Chapter 36

thirty-six

Rain fell in torrents as Fiona sat across from Brady at the table while he worked on his first official homework assignment.

"We get to have show-and-tell every day for a whole week . At preschool we only had it on Fridays."

Fiona grinned as she drew her own picture, thrilled that Brady had loved his first day. He'd talked about nothing else since she and Cam had picked him up yesterday afternoon. "That's a fun way to start kindergarten."

"Yup," he said as he grabbed a blue crayon. "We have to sit on our letter on the alphabet carpet while Mrs. Shultz reads us a story. Then we'll take turns sharing our show-and-tell, which is our homework."

"Do you go in order of your letter on the carpet, or does Mrs. Shultz take turns picking different students?"

"You have to be a good listener if you want to have a turn. That's how it works in kindergarten."

Fiona nodded solemnly, allowing Brady to be the expert on all things kindergarten. "That makes sense. Everyone deserves to have a polite audience when it's their turn."

"Uh-huh, "Brady agreed. "That way we can ask good questions or make a polite comment to our classmate. If you don't listen, you won't know what to say."

She grinned, impressed by his logic. "Your brain is brilliant, buddy."

He beamed. "My brain says thank you."

She chuckled, loving the sweet boy across the table. "You're welcome."

Her gaze wandered toward the hallway, catching the occasional deep murmur of Cam's voice carrying from the office as he spoke to one of his suppliers on the phone. He'd headed down the hall several minutes ago, not wanting to disturb homework time.

Brady set down his crayon. "I'm all done. Except I need to spell Dad and Fiona on my page."

Fiona studied his picture, recognizing the blue waves as the lake, the Space Needle, and a circle that was most likely a Ferris wheel, plus the three of them smiling. "That looks great, Brady."

"Yup. It's my favorite stuff that I did this summer. We went to Seattle so you could come live with us. And we went on the Ferris wheel that was high in the sky, and we went swimming in the lake a lot."

Her smile was back. "That was my favorite stuff, too."

Brady looked at her picture with clouds and a happy sun in the sky. "You drew me. And Dad. And you."

She nodded. "I did."

"And you made words."

She nodded again, looking at the question she'd written below the people she'd drawn.

"What do the words say?"

"Maybe we can sit on the couch so I can read them to you."

"Okay." He scrambled out of his seat, walking to sit next to her on two of the center cushions.

Clearing her throat, she pressed her hand to her stomach, suddenly feeling nervous. "Coming to Vermont this summer was my very favorite thing. I saw your dad for the first time in a long, long time, and I had the chance to meet you."

Brady nodded. "At Ms. Stella's house when I rolled down the window on Grammy's work truck."

She smiled. "That's right."

"You shook my hand."

She chuckled, remembering the moment as he did. "I did."

"That's when I knew you were beautiful. And you smell beautiful, too."

"Aw," she said as her heart melted. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"I love that I got to spend so much time with you and your dad," Fiona continued. "When you hurt your wrist and I took care of you while your dad went to work, I had a lot of fun having adventures with you."

He smiled. "We went to the party store a lot . And we made a party for me and Owen and Davis. We made a rainbow arch with the balloons."

She nodded. "You were a great helper."

"You were a great helper, too. With my Legos and teaching me to be a chef."

She grinned, certain Brady couldn't be any cuter. "You're an excellent chef."

He nodded. "When we make Leo's cookies, I am."

"Absolutely." She cleared her throat again as she glanced at the picture. "When I had to go away to Seattle, I missed you a lot."

Brady's brow furrowed. "You felt sad?"

She nodded. "I was very sad. I didn't like that I didn't get to see you and your dad anymore."

"I didn't like that either. But now you live with us in Vermont."

"And I feel so happy that I do."

"Me too."

"I made this picture because I like to think about our special family."

He nodded. "You and me and Dad."

"That's right," she said as she nodded again. "I wrote some words that say, ‘Can I be your mom?'"

His gaze whipped up to meet hers. "You want to be my mom?"

She nodded. "I would like that very much."

He gained his feet, standing in front of her. "That way I would have a dad and a mom?"

She nodded again.

"And I could call you Mom instead of Fiona, like how Owen and Davis call their moms Mom instead of by their grown-up names?"

"If you want to."

"I want to," he said, throwing his arms around her.

She hugged him back, blinking back tears as they squeezed each other tight. "I love you so much, Brady. I really like the idea of calling you my son."

He eased back to look at her. "I love you, too. Mom," he added shyly.

She grinned as she hugged him again, realizing that Cam was watching them at the edge of the hallway.

He winked, sending her a smile as he stayed put.

Brady eased away again, looking in Cam's direction, hurrying his way. "Dad, Fiona wants to be my mom ! Come look at her picture. It says, ‘Can I be your mom?'"

Cam let Brady pull him toward the couch. "That sounds very special."

"Yup. Now I have a dad and a mom."

Cam sat down next to Fiona, settling Brady on his lap as he studied the picture. "I like your picture, Fi."

She grinned. "Thanks."

"You can call Fiona Fi because you kiss her and sleep in the same bed," Brady informed his dad. "But I won't call her that anymore. Right, Mom?"

Her heart turned to goo all over again. "That's right."

"I have to write Mom on my picture for show-and-tell instead of Fiona." He hurried over to grab his drawing and a green crayon. "You can tell me how to make the letters."

Cam wrote the letters on a piece of paper as he said them so Brady could see how each one was made for Mom and Dad .

Brady wrote them on his page above each person, frowning a little as his tongue stuck slightly out. "There! Now my homework is done. It says Dad, Brady, and Mom."

Cam nodded. "That's some really nice work."

"It looks great, Brady," Fiona added.

"Yup," he said as he looked at Cam. "Now, I need to have your phone so I can make a video for Grammy and Grampy. I need to tell them that I have a mom. Bob can help me tell them the surprise."

Cam handed him his phone. "I can't wait to see your video."

"I'll show you when me and Bob are done," Brady hollered over his shoulder as he hurried toward the stairs.

Fiona huffed out a small laugh, staring after him as the house was suddenly quiet.

Cam hooked his arm around her shoulders, kissing her temple. "Congratulations, Mom ."

She huffed out another laugh as she pressed her hand to her chest. "I'm officially a mom."

"Times two," Cam said, kissing her again.

She nodded as her eyes grew teary. "Times two."

"I hope you don't mind that I eavesdropped on your conversation. I realized you were popping the question as I was heading back down the hall."

She shook her head. "I'm glad you were part of the moment—or sort of part of it, anyway."

He rested his forehead against hers. "He's so lucky, Fi. Thank you for loving him the way that you do."

She nodded. "I love loving him."

He sighed, pulling her with him against the cushions. "Let's hang out here for a couple of minutes."

"Mmm," she agreed, snuggling against him as she stared out at the rain falling on the rough water.

He kissed her forehead. "What should we do with the rest of the day? Or at least until we head to my parents' for dinner?"

"We could take Brady to the activity center."

He raised his brow. "You want to jump around on trampolines and wait in line to go down slides?"

She grinned as she shook her head. "But Brady will want to. And he's bound to run into friends from school. It's a miserable Saturday afternoon and chilly, too. All three of us are actually wearing jeans."

"Fall is definitely coming."

She nodded. "Let's take him out to have some fun."

"Do you think you'll be okay with the smells? You know they serve pizza and French fries and stuff."

She wrinkled her nose, suddenly finding the smell of random foods disgusting. Yesterday, they'd had to sit outside while Brady and Cam ate their hot dogs from the Hot Dog House, and this morning, it had been the milk as she helped Brady measure a cup for their pancakes. "I guess we'll find out."

He settled his palm on her belly. "I'm anxious to slide my hand over your baby bump."

"That makes two of us. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much of a bump at all . I want to have a big ol' belly."

"I'll remind you of this conversation when you can't see your feet and I have to tie your shoes."

She laughed, kissing him.

"Dad! Mom! Come look at my video!"

She and Cam beamed at each other.

"We'll be right there," Cam called as he gained his feet and extended his hand to Fiona. "Dad and Mom. That has a nice ring to it."

Her smile was back as she stood, keeping Cam's hand in hers. "It really does. Let's go see what he made for your parents before we tell him about the activity center."

"Let's do it."