Page 15 of Because of You
“You can tell me anything. I guess we both have decisions to make now and big secrets to keep.” She lets out a little laugh but there’s no humor in it. This is the first time she’s brought up what she told me last night, and definitely the first time she’s mentioned that she has a decision to make. She likely won’t tell me if I ask, but I think the decision is whether to stick with the firm or not. I hate that she has been carrying the weight of that choice alone.
“You can always talk to me too, Hal. You don’t have to carry any of it on your own.”
She looks at me for a second before standing up and carrying her plate around the island into the kitchen. She elbows me out of the way and puts her plate in the dishwasher before taking the last sip of her coffee and putting her mug in the dishwasher too. Then she leans up and kisses my cheek.
“Thanks, Benji. I’m going to grab my bag so you can take me to get my car. I have to get to Callahan and get ready for court.”
She turns to walk down the hall but before she gets too far, I reach out and snag her wrist. I turn her back towards me and wrap my arms around her. Everything this morning from her breaking down to sharing breakfast and coffee to telling big secrets in the dim morning light has me thinking about it being like this all the time. What all thismorewith Hallie would be like. I try not to think about it too often or I’ll go insane, but right now those thoughts are pinging around my brain like lightning. I need to feel her against me more than I need almost anything else in my life right now.
Hallie relaxes against me, wrapping her arms around my waist and holding on like I'm her only tether. She needs this. She's my anchor, and I'll gladly be hers. But I need more than just to feel her against me. I want to push her up against the kitchen island, kiss her, and drag my mouth down her body until my face is between her legs before carrying her to my bedroom and burying myself inside her until she moans my name. And I need to put a stop to that train of thought immediately before my cock stands up and takes notice that the girl we want to be ours in every way imaginable is wrapped around us. So I give her one last squeeze and let her go.
“Get your stuff, Hallie girl. You have a family to make.”
Her brilliant smile before she goes to grab her bag burrows right into my chest where I’m sure it will stay for the rest of the day.
Chapter Twelve
Hallie
“Hallie!” I hear the squeal and look up from where I’m juggling my bag, phone, and coffee cup as I walk down the hall of the courthouse. I grin when I see Maya standing in front of Eric and Jen, one of their hands on each of her shoulders, no doubt keeping her from launching herself down the hall towards me. She is bouncing on her toes, a ball of barely restrained energy.
I reach them and put my coffee and bag on the bench before bending down to her level and giving her a hug. “Hey, kiddo. I’m so happy to see you today.”
She squeezes me tight and then lets go and waves a hand down her neon pink and yellow sundress and gold sandals. “Do you like my outfit? Mom said I could pick out whatever I wanted when we went shopping yesterday.”
I hear Jen inhale sharply and when I look up, she is clearly barely holding it together. Eric slides an arm around her waist and pulls her close. Maya’s case was complicated, and it took a long time for her birth mother to relinquish custody even though she had no intention of caring for Maya and no ability to do it even if she wanted to. It was painful for Eric and Jen, who fell in love with Maya the second they laid eyes on her as fosterparents. And it was tough on Maya, who craved the stability a finalized adoption would provide. Even though Eric and Jen tried to shield Maya from as much of the process as possible, she obviously picked up on the vibes because she kept calling them Eric and Jen even after years of living with them. It was only once we scheduled the final hearing that she asked if she could finally start calling them mom and dad. And to all three of them, it meant everything.
My own eyes start watering, but I blink it back so I can focus on Maya. “You look beautiful, Maya. And I have something for you.” I dig into my bag and hand her a small jewelry box. She opens it and gasps. Inside the box is a delicate silver chain with three pink stones threaded onto it.
“Hallie, it’s so pretty!”
“There are three stones—one for you, one for your mom, and one for your dad. You guys have been a family for a long time, but now you are going to be a legal family, too. You can wear this necklace as a reminder that you have a forever family now.”
“Can you put it on me?” Her voice wavers a little.
“Of course, baby. Turn around.” I clasp the chain and then turn her back around to face me.
I give her another hug and with her arms around my neck, she whispers, “Thank you for giving me my family.”
My emotions have been close to the surface for the past couple of days, and that tiny whisper does me in. My tears spill over as I give her one last squeeze and let her go. “Honey, giving you your family has been the best thing I have ever done in my time as a lawyer.”
She smiles and I stand up to face Eric and Jen, who are both a mess. They fold me into a three-way hug and whisper their thanks before we break apart and laugh at the scene we are making—three grown adults crying in a courthouse hallway anda seven-year-old trying to get her arms around all three of us at once.
We have just pulled ourselves together when the court clerk announces that the judge is ready for us. We make our way into the courtroom, but before the clerk closes the door, I hear a familiar voice call, “Wait!” and a parade of footsteps rushing down the hallway. Before I can go out and see what all the commotion is, Ben, Jeremy, Jordan, Jordan’s fiancé Allie, Emma, and Molly come barreling through the courtroom doorway.
I grin at them, every part of me lighting up at seeing all my favorite people here. “What are you guys doing here?”
“We would never miss seeing Miss Maya get her family,” says Jordan as he and Jeremy hug Eric and then Maya. Allie, Emma, and Molly make a beeline for Jen and throw their arms around her. But Ben comes straight to me.
“Proud of you, Hallie girl,” he says quietly, folding me into a hug. I swear this man has hugged me more in the last twenty-four hours than he has in the entirety of our friendship, but I’m not mad about it. He is so warm and solid and familiar. When he puts his arms around me, everything inside me quiets down.
“Where’s Jules?” I ask as we break apart, realizing for the first time that everyone is here but her.
An irritated look crosses Ben’s face. “She stayed back at the office. Said she wished she could have come, but there’s so much to do, and she’ll catch up with Eric and Jen later.”
I’m disappointed but not surprised. I know she’s happy for me that I am getting this done, and she's happy for the Caseys. But I sometimes think her happiness has limits, and those limits are anything that takes her away from work, even if it means supporting me in something important to me and supporting our friends who are fulfilling a lifelong dream. But that’s Jules.She has been my friend for my entire life, and I can’t expect her to change who she is now.
I just shrug at Ben. “Jules gotta Jules.”
