“Will you marry me?” I blurted out. “Like tomorrow?”
She laughed, making her petals wobble. “That might be a little quick, but, in theory, yes.”
“I’d like to take you home and get you out of this costume.” Just then, I realized our friends and all of the kids were standing at the window watching us. “But apparently that’s going to have to wait. We have an audience.”
She slowly turned, gasping. “Oh no.”
“Cat’s out of the bag now.”
Madison burst through the French doors that led to the patio. “Mommy. Grady. You were kissing!” She ran to us, leapinginto my arms. “Does this mean you’ll be my daddy and stay with us?”
“I think it does,” I said. “And are you dressed up as Trevor?”
“Yes. Lila and Gillian laughed and laughed when they saw me.” Madison grinned. “Which is exactly what I wanted.”
Robbie, along with his co-conspirators in Dating-App-Gate, followed behind Madison. Grace, bouncing on her toes, yelled out, “I knew it.”
Mia and Annie came forward, hugging Esme.
“We couldn’t have found anyone better for you, on or off the app,” Mia said to Esme. “My parents are going to be so happy for you.”
“Now we only have two moms to go,” Annie said. “Mine and Tyler’s. They’re proving to be the most difficult.”
“Welcome to the family,” Grace said to me. “We’re glad it’s you.”
Tyler, hanging back, simply gave me a nod.
But it was Robbie who surprised me the most. He walked toward me with his usual measured stride, hands at his sides. I took in the black T-shirt with the element square on the front, the tie covered in the entire periodic table, the khakis and good sneakers. It took me a second. Silicon. Atomic number 14. The foundation of modern computing. I chuckled. Of course. Only Robbie would come to a Halloween party as a semiconductor material.
“Good costume,” I said.
“You might remember the documentary we watched together,” Robbie asked.
“Sure I do.” We’d watched it last summer when Esme went out with her girlfriends. It had been a long night. But I’d do it again for Robbie. I’d watch every boring documentary ever made if I could be his dad.
Robbie stepped closer, and I expected a handshake, or one of his analytical observations, or maybe a brag about how he had predicted this with his compatibility model.
Instead, he put his arms around me and hugged me. And he held on.
“Thank you,” he said, his face pressed against my chest. “For choosing us. I can’t imagine we’re anything but a proverbial handful.”
I put my arms around him and closed my eyes. Over his head, I saw Esme. She had her hand over her mouth, her eyes glassy.
I pulled away slightly, placing my hands around his thin shoulders. “Robbie, choosing you and Madison and your mom is the best decision I’ve ever made.”
“How do you know?” He looked up at me with earnest eyes. “It’s not the future yet.”
“Sometimes a man just knows. No spreadsheet or pie chart needed.”
Robbie leaned closer and whispered in my ear, “I wish you could adopt us.”
“A piece of paper’s not going to make any difference about how I feel about you and your sister. We don’t need a judge to make us a family.”
Robbie’s eyes lit up. “I could put together a document for the four of us. We can sign it, promising to always be a family, no matter what.”
“I love that idea,” I said.
Robbie turned to his mother. “This was the most logical outcome, but I wasn’t sure either of you would figure it out before it was too late.”
