“Holy shit.” Will’s eyes widened. “Where did you get this?”
“Photography was one of mom’s things. We have a lot of pictures. When I thought about it, I realized you were probably in several from swim lessons and practice and meets.”
“He was what, four?” Will ran a finger over the photo of Andy jumping into the water to Will.
“Guppies.” Aly nodded.
Will turned the pages and found the minnows and the flounders and the bass and the tuna. Then Andy moved to flips swim team and became a shark. He turned one more page, but it was blank.
“I figured we could continue it as you keep coaching.”
“Thank you.” Will wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight. “It’s perfect.”
“It isn’t much, but I wanted to give you something special.”
Will shook his head. “You and Andy have given me so much. Just by being here with me. I used to think I was happy alone. An organized life with just me. But you two blew into my world and gave me something that was so much bigger and better. So much more than just myself. And that’s the best gift ever.”
EPILOGUE
“Dad,”Andy called from across the kitchen when the blender stopped. That word flowed so easily off his tongue now. For the first couple of months, Andy had to remind himself to call WillDad. He’d started doing it because it was what they both wanted, but now he didn’t even need to think about it.
He had officially been adopted in April. It was one of Andy’s favorite days.
His dad poured a pink smoothie into one of the three cups on the marble countertop. For months, Aly had worked to redo the kitchen between tapings, and a few weeks ago, she’d finally finished. It was worth the wait; the room looked so good.
Andy swelled with pride as he looked at the backsplash that his sister had let him help create.
“What’s up, dude?” his dad answered as he added more ingredients to the blender before he started it again.
“Is she really skipping work to come today?” Andy shouted over the loud noise.
“She promised she’d be there, so she’s coming,” his dad assured him, shutting off the blender and filling the other two cups with a brown-green liquid.
“Is she going to wear all the junk again?” Andy asked, hoping he hadn’t made it sound like a good thing—even though he secretly kind of liked that she did it. It gave him one of those warm feelings inside. Even if she looked silly.
“You mean a team shirt and your button?” his dad asked, one brow raised at him. “She’s being supportive.”
Andy tried to not smile.
“And before you ask, I can guarantee they’llallbe wearing that stuff. Uncle Nick and Aunt Beth even ordered baby tees for the little guys,” his dad informed him.
Andy couldn’t hide his smile. Not many kids had a whole section of the bleachers cheering for just them. The first few times were weird. He wasn’t used to having anyone there, let alone rows of people. But now he liked it. Just like he liked watching Nate’s roping contests and Steve’s games. He was lucky to have two cousins his age. He hated sitting through Mandy’s dance stuff, but he went because that’s what family did. He really hoped the rest of the little girls didn’t dance though. His dad agreed with him but told him he would be in trouble if he told anyone else that.
“It’s so embarrassing,” Andy said.
His dad sent him a look that saidyou’re lying through your teeth. “It’ll be extra embarrassing, then, because Uncle Clayton and Uncle Luke flew in last night, and Uncle Grant and Aunt Trish are meeting everyone at the pool.”
Andy’s eyes widened. “Everyone’scoming?”
“Dude, this is national qualifiers. Of course everyone’s coming.”
“Oh geez,” he said. “I probably won’t qualify.”
“They won’t care how you do. Don’t be nervous about that. They just want to cheer you on,” his dad assured him with a pat on the head as he set a smoothie in front of him.
He took a sip. “I don’t like the taste of kale.”
His dad laughed. “No one likes kale. We drink it because it’s good for us. You want to keep growing, right?”