Page 94 of Revived
“I know,” he says, rolling his eyes, and then scurries off to an open part of the grass just a few feet away.
“When did he get so big?” Rachel smiles, watching him throw the stitched leather up as high as he can and then tiptoe around to catch it before it hits the ground.
“Believe me, I ask myself that question every day.”
Rachel turns to the grave, running her fingers along the smooth marble. “Hi, Hannah. Yesterday was incredible. I hope you were watching.”
“She was babe.” Leaning down to kiss her temple, I pull her into me with my arm wrapped around her shoulders, breathing her in while I watch the scenery around us. A slight sway of the branches in the trees alerts me to the breeze building this afternoon. Fresh flowers radiate their scent from the multiple bouquets placed around us and Grayson continues to focus on his catching while we share details of our day with Hannah.
“I promise to take care of them, Hannah. They are my family and the two most important people in the world to me. And now Luke’s bound to me legally, so it’s a lot harder for him to get away,” she jokes.
“Ha-ha, very funny.”
“But I guess there’s just two more things we wanted to share with you,” she declares before focusing her eyes on me. “What would you say if I asked you to tie Grayson to me legally now as well?”
I lock onto her eyes, those green orbs shining brilliantly in the sunlight. “I’d love nothing more than for you to legally adopt Grayson, you know that. We’ve had this discussion, remember?” Rachel brought up the idea of adopting Grayson officially about a year ago. But we never moved forward with the paperwork, figuring we would wait until we were married to do so.
“Yeah, but now that we’re married, I really want Grayson to legally be mine. And then in January when our baby is born, we will all officially be a family…”
I take a minute to process what she just said, but I think the heat is short-circuiting my brain. “Wait, what?”
“We’re having a baby, Luke.” Her smile radiates pride and I feel my breath catch in my throat before I can speak.
“Are you serious?”
She nods. “Yes. I wanted to tell you today with our entire family together. Our own child we be here early next year…”
“Christ, I love you.” Smashing my lips to hers, we meet in a quiet desperation as I pour every ounce of love I have for her into my kiss. Cradling her face in my hand, I tenderly nip at her lips, my tongue seeking hers out as we mold our bodies and mouths together, cementing the fact that our love has created another human being.
“I can’t believe this. Are you sure? Is that why you weren’t drinking at the wedding last night?”
“Yeah. I took a test a few days ago, but thought I would wait to tell you when we came here today. Our family is growing, and this just seemed like the perfect place to let you know. Now, we just need to tell Grayson. Do you want to tell him, or should I?” Rachel asks, staring up at me.
I lock our fingers together and then bring our intertwined hands to my lips. “Let’s do it together.”
“Hey, Grayson!” She calls our son, running over to us in a few swift strides. “We need to talk to you about something.”
Out of breath, he struggles to answer. “Okay.”
“How do you feel about having a little brother or sister?”
“Are you serious?” His eyes bug out.
Rachel just nods and then turns to me, this time with moisture built up in her eyes.
“And how would you feel about Rachel adopting you so she’s officially your mom?” I ask as my son’s eyes bounce between us.
“But she already is my mom…” His face scrunches in confusion, which just makes Rachel giggle through her emotion.
“I know, sweetie. But this way, there will be paperwork that says it’s true too.”
“Can I have a little brother then?”
“Uh, that’s not how that works, bud. You don’t get a choice.” I love my child, but I know his inquisitive nature, so I anticipate the follow-up question is coming in three, two, one…
“Where do babies come from?” He ponders even further. Yup, there it is.
“That’s a conversation for another day.”