Page 99 of When We Were More
She looks down at her hands and rubs them together for a few seconds before returning her gaze to mine. Her eyes soften, and her lower lip trembles slightly.
“You could be my mommy, too? Not only Lena’s?”
I nod and swallow past the lump of emotion in my throat.
“Is that what you want?” My heart pounds in my chest. I want nothing more than for her to say yes. I want to fill this child with love until it wipes out any painful memory she still carries from her biological mother’s abandonment.
“Yes. You’ll be Lena’s mamaandmy mommy. And you’ll stay. We’ll be a family.”
I pull her to me and hold her tight, unable to stop the few tears that escape me. I kiss her on top of her head. “I will, sweetheart. I promise I’ll stay.”
We remain like that for a minute or two, swinging back and forth. A mother holding the child she couldn’t love more.
“You ladies are giving hugs out here without me? That’s no fair.” Henry’s voice is teasing, but I hear the emotion in it, and I see it written all over his face. Layla looks up at him and giggles, a smile finally spreading across her beautiful face. Henry sweeps her off my lap and sets her on the porch railing, holding her tight.
“Guess what, ladybug? Your party is starting in a few minutes! How about you go wash your face and hands, and then Tillie or I will be up to help you get your dress on and your hair done?”
“Yes! I hope Uncle Harry gets here first.”
Henry lifts Layla again and places her on the recently repaired porch floor. No more holes to trip up little feet. She skips to the door and opens it.
“I’ll see you in a minute,” Henry says. Layla stops and looks back at us.
“No, Daddy. I want Mommy to do my hair.”
Then she’s gone in a flash.
I stand, and the tears start falling fast and hard. Henry pulls me into his arms.
“How long were you listening?” I choke out.
“I think for almost all of it. Definitely long enough to know that my girls and I are the luckiest people in the world that you came into our lives. Fuck, you were amazing with her, Matilda.”
Henry pulls back from me, cupping my head in his hands.
“I didn’t say anything wrong, did I? I was speaking from the heart. God, Henry, I love those girls so much. You’re all right, too. I guess.”
“All right? Do you need a reminder just how much you love me, tiger?”
He leans in and kisses me, and I get lost in it for a few seconds. It starts to heat up, and I pull back.
“No. You’ll have to wait until later. Mydaughterneeds her hair done.” I peck him on the lips and turn to walk into the house. Then a sting erupts across my ass cheek as he slaps it while I’m walking away. “You’ll pay for that later,” I call over my shoulder and keep walking.
“I’ll pay you back in orgasms,” he calls after me.
“Okay, Casanova,” I yell back. Then I rush to the steps, eager to help Layla get ready.
Three and a half hours later, most of the guests have gone home except Henry’s immediate family, Georgie, Lester, and Ruthie. The party was a success with lots of smiles and laughs, and only one semi-emergency when Holden accidentally let one of the goats out of the enclosure. That turned out pretty good, too, though, as all the guests were highly entertained watching all five Aron brothers trying to catch the little rascal.
About five minutes in, Layla started running back and forth across the grass, cheering for Harrison. Henry looked over at me with feigned incredulousness when her sweet little voice first yelled out, “Go, Uncle Harry! You can do it!” or “Yay, Uncle Harry!” Harrison grinned as soon as she started, and it soon became a game for everyone. We all picked an Aron brother and gathered on the grass to cheer him on. It took half an hour to catch the goat, and Layla was ecstatic when it was Harry who finally caught it.
Now, everyone is a bit more subdued. Layla sits on Harrison’s lap at the dining room table playing “Go Fish” with Lester, Ruthie, and Holden. Heath, Hayden, and Georgie are out walking the property, checking out our little piece of heaven. Henry’s mother and Leo are playing on the floor with Lena. Meanwhile, Henry and I stand off to the side watching.
“Are you going to tell Harrison tonight that you hired someone to be an assistant for him? You need to do it soon, Henry. The longer you keep it from him, the madder he will be.”
“Yeah, maybe. I can’t decide between taking advantage of the fact that he won’t lose it in front of Layla or keeping it from him one more day, so I don’t spoil today for him. I think I’ll wait another day.”
I look around and feel a wave of joy and gratitude when I study the people that make up this found family of ours—some connected by blood, but all by love. I hope Gram is watching from somewhere up above and sees all the happiness people are experiencing in her home today. She would have loved hosting an event like this. I send a prayer of thanks to her. Thanks for saving me all those years ago, for loving me, and for bringing me home to the one place where I would eventually meet my future husband and children.
I came to Aron Falls looking for refuge, and what I found was so much more.
