Lola had carriedthat secret for decades, telling no one. Not even her husband, not even her daughter or granddaughter. Admitting it aloud now was one of the hardest things she had ever done, and it was so much,so muchworse than even she had thought. If their child had been a shifter like Sam, then he'd been lost in a system that knew nothing about his true potential. She had let herself believe that he'd found a family, that he'd grown up safe and loved, because she couldn't live with anything else. Now, though…oh, she was so afraid of what might have happened.
"Do you remember anything about when they took him?" Sam asked gently. "Any questions they asked, anything they said? It's all right if you don't. It was a long time ago, and you were unwell."
"I remember everything." She pressed her face into his chest, shivering. "They asked me what I wanted to name him. Samuel Charles, that was his name. But I—Todd isn't that common a surname, and I didn't want your parents to find me," she said desperately. "I had to use the one I was using then. Johnson. I'd had a c-section. I was so weak. I had HG, hyperemesis gravidarum, it took me such a long time to even learn those words, I was so tired and sick. It's what Princess Kate had," she said with a shaky laugh. "She was the first person I ever even heard of someone else being that sick all the way through their pregnancy. I was just as sick with Jennifer, Charlee's mom."
"Oh, you poor thing," Sam said with such sympathy she nearly started to cry again. "That must have been awful. Everything else aside. It's all right, Lola. You didn't do anything wrong."
"I wanted to be able to take care of him," she whispered. "But…oh, Sam. Everything was against me. I was so young and too obviously single and you know how people were about single mothers back then. It's so different now. They asked…someone asked if his father or I had any conditions they should know about. Theykeptasking, in all kinds of different ways, over and over. Of course I said no. We were both so young and healthy."
Realization crashed through her as she spoke, though, and she lifted her head, staring at the man she still loved so very, very much. "Oh my God. I thought I was imagining how insistent they were about it, because I was so tired and weak and I couldn't understand why they would ask so many times, but they could have been trying to ask if I knew my baby, our baby, was a shifter. If I knew his father had been a shifter."
"Oh, dear God," Sam half-echoed. "They might have been. And they might have lost him into the system on purpose, if they thought their choices were finding a shifter family to adopt him, or letting him go home with a fragile true human who might—I'm sorry, I know you wouldn't have, Lola, but there are parents who do turn on their shifter children when they discover them. If they're sports, turning up in a family that hasn't had shifters for a long time. Lola—do you remember what hospital it was?"
"Yes, of course I remember, although I called it the Ladies of Uncharitable Thoughts Hospital," Lola said darkly. "They were such judgmental bitches."
Sam laughed, obviously startled, and despite her emotional turmoil, Lola managed a wet smile of her own. "I didn't like them very much even before I lost Samuel to them. They made it very clear they thought my sickness was punishment for being an unwed mother and that I deserved every minute of my suffering."
Sam's humor bled away as quickly as it had come. "I wish I could undo that for you, too. But it's a place to start, Lola. I have the resources. We might be able to track Samuel through shifter inquiries instead of the true human system. Someone at that hospital was a shifter, and recognized him as one. I might be able to find out who." He smiled again, a faltering sweet expression, and whispered, "'Samuel.'"
Lola lifted her fingers to trace his jaw, beneath the short white beard. "Who else was I going to name him after? Although I did name him after me, too. Charles, not Charlotte, obviously, but…I thought he should have those names from both of us, since his last name wasn't really from either of us."
"Thank you," Sam said hoarsely. "Thank you for that. Even though everything went wrong…thank you, Lola. My brave, beautiful girl. Will you marry me?"
"What?" Lola sat up, blurting the word in a laugh. "Really?"
"Yes, really. Tomorrow. In the damn town square, whether it's raining or snowing or shining. I love you more than life, Lola Nelson?—"
"Brown," she said, smiling.
"Charlotte Elizabeth Nelson, Lola Brown, whatever name you want to use, will you marry me? We've spent enough time apart, and I don't want to spend another minute without you." Sam's blue eyes widened suddenly. "Unless I'm being too forward, in which case I'm very sorry and wi?—"
She silenced him with a kiss, hands knotting in his short white hair, and whispered, "OfcourseI'll marry you, Samuel Theodore Todd. Tomorrow sounds perfect." Tears filled her eyes again, and she dashed them away as Sam made a face.
"Theodore. There's a part of my name I don't hear often. Or want to hear often."
Lola, sniffling, nestled up to him. "I know. That's why I always called you Ted Todd when we were little. I thought you were very handsome and…" She trailed off, thinking about her own youthful motivations and finally finishing with, "…and wanted to annoy you so you'd notice me, I suppose, which in retrospect seems really stupid."
Sam laughed and hugged her closer. "Every time you did it reminded me of why I absolutely never used my middle name. Sam Todd was an all right name, but Ted Todd sounded like I should be a toad shifter. Are you sure?" he asked more quietly. "About getting married, I mean. We only re-met about five hours ago."
"And we should have gotten married three and a half hours ago," Lola said decisively. "I've had a good life, Sam, and I don't have any regrets, but the one thing I've wanted as long as I can remember was to be your wife. That got taken away from me before we even had a chance to really start, and I don't want to miss out a second time.Canwe get married tomorrow? Is there a waiting period?"
Sam untangled his arm from around her enough to look at his watch. "If we haul ass to the car and drive into town like the devil's on our tail, we can get into city hall just before it closes and get a marriage license, and then get married at six o'clock tomorrow evening."
Lola stood up, smiling through tears. "Then what are we waiting for?"
Sam also rose, a huge grin on his face. "Chase! Chase, I'm going back into town, can you arrange a wedding for tomorrow evening?"
"What?" Another man's voice rose from somewhere in the house, and Lola blinked at Sam, baffled, as footsteps echoed down a hall. "Mr Todd,whatdid you say?"
"I said I'm getting married tomorrow," Sam said happily. "Chase, this is Lola Brown, the love of my life. Lola, this is Chase, one of my oldest foster kids and my current secretary. Chase, can you call City Hall and ask them to stay open until we get there?"
Chase, a good-looking young man of around forty-five or fifty—well, maybe notthatyoung, but he looked young enough from where Lola was standing—stared between them with his jaw long. "Um."
"Don't worry," Sam said. "I haven't lost my mind."
"It's nice to meet you, Chase. Thank you for taking such good care of Sam. If you'd call City Hall, and then call Chef Charlee at Hold My Bear, she'll explain. Oh! I'd better call her myself, hadn't it?" Lola took her phone out, waved at Chase, and left the house with Sam, calling Charlee as she went.
"Nana?" Charlee sounded worried as she picked up. "Why are you calling me at work? Are you all right?"
