Lee gives her a nod and with a smile, sets her on her feet. She doesn’t waste a second taking Dee’s offered hand and following her into the house.
“Nice to finally meet you, Megan. You’ve made our boy real happy,” his dad says when Molly and his wife move out of sight.
Turning back to him, I take his offered hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Beckett,” I respond and stiffen when he starts to laugh. The lines around his eyes deepening with his mirth.
“Call me Beck, honey, everyone does.”
“All right, Mr. Beck,” I confirm.
He laughs harder. This time Lee annoyingly joins in.
“Just Beck, drop the mister. We’re family here and Megan . . . welcome to the family.”
Family. I nod, not trusting my voice. Just like that his parents have openly accepted both Molly and me, giving us the family I always wanted for my daughter. One that loves without reservations and opens their arms immediately, no questions asked, to give that love freely.
When Jack and I were married, we knew that we would never be able to give Molly this. My parents, being the drunken, drug filled messes they were, have been long since forgotten. Jack’s parents were just as bad. His mom died when he was younger and his dad; never able to put the bottle down before that, never fell into his role as a parent. Thus, Jack was just Jack. We learned his father had passed away a few months after we married and left town. Knowing all that, we were okay that Molly would have only us. It wasn’t until recently that I realized how much it had bothered me that she wouldn’t have a large family full of love.
I look up at Lee and smile, brightly, thankful for yet another gift this man made a reality, when his unwavering determination to make us an “us” has paid off. It was through his strength and love that we have a future so bright it burns.
This time, that burn, one I had felt differently before, was welcome. Before I had no ashes left to be reborn from, because the pain burned too strong. But now, because of the burn of his love on our life, taking away the ashes left from my guilt and suffering, I just know the new life born from the last will be overrun with love and happiness.
It’s our future.
“And this one, well, our Liam went through a stage that lasted almost six months. In that time he was naked every time we turned around. Beck thought this was hilarious, which is why there are so many pictures. I, however, did not. Do you know how embarrassing it is when your son gets buck naked in the middle of the supermarket?”
I shake my head and laugh even harder than I had in the last hour of Dee showing me old pictures of Lee. Once I got over my nerves, it was like I had been a part of this family forever. Molly has been on cloud nine too. Going from helping his mom set out the takeout—because according to Dee, she does not cook—then talking Beck’s ear off about all the things we do as a threesome, to which Beck’s handsome smile grew even larger, and those lines got even deeper.
“But I got him back, his father I mean. He didn’t think it was funny when our little nudist stopped being a nudist and started wearing my heels all over the house. Oh, he didn’t think that was funny one bit, but I did. God didn’t see it fit for us to have a girl, but he did give me a boy that had no problems walking in four-inch heels,” she laughs.
“He didn’t,” I gasp, shocked at the picture before me of Lee. He looks to be Molly’s age, huge smile, dimple sticking out and his mother’s bright red heels on his feet. “Oh my God, he did!” My giggles turn into deep belly laughs at this point.
“What are you two in here cackling about?” Beck asks, rounding the couch and settling in next to his wife. “Oh Dee, your son is going to kill you,” he gruffs with a smile.
“Oh hush, old man. He isn’t going to do anything of the sort.”
“If you don’t stop showing his woman all those embarrassing pictures of him, he will.”
She turns and narrows her eyes at her husband. “I’ve been waiting his whole life for this moment. When my little man would bring home his future. All my life, John Beckett. You do not spoil this for me.”
I wouldn’t have guessed, because she seems so soft-spoken and sweet, that his mom would have a backbone that would snap tight, but I was wrong. She may look the part of quiet and motherly, but right in this moment, I can tell where Lee got a lot of his stubborn grit.
Beck’s eyes soften and he gazes at his wife with love written all over his body. “Pull those claws back, wildcat,” he hums, his voice sounding deeper, rawer, and I instantly feel like I’m intruding on something a little too intimate.
“Would you two stop?” Lee laughs and drops down next to me. His eyes hit the open photo album seconds before shooting back to his mom. “You didn’t,” he groans.