by S. E. Rose
“Oh, you’re dead, C-Dog,” I say to him as I whip around to chase him over the hill. Ash runs after us.
“Wait for me!”
I pick him up, and we go after Clark.
Once we thoroughly decimate him with snowballs, I give Ash a piggyback ride down the hill and back inside.
“Hot chocolate?” Mrs. Moore asks as we walk into the warm entryway.
“Can I?” Ash asks. I nod and let Mrs. Moore take him to get some.
Lanie is already inside, dusting snow off her coat. I watch as she hangs it up and joins her sisters in removing the decorations. I set out to help them. It takes about thirty of us an hour or so, but eventually, the bowling alley is back to normal.
I’m surprised when the owner laments that maybe we should have kept it up longer. “Spruced the place up a bit,” he says.
Ash is passed out on a bench by the time we finish helping.
“We should get him home,” I say to Lanie as she hands the high school decorations over to Di.
“Yeah, I think we are about done here.” I pick up Ash, and we head home after a round of hugs and kisses from various family members.
Chapter Thirty-One
“That was quite the day,” I say as we both slump on the sofa.
“It was. I’m happy for them.”
“Me too.” Lanie falls silent.
“What are you thinking about?”
“That you and I are going to be in-laws,” she says as she looks up at me with big eyes.
“I suppose we will be.”
“Weird.”
“What, no brother-in-law fantasies you’d like to fulfill?”
“Ew.”
I smirk. “What about other fantasies?”
Lanie blushes.
“I warned you about blushing,” I say in a low whisper as I lean in and kiss her jaw.
“Oh? I don’t remember.”
“How about I help you remember?” I ask as I trail kisses along her neck and clavicle.
“I think that’s a good idea,” she says as she groans. But then she stops abruptly and pulls back.
“But upstairs, in my room. I don’t want a repeat of last time.”
I chuckle. “Good point, counselor.”
She grabs my hand and hauls me up to her room, where she lets me explore every inch of her body.
After a quick shower, we lie in bed, Lanie tucked against my side.
“Ash has to be at the hospital on Monday,” Lanie says.
“I know. His treatments are going well. Other than the little setback with the infection, he’s done quite well.”
“Social Services has asked if I want to keep him.”
“Keep him, keep him?”
“I know the social worker. I’ve worked with her before and . . . she stopped by the other day for a home visit. She asked if I was interested in adopting him.”
“And are you?”
Lanie props herself up on her elbow. “I . . . think I might be.” She bites her lip, and I reach up to tug it loose.
“I think it’s a good idea,” I admit. I’ve been stewing on this very idea ever since my grandfather spoke to me today.
“You do?”
“I do.”
“I mean . . . it will affect us.”
“It doesn’t change anything, Lanie.”
“It changes everything,” she points out.
“Yes, but day to day, it’ll be the same, just in a more permanent way.”
“I suppose so. What do you think about it, really?” she asks.
“I think you and Ash belong together.”
“You do?”
“Yep.”
“What about you?” she asks.
I trail a finger along her lips. “I think I belong with you, too.”
“You do?”
I chuckle and roll us over so that our foreheads are mere centimeters apart.
“Lanie, I love you. I don’t know a lot about my future, but I know I want you and Ash in it.”
“Really?” she squeaks.
I nod. “Really.”
“I love you, too, Brix.”
I lean down and kiss her. “Well, then, I think the three of us together are perfect.”
Epilogue
Six Months Later . . .
Lanie
“Lanie!” Ash calls out from his room.
“Yes, sweetie?”
“When do we leave?”
I look down at my phone. “About thirty minutes.”
“Oh . . . OK.”
I turn to Brix, who is standing at the threshold of our bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and shaving cream covering his chin. “That doesn’t sound good,” he mutters.
I sigh. “No . . . definitely not good. I’ll go check on him.”
He gives me a wink and heads back into the bathroom to get ready.
It’s been a long few months. The medical trial that Ash was part of has eradicated cancer from his body. He grows stronger every day. He still cries on occasion, and he still fights the fact that this is his home, but those episodes are few and far between now. Mrs. Collier has been meeting us for ice cream on the weekends. About five months ago, our social worker brought me adoption papers to file. I asked Ash’s permission. He was excited and said yes right away, but I’ve noticed he’s been acting hesitant about today, almost like he doesn’t believe it will really happen.
Brix has been great. We’ve talked about taking the next step in our relationship, but things have been so busy with Ash that it’s been on the back burner.
“Ash?” I say as I walk into his room.
“Oh my God.” The words are out of my mouth before I can think. There’s paint everywhere. It’s on Ash, on the desk, on the chair, on the wall, on the handles of the dresser drawers. And there in the middle is Ash, standing proudly holding a painting. My heart immediately melts when I see it’s a painting of our house, me, Ash, Brix, and Sandy. Sandy . . . the traitor is lying on Ash’s bed, having witnessed the entire disaster without so much as a meow to alert me.
“You like it?” His little voice is so hopeful that it crushes my soul.
I kneel and look more closely at it. “I love it,” I say to him because it’s the truth.
“I painted it for Judge Maloney.”
“He’s going to love it!” I say to him. “Why don’t we get you cleaned up? OK?”
Ash looks down, and his lip trembles. “I’m sorry, Lanie!” He throws himself on the bed and starts crying. Sandy scampers off to a corner under the desk.
“Hey . . . Ash, it’s OK. It’s washable paint.”
“But now we are going to be late!” he says dramatically.
I look at his clock. “We have fifteen minutes. It’s like a race. I bet you can get ready in twelve minutes.”
He rolls over and gives me a questioning look. “You think?”
I grin. “I know you can. Come on, show me your mad changing skills!”
He giggles and wipes his nose on his sleeve before taking his shirt off. I run and grab a wet washcloth to wipe the paint from his hands and face. I pull out another nice outfit for him, and he puts it on.
“There and, wow, in eight minutes. Very impressive!” I say to him. He looks around his room.
“But . . .”
“We’ll clean up the rest later. OK?”
I wipe up a little of the paint with the washcloth and toss it in the dirty clothes hamper.
“You guys ready?” Brix’s voice comes from the hallway.
“Yep,” Ash and I answer together. I hold out a hand for him, and he takes it as we go to join Brix.
Brixton
I’ve never seen Lanie so nervous. Hell, I’ve never been so nervous. When Lanie said she was adopting Ashton, I was over the moon. I’m excited about what lies ahead for the three of us. And I’m beyond excited for today for so many reasons. This marks the next step toward our future.
Ash gives me a giant wink as we get out of the car at the cou
rthouse. We would have walked, but Lanie said absolutely no walking in her heels. The courtroom is packed when we arrive. Both our families are here. Of course, mine is only three people, but I now feel like the twenty or so members of the Moore family are part of my family, too.
Judge Maloney cleared his docket for this afternoon—a perk that is quite unusual for such an occasion, but when I told him my plan, he was more than happy to oblige. And Ash may have been very persuasive. I just hope Ash doesn’t spill the beans.
We don’t make it three feet into the courtroom before everyone starts greeting us. Ash is passed around for hugs and kisses, which he accepts. His biggest hugs go to Di and Mrs. Collier. Di just found out that she is going to be teaching the third grade and Ash will get to have her again as a teacher. I was so happy to know that he’d be with someone who understands him.
It’s been such a pleasure to watch him grow and become more confident in himself and his relationships with others. I admit, when Judge Maloney first introduced us and I learned about his case, I wasn’t sure how he’d turn out, at least not mentally. Kicking cancer’s ass is tough on the most well-adjusted and loved child, like Lanie, but on a child with no permanent support system, it’s a totally different story.
Yet here I am, watching him chat with people and give hugs and fist bumps. He’s the light in the room, and it warms my heart. I can relate to him on a certain level, having lived with a drug addict parent who neglected my sister and me all the time. But she loved us in her own way and tried to do the right things. I shake myself free of my thoughts and follow Lanie and Ash up to the table in the front of the room.
Lanie takes my hand in hers and squeezes. I give her a reassuring smile.
“You got this,” I whisper in her ear as I kiss her cheek.
She blushes, and I have to control my libido. I don’t know what it is about her skin turning pink that makes me completely incapable of thinking straight.
I look down at Ash, who is playing with a pen that was on the table. “You ready for this, buddy?”
He shrugs. “I just want to go get cake. Granny Kathy says there is going to be cake, and I’m hungry.”
I raise an eyebrow at Lanie and mouth, ‘Granny Kathy?’
She shrugs. Lanie hasn’t forced Ash to call her anything in particular. He’s mostly resorted to calling everyone by their first names. I know Lanie desperately wants him to call her ‘mom,’ but she’d never admit it.
“All rise,” the bailiff says as Judge Maloney enters the courtroom.
Lanie
I’ve never been so nervous in my entire life. I’m about to become a mom, something I never thought was possible. I have so many emotions running through me; it’s hard to decipher my feelings. I’m happy about becoming a family, sad that Ash couldn’t be with his birth parents, angry that Ash had to go through such hard things in life, excited for the future, and anxious to get started on what will surely be the hardest job of my life: being a mother.
“You may be seated,” Judge Maloney says as he sits down.
Everyone sits, and the room is silent. Ash sits between Brix and me. His legs swing back and forth. I wonder what is going through his little head in this very big moment in his life.
“How are you doing, Ash?” the judge asks.
“I’m hungry . . . Your Honor.”
The courtroom erupts in giggles. The judge presses his lips together, fighting his smile.
“Well, we better get going, then.”
Ash nods enthusiastically. The judge reads a few things and then looks at Ash.
“Ash, do you understand why you are here today?”
I notice Brix stiffen but focus back on Ash, who is nodding.
“And why is that?”
“Lanie wants to adopt me,” he says matter-of-factly.
“That’s right. And how do you feel about that?”
Ash shrugs. “Good. I like Lanie and Sandy and their house and Brix and their families.”
“Do you want Lanie to be your mother?”
“Yep.”
The judge smiles at him and looks to me. “Are you prepared to be the permanent legal guardian of this child?”
“I am, Your Honor.”
“Excellent. Well, that takes care of that, but I believe there’s some other important business to attend to,” he says, looking over his glasses at Brix. I frown because I thought this would only take a moment. Does Brix need to release his doctor's privileges for Ash? That doesn’t make sense. My legal brain scans through things that I might have forgotten to do.
I’m deep in thought when Brix stands and walks around the table to me.
“Brix?” I ask in confusion.
He drops to his knee in front of me and takes my hand. “Lane Laurie Moore. You are the most beautiful woman that I’ve ever seen. I knew the moment we met that I wouldn’t be complete without you in my life. I’ve cherished every second I’ve spent with you and with Ash. We’re a family, and we should be a proper one. Will you marry me?”
My mouth falls open, but no words come out. I’m seldom rendered speechless, but I’m speechless right now.
“Lanie? Aren’t you going to say yes? I already told Brix he could be my dad, so I think you have to say yes,” Ash whispers behind me, but the room is so quiet that everyone can hear him, and the laughter that erupts jars me from my thoughts.
I smile. “Yes,” I say because no other words are needed.
Brix doesn’t hesitate as he pulls an insanely large diamond ring out of his pocket and slides it on my finger. Perfect fit. He stands and pulls me up against him, lowering his lips to mine. He kisses me in a way that has me blushing.
“Keep it G, people! We have a kid here,” C-Dog calls out from the row behind us. Brix and I break apart and laugh.
I pull back and look at Brix. He’s in a dark gray pinstriped suit, and he looks so handsome. I look down at my dress. It’s summery: lavender with a white ribbon around the empire waist. Ash is in a button-down shirt and black pants. I look back up at Brix.
“Let’s do it now,” I whisper.
He cups my cheek. “Do what, angel?”
“Let’s get married right now.”
His eyes widen. “Now?”
I look around the courtroom. Our family and friends are all here. It’s perfect.
“Yes, everyone is here. Let’s do it now. I don’t want to wait one more day for us to become a family.”
I turn to Judge Maloney. “Your Honor? Would you do me the great favor of presiding over our wedding and accepting my motion to retroactively file adoption papers for Brixton Crane to be listed as a legal guardian for Ashton . . .” I trail off and look down at Ashton. “For Ashton Crane?”
Judge Maloney nods. “It would be my honor. You can file your motion and official paperwork with the clerk tomorrow and stop by my office later this week to make it all official.”
The judge rounds his bench and comes down to us. “I’ll need two witnesses.” Di and Tabby stand up and walk to the front of the room.
“Oh, here, use our old wedding rings,” Nana says. Nana and PopPop come up and hand us their rings. They had new ones made for their fiftieth wedding anniversary. They hand them to Ash, who holds them carefully in his hands.
“OK, I think we can begin,” the judge says. “Do you, Brixton Crane, take Lane Laurie Moore to be your wife?”
“I do.”
“And, Lane Moore, do you take Brixton Aaron Crane to be your husband?”
“I do.” I smile shyly up at my soon-to-be husband.
“The rings,” he motions to Ash, who hands us the rings.
“Would you like to exchange vows?” the judge asks us.
I stare at Brixton and nod.
“Brixton,” I start and turn to Ash, “and Ashton, I never thought I’d have a family. I threw myself into my work, and even though I loved it, something was always missing. I put on the perfect persona, but inside I was incomplete. Until I met both of you. I can’t imagine my
life without you in it. We’re three people who have had some hard times, but together, we’re better. You made me whole again, and I will spend the rest of my life making sure your lives are better for having me in them.”
I swallow a sob that nearly escapes my lips as my voice breaks on the last word.
Brixton squeezes my hand. “Lanie . . . and Ash,” he says with a wink to Ash, who grins up at us, “I spent my life running away from anything permanent because I was afraid of loving someone, afraid of getting hurt, afraid of being disappointed. But you both have taught me that I was missing out on so much more by hiding from love. I don’t know why fate brought us together, but it did. And for that, I will be eternally grateful. I love you both with all of my heart.”
We both reach out and pull Ash into a group hug. As I look up, there’s not a dry eye in the courtroom. I see Tabby passing my mom tissues.
“Ash, the rings, please,” the judge says, and Ash proudly hands him the rings.
“Oh wait, I have rings, too!” Ash says as the judge begins to hand us the rings. We all freeze and look down at Ash as he digs into his pocket and pulls out lollipop rings. I vaguely remember Di supplying him with candy recently, and I look over at her with a raised eyebrow, but she’s too far gone to care. Her giggle bursts out first, and pretty soon, everyone else is giggling, including the judge.
“Well, very good then, Ash. Would you like to give your parents their rings first?”
Ash nods enthusiastically. He hands us the rings. “You’re both cool, and I like living with you. I wasn’t sure anyone would want me, but I’m glad you did. You even liked me when I was sick. Oh, and I’m also glad we live near an ice cream shop.”
The laughter grows at his last statement. “Well, that was very nice Ash.”
We each put the rings on the ring finger of our right hand as the judge hands us our actual rings. We slide them on each other’s fingers and grasp hands, staring into each other’s eyes. The world melts away for a moment and it’s just us. I can feel Brix’s pulse beneath my thumb, and I swear our heartbeats sync up after a second.
“I love you,” Brix mouths.
“I love you, too,” I mouth back.
“By the power invested in me by the State of Maryland, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride,” Judge Maloney says.
