Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
Emma
“ C offee, Ems?”
Dressed for the day and hair damp from the shower, I take the mug Jeremy hands me.
“Now this is service.” I kiss his cheek while I watch him dump pumpkin creamer into his own coffee.
“Want some coffee with that creamer?” His coffee choices never fail to amuse me.
Jeremy abandons his coffee to kiss me. He tastes like toothpaste and sex, and it makes me want to dive right back into bed with him. When we break apart, he grins.
“I love the pumpkin creamer. Any seasonal creamer really. Just wait until it’s peppermint season. I hoard that shit like the world is ending.”
I chuckle, following him into the living room to curl up on the couch for a few minutes before I leave for work and he goes home to change to meet Ben at the bar. Jeremy grins at me again over his mug, and I love this moment so much I want to bottle it up and keep it forever.
We’ve barely gotten a chance to enjoy it before someone knocks on the door.
“Who the hell is here at nine in the morning?”
Jeremy shrugs. “Package?”
“I didn’t order anything,” I mumble, handing Jeremy my coffee mug and hauling myself off the couch.
It isn’t a package though. It’s Hallie.
“What are you doing here?”
“Good morning to you too, Em.”
“Sorry. Hi. Good morning. Why are you at my house when I’m about to see you at our office?”
She walks past me into the house, straight into the living room.
“Hey, Jeremy.” Hallie turns around and smirks at me, eyes gleaming.
I shake my head at her and settle back down on the couch next to Jeremy, reclaiming my coffee while Hallie plops down in a chair.
“Morning, Hal. What brings you here?”
“I have something I need to talk to Emma about. It’s important and potentially time sensitive. I wanted to tell you here so you had some space to think about it if you needed it. It’s about Maddy.”
I suck in a breath, and I know Jeremy hears because he takes one of my hands and wraps his other arm around my back, pulling me closer to him. I close my eyes for a second, steadying myself with the feel of his warm, solid body next to me.
“What about her?”
Hallie’s eyes slide to Jeremy and back to me. I hear the question without her having to ask it out loud, but I let her ask anyway because I want Jeremy to hear the answer.
“I assume from the fact that Jeremy is in your house at nine in the morning and both of you have wet hair that I can talk about this in front of him?”
“Of course. He loves her too.”
The tightening of his hand around mine and the hitch in his breath is the only sign he’s affected by my words. It’s enough.
Hallie’s eyes warm and she nods.
“Good. Okay. Cindy from The Center for Children and Families called me early this morning. I don’t know all the details yet, but Maddy’s father has had his parental rights terminated. They did an exhaustive search for family members when her father was first incarcerated and there’s no one. Since returning to her father is no longer an option and there is no other family, Maddy needs a permanent home.”
My mind races to keep up, but I feel calm. Maybe a part of me has been prepared for this all along. Whatever the reason, the time is here, and I already have my answer.
Maddy is mine. She has been since the second I answered Hallie’s phone call on the trail.
I glance over at Jeremy, and he’s already looking at me. We’re so new, and I know he’s wary of words like forever. We’re in this now, though, so whatever I’m about to say affects him too.
But Jeremy’s eyes are soft. There’s no anxiety and no hesitation. He must see the question in my gaze because he gives me a small nod. It’s all I need.
“I want to adopt her. She’s already mine.”
Tears fill my eyes and spill over. When I look back at Hallie, she’s crying too.
She stands and walks over to me, pulling me up from the couch and wrapping her arms around me. “I love you, Em. You look happy,” she whispers in my ear.
“I am.”
“You deserve it. You deserve everything.”
“With both of them, it feels like that’s exactly what I have.”
Hallie sniffles but when she lets me go, she’s back to business Hallie.
“Obviously it’s a whole process, and I’ll take you through it every step of the way. I would advise not saying anything to Maddy for the time being until we get a better idea of what the timing will look like and if there will be any roadblocks.”
“I won’t. Hal, can you let everyone know I’ll be late? I think we need a minute.”
“Of course. Come find me when you get in and we can talk more. Bye, Jeremy.”
“Later, Hal.”
When the door closes behind Hallie, Jeremy and I look at each other silently for a few seconds before he snickers.
“So…I guess it’s a girl?”
This entire morning has been so unexpected that I laugh too, and before long, we’re both holding onto each other, shaking with laughter, tears streaming down our faces. I know we have a lot to talk about and so much to work out between us, but right now, this moment feels kind of perfect.
I find the note on the kitchen counter after Jeremy leaves.
Dear Ems,
I’m so damn proud of you. You are going to be an amazing mom, and Maddy is so lucky to have you. I’m lucky to have you too.
Sometimes these notes are a way for me to say the things that are hard for me to say out loud, so here goes. I know we have a lot to talk about still, and it hasn’t been that long, but I want to be there with you every step of the way while you go through this process and long after it’s over. I don’t know what that will mean for all of us, but I wanted to make sure you know. I’m in this. Maddy is mine just like you are.
You light up my world, Pretty Girl. So does she.
Jeremy