We’re busy with paperwork when there’s a tap on the door, with Marta getting up to answer it while we keep checking and signing. Meanwhile, Lucas sits as a stone, apparently scared to move for fear of what?
Being smacked around the back of the head?
My concentration being what it is, I take a moment to realize I can smell my mom’s perfume. A quick look over my shoulder and I spot her just inside the door, along with Zoe.
Soon enough Lily notices the pair, her surprise clear. Then she nods. “It’s only right you’re here for this.”
Zoe and my mom, now jammed together on a small bench just inside the door, Lily and I have a last check of the paperwork before passing it over to Marta.
She’s skimming down the page, her finger tapping our entries as she checks them. Then she stops, her brow creased in a frown.
“It says here that you’re still living together. That you’re not married. Is that correct? I prefer parents be married.”
This is a surprise, with our living arrangement not an issue for everyone else we’ve dealt with. It even says on their website that couples living together can foster. I suspect the marriage angle is Marta’s own hangup rather than anything to do with department protocol.
Honestly, if they’ll farm kids out to the asshole who just left, why is the starchy woman behind the desk now balking at us? It’s just as well I’ve come prepared, something that soon has me on my feet.
A moment later and I’m next to Lily’s chair, something that has her looking at me, obviously wondering what on earth I’m up to. “Tyler Vance, we are not leaving. They’ve approved everything. A marriage certificate is only a piece of paper. Family is about more than that.”
She then turns and squeezes Lucas’s shoulder as if to say, “I’ve got this.”
By the time she’s done that and turned back to face me, I’m down on one knee, a small ring box clasped in my sweaty hand. I’ve never been as nervous in my entire life, but I want this to be right.
“Lily Finnegan, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” I look briefly at Marta. “And not just because it’ll make her happy, but because I love you more than I’d have thought possible.”
While I wait on her response, the room is all but silent, with no-one daring to breathe. The only sound is a faint rustling, which I put down to the air-conditioning.
A second later and Lily throws herself into my arms, as is her habit.
“Yes! Yes! Of course, I’ll marry you, Tyler Vance.”
To an accompaniment of cheering, I seal our engagement with a kiss, even if it’s nowhere as passionate as I’d like. It’s not until I’m back in my seat having slid the simple solitaire onto Lily’s finger that I take full note of Lucas.
The boy looks to be on the verge of tears, although not of happiness.
“What’s wrong?” I put my hand on his back, as gently as I can, with him still wincing. Whether this is down to physical pain, or remembered pain, I’m not sure, parking it for later.
“Does this… Does this mean you don’t need me… anymore?”
His words, as quiet as they’ve been, have still sounded loud to my ears.
“Hell no, it doesn’t!” On a sharp intact of breath from Marta, I repeat myself without cussing. “Why would you think that?”
A heartbeat later and the kid is body slammed from all directions when he’s dragged into what we call a family huddle.
Lily follows up on her, “Welcome to the family Lucas,” by kissing him soundly on his grubby cheek. Meanwhile, I ruffle his filthy hair and tell him we’re going fishing the first chance we get.
My mom, while silent, sends me a look that says she’ll outfit the kid with a completely new wardrobe before the weekend is over.
It’s Zoe’s “A puppy!” that confuses all the adults in the room. But my daughter is right, with her now cuddling a wriggling ball of black and white fluff.
Lucas bursts into gut-wrenching sobs. “Please, can I keep him? Mr. Meadows said he’d kill him after I left.”
It’s yet another reason for me to want a quiet word with the asshat who’s apparently made life a misery for Lucas.
“Of course, you can keep him!” says Lily. “We wouldn’t be a proper family without a dog.”
Never has my life felt as complete as when we drive home from social services. While Lily and I are up front, the kids are in the back, with the puppy crashed out between them.
My mom is already on her way to the supermarket, because there’ll be celebrations in the Vance/Finnegan household tonight. And with my mom’s love-language being food, for the first time in a long time, Lucas won’t go hungry.
* * *
