I hear Aurora gasp from beside me.
“What’s your fortune, kiddo?” I ask.
“I don’t have one, just this.” Aurora holds her palm flat, displaying the simple gold band with little diamonds scattered all around.
“Mae? What about you?”
“I got a ring too,” she says, thick with emotion.
I crack my cookie, pulling out the note I already have memorised. “The key to eternal happiness is hearing them say yes.”
I shove the note in my pocket, then pull off my gloves. The cold bites at my bare hands instantly, but it’s all worth it. I hold a hand up to each of them, then pull them closer.
“My beautiful girls.” My voice breaks over the last word. “Shit, this is harder than I thought it would be.” My nose is tingling, and my eyes are starting to sting, so I take another calming breath because I’ve waited too long for this moment.
“I had almost started to wonder if a great love was ever going to happen for me. I told myself I’d be happy with a companion, someone to have easy, quiet days with, and then two bright stars moved in next door. You have both filled my life with purpose and excitement beyond my wildest dreams, and there’s not a day I want to live where I don’t get to love you and call you my family. My wife and my daughter.”
I pull Maevyn’s left glove off and then Aurora’s. “I was hoping you’d also want to spend your days calling me your husband,” I say, taking the engagement ring from Maevyn’s other hand, and doing the same with Aurora. “And your dad.”
Aurora nods, falling to her knees as she sobs and throws her arms around my neck.
“I love you,” I whisper, and she squeezes me tighter.
I look up at Maevyn. “What do you think? You wanna keep changing the stars with me?”
Maevyn joins us on the ground, one arm coming around my neck, the other brushing over Aurora’s beanie. “No, they’re perfect. Now I want to watch them shine.”
She holds her left hand up to me. “But hell yeah, I wanna do it with you.”
Four Years Later
“I need to change my shirt.” I rip the T-shirt over my head, throwing it in the general vicinity of the laundry hamper as I search for something more modest.
“You looked fine, baby.”
“I don’t want to intimidate them.” My hands shake as I shuffle through my coat hangers. “Oh, maybe a dress.”
“Mae.” West places his hands on my shoulder, rubbing up and down. “They won’t care what you’re wearing.”
I take a deep breath, then lean back against Westley’s chest.
For two years, West and I talked about what we wanted for our future. Apart from wanting to travel every now and then, and the studio doing well, the main thing we both really wanted was a family. After West and I got married, we started the process of adopting. We had to wait a year before we were even eligible to apply, then it took another eighteen months for us to go through the screening process and training they make you do before you’re added to the register.
Five days ago, our social worker called with an emergency case, asking if we were willing to take in siblings. Jett and Faye had already been in foster care for two years after being removed from their mother’s care due to safety concerns. When West and I were interviewed as part of our eligibility, I shared my entire story and the effects drug abuse had on my upbringing. When we found out these two had a similar experience, I knew they were meant for us. And now, they’ll be here any minute.
“Mum! Dad! The car’s here!” Aurora shouts up the stairs.
“Oh fuck,” I murmur, swallowing down bile. I just want them to feel safe.
West steps around me, pulling a green flannel shirt off a coat hanger, and proceeds to dress me. He may need to carry me downstairs with the way my whole body trembles.
“It’s okay, baby,” Westley says gently as he buttons my shirt. “Remember, they’re probably going to be feeling very overwhelmed. They haven’t had a lot of time to process the adoption. Let’s just let them lead, okay?”
“Okay.” I nod. Actually, I think that’s still the shaking.
The doorbell rings, and I whimper. West cups my cheeks, placing a chaste kiss against my lips. “Come on. Let’s not make them wait.”
West does, in fact, need to carry me down the stairs. Aurora’s already waiting at the door for us.
