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“Not in this lifetime.”
Bee covered my hand with her other hand. “Things change, Brooks. But for now, you will have her safe and sound in your house.”
“Our house.”
She looked away, and one hand slipped away.
“In most cases, a marriage would help this case, but in this instance, it isn’t necessary. I expect Trina to sign off on the paperwork without any issues. She was mostly worried about getting in trouble.”
“She should have been. It was a cold night, and she left my little girl on the porch. I would have helped her. I would have taken the baby.”
“She didn’t know that. She’s a scared young woman who was overwhelmed. But now Sami has a wonderful family.” He looked at Gina and then at me. “I’ll leave you both to read over the paperwork. Take your time.” He stood and held his hand out to me. “I know it wasn’t the best way to get us talking again, but I’m glad I could help.”
I rose. “Thanks, Pres.”
He smiled and left as quietly as he’d come in.
I slipped the piece of paper out of the folder and skimmed the contents. A lot of it was legalese and dry, but the gist of it meant Sami would be mine very soon.
Not that she wasn’t already, but I could make sure everything had my goddamn stamp on it. And she had my name legally.
I quickly signed the paper and slid it back into the folder.
“Tell me why you keep saying you aren’t Sami’s mom.”
Bee flinched. “Because I’m not.”
I turned in my chair, and then spun her around to face me. “You are. In my heart, you are her mom.”
“Brooks, please don’t.”
Frustration bunched all the muscles in my shoulders again. “Why is that so hard to imagine?”
“It’s not. I feel like her mother.”
I grabbed her hands in both of mine. “Then what’s the problem?”
Finally, she looked up. “Is that all I am?”
“What do you mean?”
“When you see me, is that all I am? Just the woman that conveniently fits into your checkboxes?”
“What? No.”
“Aren’t I though?” She pushed back and tried to untangle our fingers. “You keep talking about us like we’re a forgone conclusion, but nowhere in there have you actually seen me. A woman who deserves to be loved. Not just a mother to your child.”
“What?” Panic clawed up my throat. “It’s not like that.”
“And you keep talking about a future together when we haven’t even had a present. We raced past all of it. Do you know we haven’t even had a normal date?”
“We tried to, but then the tree lighting thing kind of got pushed aside for a near concussion.”
“That wasn’t our date, you jerk.” She stood up and I had to let her hand free. “I had a date with Caleb because he saw me. Wanted to go out with me.”
“The hell with that. He doesn’t know you. He doesn’t deserve you.”
“Oh, and you do?”
