I placed the rock and the the badge back in the box, and the movie tickets into the first page of the new album, then carefully positioned the Polaroid next to them. There was plenty of empty space. Room for new memories, new beginnings.
"You know what this calls for?" Uncle Drew asked, standingup and displacing a disgruntled Eden. "Ice cream. Bigger than your face, if possible."
"It's almost ten at night," Aunt Elyse protested half-heartedly.
"And? Holly is about to become our daughter. I think that warrants breaking a few rules."
Our daughter. The words settled over me like a warm blanket.
"Well, when you put it that way," Aunt Elyse relented with a smile. "But we're taking separate cars because I am not waiting forty-five minutes while you two debate the merits of vanilla vs. chocolate."
"That was ONE time," Uncle Drew and I protested in unison, then looked at each other and burst out laughing.
As we headed downstairs, Eden bounding ahead excitedly as if she understood the word "ice cream," I touched the three circles around my neck and thought about the album waiting on my bed. Not just a collection of what was lost, but a foundation for what was being built.
Family. Chosen, cherished, forever.
And enough room for all the memories—old and new—that made me who I was.
31
ELYSE
I'd been sitting on the message for days. Somehow, those unread messages on Facebook felt less like a commitment than actually reading them. I'd peeked at the preview window when the notification first came in, but seeing the words "Please help me. I think my husband is cheating" was enough to send me into a spiral of indecision.
Drew had been crystal clear about his feelings on my extracurricular activities. The rest of the Sensational Six had staged what could only be described as an intervention. I knew I should let this request fade into the background of my Facebook message requests.
And yet.
It wasn't in my nature to ignore someone in need. I couldn't help remembering the absolute gut-punch feeling when Francine had shown up at my door with my husband's baby. If someone had tipped me off before that moment, would it have hurt less? Would I have been able to prepare myself for the nuclear bomb that was about to detonate in my living room?
I tucked my phone into my pocket and finished putting away the romance novels I'd been shelving. Romance novels.Ha! Not that I had anything against them (Grace's were flying off the shelves) but I'd become a little jaded about the whole happily-ever-after thing. Thank God I'd found Drew and gotten my second chance at forever.
The bell above the door jingled, and I looked up to see Holly bounding in, her pink hair now adorned with purple tips.
"What do you think?" she asked, twirling for effect.
"Very you," I replied with a smile. "Did Jenna give you time off today?"
"She's catering some bridal shower and doesn't need me until three. I thought I'd hang out here until then." She plopped down in one of the oversized chairs near the register and pulled out her phone.
"That'd be nice," I said, meaning it. Having Holly around kept me out of trouble, or at least distracted from the temptation sitting in my Facebook messages.
We worked in companionable silence for about an hour, me arranging displays and ringing up the occasional customer, Holly alternating between scrolling on her phone and shelving the stacks of books I'd piled up for her.
"Aunt Elyse?" Holly's voice broke the silence.
"Hmm?" I was halfway up a ladder, trying to fix the string of lights that kept shorting out above the children's section.
"Are you and Uncle Drew really going to adopt me? For real, I mean?"
The question nearly sent me tumbling off the ladder. I steadied myself and looked down at her, noting the vulnerability in her eyes. My heart stuttered in my chest.
"Is that for sure something you'd want, Holly?" I asked carefully, making my way back down the ladder.
She shrugged, suddenly fascinated with a thread on her shorts. "Maybe. I mean, I already live with you guys, and Mom..." She trailed off, swallowing hard. "Mom doesn't seem like she's coming back this time."
I crossed to her and gently lifted her chin until her eyes met mine. "Holly, you should know that Uncle Drew and I love you like you're our own. We've actually been talking about formal adoption, but we didn't want to push you before you were ready to think about it."
