Page 246 of What We Become

Micah first—soft, sweet, the taste of home. Knox—deep, steady, his hand at the back of my neck. Holden—controlled, possessive, a claim stamped in public. Eli—slow, raw, his palm warm against my cheek. And Milo—messy, laughing, tipping me backward in a dip that makes everyone shift forward to watch.

When I come up for air, Gloria adds, “One more thing.”

She produces a document from the leather folder.

“As of nine a.m. this morning, all six of you are legally registered under the surname Adams.” She looks at the five men. “You chose her. You became a family. And now you all carry one family name.”

Milo’s mouth opens. “That’s—you can’t. I looked into that. There are statutes. There’s a whole—” He stops. Looks at his mother. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

“Correct,” Gloria says.

Knox reaches for my hand. Squeezes once.

“Knox Adams,” he says. Testing it.

“Eli Adams,” Eli says.

“Holden Adams.”

“Micah Adams.”

“Milo Adams!” Milo shouts, throwing both arms in the air. “We’re the Adams Family! Oh my God, we’re literally the Adams Family. This is the greatest day of my life. Does anyone else see this? Morticia, Gomez, Lurch, Fester, Wednesday—it’s us!”

“Addams,” Holden says. “Two d’s.”

“Don’t you dare take this from me.”

“I’m only saying it out loud so it’s on the record.”

“Which one am I?” Holden asks.

“Gomez, obviously. Passionate, well-dressed, willing to kill.”

“I’ll accept that.”

“Knox is Lurch.”

Knox glares at him.

“With love,” Milo adds quickly. “With enormous, affectionate, please-don’t-crush-me love.”

The backyard erupts. Gloria hugs me—the bone-crushing, three-seconds-too-long hug that’s her signature. Dennis is still crying. Gene has moved on to a fourth handkerchief. Dean and Drake smile softly while they each wrap an arm around Amy.

Amy catches my eye and mouths, you did it.

I laugh because I did. We did. Somehow, impossibly, gorgeously, we did.

Then Milo is in front of me again, grabbing my face with both hands. “Mrs. Adams,” he says. “Queen of our tiny violent kingdom.”

“Yes, Mr. Adams?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

He dips his head and kisses me, dramatic as always, one hand at my waist and the other flung out like he expects applause for his technique. He gets it, too. Dennis wolf-whistles through tears. Gene claps. Ray just mutters, “Where are their collars?”

By the time Milo lets me up, I’m laughing so hard I can barely breathe.