Egomaniac

“Did you get it?”

Roman reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope. “Right here.” He shook his head. “Still can’t believe you pulled this shit off.”

I spotted Drew coming down the hall. “Put it away. Here he comes.”

Roman slipped the envelope back into his pocket and pulled out a flask instead. Twisting off the cap, he offered it to me. “Swig?”

“No, thanks.”

Drew walked in as Roman put the beat-up, old metal flask to his lips. “You still carry that thing around with you?”

“Never know when you’ll need a shot of Hennessy, my friend.”

I was surprised Drew hadn’t started doing shots after the last few days. I’d pretty much driven him crazy getting ready for tonight. My parents would be arriving in the next few minutes, and a half dozen of Beck’s friends were coming, too. Even though we’d lived in Atlanta for nearly a year now, it was really the first time we’d be having company. Well, except for Roman—who didn’t count as a guest. He was always family to Drew, and over the last year, he’d become my family, too. He was the annoying brother I’d always wanted.

Sometimes when he’d visit, I’d find him on the couch playing video games with Drew at two in the morning. Other times, he’d make Drew miss his flight when he had business in New York because he’d dragged him out on a stakeout. But all the time, he was there for us. Most people got scars from the chicken pox. Drew got a treasured friend for life. Somehow that made sense with those two.

Beck came barreling in from the yard. His clothes were drenched, and brown water dripped from his little head. “I watered the garden!”

“Ummm…did you water the garden, or did the garden water you?” I pointed to the bathroom. “Go take a bath before everyone gets here.”

“Can I just go in the pool naked?” He jumped up and down, holding his hands in the praying position.

“No, you can’t go in the pool naked. The neighbors will see you.”

Beck pouted and slumped his shoulders before turning to drag his feet en route to the bathroom.

“Roman and I are going to pick up beer,” Drew announced. “Need anything while I’m out? Pick up the cake you ordered?”

“My parents are swinging by the bakery on their way here. It’s a tradition that they pay for the cake. Don’t ask,” I lied.

Drew kissed me on the cheek. “Whatever you want.” Then he whispered. “By the way, you didn’t seem to mind if the neighbors saw you when you were naked in the pool the other night.”

I suppose he had a point. Although in my defense, we’d just had Beck for three weeks while his mother was on her honeymoon in Bali, I’d had a glass of wine, and Drew had just come back from the gym so his muscles were particularly bulgy. Plus, it was dark out, and hell—have I mentioned that his muscles were particularly bulgy?

Ten minutes later, I’d just finished prepping the melon ball salad when the doorbell rang.

My smiling parents greeted me with arms in the air. “Happy Gotcha Day!”

After coming inside to go to the bathroom, I stood watching the party in the yard from the kitchen window for a few minutes. Everything was going great. My parents were talking to Drew’s new law partner and his wife, Roman was flirting with the single mom of one of Beck’s best friends—I might have mentioned the other’s single status to each of them ahead of time—and Beck was climbing in the treehouse he and his father had spent four months building after we moved here.

And today was Gotcha Day. My parents were here, and this year was going to be even more special than ever.

From the yard, Drew caught me watching and excused himself from conversation with one of his new friends. He slipped into the house and came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and joining me to gaze out the window.

“What are we looking at?”

“My life.”

“Yeah?” He turned me around and gave me a sweet kiss. “Now I’m looking at mine, too.”

My heart sighed. “I love it when you sweet-talk me.”

“Last night you loved it when I dirty-talked you.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Maybe I just love you.”

“I am pretty awesome.”

Rolling my eyes, I laughed. “Egomaniac.”

Drew kissed me on the forehead. “Your parents are anxious to have cake. I think your mom has a sweet tooth.”

My parents had started bugging me about the cake the minute they walked in. Only not for the reason Drew thought. The sun had started to set, and it was probably an hour past the time I should have been serving cake—but I was stalling. A sudden case of nerves had hit me, after more than six months of anxiously waiting for this time to get here.

“I promised Beck he could help carry the cake. Why don’t you make a pot of coffee, and I’ll go grab him?”

I found Beck, and he raced to the house when I told him it was time. He smiled from ear to ear, and it brought back so many memories of the excitement of my first Gotcha Day.

Seeing his son’s excited face, Drew said, “That must be some cake.”

“It’s in my room. Uncle Roman said he put it under my pillow because he’s better than a fairy,” Beck yelled over his shoulder, already halfway down the hall.

Drew’s brow furrowed; I extended my hand to him without explanation. “Come on.”

Beck’s room was bright yellow. We’d let him pick the color when I moved down to Atlanta permanently after the semester ended. True to his word, Drew didn’t complain about all the color I added to the house. Each room was brighter than the next—except our room, which I’d painted a muted gray. I’d picked it because when I’d asked Drew what color he might like in our bedroom, he’d told me I was all the color he needed. So I figured I’d give him what he liked in the bedroom—since that was the place he always gave me what I liked.

Beck stood next to his bed with the envelope behind his back. He looked like he might burst with the excitement, his smile was so wide.

I nodded to him. “Go ahead.”

Beck whipped the envelope out from behind his back and shoved it at his dad. “Happy Gotcha Day.”

Hesitantly, Drew took the thick, white envelope, then looked at me. “It’s for me? But it’s your day, babe.”

I shook my head. “Open it.”

Drew slid the documents out of the envelope and unfolded them. He was an attorney, so it wouldn’t have taken long for him to figure it out even if the caption of the order hadn’t said it all. He stilled as he read the heading, then looked up at me in shock.

I nodded.

Receiving confirmation of what was clearly written on the top of the paper, Drew quickly rifled through the dozen stapled pages to get to the last one. I knew what he was looking for—all the signatures to see that it was official. And there it was in black and white, just the way he liked things. The signatures of Justice Raymond Clapman and Levi Archer Bodine.

When he looked back up at me, his eyes were filled with tears. “How the…”

“Happy Gotcha Day, Dad. You got me for Gotcha Day! Now you and Emerie can celebrate the same day!”

Of course, it was only a formality. Drew had always been Beck’s father in both his and Beck’s hearts, no different than I was with my parents. But sometimes, making things official ties up the bow on what is already the greatest gift. Later I’d tell Drew that we’d be paying additional child support for the next dozen or so years—although I knew he wouldn’t care one bit.

When I’d agreed to take over Levi’s child support payments in exchange for him signing the adoption papers, I’d always intended to pay the support from my earnings anyway. It would be my way of supporting the child who’d become mine too over the last year.

Turned out Levi wasn’t much interested in being a father to Beck. He also wasn’t much interested in Alexa cramping his style by coming to his races. Apparently, all of the other women he was sleeping with didn’t like it much either. Less than two weeks after Alexa had made Drew break the news to his son that he had a different biological father, Levi dumped her. He’d wanted nothing to do with getting to know Beck. His only connection was the huge chunk of his paychecks Alexa made sure the state collected as child support after he’d pissed her off.

So, a few months back, while Drew was in New York on business and the NASCAR races were in Georgia—Roman and I took a little daytrip to talk to Levi. My plan of buying him off was certainly better than the one Roman had concocted—which involved a friend of a friend in the Atlanta police department setting Levi up for a DWI arrest, then threatening to ruin his livelihood as a driver if he didn’t sign over his parental rights.

I figured it was a long shot that he’d sign adoption papers in exchange for taking over his support—but I had nothing to lose and everything to gain for Drew. And sometimes long shots paid off. Now that Alexa had found some new meal ticket to hitch herself to, she didn’t object to the adoption. Deep down, she knew it was the right thing, and ultimately, she didn’t care as long as she got her monthly support check and had a man by her side.

Drew stared down at the papers in disbelief. I thought maybe he was trying to hold back tears, but when a drop splatted on the papers, I realized he was crying, not holding them back. Opening his arms wide, he hooked one around me and one around his son and hauled us against his body. Then he let it all go. His shoulders shook, and his body vibrated as he silently sobbed.

I couldn’t help but join in. It was a beautiful moment—one that reminded me so much of my own Gotcha Day and my parents’ tears. I hadn’t understood what all the fuss was about then, but today so much became clear.

After we dried our eyes, Beck asked if we could have the cake.

“Go ahead, bud. Why don’t you go get the cake and take it outside. Emerie and I will meet you out there in a few minutes.”

“Okay, Dad.” Beck raced from his room, leaving just the two of us.

Drew stared at me with an astonished look on his face. “I can’t believe you did this. No one has ever done anything so meaningful for me in my entire life.”

I started to get choked up again. “Roman helped.”

Drew pushed my hair behind my ear. “I’m sure he did. But it’s you who gave me everything I could ever ask for.”

I squeezed his hand. “That’s only fair, because you’ve given me the same.”

He let go of my hand and took a step back. “I haven’t given you everything yet. But I intend to, if you’ll let me.”

What came next happened in slow motion. Drew dug in his front pocket and came up with a small black box before dropping down to one knee.

“I’ve been carrying this thing in my pocket every day for the last week, trying to figure out how to give it to you. I wanted it to be special—I thought today might be the day, but I was waiting for the perfect moment. I can’t think of a more perfect one, can you?”

One hand flew to my mouth as I looked down at him. “You’re right. It’s perfect.”

Drew squeezed my other hand. “Emerie Rose, since the day you broke into my office, vandalized it, and showed me your ass, I’ve felt like a piece of me was missing when I wasn’t around you. You’re the color in my black and white world. Before I met you, I didn’t understand why things never worked out with anyone else. But I finally understand it now; it’s because they weren’t you. So, please tell me you’ll marry me, because you’ve already given me everything else. The only thing missing from my life is you having my last name.”

It felt like I was in a dream. Tears spilled down my cheeks. “Is this real? Is this really happening right now?”

“This is as real as it gets, babe. You, me, Beck…maybe one in your belly and another we adopt someday. We’re already a family. You officially gave me Beck today. Now make it official and give me you, too. Say yes.”

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” I got so excited, I tackled Drew, knocking him back from where he was kneeling, and we both wound up on the floor.

We stayed down there for a while as my future husband kissed away my tears. “Your proposal was so sweet. Dare I say romantic? I didn’t think you had it in you, Jagger.”

He rolled us so he was on top. “I had it in me. But you’re going to have it in you as soon as I can get these people the hell out of here.”

I smiled. “There’s the pervert I know and love.”

“Just want you to be happy, babe.” He paused. “And naked.”

And I would be. Because somewhere between the fighting and the clothes-ripping angry sex, I’d fallen madly in love with an unexpected man at the most inconvenient time. And it turned out to be exactly what we both needed.