocky cheerful mask as a way to keep the people close to me from seeing the real me. The one who is a little bit broken and afraid a lot of the time. She has encouraged me to start letting in all the people I love, not just Emma, and has helped me learn to trust that they are going to stick around, no matter what I do or say. I’m still a work in progress, but I’m happy with where I am now.
“Are you sure you want me to do it today? It’s your day.”
Four months ago, we had no idea that Maddy’s adoption would go through so quickly. But I guess with Maddy’s father giving up his parental rights, and Maddy already living with Emma for so long, the path was pretty smooth. I had mybackground checks done and took all the classes that the state of Pennsylvania requires for adults who are living with foster children. I sold my house and officially moved into Emma’s last month. Even though it’s only Emma who is officially adopting Maddy today, it doesn’t feel that way to any of us.
Maddy shakes her head. “It’sourday. You and Emma told me that today is the day we get to be a family.”
I crouch down so I’m at eye level with her. “We’re already a family. You know we are. We don’t need rings and signed papers to make us a family. Family is what’s in here.” I point to my heart and then to hers.
“I know, and I know family means forever. You and Emma tell me all the time, and I believe you. But I also want it to be official.”
