Page 124 of Stay With Me
I blink and look up at Noah before swinging my gaze back to Jess. “You mean to become your guardian?”
She shakes her head. “No, I want you to adopt me?.?.?. Well, if you want to, that is. I don’t think our mom was a very good one, and I want you to be my mom instead. Is that allowed?”
Tears start streaming down my face. “I would be honored. I have no idea what I need to do to make that happen, but I will make it happen if that’s what you want.”
She nods and jumps into my arms. My heart expands in a way I never knew was possible. I look up and lock eyes with Noah. I’m surrounded by love I never thought I would have.
“I love you,” I mouth to Noah.
He winks at me with a smile taking over his face.
“Can I go playMario Kartagain?” Jess whispers, and I laugh.
“Yes, just take it easy on your uncle. Okay?” I whisper back.
“I’ll let him win a few times,” she says with laughter in her voice.
I set her down. “He needs it every once in a while.”
The rest of the night flies by, and before we know it, everyone is packing up to leave with promises to get together again soon.
As I finish putting everything away, Noah walks up to me and leans his hip against the counter.
“Did you have a good day?” he asks.
“Yeah, it was great. Did you?”
“Mmhmmm. I’ll reach out to Melissa tomorrow to find out what our next steps are now that you have identification.”
“I can’t believe she asked me to adopt her,” I admit.
“I’m not shocked. You’re more like her mother than her sister anyway.”
I nod, still trying to process everything.
“Let’s go to bed, my Lunabella. Jess starts school tomorrow, and we all have to be up early.” He comes up and nuzzles my neck.
My body tingles wherever he touches, and I turn around to face him. “I’m shocked she went to bed with how excited she is.”
He bends and picks me up, and I wrap my legs around his waist. “I’m not. We tired her out,” he says, walking us out of the kitchen.
“She did fall asleep without reading today, which isn’t like her,” I say as he pushes the door to the room open.
“I know. Normally we have to remind her that she has to be up early before she’ll put the book down.” He crosses into the bathroom. “Now, let’s shower and conserve some water by doing it together.”
I throw my head back and laugh. “Wouldn’t want to waste water, now would we?”
An hour later, we’re crawling into bed. I’m exhausted from the day. I double-check my alarms and roll to face Noah. “Thank you for loving me.”
“Loving you is the easiest thing I’ve ever done. Now, go to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow.” I snuggle closer into his side. “Oh, and my mom wants to email you to get to know you. She wants to call, but she’s heading for her last port before she comes home, and cell service is spotty.” He kisses me softly.
“Um, okay?” I tell him, unsure of what to say.
“If you aren’t comfortable with it, that’s okay. She’ll be home in a few weeks.”
“No! I can’t tell her I don’t want to talk to her. What if she doesn’t like Jess and me?”
He brushes a strand of hair from my face. “There’s no way she won’t love you both as much as I do. Just know she will spoil Jess more than we all do.”
