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Five years of love. Five years of joy. Five years with his beautiful wife. Five years of caring for his stepchildren. Five years with his now family. Five years of happiness.
Today marks five years, half a decade. The kids were really proud to have a stepdad who had been with them for five years, who fought every day through sobriety, helped with homework, took them to school and activities, taught them new things, gave them presents, got to know them, spent time with them, protected them, showed them a new way of thinking and living, was there when they needed someone, made their mom happy—a stepdad who truly stepped up. They were grateful to have another parental figure around when their own dad was in a different country.
Bobby had really become ingrained into their lives, and that made them scared because they didn’t want to lose him. After the multiple scares, getting shot, getting injured by a bridge, or just choosing their lives over his own, really brought out how much they cared for him and how much he cared for them. They had gone through all these milestones together and it had affected them. Their mom bringing him into the family meant that he was going to be in their lives forever, and they were overjoyed about it. So the two kids decided to make a decision that would change their family, especially him, and it made them extremely nervous.
The front door had just closed. The couple had just gotten home from their romantic evening. It was late, and as they walked down the stairs with giggles and kisses, they saw the kids on the couch with a movie on and their gazes on them. Athena had the kids this weekend. Michael had offered to take the kids since it was their anniversary, but both of them said it was okay. Bobby had clearly stated that as long as he was with his wife it would be okay and his stepchildren were not a bother.
But there was another reason why the kids were with their mom. It was because of the big gift. Which signaled Michael, he knew what it meant and was really happy for them, so he left it be.
“Hey Mom!” Harry exclaimed.
“Hey Bobby!” May followed after.
“Hey guys,” Athena smiles, walking toward them to give them a kiss on the head, with Bobby following behind to do the same.
“How was your dinner?” Harry asks.
“It was perfect,” Athena says before looking at her husband from behind to see him gazing at her with so much love in his eyes.
“It most certainly was,” he replied back, taking a step closer to her, her back against his chest and slithered his arms around her waist before leaning down to give her a kiss, which she returned.
As they kissed, Athena heard her daughter release an aww and her son an eww.
“What did you do?” May questions Bobby. She loved how Bobby showed his love to her mom. She hoped to have a man love her like that someday.
Her stepfather starts to explain what he did for her mom. He started off by picking a location, which was in front of a beautiful lake. He had asked the 118 to help him set up a gazebo near the lake. They carried out a table and two chairs, putting it in the center of it. Around the gazebo were candles and flowers. They had decorated it inside out, making it seem like it was a fairy tale.
Then there was a path leading to the gazebo which had string lights on both sides of the path, so when the time came Bobby would walk Athena down the path to the beautiful gazebo with the beautiful lake during a sunset. Bobby cooked the food beforehand, so it was already warm when she got there. He cooked a creamy Alfredo pasta which Athena had gotten on their first ever date. He made himself a rosemary ribeye steak. They talked about their day and their favorite moments together, just being romantic and loving each other. Having the best anniversary of their entire lives, like they were the only ones in the world.
Then he started talking about how her mom had reacted to it; he couldn’t stop talking about how she looked, and how happy she was. When he described her, it was like coming out of a book, out of a movie. She saw her mom smile so brightly when he talked about her. He had this light in his eyes even Harry noticed and couldn’t help but smile. When her stepfather had realized he had rambled about her mom, it made the three of them chuckle. He didn’t care though because he was talking about his wife.
After the dinner, Bobby led her to a small area closer to the lake. There were 4 poles at the corner of the small area, decorated with string lights right above it and a speaker in the corner. He asked her for a dance, turning on her favorite playlist and the two of them danced it out all night until now.
May and Harry were in awe by the time he finished explaining. Her stepfather had really gone the extra mile for her. In May and Harry’s many years of being on earth, he was the only one they had ever met that went the extra mile. Bobby had planned a romantic evening for his beautiful wife.
“Wow,” Harry said, astonished when Bobby finished talking. “You really did that?” He asked.
Bobby blushed hard. “Yes, he did,” his mom said taking his hand into her own.
“What about you, Mom? What did you do?” May asked.
“She got me the best gift ever,” Bobby grins, making Athena roll her eyes. She then glanced at the time.
11:31 PM.
“Well, it’s time for us to go to bed. We can see you in the morning when we open up gifts,” she says, glancing at Bobby who gives her a small tired smile.
She then looks to her two children who didn’t answer; both of them were looking at each other as if they were communicating, as if they were talking about something silently. Then Harry blurts out.
“We have to talk to guys about something.”
Athena’s eyebrow raises. “Now? It’s almost midnight? We’re tired. Can it wait?”
May and Harry shift from happy to nervous. It’s written all over their faces.
“Um sorry, but no,” May says. “We’d rather get it out now, it’s really important.” She gestures for them to sit down. Athena looks at Bobby confused but he gives her the same look.
They comply. Harry turns off the TV and turns on a small lamp on the side table while May goes to get a small box, the size of paper and deep as a pencil. Bobby and Athena sit across from them.
They finally settle before speaking. “It’s about Bobby actually,” Harry says sheepishly. These two are more tense than ever. Stomachs were filled with a block of coal. They started to get hot. The hesitation was screaming.
Bobby widens his eyes slightly, wondering what this could be, and suddenly feeling a bit anxious. He has always been worried about overstepping and trying to act like their father. The way they are acting seems like something is going on. Athena puts her hand on his thigh to assure him just in case. Using her police skills, she could tell her children were really nervous which meant it was really serious. Her husband got the same impression.
“Whatever it is, take your time,” she says.
Harry gulps. “Can you say it?” He says toward his sister who widens her eyes.
“I know we came up with it together but it was your suggestion,” she says, trying to give him a small smile. She didn’t want to say it either. They were both scared about how he was going to react.
Both of their bodies released a lot of tension, spreading a lot more concern to Bobby and Athena.
“Well um, Bobby,” he says, as he and May shift their gaze toward him.
“Yeah?” An unsettling feeling grew in his stomach, even though the kids had sat them down before to talk to them about whatever, but this was directly to Bobby about Bobby. His wife was calm, ready for the answer because whatever they had to say, it won’t be that bad.
Harry was just staring at him, hesitant to say it. “Um-“
“Have I done something wrong?” Bobby followed.
“Of course not,” May said quickly to assure him. “You have done nothing wrong, we promise.”
Bobby nods, waiting for Harry. Not thinking anything was wrong yet. Nothing needed to be worried about until it had to be.
After a few seconds he starts to speak.
“So basically we don’t want you as our stepdad anymore.”
The two adults’ stomachs dropped, the expressions on their faces changed to confusion and weary. Immediately thinking something was wrong. Athena’s mind filled with many questions, what did Bobby do? What do they mean? Do they not like him anymore? She was now worried about what they meant and was more worried about what her husband was thinking, wanting to protect him from them. She knew how much they had affected his life and always made sure he wouldn’t overstep. He had never overstepped or done anything that made them feel bad because she knew him, she knew Bobby, the most gentle and kind person. May had also said he had done nothing wrong. So why were they saying this?
Bobby’s breath caught in his throat, and he felt himself getting hot. He squeezed Athena’s hand when he heard those words.
“Um- I- I’m not sure I-“ Bobby couldn’t get the words out. He was terrified, thinking he had done something wrong. Their mom took over for him. “What do you mean?”
“We don’t want you to be our stepdad anymore,” Harry said once more, this time with no doubt.
And those words were like a punch to the gut when he said it a second time. Bobby’s emotions heightened, becoming full of hurt. Looking at his wife, as she looked back, moved her hand to his back, frowning, full of just a bit of anger. Why were they saying this?
They both didn’t know what to do or say. Her husband's face sent a pang of pain through her body. Athena wanted answers, going into full protective mode.
“What exactly are you saying?” She questioned with sharpness, her hand squeezing her husband's own hand to comfort him.
May’s mouth was left open, full of the unforeseen words that came out of Harry’s mouth. She came back to her senses when her mom demanded answers.
Her stomach rose in panic, immediately saying, “Oh my gosh. That’s not what he meant! I’m so sorry!”
Harry was confused on why his mom was now coming at him like he said something wrong, until he rethought what he had said.
“Then what exactly did you mean?” She questioned once more with much more sharpness than before.
“Harry, explain to them what you thought originally. I don’t understand why you said it that way,” May said.
Harry nodded. “Sorry Bobby…what I’m trying to say is that you have helped us more times than we can count. Over these past few years, you have shown us so much love, peace, and joy. You have given us gifts and treated us like your own. Just saying, we would never replace Bobby and Brook. But you took us in immediately as your own, took us to many places, helped with homework and activities, taught us new things, doing things for us without asking, protecting us, and doing everything that a dad would do. You made sure we were respected and you taught us how to fight mentally and emotionally. You're so strong and I love how you strive to be a better person every day. It shows an amazing example. You have made us really happy. You have done everything for us. You even make mom really happy and ever since you came into our lives it became a thousand times better. When you got hurt, May and I were really scared of losing you.” He smiled.
“Yeah, Bobby. We’re proud of you, and we wanted to give you something for your anniversary with mom. It's also an early Christmas gift,” May added. “We can’t imagine our lives without you.” Getting emotional, a tear slipped out of her eye, wiping it quickly.
“You have really affected our lives and we are so grateful for you,” Harry said, taking the box from May's hand, and placing it in Bobby's lap.
Athena could feel herself getting emotional. From being tense and confused to her stomach filling with relief. Her heart filling with so much love.
“Even though we have a dad. It's been really nice to have another parental figure around since he's in Haiti. You're not our stepdad… but our pops,” May said.
What a twist, tears started filling Bobby's eyes. He was relieved, his heart fluttered. He couldn't get any words out so he started to open the box. He looked in and there were papers. Reading the top of the page, his heart dropped. They weren't just normal papers but…
Adoption papers.
He stopped breathing. Athena froze as soon as she read the papers, the tables had turned.
“We want you to adopt us, Bobby. You're our dad. Our pops. It seems early, usually people wouldn't give adoption papers this early. But when you came into our lives, married our mom and took us in, we immediately knew you would be in it forever, if you would have us as your kids…it would be amazing,” May said. “Of course, we aren’t trying to replace Bobby and Brook,” she added, assuring him.
Bobby looked between them, he was on the verge of tears. If he started to speak, his emotions would burst out. He was overwhelmed with them. If he had breathed it would be shaky. It was just a shock. It was dead silent until he swallowed hard and got up, walking to the bedroom he shared with his wife.
“M-Mom?” Harry stuttered, confused. “Did we do something wrong?” Looking at his mom because his stepfather had left the room without a word.
Athena was still in shock herself. She never expected this to happen but she was overjoyed. She was glad the kids wanted to do this.
“Um, you did nothing wrong, I promise. Let me go check on him,” she said, knowing that her husband was just overwhelmed with emotions, he didn’t mean to leave. He probably wasn’t even thinking, he had to process it.
“Are you sure?” May asked.
“I am very sure. He’s just overwhelmed. After all, you guys did present him with papers, asking him to be your father. I'll get him,” she assured them with a smile, and stood up, walking to the bedroom.
As she walked into the bedroom, her husband was sitting at the end of the bed. He looked up when he saw who walked in. “Are you okay baby?” She asked, getting closer to him. He looked up to her, his eyes filled with so much love and tears.
“U-Um.” He paused. “I-”
“I didn’t mean to leave,” he gasped out. “I-I” His breathing was shaky. Athena sat down next to him and hugged him. Pulling him into her embrace. “I just-”
“I know you didn't mean to, just take your time,” she said while rubbing his back. She was going to wait for him to speak, not rushing him.
He took a few deep breaths, trying to get his emotions in check. Bobby never expected this, it was truly an honor to have gotten these papers. He was worried that he would mess up or if something were to happen.
He pulled away from her embrace and took her hand into his, gazing at his beautiful wife in the eyes.
He finally had the words to say something. “I never expected this.” Tears slowly fell out of his eyes. “I’m really happy…I just, wow.”
Athena smiled at him, wiping his tears. “I know. I didn’t either.” She paused. “Do you want this?”
“Yeah.. I really do. I’m just worried of-”
“You won't mess up, I’ve seen how you are with them and I know you. I honestly wouldn't want anything else. I would love for you to adopt them because I also can't imagine my life without you Bobby.”
He gave her a kiss. “After all this time, I haven't even caught myself up to what I have done for them, until now. I can’t imagine my life without you guys either…I also know that these feelings are coming from Bobby and Brooke. I'm their dad, and now I’m four times a dad now,” making Athena chuckle.
“I’m ready to go out now, I probably made them worried. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to,” he said.
“They will understand. You did nothing wrong, you were just really overwhelmed,” she said, standing up and he followed after.
May and Harry turned their gazes toward the footsteps heading toward them. They saw Bobby and their mom coming back. “Bobby! I’m sorry if-” Harry was interrupted by Bobby bringing the two siblings into a hug.
He pulled back, kneeling to them. “You did nothing wrong. I was just overwhelmed with a lot of emotions. I just want to thank you for giving me this honor to adopt you guys, I can’t imagine my life without you guys either. I didn’t realize how much I had done for you guys considering, I took you guys in without even thinking. I know you guys are aware you can never replace Bobby and Brooke but I have enough room for more children. You guys are the light of my life.” Tears welled up in Bobby’s eyes again.
“Thank you for this opportunity. I swear to protect, care, and love you as a second dad,” he said firmly.
Harry jumped into Bobby's arms. “Thank you!” he said. Bobby immediately wrapped his arms around him, happy tears coming out. It was the best gift to ever receive.
May and Athena were in absolute awe and joy. Harry brought all of them into an embrace and they all couldn’t begin to explain the feeling of this.
They celebrated the moment the next morning with lots of hugs and cuddles, watching movies and truly spending this happy moment together.
And a few days later, they made it official, bringing Bobby into the family permanently. All of them were grateful, loved, and full of joy. They couldn't wait to spend the rest of their lives together.