41. Epilogue
Ayear later…
“Mommy.” Georgie ran up to Cecelia. I strode in behind her.
Cecelia looked up from gazing down at the baby, something she seemed to do a lot more than I ever could have expected. The baby was still so tiny at barely three months old. To be honest, when I held her, I also spent a good amount of time just watching her little face.
Georgie had been small when she came into my life, but she hadn’t been as tiny as Ashley. There was something truly intimidating about an infant.
“Shh, Ashley just fell asleep,” Cecelia said quietly.
Georgie climbed up on the couch next to Cecelia and wedged herself so that she was able to stare at her baby sister and still be on her mother’s lap without pushing the baby out of the way. They were still working on sharing Mommy’s personal space.
Cecelia didn’t have much since the baby was born. Ashley was still very much an extension of her mother, relying on her for everything, her source of nutrition and comfort. And at times, Georgie was very jealous of Ashley.
Cecelia never lost her cool. Not once. She also didn’t lie to Georgie. Whenever Georgie asked if she came out of Mommy’s tummy, we had agreed to always be honest with her, but not in a harmful way. So we told Georgie she was in a different mommy’s tummy, but she was Cecelia’s baby too.
In time, she would ask about that other mommy, and that’s when she would learn about her mother. I loved my sister and missed her. And I realized I missed the idealization of Argene since I really didn’t know her well. I would make sure that Georgie knew just how special her mother had been.
“How was class?” Cecelia asked.
“We danced and played with little shaker instruments,” I said as I lifted Georgie a bit so I could sit next to all of my girls at once.
Georgie and I had spent our morning at a daddy-and-me music class for toddlers. It was interesting how many men there were literally pushed by their baby mamas into the classroom with the kid in tow. Some were there happily and willingly so their wives and partners could have some quiet at home with the new baby. It was an interesting dynamic and a completely different world than I knew existed two years ago.
I kissed Georgie on the head. She had brought all of this wonderful change into my life.
“How was your morning?” I asked.
“It’s been quiet. Like this. Ashley was a bit fussy earlier, so I’ve been holding her.”
“You want me to take her so you can go rest?”
Cecelia shook her head, her gaze still on the sleeping baby. “I’m good.”
“You’re better than good.” I leaned across Georgie, who squirmed and complained, to kiss Cecelia on the temple.
I stood and picked Georgie up with me. She started to fight and fuss. “Mommy has to take care of the baby, so we have to take care of Mommy. Let’s go make her lunch.”
Georgie curled up her lips in a pout. I wanted to laugh at how serious she looked.
“If Mommy gets lunch and has a rest, she can play with Georgie later, okay?”
She nodded, her little lips still pursed.
Wayne was in the kitchen chopping something when we walked in.
“What do we have that”s good for lunch?” I asked.
“With Miss Cecelia’s dietary restrictions, may I suggest a light chicken salad?” he said.
“Sounds good, do we have that?” I set Georgie down in her chair. She still had the same high chair, only now, we no longer bothered buckling her in. She knew how to sit up. It was easier with the tray right at her level.
“You want some crackers?” I asked Georgie.
She nodded and said “Fid acker.” Fish cracker. All those noises she made as a baby were finally now turning into words. And surprisingly enough, I could understand it all.
I placed a handful of goldfish crackers on the tray and grabbed a juice box just as she started demanding “duce”.
She took the box and sucked on the straw before cramming another couple of crackers into her mouth. It was a good thing she was so cute. She was a sloppy eater.
“Would you mind watching Georgie for a few minutes?” I asked Wayne.
“Of course not,” he said, looking over his shoulder at her from his prep work.
“Don’t let her handle any of the knives,” I said as I gave her another kiss. At some point in time, hopefully not for many, many years, she would shrug away from my kisses and say something like, ‘Ew, Dad, gross.’ Until then, I planned on kissing the top of her head as often as I could.
Cecelia still sat in the living room staring at the sleeping Ashley.
“Sweetheart, let’s put her down. You are exhausted.” I reached down and lifted Ashley from my wife’s arms. Cradling the baby in one arm, I eased Cecelia to her feet and took her hand.
The house, which we moved into about three months before Ashley was born, was large, and the rooms were spread farther apart than they had been in the penthouse. But the terrace, as lovely as it was, was not a safe place for small children to play. They didn’t need to grow up in a glass tower when I could easily buy them a castle with a playground. The house wasn’t exactly a castle, but I had filled it with my princesses.
I carried Ashley upstairs and into our bedroom. Ashley still mostly co-slept with us, but there was a crib set off to the side of the room for when she napped. I gently placed her in the crib and adjusted the blanket so it would help to keep her propped sleeping on her side.
Cecelia was already sitting on the edge of our bed when I could finally give her my full attention. I slid to my knees in front of her and wrapped my arms around her waist, resting my head on her lap.
She gently stroked my hair.
“Did you really have a good time in class?” she asked quietly.
“I did. It was fine,” I answered. It was fine. And when Ashley was older, I’d take her to those classes too.
“You are the most amazing father, you know that?”
I chuckled. “You wouldn’t have said that a year ago.”
Cecelia hissed. “A year ago was rough. But look at how far we’ve come. We have two amazing baby girls. Wayne didn’t quit when I moved in, or when we got this place.”
“It’s been a good year. But I know it hasn’t always been easy.”
Cecelia leaned over, hugging my head. “I know. It’s been a struggle. But it’s almost over, right? Another… what, month or two?”
I shifted, and she sat up so I could lift my head. I beamed up at her. My smile felt like it was going to break my face. I had been holding on to this information so I could share it just between the two of us.
“What?” She began to smile in reaction to my smile.
I reached into my back pocket and pulled out a folded pack of papers. “I’ve literally been sitting on this for days. I was trying to save it for our anniversary. But I can’t wait any longer.”
“That’s in two days. You couldn’t wait two more days?” she teased.
“I guess I can.” I started to put the paperwork back into my pocket.
Cecelia grabbed my arm. “Oh, no, you don’t. You don’t get to tease me like that. What is it?”
I sat back on my heels and spread the papers out, unfolding them. These were just photocopies. I had the originals secure in a document safe.
“She’s ours. It’s official. The judge wanted to make us wait the full four months for parental abandonment after the suit was settled. But Chavez’s team worked their magic, and they showed the judge that we did due diligence. They presented proof that there were two independent teams trying to locate Georgie’s bio-father during the time of the lawsuit. And we had the settlement from the suit with the fraud charges against the agency. The judge agreed we could back date the abandonment. She’s ours. We have full custody, and he went ahead and confirmed the adoption.
Cecelia shifted through the pages. Unless she read them, they didn’t make a whole lot of sense, lots of legalese language about a civil suit on how Georgie’s case was mishandled. I flipped through the corners until I found the one I wanted Cecelia to look at. I pulled it out and placed it on top of the small stack.
Cecelia ran her fingers over the lines of text as she read. Tears pooled in her eyes, and she covered her mouth as she began to cry. I climbed up on the bed next to her and wrapped my arms around her.
The words that made her cry were our names in the spaces naming the parents on Georgie’s amended birth certificate.
“She’s really ours? No one can take her?” I felt Cecelia’s words in my heart. It had been an unspoken fear we had to endure for months longer than we should ever have had to.
The agency that was overseeing Georgie’s custody for Argene’s estate had mismanaged us completely. I would forever be thankful they brought Georgie and Cecelia into my life, but they were committing fraud. Nothing like adoption fraud, but they had dragged out the investigation and time spent under their watchful management to scam more money out of the estate. They kept saying they had found the bio-father when they really hadn’t. That civil suit had impacted the custody situation, turning it into a battle instead of the easy transfer it should have been.
“I love you. Happy anniversary.” I kissed my wife on the temple.
She raised a tear-streaked face to me, and I kissed her on the lips.
“This is the most amazing present ever. I love you, Sterling. Maybe we should put the girls to bed early tonight?”
I kissed my wife again. “I love the way you think.”