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Haley leaned in and kissed me, relaxing against me as we dozed.
But thankfully we didn’t fall completely asleep because it wasn’t long before we heard the front door open and the sounds of the kids’ voices echoed down the hall to us.
It was a damn good thing we were both athletes because the speed at which we had to move to clothe ourselves was record-breaking. Thankfully we were able to get it done before Leann walked in.
“Hi,” she said, giving us a suspicious look.
“Hi yourself,” Haley said back. “Do you have a lot of homework?”
Leann shook her head and narrowed her eyes at me. “Did you do it yet?” she asked me.
For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what she was referring to. “What do you mean?”
Leann shook her head as if she was disappointed with me. “Have you asked Haley to be my new mom yet?”
Haley and I both went pink but laughed.
“Is that something you would want?” Haley asked her.
Leann seemed to consider for a moment before nodding her head. “I think you would be a good mom.”
Haley and I exchanged looks. Leann had no idea how relevant that statement was and somehow that made it doubly sincere.
“Thanks, kiddo,” my gorgeous girl replied. “That means a lot to me.”
Leann nodded then left, seemingly satisfied with how this had all turned out. I couldn’t have felt lighter, like everything was guaranteed to be all right.
It wasn’t like I thought nothing would ever go wrong again, but the way this new chapter of our lives was starting made it feel like whatever came our way, we would be able to handle it as long as we had each other.
That night after dinner, we told the kids they were expecting a new baby sibling, and as expected the responses were varied.
“I’m gonna be a big sister,” Katie cried, jumping up on her chair with excitement. “Finally.”
“Can it be a boy?” Ben whined. “I don’t want another sister.”
“I’ll put in a good word with the stork buddy, okay?” I said.
Ben seemed satisfied with this answer and went back to his pizza.
Leann, however, went quiet, looking down into her lap and sniffling.
I looked at Haley and she at me. We thought Leann would be the most excited. She had always loved being Ben and Katie’s big sister, and she loved Haley. So why was this making her so sad?
“You okay?” I asked her.
Leann shrugged her shoulders. “You’re not gonna care about us anymore,” she said with another dramatic sniffle, “Since you don’t love my mom anymore and you love Haley instead.”
I opened my mouth to refute this, but Haley put up her hand, then went to Leann’s side, hugging her and stroking her hair.
“Leann, I will never in a million years take the place of your mom and I don’t want to. And even more importantly, no one will ever make your dad or me stop loving you guys. You’re always gonna be just as important. I love you.” Haley looked up and around at Ben and Katie. “I love all of you guys.”
Her eyes landed on me and I felt my heart give an enormous thump.
Haley was my girl, now and always. And I knew I needed to make it far more official.
Epilogue
Haley
