“They loved Reeve, and neither of them want to see Bodhi going into the system or being adopted by strangers.”
He is silent for several minutes, processing, no doubt, like I was when my bestie made her kind suggestion.
“That is very generous of them, but we can’t let them do it.”
“I agree.” I rest my head on his shoulder. “Bodhi belongs with us. He’s Reeve’s flesh and blood. I can’t turn my back on him, and it’s not just because I know this is what Reeve would want. It’s what I want.” I lift my head, looking my husband in the eyes. “Reeve lives on in this little boy. If I can have a little piece of Reeve with me, then I’m going to grab Bodhi and hold him close.” I examine his eyes carefully, to ensure he understands what I mean and that I’m not hurting him.
He stands, pulling me to my feet. “I’m glad we’re on the same page, and it’s like that for me. I missed out on getting to know Reeve, but now I get to care for and love his son.” He bundles me into his arms, and I go willingly. “When should we tell East?”
I lift my chin up. “I think we should tell him when he gets home from school.”
“Should we wait and visit Bodhi by ourselves first?”
“I don’t think so. We’re either all in or we’re not. Visiting him should just be a formality because the decision is made. It’s not like we get to say no if he doesn’t warm to us immediately or it looks like he might have behavioral issues or problems adjusting. All of those things are probably par for the course, and in agreeing to accept him into our family, we are agreeing to love him through the good and the bad.”
“I love the fuck out of you, Mrs. O’Donoghue.”
“Right back at ya, babe.” I plant a loud kiss on his cheek as a trickle of nervous excitement bubbles up my throat. “We’re doing this. We’re really doing this.”
“Yeah. We are.” He hugs me tight. “This already feels right.” He rests his chin on the top of my head.
“It does. It really does.”
“Come on then. Let’s call Lori and give her the good news.”
52
Dillon
“Do you think he’ll like his gift?” Easton asks as Vivien helps him out of the back seat. I parked directly outside Lori and Bodhi’s comfortable two-story family home. At first glance, the large garden at the front is a little overgrown, and all the flowerbeds need tidying. Upon closer inspection, it’s obvious someone has been lovingly tending to the garden until recently.
“I’m sure he’ll love it,” she reassures him. “Who doesn’t love superheroes, am I right?” She waggles her brows, keeping the tone lighthearted for Easton’s sake, even if she’s a bag of nerves underneath.
I’m not exactly Mr. Cool, Calm, and Collected myself.
Since we spoke to Lori a few days ago, I’ve been dying to meet Bodhi, but we all agreed to tell the boys the truth and give them a few days to process it. We feel it’s important to go into this as openly and honestly as possible. So, Bodhi now knows who his bio parents are and who we are. Easton is aware Bodhi is his cousin and he’s going to be his brother.
He had tons of questions, as I’m sure Bodhi did, and we did our best to answer them truthfully while protecting him from the harsher aspects of reality. I’m not sure how much of it he understood, because he is so freaking excited over the news he has a new brother. Lately, Easton has been praying to God, and Reeve, and Lainey, to give him a sister or brother, so the timing is kind of perfect.
“Remember what we told you about Bodhi’s mommy, Lori,” Vivien says, straightening up Easton’s shirt.
He blinks profusely as he looks up at his mom. “It’s sad she’s sick, but I’m glad she will be coming to live with us so I can help my brother to take care of her.”
With Lori’s agreement, we have decided to transform one of our spare rooms downstairs into a hospice room, and we’re in the process of hiring a full medical team to care for her. It’s not ideal that we have to speed through this process, but her health is failing rapidly, and we need to get this done as soon as possible.
Vivien and I have already met with Carson Park, and he’s getting the paperwork completed. We need to get the adoption paperwork finalized before Lori dies to prohibit Saffron from making a play for him. I have no doubt that bitch would try for custody, if she knew what we were planning, purely to spite Viv.
Vivien places a hand over her chest, audibly gulping as she looks up at me. I lock the car and walk to her side. “That is very kind of you, East.” I place my hand on top of his hair, careful not to mess it up and incur my wife’s wrath. She has put him in one of his best outfits and styled his hair. She even made me change his socks because they weren’t color coordinated. You’d swear we were meeting the queen.
“Can we go in now?” He bounces from foot to foot, and he’s practically bristling with excitement.
I slide my arm around Vivien and rest my hand on East’s shoulder. “We sure can. Let’s go.”
“Relax, sweetheart.” I press a kiss to Vivien’s temple as we stand at the door, waiting for Lori to open it. I can feel my wife trembling with nerves. “It’s going to be okay.”
The door swings open, revealing a frailer Lori and a little dark-haired boy clinging to her leg from behind.
“Hi. I’m Easton Lancaster, and this is my mommy and my daddy Dillon.” East thrusts out his hand, giving her a big grin.
Lori smiles, shaking his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Easton. We’ve been very excited waiting for you to arrive.”
“Are you my brother?” Easton asks, peeking around Lori to where Bodhi is hiding.
Slowly, he emerges from the protection of his mother. Vivien barely stifles her gasp, and I tighten my arm around her waist. I know this is like looking at a ghost. I’ve seen enough pictures of Reeve as a kid to know Bodhi is the fucking spitting image of him. He has the same brown hair with little blond highlights and the same shape blue eyes. I see none of Saffron in him, and relief is instantaneous. I was a little concerned Vivien might struggle if he bore any resemblance to his tramp of a mother, but he is all Reeve.
“Why don’t you come inside?” Lori steps aside with Bodhi still clinging to her side. “We have cupcakes and lemonade.”
“Do you have chocolate cupcakes?” Easton walks into the hallway. “Those are my favorite.”
Lori beams. “Chocolate cupcakes are Bodhi’s favorite too. Isn’t that right, love?” She pats his head, and he nods shyly.
“Who’s your favorite superhero?” East asks, stepping in front of his soon-to-be brother and thrusting the gift at him. “Mine is Iron Man. I dressed up as him last Halloween, and my daddy had this massive party at his house, and all my friends from school came, and it was awesome. Daddy dressed as Captain America, and Mommy was Wonder Woman, but Daddy wanted her to be Black Widow because the costume wasn’t as schmexy and it meant no other men would be cov’ting his woman.”
“Oh my God.” Vivien looks at me like she wants to murder me in cold blood.