Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Aaron
I shifted from one foot to the other nervously in the back room of Sophisticated Sheen as I waited for Valerie to close up for the night. I had a big question to ask her and I didn't know which way she was going to answer.
"What happened?" Valerie's sudden sweet voice had me jolting. I was so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't heard her approach.
"Nothing happened but I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Okayyyyy."
I was going about this all wrong and putting her on edge before I even had the chance to present my question.
"It's not bad. Just hear me out." I cleared my throat. "You know how Trista deals in saving women and men from human trafficking and gives them second chances at life?"
Valerie nodded and looked at me like I was insane because of course she knew. Ever since Nancy had told Valerie about Trista and Second Chances, she had been doing everything she could to either provide clothing or jobs to those women.
"Okay, well, last week they rescued three women and two children from a trafficking ring in Russia."
I could tell the moment Valerie realized where I was going with this because she threw her arms around my neck and screeched, "Yes!"
"I didn't even get to finish telling you all the details," I said while laughing.
"I don't care. The answer is yes, I want to help those kids any way that we can."
Oh, we weren't just going to be helping them.
"I already spoke to Wes. They are brother and sister. Ages nine and seven. They have no family and the only other option was an orphanage in Russia, but Wes said he could pull a few strings and get them brought to America instead."
"Yes. Absolutely, yes."
"They don't speak any English and we have no idea how long it's been since they were taken. There's a good chance they were living on the streets before."
"I don't care what their backstory is. I’ll learn Russian if it means they will feel more comfortable with us. My answer is still yes."
I continued to hold Valerie in my arms and I looked right into her beautiful eyes. I could tell without a shadow of a doubt that she meant every word she spoke.
"So this is it? We're starting a family?" There was so much hope in her voice.
"We were already a family, but now it's just going to get a little bit bigger."