Epilogue
Victor
Five Years Later
“Ican’t believe we’re doing this,” Olivia says.
She wipes her hands down her jeans as we wait for the caseworker. I smile at her and wrap my arm around her shoulders. We’ve been fostering a brother and sister for the past year and finally received approval to adopt them. Karl is fifteen, and Chloe is his six-month-old sister. Their parents both died from overdoses. Karl has been angry almost all year, but Olivia opened up to him about four months ago and told him how she grew up.
She told him he had a choice: be angry for the rest of his life for the hand he was dealt, or prove to himself that he can overcome it and be whoever he wants to be. That clicked with him, and they’ve been inseparable ever since. The caseworker comes in with Karl and Chloe. Karl is holding Chloe. This is having to go through the court, so we’re sitting before a judge while our friends sit in the courtroom behind us.
Karl sits next to us, and Chloe immediately finds Olivia, reaching out to her. Olivia looks at the judge, not sure if she can hold her yet.
“Go ahead, Mrs. Valentine,” the judge says.
Olivia takes her and holds her close before leaning over and giving Karl a kiss on the cheek. Karl blushes, but doesn’t shy away from the affection. I pat him on the shoulder.
“Hey, son,” I greet him. Karl smiles and nods at me.
“Alright,” the judge begins. “This is informal, but part of the process. Michelle, do you have the paperwork for me to sign?”
Our caseworker, Michelle, steps forward and hands him the packet of paperwork. He reads through each thing and signs what he needs to before handing it back to Michelle, who brings it to us and shows us where we need to sign.
We both sign each section. Every time Olivia signs, she kisses the top of Chloe’s head and beams at Karl. She’d probably kiss him too if she thought she could get away with it. After the paperwork is signed, Michelle takes it to the judge.
“Mr. and Mrs. Valentine, if you will come up here with Karl and Chloe.” We all stand and step before the judge. “Karl and Chloe.” Chloe turns her head at the sound of her name and the pride swelling in my chest becomes almost too much to handle. “You are both Karl Valentine and Chloe Valentine,” the judge says. We gave Karl the choice to change their last name, and he immediately agreed. “Congratulations!”
There’s a roar of cheers behind us as we turn toward Karl. I can tell by the look on Karl’s face he’s hesitant, but I don’t give him a choice. I wrap an arm around his neck and an arm around Olivia’s waist to pull us all into a family hug. Olivia holds Chloe tight as she wraps her other arm around Karl and finally gives in to kissing his cheek. She’s crying, but she doesn’t try to wipe the tears away.
Karl wraps one arm around me and the other around Olivia. It’s the four of us against the world. “Son.” Karl’s eyes open and look at me. It’s almost eerie how much he looks like Olivia. He’s got black hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. There are tears in his eyes as he looks up at me. “I’m proud to call you mine,” I tell him.
The childhood he had was horrid. Never knowing if he was going to eat or if he was going to wake up to find his parents dead, only for that to happen. I want to make sure the rest of his life he feels safe and secure.
“Thanks, dad.” My heart stops in my chest. He turns to look at Olivia. “And mom.” Olivia slowly brings her hand up to cup his cheek. He used to flinch anytime we’d try to touch him, but he’s learning to trust us.
“I love you so much,” Olivia whispers.
Karl leans forward and kisses her on the cheek. “I love you too.”
Olivia hands Chloe to me and wraps her arms around Karl, hugging him tightly. Chloe’s hand comes up and rubs against my beard, then she giggles. I lean down and rub my cheek against hers, making her squeal. I chuckle and can’t stop myself from showering her with kisses.
“Alright, family, we need to go,” I tell them.
We all turn and are greeted by our friends. Everyone is hugged, including Karl and Chloe. Karl accepts it all. He’s already close to Connor, who has taken him under his wing andtaught him a lot on the construction sites over the summer. Connor and I merged our construction business together. Mainly because I’m focusing more on my restaurants and the guy I had decided to move across the country.
If Karl continues in this direction and wants to be a part of the construction business, I plan on giving it to him the day he graduates from college. Connor has already made more than one comment about how he likes Karl better than me, so I don’t think he’ll be too upset about it. Everyone heads to our house for the welcome home party we planned for Karl and Chloe.
Caroline and Bass are bringing their three kids ; Julian and Bailey are bringing their twins. Lincoln and Ansley arrived back into town a few days ago from their trip to Europe. They plan on going to Japan in a couple of months. Everyone, even Malachi, Arden, and Lane, made it a point to celebrate this with us.
When we arrive home, there’s a welcome home sign hanging in front of the door. Karl sits forward and takes it in. “Wow! You guys did that for us?” he asks.
Olivia turns to look at him. “Of course we did,” she answers him.
I park, get Chloe out of her car seat, and we all walk inside to be greeted by Betsy, Crystal, Grant, and Lane. Lane is the only security I keep on the premises since Donovan is no longer alive. I don’t feel the need to have more. Although I might reconsider that when Karl begins driving and Chloe starts dating. They all hug Karl and from his expression, I can tell he wasn’t expecting this.
We walk into the kitchen and Karl’s mouth drops. There’s a buffet of his favorite foods; pizza, chips and dip, garlic breadsticks, and chicken nuggets. There’s also a huge cake we had made. He walks around the kitchen, taking everything in. Karl looks up at me and Olivia with tears in his eyes. He openshis mouth once, but closes it again. Then he walks across the kitchen and wraps his arms around both of us.
“Thank you,” he whispers.
