What If? Part 13
Author's Note: This will be the last little chapter of this little tale. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think.
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"Today's the day," Ressler said as he walked Lucy from her school holding her hand. "How do you feel about this?"
Lucy looked up at him perplexed.
"Luce?" Ressler asked her, suddenly concerned.
"Daddy," the 6-almost-7-year-old said as she walked alongside him in her purple overalls, polka dot yellow shirt, and cowboy hat. "It seems silly."
"Silly?" He asked.
"Mommy is my mommy," Lucy said stopping to look at him. "I don't understand why they need papers..."
Ressler crouched down in front of his daughter and smiled at her.
"Mommy is mommy," Ressler nodded. "But legally mommy needs to be mommy as well. So, we needed to talk with a bunch of people and go to court and sign a bunch of papers and pay a bunch of money so today can happen. I know she's mommy and you know she's mommy but legally the government needs to know she's mommy."
"The hospital knows she's mommy," Lucy said.
"Yes, but they aren't the government," Ressler said, not sure if she really understood the difference. And, honestly, he and Liz didn't realize it would be as big a legal deal as it was either.
"School knows she's mommy," Lucy crossed her arms over her chest.
Ressler sighed. It was moments like this that he had flashes of what her teens years would be like.
"True," he nodded. "And the swimming pool knows she mommy, and gymnastics, and your dentist and doctor, and even that special doctor you see for your skin, knows she is mommy but the courts like everything very official so we needed to do all those papers and interviews so..."
"The courts are stupid," Lucy said, annoyed.
"Is this because you are missing gymnastics?" He asked, his eyes narrowing, suddenly realizing this may not be about what he thought it was about.
"We were getting extra trampoline time," Lucy pouted.
"Luce, you will get that again, but today at court is really special for mommy and daddy and you," he said as he cupped her shoulder. "Daddy and mommy took time off work and you are taking the afternoon off school and we're having a nice dinner with grandma and Aram and Uncle Red and..."
She shrugged and started to walk again. He rose and walked next to her. Like always, she pushed her little hand into his and he gave it a squeeze.
He and Liz had married just over two years ago in a small ceremony in the backyard of their new home. Which was how his mom met her boyfriend, Bill; he was the judge officiating the ceremony. Lucy had chucked flower petals everywhere and worn a tiara with a fancy blue dress, he wore a new grey suit, and Liz glowed in a short emerald green dress at 8 weeks pregnant with the baby they lost a month later. They had cake and champagne and a catered lunch and his mom watched Lucy for four nights while he and Liz went to Bermuda for a short but blissful honeymoon followed by a trip to California with Lucy so she could go to Disney World.
"How was school this morning?" He asked.
She looked up at him and smiled. "We are making sunflowers with pipe cleaners."
"Wow, that's nice," he smiled down at her. "Another masterpiece for the wall."
She giggled and snuggled into his side as they walked. Lucy knew she was lucky to have her daddy. Other kids in her class had boring daddies, or no daddies, or mean daddies, or daddies they only saw sometimes. Her daddy was her best friend and she wished they all had daddies like hers.
Mommy walked out of the daycare a couple of buildings away with her little brother Zane babbling.
"Ready?" Ressler asked Liz when they met up.
"Yeah, I grabbed a couple of extra diapers because they accidentally fed him squash..."
"Oh crap," Ressler said as he kissed his son on the top of his little head. "Literally."
Liz chuckled and nodded. Zane and squash did not agree with each other. Their one-year-old would likely need a few changes over the next couple of hours.
"And how was school my little miss Lucy?" Liz asked her as she ran a hand over her head.
"We had cupcakes for Dixon's birthday with morning snack," Lucy smiled up at her mom.
"His party was just yesterday," Liz said confused. Literally every kid in her class was at it so why the need for more cupcakes today?
Lucy shrugged.
Ressler coughed "Over-achiever"
Liz chuckled and leaned in and handed him Zane who he gladly took into his arms as his son kissed his face.
"I'm soooo excited for today," Liz said as she scooped up Lucy.
Lucy laughed as she was scooped.
"We are going to hear that I'm officially official and then we get ice cream!"
"Ice cream?!" Lucy asked excitedly.
"Before dinner," Liz said conspiratorially.
Lucy's eyes went wide and she smiled widely.
"Daddy said it's for the government because everyone knows you're my mommy already," Lucy confirmed with her mother.
Liz smiled. It had taken them years to get here, but they finally were. She and Ressler had dated for months before she moved in. And even moving in was prompted by Lucy. She noted that Aunt Liz slept over more nights than she didn't and wondered why she just didn't live with them. So, she did for a few months before they bought a house together in a nice little community. They wrestled through several conversations with Lucy about Liz giving birth to her and Ressler adopting her that, hopefully, didn't make her feel unwanted or unloved. They were hard conversations to have and they struggled with finding a balance between truth and the preservation of her relationship with Liz. They eventually went with Liz was not well when she had Lucy and needed time to get better and Ressler loved her so much, he became her daddy. They knew there would be more questions as the years passed and that Lucy may still have issues with her mom and what happened, but they would deal with them as they occurred.
"Of course, they do," Liz confirmed. "Who else but a mommy has dance parties with her little girl?"
Lucy giggled and Liz danced them a few sways and steps. Mother and daughter particularly liked Donna Summer, much to Ressler's dismay.
"Okay, you two, let's get everyone strapped into the car and get to the courthouse," Ressler said as he placed a hand on Liz's back.
He walked with Zane to the car and looked down at his baby boy still amazed that he was here. Two years ago, they had decided to have a baby. Liz had moved in with him and Lucy and things were going amazingly well and they had just moved into their first home as a family. It was seamless. Then she miscarried. And that was heart-breaking and gut-wrenching but Liz was determined to try again. The next pregnancy stuck but had been not as easy as Lucy's. Liz had a few scares, some complications, and Zane's birth was dramatic and a little traumatic. He was fine though; a very healthy baby boy who looked more and more like Ressler every day but had many of the same habits and facial expressions as Lucy and Liz. Zane seemed to be a perfect combination of his parents and sister.
They got to the courthouse 10 minutes before their scheduled time to a crowd of people waiting for them outside the room. His mother, who had been integral in his ability to raise Lucy (especially in early days) was there with her boyfriend Bill, as were Aram, Cooper, Charlene, and Samar. A few of their friends and their children were there as well and Lucy ran to her best friend Mari who had also been surprised with an out of school afternoon to attend. The community of friends and family who had showed up to surprise them was both heart-warming and overwhelming. Liz started to cry immediately and Ressler found himself wiping at the corners of his eyes and trying to keep it together.
They hugged everyone and thanked them for coming before they all walked in as a group to hear that Lucy Ressler had officially gained a second adoptive parent; Elizabeth Keen-Ressler. One month before her seventh birthday, one year and one month after her brother was born, three and a half years after her parents finally figured out they loved each other, two years and 8 month after they moved into their first family home, and two years and 3 months after they got married, the Ressler's became one very official family.
The end.