“Hey,” he said, looking down at me. “You okay?”
“Julie just showed up to say her piece and give her apologies.” I shook my head.
“So… doesn’t sound like you feel all better.”
I took a deep breath. “You know what? I don’t want to ruin my day with her.” To that end, I said, “How did the scouting meeting go with UNC?”
Mason stopped and looked at me. “Um, what do you mean? Why? What have you heard?”
That was a really weird response, so I figured it hadn’t gone well. “Oh, gosh. I’m sorry if it’s a sore subject. I haven’t heard anything. I just…”
Mason looked relieved and said, “Oh no. It went awesome. Drew signed with them!”
“So then why are you acting so weird?”
Mason took a deep breath and let it out. “I guess I’m just having a harder time than I imagined letting him go. You know, he’s kind of my protégé, and it’s hard to think of him being gone.”
That was sweet. He was so invested in these kids.
“So, um, Mason…” I turned to look at him. “Look, I have to tell you the truth about something.” He blanched, and I felt immediately guilty. “I, um, I don’t want to just foster Maisy. I think I’d like to adopt her.”
Mason looked down at the baby and then at me, and I swear his face got even whiter. “Oh, wow. I just… Wow.”
So, yes, I had hoped somewhere deep in my heart of hearts that Mason would say, “Oh, yay! Let’s get married and be a family!” But I had known better than to expect that. So I tried not to let my disappointment show.
“Gosh, Daisy. Are you sure? I mean, that’s kind of a big commitment.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, yeah, Mason. It is. But I just know she’s supposed to be mine. You know what I mean?”
He smiled in earnest now and looked down at her again. “You know, Dais, I do. I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes an opportunity comes along, and you just have to seize it. Not think so much. On that note—”
“Hey, wait,” I said. I knew I was interrupting him, and I didn’t want to be rude. But this was important. “Maisy will be put up for adoptionif her parents don’t come forward in sixty days. And, so, in order for me to adopt her, it would be better if…”
He rubbed his chin. “Drew never knew so he can’t come forward,” Mason filled in for me.
“So, I guess what I’m asking…”
Mason studied my face. Then he let out a little laugh. “Seriously, Daisy? You want me to know that Drew has a kid, and you want me to keep it from him? So that you get what you want?”
His tone wasn’t harsh. But his words weren’tkindeither. “You make it sound so conniving.”
He blew out his breath. I thought about Julie. I thought about my life as an abandoned girl, about this new realization that she had never even adopted me. And that steeled something inside of me. I was the only one who could protect Maisy.
“Look, do you want her in the foster system for the rest of her life? Because the options here aren’t great.”
I was fudging that a little. There was still a chance I’d get to adopt Maisy. There was still a chance I’d get chosen. But there was also a chance that, if Drew knew, he’d want to be involved. What if he and Sarah decided to put off college to raise the baby? Or their parents stepped up to raise her? I couldn’t bear the thought of that. And, sure, maybe that was selfish. But I couldn’t really see it that way, not when I felt so connected to this baby. They had been the ones to not even know their daughter and girlfriend was pregnant. Sarah had been the one to leave her for dead in a dumpster. I didn’t think anyone could blame me for not wanting her to be in their care. I would love her the way she deserved to be loved.
Mason shook his head. “Look, Dais, I know you’re coming from a good place, and she would be so lucky to get to have you as her mother. But you have to give me a minute here. I can’t just promiseyou that I’m going to deceive one of my favorite people in the world for the rest of his life.”
“Okay, right, but, like, in a few months you might not even ever see Drew again.”
So, no, I didn’t justlovethis color coming out in me. That was a horrible thing to say. “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry. I’m so sleep-deprived that I’m not sure who I am.” But it wasn’t lack of sleep. This was something else. And, if I’d really examined it, I would have been concerned. Instead, I kept talking. “Look, I think I just am so attached to Maisy and the idea of this family and—”
Mason nodded and cut me off. “Look, Daisy, about my never seeing Drew again—”
“Kids!” a voice rang out. “There you are!” Aunt Tilley scrambled toward us, and I couldn’t help but smile. Sure, we were in a tense moment, but no one was quite as disarming as she was. “Soup’s on!”
It was one of those endearing Southern phrases that, as I hugged her, as she pulled me inside, as I witnessed the massive display of food on the table, I couldn’t help but realize was a huge misnomer. This was not soup. This was… well, this was every food you could possibly imagine.
