Page 51 of Rules of the Heart

“You wish.”

Valerie was still laughing as Ella pulled her in for another kiss.

Epilogue

Valerie -Three years later

“Ican’t believe she’s really ours.”

“She’s not ours yet, not until the adoption papers have been officially stamped by social services. Those are the rules.”

Ella rolled her eyes. “Rose has signed. We’ve signed. Social services have agreed that it’s a good match. The rest is just red tape.”

“Nevertheless, she’s not ours yet.”

“Semantics.”

“Rules.” It was a discussion they’d had many times before, but unlike in the early days of them knowing each other, the tone was teasing rather than angry.

“Yeah, yeah, I know you love your rules, babe. Ours or not, I still want to hold her.”

Valerie nodded. “Agreed.”

They walked hand in hand through the hospital from the cafeteria back up the maternity ward. Rose brightened when she saw them. “Valerie, Ella! The nurses just brought her back from her checkup with the doctor. Everything looks good. She’s perfect.”

Though she was itching to hold Nikita, Valerie directed her gaze to Rose first. “How are you doing, Rose?” She handed Rose the blueberry muffin they had been sent to fetch, which Rose shoveled into her mouth at once.

“A little sore, but they gave me some good medication. I… I spoke to my parents. Now that I’ve had the baby, they’re willing to take me back.”

Ella squeezed Rose’s hand. “That’s great news, Rose. You know that you’re always welcome back at our place whenever you want.”

When she had become pregnant at fourteen, Rose’s parents had kicked her out. She’d been brought into the ER for what the paramedics worried was a heart attack but turned out to be a panic attack. Valerie had been paged and had spent time talking to Rose.

She had quickly bonded with her and convinced Ella to meet her. It didn’t take much convincing to get Ella to agree to take Rose in. A few weeks later, Valerie had broached the subject of what Rose wanted to do with the baby. When she had told them she wanted to give it up for adoption, the way forward seemed clear.

Valerie and Ella had been talking about adopting for months now, and this was the perfect situation for it. They had made sure Rose had gotten the best possible medical care during her pregnancy, and Valerie was fully ready to keep taking care of Rose as a second daughter, but she knew that Rose missed her real parents and was glad that she would get a chance to renew that relationship.

“Thanks, Ella. I can’t thank you enough for what you guys have done with me. I’m sure I’ll still see you really often… if you’re still okay with me visiting Nikita, that is.”

“Of course we are,” Valerie said warmly. “If you want to be a part of Nikita’s life, then that’s what we want, too. It’ll be so goodfor her to know her birth mother, I think. We’ve been reading about adoption, and most adopted children want to meet their birth parents at some point. Knowing where you come from is important to everyone.”

She and Ella had been nervous during Rose’s long labor. Not about the baby—the labor was long, but standard, and Rose was completely healthy. No, they had worried that Rose might change her mind. That, apparently, was one of the major pitfalls of adopting a newborn. The birth mother had twenty-four hours in which to change their mind about the adoption. And they couldn’t have blamed her if she did. Valerie knew, and had told Rose the same, that if she wanted to keep Nikita, they would still support her to be able to keep her. They were happy to keep Rose too.

Nikita was perfect; it was difficult to imagine Rose not changing her mind. But while Rose clearly loved Nikita already, she was still a child herself and she was adamant she wanted Valerie and Ella to be Nikita’s parents. She wanted to have Nikita in her life as a little sister, but at fourteen, she wasn’t ready to be her mom.

“I’m okay, really. Go on, you can hold her.”

Valerie squeezed Rose’s hand before turning eagerly to Nikita. Her daughter. She let Ella go to the crib first, picking her up and cradling her against her chest. Nikita stirred and started crying.

“What’s wrong with her?” Rose asked immediately.

“Don’t worry,” Valerie soothed. “She’s probably just hungry. Did you manage to pump?”

“Yeah, a little bit, one of the nurses helped me with it. I don’t mind doing it- I want her to have it. It’s in the fridge by the nurses’ station, along with the donated milk. You can mix it. I think there’s a microwave there too.”

“I’ll go get it.”

By the time Valerie got back, Nikita was truly wailing, but she calmed down the moment Valerie offered her the bottle. Her little mouth sucking on the tip was the most beautiful thing Valerie had ever seen.

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