“Tell me what?” I asked, though my heart was racing.
Sam brought his hand from behind his back, revealing a bouquet of wild daisies – the same ones that grew behind the clinic. Simple, tied with twine that looked like it had come from Leo’s craft supplies.
“Chloe,” Sam said, his voice steady despite the emotion I could see in his eyes, “we have something we want to ask you.”
“We?” My voice came out as barely a whisper.
Leo stepped forward, taking my hand with his small fingers. “Chloe-mama, me and Daddy got the most importantest question ever! We practiced it like a hundred times!”
I looked between them, my heart pounding. Sam’s eyes were bright with that certainty I’d learned to trust. Leo was practically glowing with excitement.
“Okay,” I managed to say. “What do you want to ask me?”
Sam knelt down on one knee. Leo immediately knelt down beside him, mimicking his father’s position with the unconscious grace of a child who wanted to do everything exactly like his daddy.
Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring that caught the afternoon light streaming through the clinic windows.
“Chloe Parker,” he said, his voice steady. “Will you marry me?”
Before I could answer, Leo piped up. “And Chloe-mama, will you adopt me? Adopt means you get to be my legal mama forever and ever with papers like daddy has for me, and I get to be Leo Mitchell, and we’ll all have matching names like a real family!”
The tears came immediately.
“We know it’s a big decision,” Sam said, though his eyes told me he already knew my answer. “Leo and I, we come as a package deal. But Chloe, you’re the foundation of this family. Without you, none of this works.”
“Me and Daddy talked about it lots and lots,” Leo added, nodding so hard his cowlick bounced. “We want you to be our forever family! And I want you to be Chloe Mitchell ’cause Mitchell sounds like a superhero name and you’re a superhero! All the puppies say so.”
I knelt down in front of them, my hands shaking as I reached out to cup Leo’s face, then Sam’s.
“You want me to marry you and adopt Leo?” I whispered, looking between them both.
“We want you to be officially part of our family,” Sam said, his voice steady now. “To make permanent what’s already true – that we’re yours and you’re ours.”
“Forever and ever and ever!” Leo added, throwing his arms up. “Like really official with matching rings!”
I thought about the woman I’d been seven months ago – the one who’d been so afraid of not being enough, of being left behind, of choosing the wrong person.
That woman felt like a stranger now.
Because the man and boy kneeling in front of me had taught me what love actually looked like. Love wasn’t perfect moments or grand gestures. Love was Sam calling me first when something went wrong, partnering with me on every decision, trusting me with his vulnerabilities. Love was late-night conversations about Leo’s fears and progress, about building a life together one honest moment at a time.
Love was Leo choosing to trust again, choosing to believe that some people stayed, choosing to call me mama.
Love was two people kneeling in front of me, offering me a future I’d never imagined but couldn’t live without.
“Yes,” I said, my voice breaking with emotion. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Sam. And yes, Leo, I’ll adopt you. Forever and always, all three of us.”
Leo’s cheer was loud enough to wake every animal in the recovery room. He launched himself into my arms with the enthusiasm of someone who’d just received the best news of his life, and I caught him, holding him tight while Sam slipped the ring onto my finger.
“Yes?” Leo asked, pulling back to look at me with eyes as wide as saucers. “You’re gonna be my mama forever and ever and ever? Even when I’m super old?”
“I’m already your mama,” I said, touching his face gently. “But yes, we’ll make it official.”
“And you’re going to marry Daddy, and we’ll all have the same last name?”
“If that’s what you want.”
“It’s what I want most in the whole wide world,” Leo said solemnly, then grinned. “That and a puppy. A puppy that can sleep in my bed and knows tricks!”
