Page 136 of Crazy Love

“It’s perfect.”

“You are.” He leans in and kisses me slowly, his hand sliding into my hair.

“What an amazing day,” I whisper.

He nods, leaning his forehead against mine.

The rest of the day is a blur of noise and laughter…and a little snoozing on the couch. Friends and family start pouring in by late afternoon. The house is bursting at the seams with pure joy.

At some point, Penn taps his glass with a spoon and stands. “Hey, can I say something?”

Everyone quiets down.

“I have an announcement,” he says. “Well…wehave an announcement.”

He looks at me and Sam and Winnie, and there’s so much love there, it almost knocks me over.

“We are extremely happy to tell you that, come Monday…” His voice catches for a second. “Sam and Winnie will officially be Hudsons.”

Everyone stares at us and then the room erupts into cheers. Sam laughs and Winnie claps her hands.

“You all know me,” Penn continues, rubbing the back of his neck. “I didn’t think I was cut out for this. I resisted all of it. But these two?” He looks at Sam and Winnie. “They taught me otherwise. They taught me how to love big. And this woman right here…” His eyes find mine. “She made me believe I could have it all. She showed me how to love with my whole heart. Idon’t even recognize the man I was before because once I met Addy and fell in love with her, it took over every part of me. So, this whole family thing? It’s all thanks to her.” He lifts his glass and winks at me. “Literally.”

I bite back a smile as tears blur my vision.

Our fake marriage may have started out as a means to an end, but there’s no doubt in my mind that what we have is the real deal.

“I love you, Adeline Hudson. With everything in me, I love you. And I love you, Sam and Winnie Hudson. The three of you are the best Christmas gifts I could ever get.”

There are lots of sniffles around the room.

And then we lift our glasses.

“To Sam and Winnie,” Penn says.

“To Sam and Winnie,” we all echo.

It’s a good thing there was a game yesterday—the Mustangs won, woot woot—because otherwise, I think my husband would have driven me crazy waiting for Monday to get here.

As it is, he has been ahandful,but at least the distraction of the game helped.

We take the kids out of school an hour early on Monday afternoon, and the nerves are high on the way to the courthouse. When we arrive, Winnie holds my hand so tight my fingers go numb.

We walk inside, and I’m touched to see our friends and parents lingering outside the courtroom. Even Sutton is there, grinning like a proud uncle, and so is his beautiful wife, Felicity.

“Aw, you guys,” Penn says. “I can’t believe you all came.”

“Of course we did,” Henley says.

“We wouldn’t miss it,” Weston adds.

David shakes Penn’s hand and pulls us both in for a hug. “Let’s make this official.”

When we take our seats, I start second-guessing everything. What if they don’t approve us? What if something goes wrong? But when I see the judge, my insides relax. She’s an older woman with warm eyes and a kind voice. She looks at Penn and me, then Sam and Winnie, and smiles as she begins the proceedings.

David asks us a few questions and then the judge does, and it’s all easier than I expected.

“I don’t usually say this,” the judge says, “but this is an exceptional case. Seeing the way these relationships came about…Mr. Hudson, the way you’ve been involved in Sam’s life consistently over the years, and then the way Winnie came into your lives…well, I’ll just say that this is one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made.”

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