Page 76 of Undeniable You

“That’s a perfect idea,” I said. I could see it. I could imagine it. I knew exactly where we’d do it. We could move things around, and we had plenty of chairs that I’d bought for book club meetings. Plus, it wouldn’t cost us anything. If our group was small enough, we could rent a local restaurant or function hall for the reception.

I could see the whole thing.

“Oh, it’s a perfect idea, huh?” Jo asked, pulling me close so I was staring into her blue eyes.

“Yes,” I said, kissing her. “It’s perfect.”

We pickedJuniper up the next day and she was full of energy and stories about what a good time she’d had with her grandparents.

“Jo Jo?” she asked from the backseat after she’d run out of steam.

“Yes, PJ?” Jo said, smiling and looking back at her.

“It’s not fair that you’re not my other mama. I want to have two mamas.” She sniffled and I almost pulled the car over right then.

“Oh, Juniper. I know it’s hard to understand, but it’s a big deal to become someone’s mama,” I said, glancing over at Jo. She was staring ahead through the windshield with an unreadable expression on her face.

“I…” she trailed off and tried again. “Juniper. If you want me to be your second mama, I will be. I would be honored to be.” She reached back and took Juniper’s hand. Juniper’s crying slowed and she smiled. It was a challenge to keep my eyes on the road and pay attention to what the other two people in the car were doing.

“I want two mamas,” Juniper said.

“I guess that decides it,” I said, choking back tears. “You’re a parent now, Jo. How does it feel?”

I glanced over to find her crying. She glanced over at me with tears on her cheeks. “It feels amazing.”

Even though Juniper had decided that Jo would be her second mom, she still wanted to keep calling her Jo Jo.

“That works for me,” Jo said, helping her out of her booster seat and giving her a huge hug, right there next to the car.

Juniper giggled and then took Jo’s hand.

“I have two mamas, I have two mamas,” she sang as we walked up the stairs to our apartment.

Juniper ran to the living room and started dancing, but I pulled Jo into the kitchen.

“Are you okay?” I asked her.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this okay in my entire life. I don’t even know what to say.”

She hugged me hard and burrowed into me in that way that I loved.

“I looked into what it would take for you to legally adopt her as yours. I know we just started talking about weddings five minutes ago, but we’ve been moving fast this entire time, so I wanted to be prepared. Just in case.”

Jo leaned back, fresh tears in her eyes. “I would…I would love that.” She nodded.

“You would?”

“I would.”

We kissed again until Juniper ran over and begged for kisses, so we covered her until she screamed and ran to hide in her room, slamming the door.

“Juniper! We don’t slam doors in this house,” Jo said. The door opened and Juniper poked her head out.

“Sorry!” She closed the door deliberately slow.

“Our daughter’s got jokes,” Jo said, turning to me.

I put my arm around her, kissing her temple. “She does. Maybe she gets it from you.”

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