by C. B. Stagg
“What the actual crap is going on here?” I asked, looking around at a room full of sore losers and Casey’s dad, one ecstatic winner.
“Oh, well… ” my father responded, face reddening, “several years ago, we all placed bets on what month and year y’all would finally ‘come out of the closet’ so to speak, and come clean about your relationship.” His sheepish grin at least told me he was ashamed about all this.
“You all knew?” Jase was dumbfounded. I looked around the room at the people I considered my family. Everyone nodded at Jase’s question, but Casey slowly raised his hand.
“Um, to be fair, I didn’t know until last week if that makes you feel any better.”
Poor Casey. Sometimes he was the blondest brunette I’d ever met, bless his heart. Jase grabbed my hand and laced his fingers through mine, kissing the back of our joined hands to a collective ‘aww’ from the room, warming me from the inside out. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out my engagement ring, sliding it onto my finger amid a round of congratulatory applause.
“Well, Mr. Hanson, that explains why, when I called yesterday and asked if I could have your daughter’s hand in marriage, you didn’t seem all that surprised. Thanks for saying yes, by the way.” Jase looked to me. “Actually, his exact words were ‘Thank God, I thought we’d never get rid of her.’” I slapped him on the arm as the room erupted in laughter.
Everyone’s eggnog-infused laughter must have woken Sleeping Beauty, because in minutes, a sleepy Vaughn emerged from the hallway and landed so close to Casey on the couch, she was practically in his lap. She still looked frail and sick, but also happy. So very happy.
Marian, who’d been standing with Claire off to the side, eyed Vaughn for a few uncomfortable seconds, a lot like she had yesterday upon meeting her. She then walked over to take a seat next to the couple. She invited Jase to join them and as they chatted, I looked on in awe.
“Here.” Claire sidled up beside me, handing me a mug of warm apple cider, and followed my eyes to see what had my attention. “Wow, would you look at that.”
“I know, right? The very first time I saw Vaughn and Jase standing by each other, I thought they could easily be mistaken for twins, or at least siblings.” Unnoticed so far, we stared a little longer.
“Look at the nose… those eyes… ” Claire appeared just as taken aback as I had been.
“When I met Jase, I thought he had the most unique dark, orange hair. And since then, the only other place I’ve ever seen it was on his mom. Until I met Vaughn.” I felt the need to explain this since Vaughn currently had no hair. “Now, watching all three of them in such close proximity is almost eerie.” Claire nodded in agreement, then she started shaking her head.
“How old is Vaughn? Twenty-one, right? That would make her born in 1990, and Marian and Jase have lived in this house since 1988. It’s just not possible… ” She was thinking what I’d thought the first time I’d seen Vaughn and Jase side by side; that they must be related.
I shook my head. “Of course it’s not. Just a freaky coincidence, I guess.” Shrugging, I moved to walk away, but Claire’s hand on my arm stopped me.
”Becky, I wanted to thank you… ”
“For?”
“For this,” she said, pointing toward a laughing Casey and Vaughn.
“Trust me, I’m not the one who puts that goofy grin on your boy’s face. You should thank her, not me.”
“Oh, I plan to, but I have to wonder what role you played in all this.”
I smiled, shaking my head. “Oh, Claire,” I said, thinking back on the three, long years it took for Casey’s path to clear, and then having to push Vaughn into it. “If you only knew… ”
Chapter 46
Jase
LATER THAT AFTERNOON, once our goodbyes were all said and we were on the Clark’s front porch, my mother invited Jill and Bennett to follow us home for a drink. We were in that transition between lunch and dinner, and we were all stuffed full of food with little to do, so they agreed and we made our way over.
“Well, Marian, it appears the kids have made our wish come true.” Jill hadn’t quit smiling all afternoon, which pleased me to no end. I’d always hoped our union would be well-received by our parents, but you never knew until it was all out in the open.
“Yes, well, I have a confession to make,” my mom admitted as we all sat in the living room. “I was in College Station with them yesterday, and we met again this morning. The kids have some news, and while what you’re about to hear isn’t news to me, y’all might want to hold on to your hats… ”
My mom looked at us, and Becky squeezed my hand.
“What is it, guys? This day couldn’t possibly get any better!” Jill’s enthusiasm for any and all things ‘Becky’ was infectious, and I was grateful again for the invisible guiding hand responsible for leading Becky into my life all those years ago.
“Oh, it can.” My mom nodded with wild eyes toward us after checking her phone for the millionth time since we’d arrived. “And, Bec, you may want to hurry it on up. I’ve got it on good authority Christmas is coming early, and I’m sure you have some things to say before your gift arrives.”
That information put Bec in panic mode, so with her bouncing in her seat, I started the conversation. “Jill, Bennett, I’m not sure how much you know about Becky’s life before she came to you.” I glanced at her, but she nodded, telling me to keep talking. She looked like she was about to bounce off of the small sofa we shared and out the front door wanting to get to why we were all sitting here in the first place.
“Jase, you’re scaring me. What is it?” Jill’s smile was gone.
“Mom, Dad,” Becky said, looking directly at her parents. “A few months before I came to live with you, I had a baby.” She paused to let that sink in, but neither of them seemed surprised.
“Bec, we didn’t know for sure, of course, but the stretch marks on your stomach kind of clued me in. Does this news of yours have something to do with that?”
She nodded. “Yeah. The baby was born on my sixteenth birthday, but my labor was brought on by severe… trauma, and from what I remembered of that night, I’d always thought I had miscarried.” She pinched her eyes shut and shook her head. “I… ” Her tight voice was constricted to the point of not being able to speak, so I took over, hoping I had the strength to get it all out.
“A detective with the FBI, the one who brought Becky’s abuser to justice, found the baby and he adopted her.”
“Her? Becky, you have a little girl out there somewhere?” Bennett looked beside himself with joy, and as if the Christmas angels were smiling down on us all, the doorbell rang.
As my mom stood to greet our guests, Becky answered her father. “No, Dad. Not out there somewhere. She’s out there,” she pointed, “on the porch. She’s ours, Dad. The man who adopted her died a few days ago, and he left her to me… well, us,” she said, looking up at me. Bennett had removed his glasses and was trying to wipe the tears from his face, but almost just as soon as he’d dried those up, more would reappear.
“She doesn’t know yet, how she fits into everything. We’re going to tell her today. Let me go get her.” Becky jumped up and practically sprinted to the foyer, and Bennett turned to me, fire blazing in his eyes.
“Who in the hell rapes a fifteen-year-old child?” he seethed. I’d just assumed he was crying tears of joy, but Becky was his world. And it was clear the thought of harm coming to her—past, present, or future—tore him up inside.
“Ben, Jill, let me tell you something. I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t have all the answers, and we may never know exactly what happened the night that baby was conceived. But regardless of how this child was created or how she came into this world… she is a piece of Becky… and therefore, she is a piece of me and both of you. She is our daughter, and she is your granddaughter. Whatever hate you hold against the man who did this to her, let it end with him. Because in about thirty seconds you are going to turn around and see your d
aughter whole and complete, for the first time in her life, and that is a sight worth all the forgiveness in the world.”
Both of them nodded at me, and when my eyes moved from them to the sight behind them, they stood and turned around.
Chapter 47
Becky
“MOM, DAD, I’D LIKE TO introduce you to Wynona Isobel Key. That’s her full name, anyway, but her nickname is Whiskey. And once you get to know her, you’ll see it suits her perfectly.”
Whiskey stepped forward, never letting go of my hand. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said, confidently looking them both in the eye.
“Becky, would you like us to give you some privacy?” My dad seemed ruffled, and tried to cool his features without ever taking his eyes from where Whiskey was holding my hand. I just shook my head.
“No, let’s just all sit down and talk.”
After dropping Whiskey off, Donna and Hank headed over to the Clarks to deliver Julian to Vaughn, who’d been missing him all day. So it was just my parents, Jase, and his mom.
“Whiskey, I’m sure you have a lot of questions, and I’m sorry Donna didn’t tell you more, but I asked her not to. We are ready to tell you everything, so now’s the time to ask.” My daughter was stunning and her voice sounded exactly like mine did at her age. I wonder if Jase heard it too.
“Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath before speaking. “My dad, I called him Sarge. So Sarge told me there was an angel out in the world that belonged to me, but that when I was born, she was too young to take care of me, so he did instead. Then, when he got sick, he said he’d find my angel so she could have me back when he wasn’t around anymore. Are you my angel, Miss, um, Becky?” It was like no one else was in the room when she was speaking directly to me.
“Yeah, I think I am,” I said, nodding.
“So, are you my mom? Like, did I grow in your belly?”
I nodded again and smiled. “Yes, I’m your mom. For several months you grew right here.” I placed my hand over my stomach and then quickly moved it to my chest. “But since then, you’ve grown in my heart, because it’s about to burst with the amount of love I have in here for you.”
She smiled and thought about that for a few seconds before she turned to look where Jase was standing beside his mother, watching silently as the story unfolded. “Are you my dad?”
Jase looked at me, before walking toward us, kneeling in front of where Whiskey and I stood. We were in uncharted territory, but I trusted him to say the right thing. “Well,” he nodded, not even attempting to stop the waterworks, “I sure would like to be. I’ve loved your mom for almost as long as you’ve been alive, and when I asked her to marry me the other day, she agreed. Of course, before we actually get married, I want to make sure you’re okay with it. But Whiskey, I already love you like you’re mine and it would be the pleasure of my life to get to be your father.”
Not a dry eye in the room.
“Sarge wanted Becky to be my mom, and he wanted you to be my dad. He told me so. George was always talking… ” She’d been looking down, but as her words faded, she looked up at me. “I saw your picture, you know. Sarge made me a book of your pictures for me to have after he was gone.” Then she turned to Jase again. “There were pictures of you in there, too. And I heard lots of stories about you.” She pointed right at Jase, and neither of us quite knew what to think of that news.
“Jase?” He looked at his mother, who’d so far kept her distance while we established our new family. “I need to—”
“Hang on, Mom,” he said, halting her speech before looking back to Whiskey. “How did you hear stories about me?”
She looked around the room, then back at Jase. “Your dad told me?”
Jase’s jaw dropped and then snapped shut when the light bulb came on. I’d connected the dots late last night when recapping the crazy day we’d had, but I hadn’t had time to discuss my theory with Jase yet.
“So, when you say ‘my dad,’ you’re talking about Mr. Preston, right?”
We both shot a glance at his mother as Jase awaited an answer from anyone. It was quick, but long enough to know he’d hit the nail on the head.
Whiskey nodded and smiled. “He talked about you all the time to my dad. They were best friends, like my friend Red and me. He’d always say that you may look just like your momma, but you acted just like him.”
The room was speechless. My parents were looking on, mouths agape. We’d never heard a word about Jase’s father. Absolutely nothing. I think we’d all assumed it was a sore subject—some great tragic love story gone wrong—so we just let the subject remain idle. For all we knew, he’d come from a test tube.
“Jase,” Marian whispered, sorrow and guilt evident in her voice. But he only shook his head.
“Well, since you know my dad… What do you call him, by the way?”
“G,” she answered. “I just call him G.”
We all grinned at her, so innocent in all this.
“Well, this is my mom… and whatever you do, do not call her Grandma.”
“Oh, I know,” she said, wide-eyed and deadly serious. “G warned me it might make her feel old, but,” she looked over at my mom, “I don’t think you’re all that old and you’re very pretty. I like your hair.” Her gaze drifted down to the ground. “Anyway, he said it may be okay to call you GiGi. I’ve never had a grandmother before.”
She nodded and smiled, still rooted where she stood. “I’d like that very much. And don’t worry, I’ve never had a granddaughter before, so we can learn together.”
“Okay.” She turned back to my parents—who were taking everything in like they were watching a Lifetime movie live and in full color—and put her hands on her hips. “And you are my mom’s parents?” They both nodded their response. “Then why don’t you two look like my mom and me?”
“Well, I guess we’re your mom’s angels. We rescued her the same way Sarge rescued you.” My mom was the absolute best. If I could be even half the mother she’s been, I will have succeeded in life.
Whiskey seemed satisfied with her answer. “But you didn’t have to share her?”
I held my breath and waited to hear what my mom would say because I had no words.
“Sure we did. First, we shared her with your dad,” my father said, pointing to Jase. “And now we’re sharing her with you.”
“Oh,” she nodded, “that makes sense. So, what do you want me to call you?”
It was only then that I realized we’d never even introduced them to her.
“We’re more than happy to be Grandma and Grandpa, right?” my dad asked, looking up at my mom, who was nodding.
“You don’t really look like a grandma, but if that’s what you want… ” Whiskey replied, eyebrows raised in surprise, which broke the tension. Everyone in the room laughed. “But you two, I’m just gonna call Mom and Dad, right?”
We nodded, then Marian’s phone pinged and she went to the door, coming back just a second later with… Jase’s father?
“Hey, G!” Whiskey yelled across the room. When he got a little closer, she went to him and he pulled her into a hug. “I agree, he looks like his mom, but my new daddy does act just like you.”
George’s eyes bounced between Marian and Jase several times before speaking. “Yeah, sweet girl, I know.” Then he bent over and kissed her on the forehead, and my poor parents sat back to watch part two of This Is Your Messed Up Life.
“George, we should probably talk in private.” Marian had always been the epitome of a strong woman, so seeing her so wrecked and vulnerable was unsettling.
“I don’t think so, Marian.” He leaned down to Whiskey. “Go sit by your mom and dad so I can get a picture for my phone.”
She hurried over, more compliant than most kids her age, and sat right between us. But in one quick motion, Jase scooped her into his lap and scooted right next to me. She wrapped one of her arms around Jase’s neck and posed for a picture, her smile lighting up the room like the Norther
n Star, causing a snowball effect.
“Hmmm,” he said, checking the picture. “Something doesn’t seem quite right.”
I was ready to stand and see if I could help when the front door opened, and Rosie and Doc walked in.
“Surprise!” Rosie yelled.
“Rosie!” I heard, in unison. One cry of excitement came from my father. Rosie and Doc had been his foster parents through the hardest part of his teen years, and he considered them to be his parents. But the second cry came from Whiskey. She jumped off of Jase’s lap and ran into Rosie’s arms, while we all watched, completely baffled by the newest turn of events.
“Where is she? Is she here? Where is she?”
Seeing Whiskey buzzing with excitement set off feelings inside of me I didn’t know I was capable of feeling, but I was clearly still missing a piece of the puzzle. From the looks on the faces around the room, we all were.
“Calm down, Mija. Calm down. Let me catch my breath.” She walked to Marian. “Hello, we’re delighted to finally meet you in person. I’m Rosie, obviously, and this is my husband, Doc.” Marian shook both of their hands, clearly knowing them and not surprised at all by their sudden appearance.
Then my father stood and pulled the newcomers into a warm hug. “I didn’t know y’all were coming, but we’re so happy you’re here. We have some news. Our family has grown since we last spoke.” He was beaming, looking at Jase and me.
“Just wait,” Doc said, the first words he’d uttered since walking in the door. “Just wait.”
Marian finally looked at George and asked the obvious question. “What is going on here? Is this what I think it is?”
“Well, it appears my timing has been a bit off tonight. Kids,” he looked from Jase to me. “Isn’t there another piece of news that needs sharing?”
“Oh!” I remembered. “This morning Jase and I filed to adopt another child. It’s a really long story and one we’d like to tell when Casey, Vaughn, and the Clarks are around… so should we head back over there?” I asked.
