Page 35 of You Are Cordially Invited

She turned to me wide-eyed. “I thought you’d want to know.”

I aimed for my most reassuring non-judgemental smile. “We know how the world works, sweetheart. We also know that you’re an amazing, talented, and courageous girl who finds herself in a position she never asked for. All you’re trying to do is plan the best future for your baby and yourself. We’re incredibly honoured that you chose to ask us first, and we don’t take the responsibility lightly.”

Reuben leant forward, still holding my hand. “You already know that I adopted Cory from my brother, so we’re familiar with the process. You probably also know that my family is hardly a model of functionality. Hell, most of New Zealand knows it.”

She bit back a smile.

“For that reason, we kept the adoption to my name just to begin with, but I’ll be righting that as soon as possible once we’re married. I want Cam’s name on those adoption papers. And if we agreed to be parents to your baby, we would want to do it under both our names as well, right from the start.”

My gaze jerked sideways, my heart hammering in my throat. We’d talked about my adoption of Cory at some stage, but the fact Reuben wanted it so soon filled my heart to bursting. It was all I could do not to scramble onto his lap and kiss him silly. I settled for a whispered, “Thank you.”

He returned a warm smile. “You’re welcome.” Then he looked to Stella. “This is an amazing second opportunity you’ve given us, but there’s a lot to think about and I know your mum warned you we wouldn’t be giving an answer today. We did, however, want to talk about what you saw happening after your baby’s born, the type of relationship you wanted with them in the future.”

Stella glanced at her parents who’d said very little since we arrived, encouraging Stella to take the lead instead, and for that I admired them. Colleen sat at the opposite end of the couch to her daughter, her expression pained but sympathetic. She nodded to Stella to answer.

Rob Waters sat in a chair next to his wife, a small, wiry man with a gentle gaze. Tears welled in his eyes and he appeared a heartbeat away from swooping across to wrap Stella in cotton wool and hide her away from further scrutiny, but eventually he, too, nodded.

“I don’t want to be a problem,” Stella said softly, still worrying the sleeve of her sweatshirt as her gaze flicked nervously between Reuben and me. “I know that you’ll need time to bond with the baby—the counsellor I’ve been seeing has talked a lot about how important that is. She said that you’d need to establish yourselves as the baby’s parents, and I wouldn’t want to interfere with that, but I’d still like to see the baby now and then. I plan to keep talking with her, by the way.”

Relief coursed through me.

“So you like her?” Reuben asked.

Stella’s smile reached her eyes for the first time. “Yeah, she’s really nice. And I know the adoption won’t go through until after the birth, but you don’t have to worry that I’ll change my mind,” she said seriously.

My heart squeezed. The words were nice to hear, but we all knew there were no guarantees. Not to mention approval would still need to be completed, no different than any other adoption even if the criteria were a little different with Cam being family. After Cory, we were familiar with the process, and having one approval under our belts should theoretically help, but you just never knew.

Reuben’s grip on my hand tightened. I rested the other on his thigh, knowing the wait for that approval and those papers to be signed after the baby’s birth would be an incredibly stressful time.

Holy shit, what were we thinking?

My gaze dipped to the cushion hiding Stella’s belly and the incredible life it contained. Warmth flooded my chest and all the churning in my gut settled. We werethinkingwe wanted to grow our family, and that made everything worthwhile.

Still... “And you’re sure you want to go the adoption route and not just a guardianship?” Guardianship would make our decision even harder with the possibility of it being revoked or challenged down the track.

“No,” she answered with surprising force. “I want things to be clear for the baby’s sake. I don’t wanthimchanging his mind—”

We all knew who him was.

“—andIwon’t change my mind, no matter what you think.” Her gaze dropped to her lap. “I’m too young. I know that. I’ve got... plans. I want to do stuff. And Mum and Dad are too old.”

Colleen snorted. “Not so much of the old, if you please,” she teased her daughter.

Stella smiled, and the whole room lit up. Then her expression sobered. “I want the baby to know I’m their birth mother and that Mum and Dad are their grandparents as well as your parents, Cam.” She slid a nervous look Reuben’s way and he shook his head.

“My dad will be completely out of the picture,” he reassured her.

Her relief was evident. “I would want to visit the baby, but I’ll fit in with whatever works best. Maybe we could agree on a minimum or something before the baby’s born and then just take it from there. Mum and Dad too.”

“Absolutely,” Colleen agreed. “The baby will beyourbaby. We’ll work in with you for visits and we’ll keep an eye on Stella.”

My stomach clenched. No matter how you looked at it, it was a minefield with no easy answer, and that’s how it would stay. That was the risk. It could be the best thing in the world or an unmitigated disaster.

Stella said, “I agreed that Mum could tell you I’m bi.”

Reuben nodded. “I take it that’s one of the reasons you askedus?”

A small frown crossed her brow. “Partly. But it was mostly because you guys always seem so in love when I see you at family stuff, and you’re wonderful with Cory. Aunt Margaret talks about you all the time.”

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