Chapter 10
ANDERSON
“What the actual hell?”
Ava barely has the door shut behind Patricia before Ava’s little sister says exactly what I’m thinking.
“Georgie!” Ava turns to face her sister, her brows furrowed as she puts her hands on her hips.
“Don’t act like me saying ‘hell’ is worse than you not telling me that you’re getting married to whoever that is,” Georgie argues, pointing a finger in my direction before putting her own hands on her hips, copying Ava’s stance.
The two face off, and it gives me a moment to recognize the similarities between them. At first, it was hard to tell they were related. Ava’s red curls are a stark difference against Georgie’s straight dark blonde hair, her cheeks missing the freckles that lightly dust Ava’s.
As I volley back and forth between the two sisters, they share that same exact set jaw, the same refusal to budge, the same stubborn spark.
And those same hazel eyes—the ones that show every single emotion, even when they think they’re hiding it.
A moment passes before Ava sighs, closing the distance between them and pulling Georgie into her arms. At first, Georgie’s body stays rigid, even as Ava holds her.
It takes a few seconds, but Georgie’s defiance fades as her shoulders slump, her bottom lip curling as she wraps her arms around Ava’s waist, pressing her head into her chest. “The social worker made it sound like they weren’t going to let me stay with you.
” Georgie’s voice is muffled from where she talks against the fabric of Ava’s sweater, and I feel like I’m witnessing something I shouldn’t be—an intruder to such an intimate moment.
Ava closes her eyes, resting her head on Georgie’s. “You aren’t going anywhere. I promise.”
I wait for Ava to say more, maybe clarify that I’m not her boyfriend, that we aren’t engaged, that we can’t actually lie to Child Protective Services.
That we aren’t going to get married just so she can have a better case.
But she doesn’t.
Georgie leans back enough to look up at Ava. “Why didn’t you tell me you were getting married? I didn’t even know you had a boyfriend.”
“Well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but things have been a little busy these days for me to update you on my life.” She says it with a smile, but I can see the tension wracking her body, closing her palms hard enough for her knuckles to turn white.
Georgie’s arms drop, pulling the sleeves of the huge sweatshirt she’s wearing over her hands. I recognize it as Ava’s.
“So, what happens now?” Georgie asks.
“What do you mean?” Ava manages, but she seems distracted as she shoves her hands in the back pockets of her jeans with a little too much force.
“Patricia said she needs your guys’ marriage certificate.” Georgie turns to look at me before her gaze goes back to Ava. “Doesn’t that mean you have to get married before you can adopt me, or I’ll have to go back to Mom’s?”
My heart cracks at her question—the way she makes it sound so simple.
I hate how someone as young as her has to even be concerned with any of this. It has me thinking of my own brothers and what I would do to make sure they were taken care of, just like Ava is doing for Georgie.
Ava doesn’t say anything right away, letting out a harsh sigh as she lets her head fall back. “Georgie, it’s complicated, and I need to talk to—”
“Me,” Georgie interrupts. “This is my life, and I have a right to know what the plan is.”
There’s something almost rehearsed about the way she says it—like she’s practiced the sentence in her head and now she’s finally trying it out for size.
She’s barely a teenager, but she's standing there like she’s already grown, like she thinks that’s what she’s supposed to be. A kid thinking they don’t have the right to be a kid anymore.
It pulls me back to my brothers at this age—all sharp elbows, acne-covered faces, and clothes that they didn’t quite yet fill out right. They always rushed headfirst into decisions as if they knew what was best for them.
They never realized they still needed rides to the places they were so eager to get to, still slept with the hallway light on and doors cracked open, still calling my name when things didn’t go the way they thought they would.
“Of course you do, kiddo, but it’s not that easy,” Ava explains. “I barely even know what the plan is at the moment.”
“Why can’t you guys just get married now?” Georgie asks, her voice rising in volume, emotion riddling her tone with the way it cracks at the last word, like she’s bracing for a world she’s not quite ready to carry yet. “The quicker you get married, the quicker they’ll let you adopt me.”
“Georgie, it isn’t that simple,” Ava starts, her gaze cutting to mine, but Georgie doesn’t let her say more. “And we don’t know what CPS will find in their investigation into Mom.”
“But Patricia said—”
“I know what Patricia said,” Ava argues, her voice rising, too, but she looks so tired. Not like she needs sleep, but like she needs someone to take on whatever weight is piled so high on her tense shoulders. “But us getting married doesn’t magically make me your guardian. It’s just one factor.”
“So do it, and then we’ll figure out the rest,” Georgie fires back, and it deepens that crack in my heart.
We.
She said that we would figure out the rest, as if she should be doing anything in the first place.
A kid like her shouldn’t be worrying about something like this.
“We can’t rush into anything, George. If anything goes wrong with this, if Patricia or CPS sense anything is amiss, it’ll ruin everything.”
“Why are you acting like getting married earlier than you planned will make them think something is wrong? You guys were planning on getting married soon anyway, right?” Georgie crosses her arms, eyes scanning over Ava, and I follow her gaze.
Ava worries her bottom lip, buzzing with a nervous energy I can feel from across the room.
Georgie notices it too, and the shift is instant.
The attitude disappears so fast it almost hurts to watch. No more chin up, no more sharp edges. Just wide eyes and trembling hands.
The fight leaves her like someone pulled the plug; the bravado she had been clinging to draining out before our eyes.
“Ava,” Georgie starts, softer now. “What aren’t you telling me?”
It’s like watching her set down armor that was never built to fit her in the first place—that was way too heavy for her to begin with. She’s just a kid again—small, scared, looking at her big sister like Ava can still fix anything if she tries hard enough.
I see so much of my brothers in Georgie, and I know exactly how Ava feels, trying to hold it all together for someone who relies so heavily on her.
Maybe that’s why my body is moving before my brain can catch up, acting solely on instinct.
“She’s right, love,” I say, talking for the first time since the social worker left. I look at Ava. She probably thinks I’m just playing the part she asked me to play when she brought me into this—a part that comes as naturally as breathing.
One that I don’t have to fake.
“I am?” Georgie asks at the same time Ava says, “She is?”
I roll my lips together to stop the smile I feel tugging at my lips; their identical, confused faces further showing me how alike they really are, even with the years between them. “Yes,” I answer. “Georgie’s right. We can just get married sooner than we thought we would.”
If CPS needs a marriage certificate, they’ll get one.
If they need proof that Ava and Georgie live with me, they’ll move in. Hell, I have more than enough room.
Whatever Ava needs, it’s hers.
“Really?” Georgie’s face lights up, her lips turning up in a smile, her eyes shining.
She’s beautiful, just like her sister.
And just like her sister, she deserves to always be wearing that smile.
I look to Ava, finding her eyes wide, and it’s like everything in her has gone still.
It’s not like she was moving much before, but a second ago, it was like she was wound so tight, shaking with how hard she was holding everything in.
I could feel the restless charge coming off of her, like static clinging to her skin. Like the feeling when a storm is brewing, the eerie buzz of what’s about to come.
But that’s all gone.
The air finally settled, like she let go of whatever she was holding on so tightly to.
If I didn’t spend so much of my time thinking of her, watching her in our fleeting nights together, and those moments with our friends where she barely gives me the time of day, I may not have noticed the way her shoulders loosened and her breathing evened out.
And I’d do anything to keep this version of her—soft, steady, present.
But not for me… For her.
“It might not be what we planned,” I say, the words holding a hidden meaning to the two of us. “But I will do whatever you need to make sure you become your sister’s guardian.”
I still don’t know the whole story—I don’t know why Georgie’s here or what happened to their mom.
I don’t even know if marrying Ava will be enough for CPS.
But I do know that while we may not be telling the truth about this marriage, there’s no lie when I say I’ll do whatever Ava needs me to do.
I’ll take everything she has on her shoulders and put it on mine.
I’ll be the one to carry the load.
I’d carry the whole world if she needed me to, and I’d still make sure I have room to carry her, too.
“Oh my gosh, yay!” Georgie exclaims before turning to Ava.
“Do I get to be a bridesmaid? What color dress am I going to wear? Have you told Phoebe and Jasmine you’re getting married?
” Georgie asks, one question prompting another as she reels off a dozen more wedding-related questions.
She’s buzzing with excitement, but Ava is still stuck looking at me.
“Ava?” Georgie finally says after not getting a single answer from her, poking her older sister in the shoulder.
“What?” Ava says, shaking her head as if coming back from wherever her mind just went.