Chapter 37
An Imperfect Life – Ages and Stages
Monday, July 22nd
Although the evening would only include a quick pizza dinner, there were bags to pack and news to be shared before Nolan returned to Los Angeles the following morning. While Nolan and Lissa spent some time alone with Molly before returning to the house, Owen and Amelia rushed home to begin dinner. As he tore lettuce leaves and chopped ingredients for a salad, Owen verbally listed the details that needed to be completed. Without intending to, he walked the fine line of overstepping his boundaries as a grandfather. Certain details now belonged to Nolan and Lissa, not to Owen and Amelia.
"Someone needs to meet with the lawyer to learn about all the details and to jot down the court dates," he shared with Amelia.
"Yep," she agreed passively as she dug in the refrigerator for milk and juice.
"Oh… and their wills should be updated immediately. Or at least as soon as the adoption is final. We'll have to check with the lawyer on timing," Owen detailed.
"I'm sure they'll do that, O," Amelia commented.
"How are they going to get the bouncy seat and all of Molly's belongings on the airplane? Maybe I should arrange to have a few days off. I could drive everything down in the Jeep, stay a few days to help them settle in and then fly home," he added.
"Not necessary," Amelia declared flatly.
Not hearing her, Owen continued, "How about diapers? Are we good on diapers? I could stop at the store on the way to the airport so they have enough for the flight and for a day or two."
"Not your problem, Handsome," Amelia deadpanned.
"What?" Owen questioned incredulously.
With a smile, Amelia pointed out, "Owen… Molly is their responsibility now, not ours, not yours. They'll need to figure all this out on their own. If they need our help, they'll ask us."
"But they don't know…" Owen protested with positive intentions and care. "Amelia, they've never raised a baby or run out of formula in the middle of the night." Overwrought, he stopped chopping and put his hands up on either side, "What if they forget her binky? Then what?"
Laughing, Amelia lowered her inner eyebrows and suggested, "Then they'll learn to never make that mistake again. That's how parents learn, Owen. It's our turn to step back."
"I can't step back," Owen huffed with mild panic and a guilty grin.
Amelia leaned against the counter and stared at Owen with compassion. "Do you remember how your mom was over here all the time trying to orchestrate everything when the twins came home? And how my mom basically moved in until she was sure we were competent enough to keep Lucas alive?"
"No," he stated blankly.
Leaning toward him and widening her smile, Amelia suggested, "That's because they knew better. They didn't overstep the sacred parent-grandparent line in the sand."
"There's no line," Owen mumbled as he shook his head and returned to slicing green onions.
"You're unbelievable," Amelia opined with laughter. "Oh, Owen…"
"There isn't," he insisted stubbornly.
"Well that's a relief," Amelia sighed. "I guess I'll call your mom and have her come over to deal with bath time tonight. I'm not sure I'm up to it. Maybe I don't know what I'm doing."
"You're harassing me," he playfully pouted.
Walking around the corner and slithering between Owen's body and the counter, Amelia suggestively offered, "Now when we wake up in the middle of the night, we can do this." She kissed him and grabbed his ass.
"Oh yeah?" he flirted.
"Mmm hmm," she hummed as she continued to kiss him.
"Eeeewwww! You're making our food, you guys. Gross," Olivia proclaimed as she stepped into the kitchen.
"We're not naked and on the counter, Liv," Amelia shrugged.
"Oh my ears!" Olivia screamed as she threw her hands over her ears. "You are SO disgusting, Mom!"
"That's nothing, kid," Amelia teased confidently.
"Mia…" Owen grinned and warned. He watched Olivia flee to the playroom and then mentioned, "I've been wanting to talk to you about the makeup and heels."
Confused, Amelia replied, "My makeup and heels?"
"No," he scoffed at a low volume hoping not to be overheard. "Olivia's."
"She's really growing up, isn't she?" Amelia mused with delight as she headed toward the dining room with a handful of plates.
"I'm not comfortable with it," he declared, carrying the utensils needed for dinner.
Cocking her head, Amelia pressed, "What do you mean?"
Looking around to make sure they were alone, Owen stressed, "She's too young. She looks like she's in her 20s. She takes half an hour to do her hair and another half hour to put on makeup…"
"Right…" Amelia agreed slowly. "And?"
"And she's fourteen," he emphasized. "Fourteen, Mia."
"At what age is it appropriate for her to start applying makeup, doing her hair, and wearing heels?" she questioned with a hint of disbelief.
"Thirty six," he huffed with a chuckle. Amelia glanced at him and headed back toward the kitchen.
Following her, Owen persisted, "Mia… I don't understand how you're ok with this. Why didn't we talk about it first?"
"Considering we didn't talk about when the boys started using hair product or wearing jock straps, I guess I didn't see the issue," she reasoned with sass and a smile.
"That's different," Owen upheld.
"Because she's a girl?" Amelia pressed.
Knowing the gender card would lead to a debate, Owen paused before confessing sadly, "I'm not ready for her to grow up."
"It's what they do, O," Amelia pointed out lovingly. Approaching him from behind and hugging him, she empathized, "I'm sorry I didn't talk to you about it, but she's starting high school. Do you know how many girls have already been primping in middle school? We're lucky she waited this long."
"I would've locked her in a tower if she'd done this in sixth or seventh grade," he crowed.
Chuckling, Amelia wondered, "Maybe all those fairy tales don't seem so unbelievable anymore, huh, Daddy?"
Turning around to face her, Owen hugged Amelia and kissed the top of her head. Closing his eyes, he took in a deep breath and maintained, "Maybe I am ready to be a grandparent."
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Naively assuming the Littles would be thrilled to hear the news about Molly, nobody thought to mention it before dinner. Owen and Nolan created a plan where Nolan would announce the news as the family shared highs and lows.
Nolan and Lissa returned the house with Molly ten minutes before dinner. Predictably, they had already stopped to visit Linnea and had posed for pictures as a family at a nearby park.
"Hey, there's my foster sister!" Lucas cooed as he met the family at the door and rubbed his nose on Molly's belly. Molly laughed as Lucas jumped up and down and made silly faces.
Kneeling down with Molly in her arms, Lissa observed, "She really likes you, Lucas."
Hugging the baby and Lissa, he sighed, "And I really love her."
Nolan swooped in and picked Lucas up unexpectedly. Throwing Lucas onto his broad shoulders, Nolan put forth, "And I really love this guy. He's fun to wrestle."
"Hey! I didn't know you were gonna do that!" Lucas giggled as he covered Nolan's eyes.
Pretending to not be able to see, Nolan bumped into a few walls before executing a controlled fall onto the living room floor. Lucas climbed onto his brother's back and howled with laugher as he attacked him, threatening, "I'm gonna pin you, Nolan Molan!"
"What's a Molan?" Nolan challenged as he picked up his brother and pretended that he was going to drop him onto the floor.
"I dunno," Lucas stated as he pummeled his big brother.
With Olivia back home, new alliances had been formed. Ria clung to the relative safety of her older sister, distancing herself from Anna and Lucas. When the two girls emerged from the play room and discovered Lucas and Nolan wrestling, Olivia commented, "How immature."
"Yeah," Ria echoed, having no idea what the word meant.
"Mama, can we help with anything?" Olivia inquired pleasantly.
"I think we're good, Livs," Amelia began as she took stock. "Food's all here, table's set. Where's your dad?"
"Over there," Ria pointed outside, "on the deck."
"As soon as he and Anna are here, we can start," Amelia mentioned.
"Anna's upstairs in the shower," Olivia informed her mother.
"Right before dinner?" Amelia asked.
"She wanted to try my curly shampoo," Olivia mentioned casually as Amelia imagined Anna coming down to dinner all made up and styled.
"Dad won't want to start without everyone here. Can you tell her to finish up?" Amelia requested.
As Ria led Owen inside and told him about her day, he slid her onto his lap as he sat at the head of the table. "Are you too old for this?" he inquired with good-humor.
Ria wrapped her arms around Owen's neck and promised, "I'll never be too old to hug you, Daddy." Amelia and Owen shared a soft smile as he rubbed his cheek against Ria's ear. She giggled with delight, exclaiming, "That tickles!"
Soon, everyone but Anna was seated and ready. After Amelia pulled Owen aside and encouraged him to begin without her, he indulged. "How's today been?" he questioned.
"Oooh! I wanna start tonight," Lucas begged. Owen nodded and Lucas proclaimed, "My best part of today was playing fight with Nolan."
"Any lows?" Amelia asked.
"Nope," Lucas shook his head. "But I have one question."
"What's that?" Owen smiled.
"How come Molly's sitting by Lissa instead of by you and me?" he wondered.
"Hmm…" Owen hummed as he twisted his closed lips from side to side. "Nolan, you want to go next?"
"I had a lot of highs today… wresting with Lucas was a blast, Lissa and I visited Linnea. Oh, yeah, and we became parents," he offered nonchalantly, waiting to see the reaction.
"What?!" Olivia celebrated.
Casually, Nolan grasped Lissa's hand and clarified, "We took the first step in adopting Molly this morning. We're her Mom and Dad."
With stunned sadness, Lucas muttered, "But she's our foster sister."
"Remember, Lucas," Amelia prompted, "we've talked about how Molly would be with us for a while but not forever. But now she'll always be a part of the family because you'll be her uncle."
"So you stole her from us?" Lucas attempted to understand.
"No, Luke," Lissa tried. "We asked a judge if she could be our daughter forever, so she's not a foster kid anymore."
"Will she still live here?" he wondered innocently.
"You know how you live with our Mom and Dad? Molly is going to live her mom and dad. She'll live with us because we're her Mom and Dad," Nolan explained.
"Oh," Lucas let out softly. He placed his forearms on the table and lowered his head onto his wrists.
"Manners…" Owen reminded his youngest quietly as he cleared his throat.
Amelia put a hand on Owen's hand and then piped up, "Girls, how do you feel about the adoption?"
"Can we do this after dinner?" Owen mumbled to his wife, wanting to maintain a certain mood at the table.
"What's her name now? Do you get to change it when you adopt a baby? Or do you have to keep it the same?" Olivia inquired.
"She'll still be Molly, but now her last name will be Tremblay Hunt," Nolan replied before hesitating. He looked over at Amelia and mentioned, "In all the paperwork I've reviewed, I haven't seen a middle name."
"I don't think she has one," Owen shared. "Her hospital chart lists first and last only."
"Well…maybe we'll have to consider middle names," Nolan ventured. Motioning to his parents, Nolan requested that he take Lucas upstairs. After the both nodded, Nolan suggested, "Hey, Lucas, can you come upstairs with me?"
Lucas peeked at his parents who both gave him permission. He trudged along sadly behind his brother as the two headed upstairs.
As the girls celebrated becoming aunties and listened to Lissa talk about meeting the judge, Nolan asked Lucas if they could talk in Lucas' room.
Plopping on his bed, Lucas looked inquisitively at Nolan and wondered, "Why did you want me to come upstairs? Am I in trouble?"
"No," Nolan shook his head. He slid down the wall and leaned his arms on his knees as he settled onto the floor. "I want to say that I'm sorry."
"For what?" Lucas inquired.
"I'm sorry we didn't talk to you about Molly before dinner," Nolan apologized. "You were kind of bummed, huh?"
"I don't like being sad in front of the girls," Lucas explained.
"I get that," Nolan nodded. "Except for Lissa, I don't like being sad in front of girls either." After giving Lucas a chance to respond, Nolan added, "You're sad about Molly moving away."
"Mmm Hmm," Lucas responded with hesitation as he grabbed tightly on his puppy blanky. "And I'm mad." Nolan nodded without providing a verbal response. Eventually, Lucas continued, "I like being her brother."
"Sometimes it's fun being a big brother," Nolan affirmed.
"I like helping feed her and making her laugh," Lucas added.
Nolan grinned, "She's pretty cute when she laughs."
"She doesn't make fun of me when I'm silly. She likes it. The twins don't like me when I'm silly," Lucas disclosed.
"I remember when Ryder was a baby and he laughed when I did silly stuff," Nolan shared.
"He did?" Lucas responded with widened eyes.
"But then when he started to crawl, he would try to take my toys and that made me mad," Nolan admitted. "Then, he put everything in his mouth, so my toys had baby spit on them."
"Ewwww!" Lucas reacted.
"And my mom was worried that Ryder would choke on my Legos so I could only play with them in my bedroom," Nolan detailed.
"That's not fair," Lucas declared.
"Pretty soon, Molly will start trying to put everything in her mouth. Wherever she goes, little toys, Legos, and Hot Wheels will all have to be kept away from her," Nolan pointed out. "Mom's call it 'babyproofing.'"
"That sounds rotten," Lucas weighed in.
"It's kind of a pain. I lived through it five times," Nolan nodded.
"Maybe that's why you can be a Daddy now, huh?" Lucas decided.
"Maybe. And, you know, whenever you visit us or we visit you, you can help feed Molly," Nolan promised.
"Cool," Lucas smiled.
"I'll even let you change her diapers," Nolan teased.
"No way! That's a Dad job," Lucas giggled.