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“The adoption.”
“I thought so.”
“So we’re getting married on Monday and…and what’s with the adoption?”
“I have made a very generous donation to the local child services department. They like me a lot. I’m imagining that the rest of the process should go off without a hitch.”
“You…bought the adoption?”
“More or less. But I imagine if they found something terrible about us they wouldn’t allow it.”
“That’s…oh, that just makes me so mad!” She stood up and kicked a box of decorations aside. “I had to work so hard to prove I was fit, all because I was single and lived in a small apartment or whatever, and you waltz in with your—sorry, but it’s true—bad reputation, but oh, you have money, so no problem let’s get this adoption show on the road.”
“I’m sorry you’re frustrated but I imagine the relief of knowing it will be finalized soon will take the sting out of it.”
She covered her mouth and sat on the edge of her desk. “Oh, you’re right. Oh…she’s really going to be mine.” She popped up and took two leaping steps toward him and threw her arms around him. “Thank you so much.”
He just stood, stiff, unmoving.
She stood up on her tiptoes and brushed a kiss to his cheek. “No glitter today,” she whispered.
He pulled away from her. “That’s good.”
“Will your parents be at the wedding?” she asked.
He paused, his jaw hardening. “They’ll have to be invited. I don’t…I would rather not lie to them.”
“I don’t want anyone to know,” she said. “And I know maybe it’s selfish, but if anything were to jeopardize my getting Ana…”
“I understand,” he said, his voice firm.
“And I understand why you don’t want to lie to them. They’re your parents and…”
“Yes. They are.”
“They were good to you, weren’t they?” He always spoke of them so formally, no warmth in his tone.
“Yes,” he said. “Very. They gave me firm guidance, which I needed desperately. Gave me everything I needed. My own space, which I never had before. My own things.”
She’d noticed how meticulously he cared for everything, and suddenly, she realized why. He had been in foster care for around eight years and that had likely meant a lot of moving, and owning very little.
“Love?”
He shrugged. “I don’t need that.”
The statement shocked her, even though, after the other night, it probably shouldn’t. “But…don’t they?”
His expression froze. “I…it’s not that I don’t…”
But he couldn’t say it, or think about it really, she could see that. “I know. And I’m sure they know.”
“They’ll probably enjoy a wedding far too much. Though I’m not sure what they’ll think about one on notice this short.”
“I’m sure they’ll be fine with it.”
“I’m sure Mary will pitch a fit about finding a mother of the groom dress on such short notice.” The ghost of a smile touched his lips.
“Well, yeah, but most women would.”
“There’s something else I need to say.”
An apology maybe? That would be nice. She would happily take an apology.
“What?”
“I didn’t use a condom the other night.”
Her stomach sank a little. Not an apology. “Oh.”
“I need to know if you’re pregnant. I’ll need you to tell me.”
She nodded. “I would. I will.”
For a moment, she was afraid her knees might give out. What would she do if there was a baby? What would it mean for Ana? For the adoption? Would she be a single mother of two children? She wasn’t entirely certain she could handle one. The idea of juggling both…it terrified her.
“Good.”
“I’m not, though,” she said, because she had to believe it. The alternative was too frightening. Another example of her taking something that was working and making an impossible jumble out of it.
“You don’t know that.”
