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“Good luck.” I shake my head on a smile when Ant’s gaze once again finds mine.
“Thanks, Bree. I’m gonna need it. Love you. And tell Jack and Ant we said Happy New Year and we love them.”
“I will. And, Tess,” I stop her before she can hang up. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” she says, a smile evident in her voice before she ends the call.
I smile to myself, finding out my best friend finally married the man of her dreams is the cherry on top of what has probably been the best year of my life. It’s rare to find a love like Tess and Sebastian’s, and I couldn’t be happier that those two finally got their heads out of their asses and realized they were meant to be—something the rest of us have known for years.
“What are you smiling about?” I look over to see Ant watching me, a smile on his face.
“I’m just really happy is all.” I shrug, my gaze following him as he stands, whispers something to Jack and then turns, taking a seat next to me on the couch.
“What if I said I was about to make you even happier?” he asks, nudging my shoulder with his.
“I’d say I don’t think that’s possible,” I quip, unable to wipe the wide grin off my face.
“I wouldn’t be so sure.” He gestures toward Jackson who reenters the room holding a manila envelope in his hand.
I have no idea what it is, but my heart still picks up speed. I can feel my pulse pounding against my neck, and my throat suddenly feels so dry I can’t seem to even swallow.
“Bree.” Ant swivels around to sit on the coffee table in front of me just as Jack reaches us. “We have two very important things to ask you.” He smiles, turning to Jack who hands him the envelope. “Thanks, buddy. Now go back and wait for my signal.” He rustles Jackson’s hair who instantly turns and leaves the room.
“What is this?” I ask, eyeing him curiously.
“You’ll have to open it and see.” Ant smiles, watching me closely as I open the flap of the envelope and pull out a stack of papers—State of California Certificate of Adoption—printed in bold letters on top of the form.
My stomach bottoms out as I stare down at the form in my hands, not sure what to say or what this even means.
“I don’t understand,” I finally say, looking up to meet Ant’s gaze.
“I want to adopt Jackson. I want us to be a real family.”
I look down at the papers for a long moment and then back to Ant, not sure how to tell him that without Blake’s consent, there’s nothing I can do. And there’s no way I can open that can of worms and risk Blake trying to take Jackson from me.
“I…” I start, but Ant cuts in.
“Before you say anything, I’ve already taken care of everything. If you look through the paperwork, Blake has already signed the rights over and the results of his paternity test are on file and confirmed. If you will let me, I’d like to be Jackson’s father. The father he deserves.”
“How?” it’s the only word I can manage to say.
“When I went to Rockfield last month,” he says, referring to the trip he took to visit his mom over the weekend, which even at the time I thought was a little odd; especially since he hadn’t invited me or Jackson.
“You found him?” I swallow down the hard knot in my throat.
“I did. And even though I could tell he wanted to fight me on it, in the end, he saw things my way. Hell, I even convinced him to go to the lab to give a DNA sample while I was there.”
“How did you manage all this?”
“Let’s just say I can be pretty persuasive when I want to be.”
“But I still don’t understand. How did you orchestrate this whole thing? How did you complete the paternity test without me even knowing?”
“I did a swab on Jack when he was sleeping a couple weeks ago, sent it to the same lab that did Blake’s test. The results were a match, the documentation is in there. We have everything we need to make it official. All I need is for you to say yes, and I can get my lawyer to start processing the paperwork.”
“You did all this so that you could adopt Jackson?” I ask, my mind still not fully able to process what all this means.
“He is my son, Bree. It’s about time we make it official. Tell me you want that too.”
