23
LI
By a miraclethat I could only believe was divinely guided, the next day Lord Barnes was able to make arrangements for the twins to come home with us. Technically, he and Mrs. Barnes would have to adopt them, as I was not old enough, even if Fiona and I were already married.
“It’ll be on paper only,” Lord Barnes said as he helped himself to a drink. “You’ll be their parents in every other way.”
Fiona screamed with joy and hurled herself into my arms and to my mortification, placed her mouth on mine right there in front of her parents.
We jumped apart as the boys came running in from the kitchen. They abruptly stopped at the sight of the two of us in an embrace. A slow dawning of what that meant played out across Bleu’s adorable features. “Avez-vous embrassé? Oui, ils se sont embrassés.” He turned to his brother. “Beaumont, nos souhaits se sont réalisés.”
“Did he say something about wishing?” Fiona asked me.
“Yes, he says this is what they wished for,” I said.
Fiona withdrew from me to kneel by the boys. “What did you wish for?”
“Vous savez ce qu’ils sont.” You know my wishes. “Nous avons besoin d’une mère et d’un père.”
“He says we know their wishes. They need a mother and a father,” I said. “They want us to be their parents.”
“Is it true? Is that what you want? Do you want us to be your mother and father?” Fiona asked, searching their faces for the answer.
“Oui, nous voulons que vous soyez notre mère et notre père.” Beaumont pointed at Fiona. “Vous serez ma maman.”
“Succinctly speaking, that means yes,” I said to Fiona.
She tented her hands under her chin, looking from one of them to the other. “I know the word maman.”
“Oui, nous voulons tous être ensemble pour toujours,” Bleu said.
“They want us all to be together forever,” I said.
Next to us, Mrs. Barnes sighed sentimentally. “How sweet they are.”
Lord Barnes nodded. “It’s not hard to see how the kids fell in love with them, is it?”
Bleu and Beaumont turned their attention to Lord Barnes with an inquisitive wrinkle between their eyebrows.
“We will be your grandparents,” Lord Barnes said to them.
“Qu’est-ce qu’il a dit?” Bleu asked. What did he say?
I told them in French that Lord Barnes and Mrs. Barnes would be their grandparents.
“Oui, oui,” Bleu said. “Very good.”
“Tell them what to call us,” Mrs. Barnes said. “Grandmother and grandfather.”
“Grand-mère et grand-père,” I said.
“I can’t wait for them to meet their cousins,” Mrs. Barnes said under her breath. To her husband, she said, “We’re blessed with a growing family, are we not?”
“We are.” Lord Barnes put his arm around his wife’s shoulder.
Beaumont smiled and said in halting English, “We go to America. We will be family.”
“Is that what you want?” Fiona asked, falling to her knees and holding out her arms to the boys. “Do you want to come to Colorado?”
Beaumont put his hand on Fiona’s shoulder. “Oui, nous voulons aller au Colorado voir les fleurs sauvages et votre folle de sœur sauter avec ses bottes et ses skis.”
I translated. “They want to see the wildflowers and watch Cymbeline jump off the mountain. Fiona has told them all the stories of home, as have I. We weren’t sure how much they understood with my poor French, but apparently quite a bit.”
“Et faire partie de votre grande famille désordonnée,” Beaumont said.
“He wants to be part of our big, messy family,” I said, laughing.
“They obviously understood you well, if that’s what they think of the Barnes clan,” Lord Barnes said.
I helped Fiona to her feet. “It will be my pleasure to be part of your big, messy family.” I turned to Lord Barnes. “Whether it’s been legal or not, you’ve all been family to Grandmother, Fai, and me and never asked for anything in return. It would be my great honor to be Fiona’s husband. Asking for the hand of your precious daughter is not anything I take lightly. I promise to do my very best to take care of her, to give her a life where she can thrive and be her kind, generous loving self. Do I have permission to marry your daughter, Lord Barnes? Mrs. Barnes?”
“Li, you’re taking on three instead of just one?” Mrs. Barnes asked, gesturing toward the boys. “Are you sure?”
“I am, Mrs. Barnes.”
“He’s picked nits out of our heads,” Fiona said. “What more could I ask for?”
“Oh, dear, well, in that case, my love, you must give them permission posthaste.” Mrs. Barnes laughed and looked at me with shining eyes. “That’s almost a marriage license in itself.”
Lord Barnes glanced at his wife and then back to me. “Yes, you may marry my daughter.”
“One moment,” Fiona said, beaming. “Li, shouldn’t you formally propose? I should be allowed to say yes or no.”
“Yes, yes, of course.” I fell to one knee and looked up at her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the boys clasp hands. “Fiona, will you marry me and be by my side through the good and bad for all the days of our lives?”
“Do you know how good it is to hear you say this?” She fell back to her knees before me and cupped my face with her hands.
“It feels good to say it.” My knees weakened at the sight of her pretty eyes filled with tears.
“You’ve made all my dreams come true. I would very much like to be your wife. In fact, it’s perfectly perfect.”
“You are my everything. My muse, my inspiration, my best friend, and soon my wife.” We kissed, chaste and quick. The boys cheered.
It turns out that cheering sounds the same in French as it does in English.