Intent (28 page)

“I’ll grab your bag, Zoe. I’ll meet you two ladies at the truck. Let me tell Mom and Lily so River can stay with them tonight,” I add.

“It’s time?” Zoe asks, just now catching up to the conversation.

“Yes, it’s time,” Layne replies and guides her to her bedroom. I follow them, grab Zoe’s suitcase, and head to River’s room to tell them.

“Ladies,” I say as I step in. “Layne and I are taking Zoe to the hospital. We’re having a baby soon! River, can you stay with Aunt Lily for a couple of days while we stay at the hospital to help Zoe?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” she squeals. “Will I have a baby sister when I come home?”

“You sure will. Are you excited about that?”

“Yeah!”

“I’ll call you and show you pictures as soon as I can. Be good for Aunt Lily.” I hug and kiss my little girl. “She might even bring you to the hospital to see us later.”

“Call us if you need anything, Ace. We’ll take care of everything here and make sure this little lady is overly spoiled for the next couple of days,” Mom replies.

“Absolutely. And in a few hours, we’ll have another one to spoil, too,” Lily adds.

Once we’re in the truck on the way to the hospital, Zoe’s contractions kick in. Layne is in the backseat with her, trying to help her breathe through the pain when it hits. “The doctor is already at the hospital, and she knows we’re on our way.”

By the time we get Zoe admitted and into a room, it’s well on the way into evening hours and I realize I’m starving. If I haven’t eaten in a while, I know Layne hasn’t either. Zoe is resting comfortably in the bed since her contractions have all but stopped, and Layne is stretched out on the chair that converts into a twin-size bed. I sit on the side and push her hair off her face. Her eyes flutter open and she wraps her hand around mine.

“Babe, I’m going to get us all something to eat. I’ll sneak a little something in for Zoe, too. I’ll be back as quickly as I can, but call me if anything happens.”

“I will,” she smiles sleepily.

What I don’t tell her is I’m going back to the house first. In our haste to get Zoe to the hospital, I left something behind. Something I need.

Answers.

L
ayne

I
t’s been
thirty-six hours since Zoe’s water broke and we’re still at the hospital. Her contractions are too sporadic to make much progress, and the doctor is now talking to her about inducing labor with medication.

“So what do you think, Zoe? Are you ready to have this baby?” the doctor asks.

“I’m beyond ready,” Zoe replies. “Let’s do it.”

“Okay. I’ll put the order in, and the nurse will be in here with the medication as soon as she can. It may take her a little while to check on the other patients in her rounds.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Zoe laughs. “I’ll just watch TV some more until it’s time.”

The doctor leaves and I slide into the bed beside Zoe. “You know, if you’ve changed your mind about the adoption, you can just tell me. You don’t have to hold the baby hostage inside you.”

She bursts out in laughter, and it’s like music to my ears. My sweet girl is happy, healthy, and for the first time since I first met her, lighthearted. “I haven’t changed my mind. Actually, there’s something else I need to tell you that I’ve been thinking about and I’ve finally made up my mind.”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Marcia asked me about my plans after I have the baby. I told her about the private school and my plans to apply to the University of Georgia. She thinks it’s a great idea and she wants to help, too. I know I still have a few years to go, but we talked a lot about their School of Law and how many people I can help with a law degree. That’s what I want to do, just like you.”

“I’m so proud of you, Zoe.”

We enjoy our time chatting and giggling while Ace takes a nap on the converted chair. He hasn’t had much sleep in the last few days with everything that happened with Margot, worrying about my health, and taking care of both Zoe and me. I watch him while he sleeps and wonder what he’s dreaming when his eyes move rapidly under his closed eyelids.

Suddenly, Zoe grips the sheet in her fists and tries to suppress a cry of pain. “What’s wrong?”

“Pretty sure my contractions just kicked up to about one thousand on the pain scale.”

“But the nurse hasn’t even been back to start your drip yet.”

“Yeah, the baby isn’t going to wait for her either.”

I hit the call button and tell the nurse when she arrives that Zoe has started active labor. Again.

She laughs and asks Zoe, “Are you just trying to make me look bad?”

“It’s not me,” Zoe replies. “This baby definitely has a mind of her own.”

“Don’t they all,” the nurse chuckles before donning gloves to check her progress. “You’re definitely on your way to having this baby now. You’re almost fully effaced and dilated several centimeters. As long as she cooperates, it shouldn’t be too much longer now.”

I lean over and kiss Ace to wake him so I can tell him the good news. Instead of sitting up like I expected him to, he wraps his arms around me and pulls me down on top of him. “That’s great news. For future reference, this is the way I prefer you to wake me up, though.”

Laughing, I push up on his chest and kiss him again. “Careful what you wish for. Now wake up, we’re about to have a baby.”

We try to keep Zoe’s mind occupied through the increasing intensity of her contractions, but they eventually win and the anesthesiologist is called in. Once the epidural takes effect, she’s relaxed and back to laughing and joking with us. When the nurse comes in this time, Ace and I have both joined Zoe in the hospital bed to watch TV with her. The nurse stops and looks at us like we’ve lost our minds.

“Can you talk to her about this?” Ace asks the nurse as he points to Zoe. “She’s hogging the bed.”

“That’s so insensitive of her,” the nurse replies with a humorous, sardonic tone.

“I’ve been telling her that exact thing the whole time we’ve been here.” Ace shakes his head.

We move out of the way to give the nurse room to work. My heart races and my lower abdomen flurries when she announces it is finally time. “You’re fully effaced and dilated. Let me grab the doctor, and before long, the four of you will be fighting over the hospital bed.”

An hour later, Zoe has pushed and grunted and complained, and our baby girl has finally been born. She’s beautiful. She’s the epitome of perfect. One look and I’m completely and totally in love with her.

“I understand she’s to be adopted. Is that correct?” the nurse asks.

“Yes,” Zoe replies. “These are the adoptive parents.”

“Would you like to hold her before you sign the consent to adopt form?”

Zoe looks at me first, then to Ace. We both nod to let her know it’s okay. “Yes, there’s something I want to tell her.”

When the nurse places her in Zoe’s arms, tears instantly spring to her eyes. “Hello, beautiful baby girl. I know Layne will tell you one day, but I want to be the first to say it. I love you, and that’s the only reason I’m giving you up for adoption. It’s not because I regret having you. It’s not because you’re unlovable. You are going to the best family I know. You’ll grow up with more love than you can imagine. If you decide to find me one day, I hope it’s to thank me for giving you the best chance at a happy life that I could. If you love your new mommy half as much as I do, I’ll never regret this choice.”

Zoe softly kisses her little pink head before her teary eyes find mine. “Layne, come meet your daughter.”

Before I take the baby from her arms, I wrap mine around Zoe and kiss her head. “I love you, Zoe. You’re every bit as much of a daughter to me as she is.”

“I wish you were my mom, Layne. I really do.”

She lifts the baby and I take her in my arms. Ace wraps his arms around me from behind us and folds them underneath mine so we’re both cradling our baby.

“I’ll sign that consent to adopt form now,” Zoe says to the nurse. “She’s in the best hands I know.”

Ace’s chin rests on my shoulder as we continue to hold her as one. “She needs a name, you know. Are we set on the one we picked out?”

Because I’m unable to speak, I nod and Ace announces her name to the room. “Kylie Eden Sharp, our little piece of heaven on earth.”

“That’s beautiful,” Zoe replies.

T
he family has come
and gone, and now Zoe is sleeping while Ace and I cuddle together to coo over Kylie. “How many kids would you want if you had a choice?” Ace asks softly.

“I’d love to have a house full of them,” I admit. “I’ve always wanted a big family because I never had one growing up.”

“I’m glad you said that,” he replies, pulls something out of his shirt pocket, and hands it to me.

“Wha— Where did you get this?” I stammer.

He smirks. “The bathroom counter, where you left it.”

“Ace, is this real?”

“As real as it gets, my love. You’re pregnant with my baby.”

“All this time, I thought I couldn’t get pregnant. I thought something was wrong with me.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you in any sense of the word. But, there is something I need to tell you.” The suddenly serious tone has my full attention.

“What? What is it, Ace?”

“When I went by the house to get that, there was a strange car in Mom’s driveway. The construction crew just finished working earlier that day, so I thought it was one of them at first. But it wasn’t. It was Bobby.”

“Bobby? Why would he be there? I made it clear I wanted nothing else to do with him.”

“That’s pretty much what I told him, after I told him you’re my wife now. Not in those words exactly. I may have provoked him in somewhat of a different manner.” Ace smiles and it reaches from ear to ear. I can’t help but giggle at him.

“What did you do?”

“Oh, you know, manly stuff. I had to mark my territory, baby. Anyway, there’s a slight chance I went a little overboard, because he blurted out something I know he’d never have admitted otherwise.”

Dead silence. He’s killing me. “And?” I prompt.

“His gun may be loaded, but it doesn’t shoot bullets, babe. For about a year before you actively tried to get pregnant, he’d been trying to get you pregnant without you knowing. Poking holes in the condoms. Stupid shit like that. He thought he’d lose you when you became a hotshot lawyer, so he decided he’d take care of that himself. But he figured out he physically couldn’t do it, only he never told you. He let you believe you were the problem.”

“That son of a bitch. After all this time.” Absorbing all of this is a bit much, but when my eyes drop back to the plastic stick in my hand, I realize it doesn’t matter. “It’s in the past. He’s in the past. I’ve found everything I could ever want or need, right here in Oak Grove.”

“Exactly. But you have to admit, my swimmers are strong. They can do the breaststroke like nobody’s business. We need to come up with a better name for how mine perform, though. Something manly, like ‘big daddy stroke.’ No, I’ve got it. ‘The Big D Stroke.’ That’s perfect.”

Through the happy tears that are falling from my eyes, I start to laugh and can’t stop. The harder I try to contain it, to not wake the baby, or disturb Zoe, the worse it gets. “I love you more every day, Ace. Thank you for showing me that a life without love isn’t a life worth living at all.”

“You made me want to love, Layne. You’re the only woman my heart recognizes.” He kisses me softly. “But you’ve also taught me how to open my heart and love in other ways. There’s one more beautiful love surprise waiting for you, if you feel up to it.”

“A beautiful love surprise? My heart is so full, I don’t know how it could get any better.”

Ace sends a quick text and moments later, the hospital room door opens. Marcia walks in with a large envelope in her hand and a broad smile on her face. She pulls up a chair beside us and puts her hand over our joined hands.

“Layne, I honestly think the handful of papers in this envelope are the best ideas I’ve ever seen in my life,” Marcia states.

“What are they?”

She pulls out the paperwork and hands it over to Ace and me. When I scan the documents, my mouth drops open and I’m crying all over again. My head snaps to Ace first. “Really?”

“Absolutely.”

When I look over at Zoe, her gaze is trained on me. Hopeful, but also trying to hide the fear of rejection. “You’re sure?” I ask her.

“Without a doubt.”

“So what do you say, my love?” Ace asks, though he already knows my answer.

“I say… I have the best family in the world. I am honored and humbled to officially adopt both of my daughters, Zoe and River.”

I
t has now been
six weeks since Kylie was born. Six weeks since I found out I’m pregnant. Six weeks since I was presented with the paperwork to adopt both Zoe and River. I’ve also started my own prenatal visits and learned that I’m now almost three months along. Apparently, “The Big D Stroke” does accurately describe his swimmers. The end of summer came and went, but Marcia arranged for me to have maternity leave for the adoption. She’s moving back here permanently and opening a branch of the firm nearby.

We’re now standing in front of the judge so he can witness Zoe sign the paperwork to confirm her consent to being adopted by Ace and me. Once this is finalized, her last name on her birth certificate will be changed and she will be a legal member of the Sharp family. As River’s stepmother, the adoption process is slightly simpler than adopting Kylie was, but she also officially becomes my daughter today.

They have both always been mine in love anyway.

My beautiful love surprise from my beautiful family.

A
CE

Z
oe just started
her first year of law school after graduating with honors from the University of Georgia. She’s following in her grandmother’s and mother’s footsteps, and we couldn’t be prouder of her. Before we adopted her when she was eighteen, my mom approached me with the awesome idea.

“Ace,” she tentatively started the conversation. “I worry about Zoe not having any family to help her. What if she gets off to school and needs help? Who will be there for her?”

“Layne and I will be,” I replied resolutely. “Layne has told her many times that she thinks of Zoe as her daughter.”

“Would you be willing to adopt Zoe and make it legal?”

“She’s eighteen, Mom. She’s an adult. How can we adopt her?”

“That actually makes it easier to adopt her than it is to adopt her baby. It helps in cases like hers. She still has a year of high school to go before college. And you know even though she’s legally an adult, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t still need parental guidance. If she agrees, this will give her and Layne the family they’ve always wanted but never had.”

“I know for a fact that Layne would be absolutely overjoyed with this idea. I have a feeling Zoe would, too.”

“Do you mind if I talk to Zoe about it?”

“Not at all.”

Mom made good on her word and explained everything to Zoe. The legal ramifications of it, what it would do to her relationship with her parents, and the positive aspects it would have for Zoe. Without hesitation, she jumped at the chance to join our family. Her only concern was that Layne wouldn’t actually want to adopt her. She was thrilled to be wrong.

Zoe gave a speech at her college graduation where she spoke of the unconditional love she’d received from the mom, dad, and grandmother she’d gained after she was adopted as an adult. A hush fell over the crowd as she told them about the events of her life and how the love from one person turned the tide for her entire future. Her speech conclusion was met with cheers and tears from the audience—and sobs from Layne.

“My mother taught me the definition of a woman of strength. She works hard, but she doesn’t do it all alone. She freely gives all her love to her family, but she also loves herself. My father is the center of her world, but he doesn’t define her self-worth. At a time in her life when she needed a hero, she became one herself. My mother, Layne Sharp, made me believe in love at first sight, because I’ve loved her from the moment I met her.”

To this day, I couldn’t agree more.

Every nook and cranny of our home is adorned by one kind of Christmas decoration or another. Layne is so very excited to have all of our family under one roof again. With Zoe coming home from college, all of our kids will finally be together again. River just turned ten, the same age her biological mother was when she first started showing signs of problems. I compare the beautiful, happy girl in front of me to Margot, but I see no signs of her in River. My daughter is one of six of the sweetest, most caring, and funniest kids I’ve ever seen.

Of course, the other five who fit in that category also happen to be my children—Zoe, five-year-old Kylie, four-year-old Zach, and our two-year-old twins, Micah and Mason. I’m currently trying to talk Layne into having one more since the boys outnumber the girls in the house. She hasn’t agreed yet, but my swimmers are super potent.

That, and she can’t actually take her birth control pills if she can’t find them.

My involvement in the case of the boys mistaking them for magic beans, and subsequently burying them in the backyard so we can have a huge beanstalk, is still under investigation. One thing I’ve learned from living with lawyers is how to plead the Fifth, especially when the evidence against me is incriminating enough without adding my verbal statement.

Kids can be such tattletales.

“Ace, would you like to explain this?”

“That’s my beautiful wife, Layne,” I say into the camera. “Layne, I’m making our video Christmas card for all of our friends and family. Say hello to everyone.”

“Hello, everyone,” Layne says into the camera. “I’m glad you’re all here to witness Ace explain why my birth control pill pack is empty and why it was hidden in his tool box.”

“I’m sure that’s an old one, honey. You know the kids like to play with all kinds of things.”

“This is my new one, Ace. Look at the date on the label.”

“I’m not wearing my reading glasses.”

“You don’t wear any glasses at all.”

“So, where was I?” I ask the camera. “Oh, yeah. The family. You all remember Frankie, right? We can’t leave him out. Like everyone else who’s met my wonderful wife, the horse is also in love with her and she has taken him away from me. But, he still helps me at the center.

“Our equine therapy program has really taken off and I’m proud to say that we’ve taken on several more kids who need love and attention and former soldiers who suffer from PTSD to our therapy sessions—and both groups are seeing great results. We’re very excited about it.

“My love, is there anything else you want to add before I say I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and a life full of love?”

I smile into the camera, because I just said it.

“Just one thing,” she says. “There will be a new addition to the family before next year’s video Christmas card since I’m about eight weeks along right now, courtesy of Ace.”

She leans in and kisses me. “Thank you for my beautiful love surprise. I love you, babe.”

“
Yes!
My plan worked!” I shout. Loudly. Into the camera. And now my admission is part of public record for all time. “I mean, I love you, too, Layne. With all of my heart, mind, body, and soul, I love you.”