Kudos to the three people who knew the titles and artists of two of the songs last chapter! The third one was a little trickier, because there weren't any direct lyrics included. If you read carefully, Devin mentions that a song comes on where a guy is singing about a "ragin' Cajun"- that is the third reference, and that would be She's Country by Jason Aldean. Awesome song. Check it out!
Honey Le sat on the steps of her front porch, combing her fingers through her long black hair as she watched her family. Everybody except for her was in the yard, the kids running and laughing, the adults talking and drinking wine.
The oldest of the kids was nine, five years younger than Honey, but she was actually Honey's aunt. Around the time Daddy proposed to Mom, Grammy unexpectedly got pregnant, and Larkin was born a month after Honey's parents' wedding. Besides her, the kids were Honey's siblings: eight-year-old red-head Felicity; six-year-old Jacoby, Asian like her; five-year-old brown-skinned Austin; and two-year-old Brooklyn, who her parents had actually just flown to Florida to pick up about two months ago. All five of them were adopted, from all over America and the world, and it showed. Whenever they went out in public, they got so many looks. Of all of them, Brooklyn looked most like she could be Mom and Daddy's biological daughter, with her blonde curls and pale skin, but even she didn't bear any huge resemblances to their parents.
Honey tuned out Felicity's shrieks of, "Jacoby, stop pulling my hair! Ow! Stop!" and looked to the adults, sitting in a circle in the driveway. Aunt Gracie was sitting beside her husband with her head on his shoulder, absentmindedly rubbing her swollen stomach. Raven, her uncle who was only two years her senior, sat on Gracie's other side. Aunt Missouri was sitting in the lap of Nate, the boyfriend she had brought home from college, and she looked content as they cuddled. It made Honey smile, because she knew Missouri had battled a lot of depression and anxiety issues, and seeing her happy was a rare treat for all of them.
Grammy and Grandpa were in their mid-forties, and their hair was beginning to gray, but sometimes, Honey caught them looking at each other like they were sixteen years old again. These looks encouraged her, reassured her that not all marriages were doomed to come to divorce and child custody hearings, but nothing made her think that true love really did exist as much as her own parents.
Mom and Daddy were listening attentively as Grammy talked about something, but Daddy's hand still rubbed circles on her back, and Mom's fingers still ran through his hair. They were never overly mushy, but they never fought, unless mild bickering counted. And more than anything, they got each other, and were there for each other. Honey had heard all the stories of how they texted each other for two years before meeting in person, all the stories of the road trip. And the story of how she had brought them together.
Daddy especially liked to tell her how it happened, but often Mom would hug her close and say, "Where would I be without my Honey?" And whenever she was feeling sad or worthless, this was what she thought of, and it lifted her spirits.
The first time Daddy told her the in-depth story was when she was ten years old. She had come home from school upset by a comment a girl made, something about adopted kids' parents being "fake" parents.
Honey came home and ran to her daddy, bawling because she thought he wasn't her real daddy. That was when he put her on his lap and told her everything. Absolutely everything. Including how if she had never blurted out a certain word, he may have never gotten the guts to tell her mom that he loved her.
"Your mommy named you Honey," he told her, after he'd told her all the facts. "I had nothing to do with it, but I still think it's a good name. You know why?"
Honey shook her head. "Why?"
Daddy removed one of her braids and started redoing it, like he'd been doing for years. "Honey is sweet, and honey is sticky. You're sweet and sticky, too."
She wrinkled her nose. "I'm sticky?"
He laughed and finished the braid, tying it with the red ribbon. "Well, you're metaphorically sticky. You brought me and Mommy together, Honey. And now, even when we've got Felicity and Jacoby, you're still keeping us together. Like glue. Sticky. Get it?"
Honey Le did, more or less. Over the next few years, she spent a lot of time thinking about that conversation, and every time she understood a little bit better.
Now, as she looked at this yard, at all these misfits who had found a home, she felt this more than ever. There were blondes, redheads, Asians, Africans, and human-avian hybrids- but this was one family. One family with many parts.
And, looking at all these people, these people she loved, she came to a conclusion.
All of them had promised a little honey.
That's a wrap!
I just really wanted to get this done, so it's probably not the best thing I've ever written. Still, go ahead and tell me what you think- especially since this is the last chapter! :) See ya… probably with more Our Eternity short stories!
