“I happen to love the farm.” I’d rented my house in Mission City to Caleb and his friend Roxanne—another queer kid rejected by her family. They were taking good care of the house as they worked hard and saved to do college classes at night.
Shaw, of course, upon learning of their situation, had offered to pay for their schooling.
I hadn’t felt comfortable making the offer. So, Adele was going to do it after Christmas.
Sedona sat on the floor and cuddled Rufus. “I think it’s so cool this is your first Christmas as a married couple.” She was very much into pairing everyone up these days.
Damian had warned Yvonne. Just in case she didn’t want her niece matchmaking.
At the Christmas market, I’d caught Yvonne gazing at a striking woman in a purple coat and with a blonde pixie cut and wide green eyes.
I hoped, if she was single, that she might be interested in my friend.
“Old married couple.” Jarrod snickered. “Just took us twenty years to get here.”
Shaw grinned. “I can’t believe you never told me about your first love.”
“Some secrets are meant for a man to keep to himself.” I pressed a kiss to Jarrod’s cheek.
He turned to face me. After holding my gaze for a moment, he nodded.
“And some secrets are made to share.” I grinned.
Adele sat up straight, and poor Russell got tossed to the floor.
He yelped—more from surprise than any injury—and promptly leapt onto Sedona’s lap.
She cooed and cuddled him.
He licked her face as well.
I made a note to remind everyone to wash their hands before we sat down to Christmas dinner.
“Well, don’t make us wait.” Adele stomped her foot.
Jarrod chuckled.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. Her life was about to change forever—again. First, I started dating Jarrod seriously.
She insisted we make it official.
I pointed out Jarrod couldn’t leave the farm, and she still needed me.
She’d huffed. Then pronounced she was moving in with Shaw and Damien so I could move to the farm.
That had stunned me—not only because she thought I’d let her—but also because I hadn’t considered it. Not until that moment. Yes, I’d been working with Jarrod on plans for family-visiting days and goat yoga—because that really was a thing—but I hadn’t thought about leaving Shaw. About leaving Mission City. Yes, Chilliwack was half an hour away, but—
Yvonne was the one who convinced me. She pointed out Adele would be leaving for university soon and needed to have more freedom. Damien and Shaw would take care of her while she could be more independent.
So, in May, Jarrod and I married. I moved in, and we set about creating a life together.
In September, Adele went to the University of Waterloo.
And in October— I blinked. “Okay. So, we found a surrogate over the summer.”
Adele clenched her hands into fists as she continued to vibrate with anticipation. We’d broached this with her before the wedding, and she’d thrown her wholehearted support behind us becoming parents—however that might happen.
We’d begun to explore adoption when we came across Marisa. She was thrilled to be a surrogate for us. She was Black, like Jarrod, and so we’d opted to use his sperm. And it took.
