Carragan Family
Ten Years Later
Rowan
“Evelyn! Come on, baby girl!” I hollered up the stairs. I looked down at the deep emerald green eyes peering up at me, a small smile on her face as she squeezed my hand.
“I’m coming, Daddy!” Evelyn yelled back. I could hear her small footsteps running around upstairs. She was probably putting together some crazy outfit to shock her mother with, and personally, I couldn’t wait to see it.
We’d adopted Evelyn when she was a newborn.
Aspen and I had been married three years by that point, and we’d talked about seeing a doctor to find out what it would take for her to get pregnant, but decided we’d seen enough doctors; if we didn’t need them again, we didn’t want to.
Adoption felt right, especially since Aspen had spent so much time in foster care as a child.
She’d never been able to mend the bond with her mother either, so this had just felt right.
“What do you think she’s doing up there?” I asked my four-year-old, Avery.
Avery shrugged. She hadn’t talked much since Aspen and I adopted her two years ago.
Harper said it was a small speech delay because of her first two years in foster care and bouncing between homes, but Aspen and I weren’t worried about it.
She fit into our family perfectly from day one, so we knew she’d find her voice when she was ready.
“She has a gift for Mommy,” she whispered as she squeezed my hand again.
I tried not to let my eyes widen in surprise at the full sentence I’d just gotten. “Did she make something?”
Avery nodded and leaned against my leg.
“Evie! Baby girl! We’re going to miss the entire event if you don’t chop chop!
” I looked back down at Avery, our eyes widened together in mock-horror, which caused her to let a small giggle escape.
“What do you say we go get buckled up? Maybe the silence will make her hurry, so we don’t miss Mommy’s ceremony. ”
Avery nodded, and we walked out to the truck. I’d just started buckling her into her seat when Evelyn came barreling out of the house.
“Don’t leave me, Daddy!” she shouted. I shook my head with a chuckle.
“Have I ever left you, baby girl? I’m just getting your sister buckled. Hop up in your seat.” I finished with Avery and turned to see Evelyn walking down the steps, looking like what could only be described as a sparkly, pop princess.
“What do you think of my outfit? Do you think it’ll make Mommy less nervous?
” Evelyn asked. She was clearly nervous, so I set my hands on my hips and gave her a slow once-over, as if I was taking in the full outfit and forming a thorough opinion.
She was in a bright pink short-sleeved sparkly dress that stopped just above her knees, shiny silver cowgirl boots that her Auntie Payton had gotten her, and a silver sequined tutu over the top of the pink dress.
The silver tiara sitting atop her head of blonde curls with matching pink gemstones was what truly topped the outfit off, though.
“She’d be crazy not to love your outfit, baby girl. You look beautiful.” I walked over and kissed the top of her head, behind the tiara, then lifted her into the other side of the back seat where her booster seat sat.
“Oh, wait, Daddy!” she said as she leaned over into the little bag she brought.
I swallowed back a long-winded sigh that desperately wanted to escape my lips.
But then she pulled out a gold tiara with green gemstones and held it over to Avery.
“Here ya go, Av! I brought this one for you. It’ll match your green dress and your eyes. Mommy will love it.”
I swallowed, my throat thick with emotion. Evie was genuinely the most kind-hearted child I’d ever met, and I wasn’t sure how we’d gotten so lucky. I knew she’d learned it from Aspen—who was the greatest mother to ever walk this planet—right next to my mom, but sometimes it still shocked me.
Avery reached over, and a smile spread across her little tan face.
“Thanks, Evie,” she whispered as she looked down at the shiny gold piece of jewelry.
I buckled Evelyn up and then went back to Avery’s side of the truck.
Her brown eyes met mine as she placed the crown gently in my hand, as if it were the most precious piece of jewelry she’d ever seen, and I set it atop her dark head of hair until it sat perfectly.
Evelyn was right, it went perfectly with her dark complexion, emerald green dress, and dark green eyes. My eyes bounced between my two girls, and I smiled. “You two are perfect. Let’s go see Mommy.”
The drive down to the school’s campus was a short one, thankfully. I got both girls out of the truck, and we went in with the crowd to find our seats in the auditorium. Evelyn sat next to me and Avery on my lap, the rest of my family filing into the row with us.
“Hello, my beautiful girls. Did you two dress up for Mommy?” My mother asked from the seat next to me.
Evelyn jumped up and did a small twirl before sitting back down. “We did, Grandma! What do you think?”
Mom chuckled softly and nodded her head. “I think she’ll be happy with how stunning you both look.” Avery took that opportunity to reach out, and Mom snagged her from my lap. “Hello, my little darling.”
Avery had immediately taken to Aspen and me, and of course, my mom. Not that I could blame her. Abby Carragan was easy to love and warm, too—especially when she bribed you with apple pie and homemade whipped cream.
It wasn’t long before the lights dimmed and a woman in business clothes walked out on stage to the podium and grabbed the microphone. I’d seen her before a few times; she was one of the school’s administrators.
“Hello, families! Thank you so much for joining us tonight for Raven Creek’s award ceremony.
We’ll be recognizing a few teachers and staff members who work with our children, and I hope you can all show them just how loved and appreciated all of their hard work is!
” The audience clapped for a few seconds before she continued.
“We’ll start with the elementary students, then move up from there. ”
“Has she told you what award she’s gettin’ yet?” Mom whispered into my ear.
I rolled my eyes. “Nope. Just said she wanted me here and to bring the kids.”
Aspen came home, tears in her eyes, a week ago to tell me that she wanted me and the girls to be at this ceremony. When I said I wanted to celebrate and asked what she’d won, she was tight-lipped and told me I’d have to show up and find out. She’d been teaching here for the last eight years.
Since Raven Creek wasn’t a big town, all of our kids went to school on one campus. She was in charge of the art department, yes, department. When she’d started, it had just been her, but she’d managed to increase the art program and have two more teachers hired to help her.
She helped the other two teachers, but she specialized in working with the junior high and high school kids. She loved it. I figured it was an award for just being a badass, but she was so tight-lipped, I genuinely wasn’t sure anymore.
The ceremony went through all the grade levels, honoring a teacher per grade, a random staff member whom the kids loved, and so on.
As I started shifting in my seat, Evie bouncing beside me, humming under her breath, I was getting antsy.
We’d been here almost an hour, and my wife was nowhere in sight.
A tap on my shoulder made me jump, and I scoffed when I realized it was Wyatt, who was sitting on the other side of Evelyn.
“Relax, bro. Her award is next.”
I glared at him for a moment. How did my brother know that? I took a quick look around at my family and realized they were all relaxed, and a few kept glancing over at me, smiles on their faces. They all knew. Why did they all know, and I didn’t?
The announcer's voice brought my attention back to the stage. “Now, for our final award of the evening, we saved the best award for last. This award is special because it’s not only voted on by the staff and students, but the parents as well. This is the award that everyone gets a say in. The one that celebrates the teacher who has the biggest impact on your students—not only in the classroom—but with influence that carries over into your homes as well.” I could feel my throat constricting with emotion, and my eyes welling with emotion, because my wife was getting an award, and this was the last one available.
“This teacher has been with us for a few years now, and I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting a woman who pours her entire heart and soul into something the way she does.
It is my honor and pleasure to announce your Teacher of the Year award recipient this year—Aspen Carragan!
” The applause was deafening, and I was truly speechless as my wife— my wife— walked out across the stage.
Her dress looked exactly like the girls’, only it was black instead of pink or green.
The smile across her face looked just like the one she wore when she walked down the aisle to me or held our girls for the first time.
She took the gold trophy and hugged the women at the podium, and then she had the microphone in her hand as she peered over the audience. The noise settled down, and people sat down.
“I want to start by saying thank you to each and every one of you. I’ve been here for eight years now, and being picked as teacher of the year in such a short time is an honor beyond words.
” She smiled as she looked down at the award in her hand.
“I know most of you can’t read this plaque at the bottom, but when Mrs. Lowery told me a week ago that I would be receiving this award, I only had one request.” She wiped her eyes quickly before looking out into the crowd until her eyes found mine.
“I asked that instead of the award only reading my name, it read the following: ‘ Aspen Carragan and the Carragan family ’. So, I want to say thank you to the entire Carragan family—my amazing mother-in-law, all of my bonus siblings, my kids, and best for last, my husband. I wouldn’t be able to be the human, let alone the teacher, I am today, without every single one of you standing beside me.
Thank you, all of you.” She held the award up, the crowd cheering as she walked down the steps and walked straight to me.
I walked out into the aisle, and when her arms wrapped around my neck, I picked her up, my hands on her ass as I smashed my lips to hers. Was it appropriate with kids here? Maybe not, but my kids knew how much I loved this woman—the rest could look away.
We broke apart, breathless, the crowd still clapping. “I’m so goddamn proud of you, little angel,” I whispered.
“Couldn’t have done this without you, cowboy.”
I shook my head and pulled her in for another hug. I wasn’t sure how true that was, but I knew I wouldn’t be the man I was today without her.
She was my everything—and she always would be.