Ego Maniac(86)

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.”