by C. B. Stagg
“Well, he has some. At least two we know of. They were all in the room together.” Jase leaned forward in his chair, and I stood to pace to the adjoining kitchen and back. “And one of them is immediately eligible for adoption. It probably won’t be difficult to pursue both if we can accrue the correct paperwork and convince the powers that be that adoption is in the best interest of the other child too.”
Chapter 41
Jase
THE IDEA OF JULIAN having siblings somewhere out in the world ate at me. It sure got Becky’s attention too. And Vaughn, who shuddered and turned her body into Casey’s, was also visibly shaken by the news.
“Mom, what can you tell us about the siblings?”
“Unfortunately, not too much. My records request was solely for Julian. Finding out about the others was incidental. They were only mentioned by age and gender and the report is not too recent.”
“Well,” Becky asked with an extreme level of interest, “what are we looking at?”
My mother shuffled through some more papers. “Boy, age four… boy (who we know as Julian), age seven... and a girl, age nine.”
The collective sigh would have been humorous in any other circumstance, but the tears rolling down Becky’s face broke my heart into pieces.
Casey whistled, long and low. “Man. That, I was not expecting. That is a lot of kids.”
Vaughn looked at Casey, then back at Becky, but Bec was looking at me. “So, right now we’re both sitting at one. Casey and I consider Julian ours already, and you two now have Whiskey to consider. I agree with Casey. Going from one to three is a huge undertaking and I’m not sure we’re equipped to take on two more kids immediately, but we will do what needs to be done to keep the siblings together. Right, Case?” It was hard to tell if she was asking just Casey or the group as a whole.
“Jase?” Becky said, and I stood and went to her, cradling her head to my chest. “We have to save those kids.” She pulled back and looked into my eyes.
“What are you saying?”
“Do you remember when you asked me that question right before I graduated from my master’s program?” I slowly nodded, thinking back on my ill-timed, yet well-intended proposal to Becky all those years ago. “Do you remember how I told you to ask me again? And how you’d know the exact right time?”
I nodded again. “This is it, isn’t it? The exact right time.”
Becky nodded, so I got down on one knee and produced the ring I’d owned for years, but had been carrying around since I’d found out we were going to be parents to a tweenager.
“Becky Hanson, you’re my best friend… ”
She shuffled to the floor right in front of me. “Jase Pearson, you’re my soul mate… ” she whispered back.
“In your arms, I found peace… ”
She smiled. “And in your arms, I found home… ”
Her words melted my heart. “You’re my favorite hello… ” I waited, watching the grin spread across her face.
“And you’re my hardest goodbye… ”
I grabbed her left hand and slipped the tip of her finger into the ring.
“Then let’s never have to say goodbye again.” I kissed the palm of her hand, then asked, “Bec, will you marry me?” I slid the ring all the way on, watching her expression the entire time, then tugged on her hands as we both stood up.
“Jase. Obviously, there’s a lot you still don’t know about me. I’m not perfect… I—”
“Shhh. You don’t look for perfection in the one you love. You look at their jagged edges to see if they mirror yours—so that when joined—the two broken souls may become one mighty force that can take on the world. Together. That’s you and me, girl. That’s you and me.” My heart grew three sizes with her smile and I just knew a ‘yes’ was coming.
“Then my answer is yes, but on one condition… ”
Okay, not exactly what I was expecting. My eyebrows shot up in question, so she continued.
“Please, let’s find those kids and bring them home and love them like they deserve to be loved. We already have one, what’s one more?”
My gaze swung from my mom to Casey, and then to Vaughn. Their bright eyes and bobbing heads told me all I needed to know. “Okay. If that’s what you want, it sounds great to me.”
And it did. We could discuss having our own children later. These kids needed a family, and we were about to be one.
Congratulatory hugs filled the small room, but all too soon, reality crept back in.
“So, how’s this going to work, kids?” George’s voice chimed in, reminding us all that, in theory, the plan was great; but on paper, there were definitely details needing to be worked out.
“Well,” Vaughn spoke up, wiping her tears with a tissue. “Obviously, we each take one, right? We already live next door to each other, so we’ll just tear down the back fence to create one big, communal yard, and we can just… I don’t know, raise them together?”
“Baby,” Casey stroked her back and talked to her like a child. “Are you sure you’re up for two?”
She looked at him with flames in her eyes. “Maybe not this second,” she fired back, her fierce tone surprising all of us. “But I will be. What I am up for is putting this family back together and creating one of our own in the process.” Then, looking toward my mom, she asked, “I know this isn’t the most conventional plan, but does it seem feasible?”
The older woman looked around the room at four twenty-somethings, just starting their lives together, begging her to help them take on a family of siblings with baggage they couldn’t even begin to imagine.
If I were her, I thought, I’d tell us we were all nuttier than squirrels.
“Actually, I think so.” Her smile was wide and bright. “I’m sure it’s been done before, and knowing what I know about the four of you, if anyone can do it, y’all can. There’s more, though. The biological mother was murdered right before the children were removed from the home.”
Becky and Vaughn shared a knowing look. These kids had now become part of the ‘Dead Moms Club’. And without a doubt, they’d also just become that much more endearing to the young women at the table, both of whom had lost their mothers at a young age.
“Their father is one of the newest residents at the Huntsville State Penitentiary.”
“What’s he in for?” I asked, curious.
“Well, murder, for one. Also, human trafficking, prostitution, manufacturing a controlled substance with the intent to sell, stalking, assault with a deadly weapon, evading arrest, and identity theft. Do you want me to keep going? Pending a trial, which at this point is just a formality, he’ll be serving at least two consecutive life sentences. And it says here that he’s already signed away his parental rights to the boys, but there’s no record of him signing for the girl, which I find odd. That’s going to make her adoption more difficult, unless… ”
“Unless what?” Casey asked.
“Unless we go visit him in prison and convince him that, in the best interest of the child, he needs to give up his parental rights.” Mom’s answer was so matter-of-fact, like it was perfectly normal to waltz into a maximum security unit and ask to chat with someone on Death Row.
“Well, all right,” Becky said, determination burning in her eyes. “I’ll call and set it up. What’s the slime ball’s name?”
My mother pretended to refer to the paperwork again, looking between Becky and me, then back down. “The father is Toby Carraway.”
Chapter 42
Becky
AND JUST LIKE THAT, the race was on. In the span of just a few weeks, Jase and I needed to get married. So did Vaughn and Casey. And while that was happening—Marian, George, and even Jase to some extent—were setting up special meetings with multiple social service offices in an attempt to get the kids out of foster care and into our homes as quickly as possible.
George Preston had arranged for Whiskey to be placed with Donna and her husband, Hank, before revealing she was my biologi
cal daughter. Thank God she’d been warmly welcomed into their home, with Julian having taken to her like a fish to water. Everyone else found their insta-friendship endearing, but only I knew the real reason their bond was more than that of two kids placed together by happenstance, though I wasn’t quite ready to share that yet.
With school being out for Christmas break, it was the perfect transition time for Whiskey. She’d only be fostered by the Rileys for a few days, just long enough for the paperwork to go through. Then she’d come to live with Jase and me, which I guess moved our nuptials up to the top of the ever-growing priority list.
Lying in bed with Jase’s arms wrapped around me, in the bedroom we had shared for so many years, I was finally starting to feel normal again. It had been an emotionally exhausting day. Nothing could have prepared me to go from the shock of finding out I’d mothered a now twelve-year-old girl… to the high of getting engaged to the love of my life… and finally to the free fall of hearing Toby’s name and learning about yet another connection between that bastard and me. Since the moment Jase told me about Toby’s recapture, just days ago, it had eased my mind some. Though I still felt like our story wasn’t quite finished.
And now I knew why.
“Baby, I’m worried.” Jase’s words were scarcely more than a breath in the darkness.
I looked up and into his eyes. “About what?”
“Say we do end up adopting the children, the siblings, I mean. Do you think you’ll be able to love them properly, given their… paternity?” He paused. “Do you think I will?”
I sat up and faced him. He hadn’t yet asked about Whiskey’s paternity, and I wasn’t sure he even wanted to know.
“Jase, your heart is bigger than the ocean… ”
“Yours is bigger than the sky… ”
“And when I close my eyes, I see you as the father of my children. It’s always only been you… ”
“Well, if the way you love me is any indicator of the love you could provide for those kids, then I retract my last, incredibly stupid question.”
I smiled into his magnificent face. “I’m not worried about loving them enough.” Shaking my head, I thought about Toby’s interactions with the kids living in the crack house. He preyed on the weak and the small. He was abusive, both mentally and physically. And he didn’t have a nurturing bone in his body. I didn’t know who the mother was, but I didn’t need to. If she’d chosen to have children with Toby, she must have been vile.
“I’m almost scared I’ll love them too much, in an attempt to make up for the life they’ve led so far.” I looked down at my hands, not wanting Jase to see how emotionally invested I already was in these kids. “I’m afraid I already do.”
He pulled me back down onto him, settling my head on his chest over his heart. “I love your heart, and I can’t wait to see you as a mother.”
“So, when are you going to make an honest woman out of me?” I giggled when he tickled my ribs.
“Mom texted while you were in the shower. She’s asked us to drive in early tomorrow, and to stop by her office on the way home. She’s asked Casey and Vaughn to join us. Why don’t we hit the courthouse while we’re there? Surely marriage licenses aren’t too hard to obtain.”
“Oh, baby,” I deadpanned. “So romantic.”
“All right, woman. I can give you romance, or I can give you efficiency… so when we bring our daughter home to our house and tell her we’re her parents forever and ever, we’ll be married. Which option do you prefer?”
“Mmmm,” I moaned, a signal sleep was just around the bend for me. “I choose the option where I’m your wife, and I have to make love to my husband under the covers, really quietly, so our daughter doesn’t hear us.” I smiled.
“So, efficient it is then.”
Chapter 43
Jase
BECKY, VAUGHN, CASEY, and I spent almost two hours the next morning at Donna’s, who’d made every breakfast pastry under the sun for us. When we were stuffed to the gills, we firmed up our newly arranged plans with Donna and Hank. They were going to keep Whiskey and Julian for the morning to do a little more baking, giving the four of us a couple of hours head start to take care of some business in Houston. Along with the two of us, Casey and Vaughn also had plans to pick up a wedding license. Then we all had a meeting scheduled with my mom about some new developments in the adoption case for the three Jackson children. And to top it all off, we needed to let the families of the cul-de-sac know what had transpired over the last forty-eight hours—because ready or not, big changes were in store for our little families.
The modest home in which I’d grown up was in direct contrast to the sleek offices of MVP Family Law, and I could tell Casey was impressed. The office was housed in Pennzoil Place on Louisiana, in downtown Houston. The building, covered top to bottom in glass, usually appeared blue, reflecting the wide, Texas sky like a mirror. But it was most noticeable for its 36-story tower roofs that sat at a 45-degree angle, almost defying gravity.
The 26th floor suite of offices was no less impressive, with a navy blue, monochromatic color scheme and cherry wood furnishings. As we waited in the lobby for my mom’s assistant to lead us back—while Becky seemed only slightly intimidated—it was clear Vaughn felt incredibly out of place, as if fighting the urge to retreat inside herself. Just before we walked back, Casey knelt in front of her, guiding her face to his, and staring into her eyes until she visibly relaxed, little by little.
Then it was showtime.
When we were all seated around the conference table, Mom opened a file folder sitting in front of her. “I’d like to introduce y’all to Taj.” She pulled out an 8x10 glossy photo of a precious, chubby-cheeked little toddler, with dark brown skin and very little hair. His caramel eyes were bright, but his smile seemed superficial. “Taj just turned five years old and is eligible for adoption. The family currently fostering him is not interested in adoption as they are older and aren’t able to commit to another thirteen years of parenting. That being said, they had nothing bad to say about him at all, and fosters are usually honest with those inquiring about adoption.”
Vaughn was the last one to get the picture. With one look into that baby’s eyes, it was clear—she was sunk. He was exactly what I’d imagine Julian had looked like at that age. The way Vaughn’s face softened, with tears freely rolling from her eyes… she was already his mother in her heart.
“You know,” Becky said, breaking the spell Taj had cast on Vaughn, “we hadn’t really discussed how we planned to split the last two kids up, but… ” She looked from Vaughn and Casey to me. “I think it may be best to keep the boys together, don’t you?”
“Hang on, before you make any major decisions, I have more.” Everyone looked back up at my mother. “This,” she said, holding up another image with a flourish, “is Ruby Grace.” All the air left the room the second I laid eyes on that child.
Chapter 44
Becky
MY HEART MELTED AT THE sight of Ruby Grace. She was the spitting image of Whiskey, down to the caramel-colored eyes and naturally wild hair. She was now one of the two most beautiful things I’d ever set my eyes upon, even through the blurry lens of my tears.
“So,” Casey broke the silence. “I get the impression everyone is happy with splitting them, boys and girls?”
The silent room burst into nervous, yet excited chatter. It felt as though a few days ago we were just four people, and suddenly, we were becoming wives, husbands, and parents…
Instant family, just add water.
“All right.” Marian’s grin was infectious. “I’ll get the process started, but just so you know… ” She pointed her laser-like glare at Jase. “These children,” she circled her finger in the air, “will never call me Granny.”
Bile rose in my stomach at the heartless comment coming from my future mother-in-law’s mouth. Did she not agree with our decision to adopt? Did she not think she could love my child, having a good idea of how she was conceiv
ed? Tears burned the backs of my eyes.
“I’m way too young to be called Granny. I’d like to be MiMi, or GiGi, or something like that. Got it?”
The tears slipped past my eyelids anyway, but for a completely different reason. I’d never in my life felt so complete as I did at this very moment.
“Woman, you have got to stop fidgeting.” Casey reached over and stilled the hands Vaughn was wringing, warming them against the bitter December cold. “What are you worried about, anyway?”
She turned her head to meet his eyes across the cab of his truck. If looks could kill, we’d all be dead. He was driving. Jase had stayed at the Houston office to help his mom settle some cases before coming home for the holidays, so I’d caught a ride home with our friends. I felt like a third wheel.
“Casey, they’re your family!” She straightened the turquoise and brown beanie that covered her chemo-bald head. “Of course you aren’t nervous, but put yourself in my shoes.”
He was a smart guy, but he, like Jase, still didn’t quite get how different their lives had been from ours.
“I don’t do holidays. And I don’t do family. Plus, you’re bringing home a girl for the first time since your divorce, and at Christmas? They don’t want to spend their holiday with a stranger! God, this was a terrible idea!”
Poor Vaughn. In ten days she’d gone from completing her last chemo treatment, to getting engaged and trying to set up a completely new home, and then adjusting to sharing her profoundly private life with another person. Not that any of it was bad. It wasn’t. Casey had set up a room for himself separate from Vaughn’s in the home he’d bought from Jase. But from what she says, it hadn’t been used even once. Falling asleep and waking up in the arms of the man you love was a fairy tale come true—I should know. But no amount of love could make the adjustment easy. And now, on top of everything else, she was traveling two hours away to spend the holidays with her new fiancé’s huge family—which included my parents and Jase’s—where we all planned to share the news of the adoptions. It was the stuff stomach ulcers were made of.
