Page 98 of Shattered Dreams

Richard

The last two weeks were a blur. Jo and the kids stayed at my mom’s. We got through the funeral for her dad and Johnny’s still in jail.

Christmas was two weeks away, and today the entire family was together at the mall to do some shopping.

Big surprise, it’s full of idiots.

We’ve run into Ethan, Vivi, and their kids. Henry and Miranda were out doing their thing. And we even saw Edie, Frank, and Matthew.

Harrison and Matthew were in the same class, and the boys were trading Christmas wish lists.

Jo leaned against me, and I pressed a kiss to her head. “Me and the boys want to go check out a couple of stores, just us.”

She tilted her head up and narrowed her eyes. “What for?”

“Don’t be so nosy.” I chuffed. “We have special man things to do.”

“Me and Coop will be back.” Sammy said as she grabbed his hand and drug him off.

“Well, fine.” Olivia linked arms with Jo. “Let’s go get your eyebrows done while they do whatever without us.”

“What’s wrong with my eyebrows?” Jo looked offended.

“Girl, they shouldn’t look like caterpillars crawling across your face.” She tugged Jo’s arm. “C’mon.”

I watched them walk off, and then I led the boys to the food court. We got pretzels and found a corner where we could sit together and talk. Clearing my throat, I looked at them all.

Grady offered me his drink.

“No thank you, son.” I took a breath. “I wanted to talk to you three about something very important.”

The three boys put their heads together, talking amongst themselves, and then they looked back at me.

“We’re ready, because we have something we want to talk to you about, too.” Harrison informed me as he folded his hands on the table, businesslike.

I felt a proud smile spread across my face. “Would you boys like to go first?”

They put their heads back together and this time Tyler spoke when they moved apart. “We’d like to hear what you have to say.”

I rubbed my hand over my beard, took a deep breath, and folded my hands on the table. “As you boys know, your mom is no longer married to your dad.”

“Thank. God.” Tyler dramatically sighed before popping a bite of pretzel into his mouth.

Trying to stifle the laughter I felt, I continued on. “How would you boys feel if I asked your mom to marry me?”

“What about us?” Grady tilted his head.

“Well, I’d be marrying you boys along with your sisters.” I broke off a piece of my pretzel. “It’s a package deal.”

“So, what you’re saying is you want to marry us all?” Harrison narrowed his eyes and twisted his lips.

“Yes.”

The three boys put their heads together again and talked amongst themselves. I’d never been more nervous in my life. My heart was in their hands.

I watched with bated breath as they broke apart, and Harrison nodded. “We like that idea. We were going to ask if there was a way you could be our dad.”

“It would honor me to be your dad. We can look into how to make that happen, but I want you to know. I don’t need a piece of paper to love you or be your dad.”

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