Work Text:
Taylor had been here way too long.
Maybe she wouldn't think that, but Mary Mountchristen, the woman who ran the shelter, was the meanest woman on the planet. She had all this money, and instead of using it on Taylor and her friends, like the people who gave her money for the shelter often thought she did, she spent it on herself. She was such a Scrooge, as well- it was already November 22, and she hadn't even put out Christmas decorations yet! Or, more accurately, had Taylor and her friends do it for her.
Adults would probably tell Taylor she should be thankful. After all, she had somewhere warm to sleep at night, and food was always important, even she knew that. But what she really wanted- what all the kids at the shelter wanted- was someone to love them.
Another thing Mrs. Mountchristen insisted was good for them was fresh air. Taylor always loved it, but then they had to go back inside and do things like clean the floor or something equally awful. Taylor and the others always thought they had rotten luck, having a tiny glimmer of hope and light when she saw the outside world, only to have it taken away from them when they returned to the shelter.
They were taking one of their walks one day when Taylor saw a man sitting by the fountain they always passed, writing. Why he was writing when he had such a pretty fountain to look at, Taylor didn't know, but she wanted to find out. The tricky part, of course, would be getting away from Mrs. Mountchristen.
Then, thankfully, Hunter saved the day (a phrase Taylor never thought she'd hear herself say). Normally, Hunter was nothing but a bully, doing things like pulling all the girls’ hair and stealing all the toys they ever got their hands on to play with (which were never enough of as it was).
That particular day, though, he had managed to spot something in the street (probably a ball, if Taylor had to guess) and went chasing after it.
In the pandemonium that followed, Taylor slipped away, coming to stand by the stranger's side. “What are you writing?”
It was as if the man was coming out of a trance. He rubbed his eyes just like Taylor did sometimes when she first woke up. “Well, hello. I didn't expect company. I'm Henry.”
“My name is Taylor,” she replied automatically. “What are you writing?” she repeated, suddenly positive he hadn't heard her the first time.
“A love letter,” he told her with a soft smile.
“A love letter? To your girlfriend or boyfriend?”
He winced, and instantly, she felt bad. She hated when people thought things about her that weren't true, and here she was, doing the exact same thing. “Boyfriend, darling. Or, rather, the man I want to be my boyfriend, at any rate.”
“Why isn't he your boyfriend already? You seem nice to me.”
“Well, thank you. That might be enough in fairy tales, but it doesn't work like that with adults in real life.”
“Why not?”
“Because sometimes, things are more complicated than that. I've known Alex for a long time now, and fallen in love with him along the way.”
“Does he know how you feel?”
He held up the letter he had been writing. “That's exactly why I'm writing this. I'm not sure if I should send it, though. As a matter of fact, I don't think I will.”
She sat down on the bench beside him, eager to help. “What are your favorite things about him?”
The man smiled. “He has hair that… if you were an ant or a doll, you could easily get lost in it. And his smile? It's so bright that it outshines the sun.”
Taylor looked up- not directly at the sun, because Mrs. Mountchristen had always said it would hurt their eyes if they did that (one of the most useful things she had ever told them), but as close as she could get. “Really? Are you sure? Is his smile even shinier than your ring?” If you asked Taylor, it had to be pretty hard for something to be brighter than the sun or the ring Henry was wearing on his right hand. “It's really pretty.”
“I'm certain of it,” the man said, smiling. “You see, it's not hard for that to be the case, when you love someone.”
Taylor wanted to hear more. “How are you going to tell him you love him? How did you meet him? What's he like?” He had described what Mrs. Mountchristen always told them were physical characteristics. Taylor knew, though, that there was so much more to a person than that. She always hated when people would walk past her in the street and all they saw was the way she was the smallest of Mrs. Mountchristen’s charges. She was so much more than that- the fastest runner, the dreamer. She was the one everyone came to when they couldn't find their favorite toy and wanted to look under the beds. She was positive that this man's true love would be just like that too.
“He's smarter than any man I've ever known. He's a lawyer, you see, someone who helps people every day, and I've never seen anyone go to court with such passion in their eyes, so much so that it's mesmerizing. I can never look away,” he clarified when he saw Taylor's look of confusion. “He's smart, too, so smart that no one's ever beaten him in court- but between you and me, I'm not so sure that's true,” he confided with a wink. “After all, we all lose games sometimes, right? Life is the same way.”
“Taylor! What are you doing?”
Suddenly, Taylor was being yanked away from Henry thanks to a grip on her arm that was all too familiar. “Taylor! What have I told you about talking to strangers? You never listen to anything I say, and now look what you've done! You've bothered this nice-” She stopped short. “Hello, Henry.”
“Gran,” he replied. Taylor shivered. She could have cut the air with one of those plastic swords she saw boys at school playing with on their video games all the time. What was going on? Henry and Mrs. Mountchristen knew each other? He looked ready for a fight too. Was it possible that someone knew exactly what Mrs. Mountchristen was like? “Can't say it's a pleasure to see you.”
“Likewise. Now if you'll excuse us, Taylor and I have somewhere to be, don't we, Taylor?”
Her nails were digging into Taylor's shoulder by that point, so hard that it had Taylor biting her lip. She knew that if she disobeyed at all, she would probably have even more chores later, and she hated chores. “Yes, Mrs. Mountchristen.”
She walked away from Henry feeling like she had left something really important behind. What it was, she wasn't sure, but she knew that she wouldn't ever be as happy as she had been talking to Henry again.
The next day, Taylor was surprised when Mrs. Mountchristen summoned her to her office. Normally, she and the other children weren't allowed in there unless they had done something wrong, and as far as she knew, Taylor hadn't done anything. There were also very rare special occasions when a child was summoned to her office to be adopted by a family, but Taylor didn't want to think about that. If she didn't think about it, she wouldn't get her hopes up, and as everyone in the shelter knew, hope when you lived in this place was a very dangerous thing.
She hesitantly knocked on the door, her hands shaking. What was going to happen next?
“Enter,” the cold voice of Mrs. Mountchristen beckoned.
The door creaked as Taylor opened it a crack, peering in.
“Come on, girl. Don't make me regret this.”
“Regret what?” she asked, stepping inside.
It was only then that she saw Henry, the nice man who had been at the fountain the day before. “Henry! What are you doing here?” Did Mrs. Mountchristen get you too? she wanted to ask, but didn't dare say. She didn't want Henry to get in trouble, and she knew her words would definitely get her in trouble.
“Mister Henry is here because he's going to be adopting you- though I'm not quite sure why,” Mrs. Mountchristen said, glaring at Henry. Taylor didn't know what he had done to make her angry except take away one of the kids doing her chores for her.
She didn't want to think about that, though. The only words that kept repeating in her head were he's interested in adopting you. She turned to Henry, her eyes shining. “Really?”
“You seem bright but lonely,” he told her. “Well, I'm lonely too, and I thought we could keep each other company. Does that sound all right to you?”
Lonely? She wasn't lonely. She had all her friends.
What she did want, though, was the same thing everyone at the shelter wanted: an adult, someone like a parent, to look after them. What Henry wanted sounded exactly like what she needed: a chance at happiness. She had liked her time with him the day before. Was it worth chancing it, leaving her friends? “Okay!”
“Mark my words, this is a horrid idea,” Mrs. Mountchristen muttered. Louder, she continued, “But you've made your choice. Gather your things, and get out of my hair before dinner. Now out!”
Taylor turned and practically ran from the room, skipping with joy. She was free! She didn't ever have to see Mrs. Mountchristen again! And best of all, Henry was nice, so he'd let her see her friends here sometimes, right? So it was like Hannah Montana always said: now she had the best of both worlds!
“Do you need help packing your things?” Henry panted. Apparently, he had run after her, and Taylor was impressed. Unlike Mrs. Mountchristen, who always acred like they were never allowed to play, it seemed like Henry would play with her, and she was so excited, already planning all the games they could play together.
She shook her head. “Not much to pack.”
Sure enough, just like she had told Henry, she was ready to go once she had packed her spare set of clothes in a bag.
Her friends ran to the door to hug her. “We'll miss you!” sniffed Zendaya.
“Speak for yourself,” Hunter muttered, but Taylor chose to ignore him.
She threw her arms around her friend. “I'll miss you too. But don't worry, I'll be back to visit, and I'll bring presents!” She looked hesitantly at Henry, suddenly unsure. He had never actually said they'd visit… “Right?”
“Of course,” Henry assured her, her relief making her shout for joy. “Better yet, they can see us at home if you'd like.”
She nodded eagerly. “Yes please!”
With that, they were out of the shelter, and Taylor was moving on to her new life.
Taylor had been at Henry's for a week now, and she was loving it!
The first day, the first thing he had shown her (other than his picture-perfect white cottage by the sea, complete with a white picket fence that had blue ocean waves on it) was her room. She had thought it would be small, given that the cottage itself was small, but when Henry showed it to her, her mouth dropped open. It was bigger than all the rooms in the shelter combined. It was plain white, but that was okay. There were stuffed animals, a bear and a unicorn, on the bed. But best of all, there was a shelf of books just waiting for her to turn the pages.
“What do you think?” Henry asked hesitantly as she ran over and knelt down to look at the titles. “Now that you're here, we can paint it whatever color you want, and-”
She hugged him again. She had a feeling she'd be doing that a lot. “I love it!”
Over the course of the last week, the two of them had fallen into a routine. Henry always liked to write in the mornings, leaving Taylor to do whatever she liked. Then, after lunch (never anything fancy- Henry told her on her very first night at his house that he was definitely not the world's best cook) they would play together until dinner. They did all kinds of things for Christmas like decorating the house and watched a lot of Christmas movies. There was lots of singing Christmas carols, too! If his writing was as good as his singing, Taylor knew he was the best in the whole wide world.
Sometimes, his writing took him to the park or the little cafe right around the corner from their house. Those were Taylor's favorite days. She loved all the different people she saw running around the park or coming in and out of the shop.
Her favorite times, though, were when a guy with curly hair who was shorter than Henry came into the cafe. She could tell from the way Henry's ears and cheeks would turn pink that this was Alex, the guy Henry had a crush on that he had told her he hadn't seen the love letter to.
She watched their conversations closely, trying to figure out how to help Henry get his happy ending. From the very first time they met, she had instantly liked Alex and wanted him to be part of the life she and Henry were starting to build.
The moment Henry had introduced her that first day, Alex had plopped down beside where she was busy coloring. “Can I color too?”
She had, of course, nodded eagerly, liking him immediately. After all, what grown-up (other than Henry, of course) was willing to color with her? Not a single one of them- certainly not Mrs. Mountchristen, who would rather be dead than be caught playing with the kids she took care of.
As they colored, Alex made her like him even more because he asked her questions. He asked about her favorite things, even agreeing that he liked some of them too (for example, red was their favorite color and they both loved Taylor Swift).
“I like him a lot,” Taylor had told Henry when they left the cafe. “Why don't you ask him on a date? I know you like him too.”
Henry hesitated. “For one thing, I don't know if he likes boys in that way, darling,” he admitted in a whisper. “And I don't quite know how to bring it up.”
“Easy! ‘Hey Alex, I like like you. Do you like like me too?’” Taylor suggested.
Henry chuckled. “Sometimes that's easier said than done, darling. Now, what do you say to a little trip to the park?”
Taylor never said no to that! After all, she had gone to the park with Mrs. Mountchristen every day, so there was always the chance that she would see her friends when she went to the park with Henry. It was so hard, though, to play with her friends now that she was with Henry. Not that that was his fault, though. No, it was always because Mrs. Mountchristen only let everyone take a walk and never let them play.
“How do I get them to play with me?” Taylor asked as, once again, Mrs. Mountchristen left the park with her friends without Taylor even getting to say hi.
Henry knelt so he could look her in the eye. He was always doing that: making sure she felt like she was a grown-up as much as he was, and Taylor loved it! “You do know that they're not ignoring you on purpose, right?”
She nodded. “It's Mrs. Mountchristen. It always is. She never wants us to have any fun.”
Henry nodded. “From what I've seen, I agree.”
“So what do we do?” she asked.
He frowned, putting his hand under his chin. “When's your birthday?”
She pouted. “Not for a long time. Yours?”
“Not for a while yet, but I think I might have an idea. Would you be all right with me inviting your friends to a New Year's Eve party?”
Her eyes shone with hope, but she wanted to make sure. “Are you sure? It's your party, after all.”
He nodded. “I only have two friends I want to invite- my sister Bea and my best friend, Pez. Pez is the life of the party all on his own- you'll see what I mean when you meet him- but I think having your friends from the shelter is just what I need to have the best New Year's Eve ever.”
As excited as she was about the idea of finally getting to play with her friends, Taylor noticed there was one very important person missing from Henry's guest list. “Wait! What about Mr. Alex?”
“What about him?” Henry asked.
“Why don't you invite him to your New Year's Eve party?” She batted her eyelashes just like she had seen Mr. Alex do. “You know you want to.”
Henry sighed, a wistful expression on his face. “It's complicated.”
“Why?” She really didn't understand.
“I don't want him to think I'm asking him to date me, or think I'm pathetic for asking.”
She shook her head. “You could never be pathetic. Plus, wouldn't getting a kiss from him be the best start to the new year?”
Henry nodded slowly. “Okay, Little Miss Matchmaker. What do you suggest?”
She shook her head, the grin on her face widening. “Leave it to me!”
The next time they were in the cafe, Taylor was on alert. She had an important job to do.
When they never saw Alex walk through the doors (which was weird, considering Taylor had heard him talk about drinking coffee a lot every time she'd seen him) after over an hour of Henry sipping his tea and Taylor drinking hot cocoa, Henry finally stood. “Maybe this was a bad idea. Come along, Taylor. Let's go home.”
Just then, the cafe door opened, and in walked none other than Alex. Taylor cheered and Henry shushed her (probably so she didn't draw attention to them, although she wasn't quite sure why that was a bad thing).
Alex, though, had heard her excited outburst and immediately came over. “What's up, Buttercup?”
“We have something for you!” she told him excitedly, handing him the invitation with a flourish. “You have to come!”
Henry winced, and for a second, Taylor worried she had gone too far. Would he send her back to Mrs. Mountchristen because she hadn't listened to him?
“What is it?” Alex asked.
“An invitation to our New Year's Eve party!” Taylor told him, eyes shining. She couldn't wait!
“If you've no plans, of course,” Henry added hastily. “I'm sure you're very busy, particularly this time of year.”
Alex shook his head, grinning. “Are you kidding? I can't remember the last time I had plans this good.” He knelt down so he was looking right at Taylor, just like Henry always did. “So what cool things are we going to do at this Christmas party?”
Taylor perked up. “All kinds of fun stuff! Christmas karaoke, Christmas charades, Christmas Pictionary, Christmas puzzles… we can even watch The Grinch if we want!”
“The Grinch?” Alex made sure, a gleam in his eye. “The Grinch is my doppelganger, did you know that?”
“What's that?”
“Someone who's just like me,” Alex explained.
Taylor's mouth fell open. “But you're always so happy, and the Grinch is…well… the Grinch.”
Alex shrugged. “Yeah, but all that crazy stuff he does? I love doing crazy stuff!” He turned. “Henry knows what I'm talking about, don't you, Henry?”
“Demon,” Henry said, but Taylor knew he didn't mean it. After all, he always looked at Alex with the softest expression, even when he was teasing him.
“The demon you want at your party,” Alex pointed out, making Taylor giggle.
“Yes, and I'm still not quite sure why. Inviting you was all Taylor's idea,” Henry informed him, putting an arm around Taylor.
“Really?” Alex asked. “You want me at your party?”
She nodded eagerly.
“Well then, if my favorite person wants me there, how can I say no?”
“Yay!” Taylor cheered.
“Looks like our job here is done. Shall we go decorate for the party?” Henry asked her.
“Yay!” Taylor repeated, always happy to do anything with Henry.
Their trek to the door was interrupted by an urgent cry. “Wait!”
They turned to see Alex hurrying toward them, holding out his phone. “Text me your address?”
“We could just tell you the next time we see you here-” Henry began. His cheeks were pink, though, so Taylor didn't understand why he was making Alex's request so difficult.
“Yeah, but this is easier. Unless you're afraid I'm a serial killer or something?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then here,” Alex replied, thrusting his phone into Henry's hands.
Henry added his number. “You'll text me so I have your number, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Alex confirmed. He held his hand out to Taylor, his palm facing her. “See you at the party?”
She high fived him. “I can't wait!”
“Neither can I.”
The day of their New Year's Eve party had arrived. Taylor and Henry had spent a really long time hanging streamers and making paper chains, as well as getting and decorating a Christmas tree. Yeah, the party was after Christmas, but Taylor had informed him that, “It's not Christmastime without a Christmas tree, Henry!”, and so off to the Christmas tree farm they had gone.
Now, they were waiting for their guests to arrive. In their conversations on Henry's phone, Alex had asked if he could bring his sister and her wife, to which Henry had immediately agreed, much to Taylor's surprise. After all, his guest list had only included two people other than the two of them at first. Then again, she thought there was nothing Alex would ask for that Henry wouldn't give him. After all, wasn't that what people who loved each other did in all the fairy tales? She was sure Henry was hoping to kiss Alex at midnight, and she couldn't wait to find out if his wish came true.
First to arrive were Henry's best friend and his sister. Pez (“It's Auntie Pezza, love,” he told her with a grin and a boop on her nose) was… loud. There was simply no other way to describe him. His clothes were colorful, and when he spoke, it was loudly enough that the whole room could hear everything he said. She was pretty sure she would never meet anyone more fun, not even Henry, who she had learned was a lot of fun in the time they had known each other.
The party was in full swing and there were still four hours until midnight (but Taylor was starting to get sleepy) when there was a knock on the door. Taylor looked over at Henry. Was he expecting someone else?
Henry, though, looked just as confused as her when he went to the door.
Taylor's eyes were wide when she saw who was on the other side: Mrs. Mountchristen.
“Gran. What a surprise,” Henry said in a way that Taylor knew that he wasn't happy about the surprise at all. “How can I help you?”
“It's not how you can help me, but how I can help you,” Mrs. Mountchristen informed him, smiling in a way that Taylor knew meant she wasn't actually happy at all.
“What do you mean?” Henry asked.
“I'm here to take Taylor off of your hands, so you can get back to your writing or whatever it is you do all day and not concern yourself with raising a child.”
“But- why?” Henry asked, clearly trying to figure out what was going on just as much as Taylor, much to her relief.
“I've found Taylor's parents.”
Her parents? Taylor couldn't believe it. Why was it that she had wanted for someone to give her a home or for her parents to come back for her, and one didn't happen until she already had the other? She didn't know how to feel. She wanted to meet her parents, of course, but she had come to love Henry too.
Instead of being torn, though, Henry looked like he had already given up. Taylor looked around her, suddenly knowing that this was the last time she was ever going to be with these people. Auntie Pezza, Alex, even Alex's friends Nora and June… everything was going to be different now.
Suddenly, she noticed that there was an older couple behind Mrs. Mountchristen. Mrs. Mountchristen noticed where her attention had gone, because she stepped aside. “These are your parents, Taylor: Mr. and Mrs. Richards.”
“i would love for you to call me Dad someday, but you can call me Jeffrey for now, and this is Margaret,” the man said with a smile that looked painful to Taylor.
“Hello, poppet,” the woman said, holding out her hand. “Here, look. It's your birth certificate.”
She waved, not knowing what else to do as she looked at the paper. There was a part of her that still couldn't believe this was happening. “Hi.”
“Say goodbye to your friends, and then we need to go home,” Richards told her. “After all, it's getting to be past your bedtime.”
Taylor made a face. They had always had a bedtime at Mrs. Mountchristen's, but with Henry, she had been allowed to go to bed whenever she liked. It had meant that the two of them were often up so late that she was rubbing her eyes to try to stay awake the next morning, but she loved every minute she spent with Henry, so she didn't care. Plus, considering what night it was, wouldn't they let her at least try to stay up until midnight? “But it's New Year's Eve! Please can I stay up?”
The adults- her parents- looked at each other for a long moment. “We'll think about it. Now come along.”
“Here you are,” Henry said, suddenly appearing by her side. Taylor hadn't even noticed him leaving, but she saw suitcases in his hand, probably filled with clothes and all of her favorite things. Both suitcases seemed full, and she was amazed for a second. How had she gotten so much stuff in the short time since she left Mrs. Mountchristen’s? It drove home for her just how much Henry had done for her. Mrs. Mountchristen had just been giving them a roof over their heads, a house, but with Henry, she had a home- and she hated that she was being told she had to leave it.
“Do I have to go?” she asked the adults so quietly that she wasn't sure if anyone had heard her.
She had definitely expected Mr. Richards to be the one who answered, but instead, Henry was the one who told her mournfully, “You do.” He looked at her parents. “Do you mind if I talk with her for a quick moment first?”
Richards didn't look happy about it, but reluctantly agreed. “Make it snappy.”
With an arm around her shoulders, Henry led her to his library (although she had never been sure why he called one specific room by that name when their whole house had books in piles everywhere), shutting the door behind them. That in itself was unusual. He had always kept every room in their house open to her unless he was getting dressed for the day, letting her know that he was always available to her if she needed him.
Once he had ensured their privacy, he knelt and put his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eye. “I know they're acting like you don't get a say in the matter, but how do you feel about all of this? It's your life they're determining out there. Yes, you're young, but you're old enough that you deserve a say too.”
“I-” Suddenly, she wasn't sure. “They're my parents, and I've wanted this my whole life, but home is with you. So I don't know how to feel. Plus, they seem-” She wasn't quite sure how to put it except, “Not fun.”
Henry chuckled. “They do seem a bit dull, don't they?”
She nodded.
“Tell you what. I do think you should give them a chance if you want to, but if something seems odd, here's my phone number.”
He scribbled the digits hastily on a slip of paper, handing it to her. “Here it is.”
She tapped her head. “I already memorized it.”
He smiled. “Of course you did. Take it anyway, just in case. And any of the books you like- they're yours, if you want them.”
“Even Pride and Prejudice?” she asked, giggling, knowing how much he loved his favorite book.
“Even Pride and Prejudice, if you want it, though you'll be a bit young to read the true version for a few years yet. I'll simply buy myself another copy. And Taylor, I want you to know something else very important. I have every hope in the world that this will work out for you. In case it doesn't, though, you always have a home with me, yeah?”
She nodded, hugging him tightly. “I love you, Henry.”
“I love you too. Here,” he took the ring he always wore every day and handed it to her. “It'll be a bit big for you, but I want you to have it.”
She squeezed him even tighter, the ring safe in her grasp. “Thanks.”
There was no other way to put it: Taylor was scared.
She was excited, sure. But she also couldn't help comparing Henry with the Richardses. They didn't talk to her on the way to their house, barely even talking amongst each other. Meanwhile, Taylor always liked to think of herself as talkative. How could these people be her parents? Other than maybe having similar hair color, there was no physical resemblance either. Maybe they would slowly show her parts of themselves that were more like her. Needless to say, Taylor couldn't wait for the day when that happened!
The house they pulled up to was actually a lot like Henry's in size, but it didn't feel the same. Henry's house was a lot like a fairy tale castle where a prince or princess lived, while this mansion was more like Maleficent’s fortress… and Taylor definitely knew which she preferred!
Once they had gotten into the house, the Richardses led her to her room. She took one look around and asked, “Can we redecorate?” There was no color in the room at all. It was so boring!
Both of her parents looked taken aback by her request. “Not today. It's late and you need to go to sleep. We'll think about it in the morning. Right now you need to be thankful you have a room somewhere that has a roof over your head.”
I already had that with Henry, she couldn't help thinking. She had to stop comparing them to Henry, though, and give the Richardses a chance, or she would never be happy.
They left her alone to get ready for bed, without promising to come read to her before she went to sleep like Henry had always done. Taylor wasn't sure how her life was going to go now that she wasn't with Henry, but she knew it was going to be tricky to get used to it.
The minute Taylor left the party with her new parents, Alex was in problem-solving lawyer mode, and it made Henry love him even more (which he hadn't thought was possible). “Are you okay?”
Henry shook his head. He had brought Taylor here to give her a home, yes, but also because he wanted to not feel so alone and so there was less of a chance that he got caught up in his own thoughts. His “dark days,” as he had called them when he had explained them to Taylor, had happened much less frequently with her around, and he shuddered to think how often they would be making a reappearance now that she was gone.
“Do you want me to look into the Richardses, make sure they're okay for her to be with?”
“Yes please. I want to believe the best, but these days, you never know. Thank you, Alex.”
“No problem,” Alex replied with one of his signature sunshine smiles before squeezing Henry's shoulder and getting straight to work.
It was when the clock had struck midnight and people started to leave that Henry realized Alex was still in the middle of his background check. “You can go home, you know. I'm sure you're tired. It can wait until morning.” There was admittedly a part of him that knew that for Taylor's safety, this absolutely couldn't wait until morning, but it wasn't Alex's problem. It was Henry's. If Henry spent all night spiraling about the current state of things, Alex didn't need to know, did he?
Alex shook his head. “Nah, I'm good. I'm a chronic insomniac, especially when I have something like this to work on.”
“Which is probably always,” Henry pointed out, his heart swelling at the thought that he and Alex were alike in that way.
Alex shrugged. “You might think so, but no. My cases are important, yeah, but none of them is as important to me as this. I have to do this for you, make sure the two of you are safe and happy, or I think I'll go insane. But if you want me to go so you can get some sleep-”
There was a blasted lump in Henry's throat. He swallowed hard, knowing he had to get past it before he could say anything. “That's rather kind of you to say. I have a guest room. I'll prepare it for you so you don't have to go home so late-” Realizing how that might sound, he added quickly, “If you don't mind, that is. I simply don't fancy the idea of you being on the roads in the wee hours of the morning.”
There was an unreadable expression on Alex's face when he replied, “If you're offering a room, I'll gladly take it, sweetheart.”
Henry nodded. “I'll go prepare it and then check on your progress. But Alex, please don't overexert yourself on my or Taylor's behalf.”
“It's not doing too much if I want to do it.”
“Very well, then. I'll see you in the morning.”
Henry made sure the sheets in the guest room were fresh. Then, since he wasn't tired in the slightest, he sat up reading. Or at least, he tried to. His worry for Taylor was a pestilence that wouldn't go away, no matter what he used to distract it. It did help, though, that he had Alex looking into things. Without it, Henry would be having one of what he and Taylor had called his dark days… and there would be no end to it because he wouldn't have her in his life anymore.
So he reread the same page over and over again, trying to immerse himself in the world of Jane Austen, but it was no use. The whole time, all he could think about was what was happening to Taylor. She was probably asleep by now, but did she like her new parents and her new room? Had they found things to bond over, or had they gotten the hard conversations out of the way first? Was Taylor hurting with no one to turn to? He hoped she would turn to him, but he really wasn't sure under the circumstances.
Suddenly, he heard the unmistakable sound of running footsteps. Suddenly, Alex was standing in the doorway, his hair much more disheveled than it had been the last Henry had seen it. He apparently used glasses to read, too, which were a bit askew at the moment, and the sight of Alex in glasses… it was safe to say Henry wouldn't be able to forget it for a long time.
“Do you need anything?” Henry asked. “Did you discover something?”
Alex nodded. “Those people? The Richardses? They never even had children.”
“What?” Henry asked, slowly rising and approaching where Alex was standing in the doorway.
“They claimed to be Taylor's parents, but they've never even had kids- maybe never even tried. That birth certificate was fake. So there's no way they're who they say they are.”
Henry's heart was racing with no idea which direction to go. “So what do we do?”
“Leave it to me.”
Taylor didn't like it here at all.
Instead of asking what she liked, the Richardses made her eat everything they put in front of her, even cereal that tasted stale.
It was as they were having a staring contest over the cereal that they heard a knock at the door. Taylor started to get up to go get it, but was pushed back into her chair by Mrs. Richards. “No, Taylor! A lady never runs to answer the door- and children shouldn't answer the door, at any rate. You might let burglars into the house, and then where would we be?”
“Can I at least come see who it is?” Taylor asked.
Mrs. Richards pursed her lips. “Only if you promise to leave if I ask you to.”
Taylor nodded.
That was how she found herself trailing behind Mrs. Richards as they walked to answer the door. When Taylor peeked through the window to see who it was and perked up. She glanced at her mother. “It's Mr. Alex!” A version of Mr. Alex that looked a little scarier than the one she knew, but still. “I know him! Can I answer it?”
Her mom’s mouth was usually a thin line, but now it all but disappeared. “I suppose so.”
Taylor didn't need to be told twice. She ran to the door. “Ladies walk, never run!” her mom called after her, but she didn't care.
“Mr. Alex!” she cried, flinging herself into his arms.
“Hey, chiquita.” She could tell Alex had spent a lot of time around her and Henry, because he knelt so he was looking right at her. “Do you like living with the Richardses?”
She noticed he didn't say your parents, and it gave her hope. She glanced fearfully behind her, stopping short when she saw that her mom was right there.
Somehow, Alex sensed her hesitation, and she loved him for it. “It's okay. You can tell me, even if she's right here.”
She shook her head. No. No to all of it. No, she didn't like the Richardses and their icky food and strict rules. She had no idea how they could be her parents. No, she didn't feel like she could say what she was actually thinking because Mrs. Richards would probably have some kind of punishment for her if she did, especially because it would be something mean about her and her husband. She hoped Alex understood.
“Wanna know a secret?” he asked, winking at her.
She nodded eagerly. She was a good secret-keeper!
“Mr. and Mrs. Richards aren't really your parents,” he whispered in her ear, and her eyes went wide.
“Really?”
But before he could answer, Mrs. Richards (she would never be thinking of her as her mom again!) cleared her throat. “How can I help you, sir?”
Alex put an arm around Taylor's shoulder. “You can tell me why you and your husband committed fraud, pretending to be Taylor's parents when you've never even had children. What was in it for you?”
Mrs. Richards scoffed. “What every man wants: money. Isn't that the only important thing in life?”
Alex held Taylor even tighter as a voice that was music to Taylor's ears chimed in, “Actually, no. When you adopt a child, it means that they become the most important thing in your life. You used Taylor. Instead of loving her as your daughter, you gave her false hope- and that's unforgivable.” He turned to Taylor, his eyes shining. Was he crying? “Can you ever forgive me for this? For letting you go and not fighting hard enough to keep you, for us to be the family we were meant to be?”
She launched herself at him, and he held her close. Being in his arms was like being back home with him already, even though it was far away. “Can we go home now?”
Henry chuckled. “Of course, darling.”
Before she knew it, Taylor found herself in the backseat of Alex's car, Alex and Henry in the seats in front of her. She didn't know if they were going straight home or to go get ice cream to celebrate, but she didn't care. She would go anywhere with her two favorite grown-ups in the world.
Taylor couldn't believe they were doing this again, but she was so excited!
Henry had told her that with everything that had happened the first time, no one had felt like celebrating on New Year's Eve despite staying until midnight, so they had decided to have a do over.
“You don't have to do that. New Year's Eve is over,” she reminded him.
“Darling, it's a combo New Year's Eve and welcome home party for you,” Pez told her. “Celebrating is necessary.”
Taylor guessed he was right, and grinned when he leaned in, whispering in her ear, “Besides, it gives me an excuse to try to convince Henry and Mr. Alex to get over themselves and kiss already. You want that too, don't you?”
She giggled and nodded eagerly. She had never wanted anything more than for Henry, the guy who had given her a home, to get his happily ever after.
The party was so much better than the one before it. Everyone kept giving her hugs and letting her have whatever she wanted. Taylor had never felt so at home, so loved, in her whole life!
Finally, her eyelids started to droop, and Henry picked her up. “I think it's time someone ought to be going to bed.”
“But midnight,” she protested. They were doing the countdown because she had specifically requested it. After all, it wasn't a New Year’s Eve party without the countdown to midnight!
“We'll wake you up for midnight. We promise.”
After he had carried Taylor to her room, Henry came back to find Alex waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. “We have to remember to wake her.”
Alex held up his watch. “Don't worry, we won't forget.”
“Thank you. And I know I've said it before and she has too, but thank you for everything you did for Taylor. This wouldn't have been possible without you.”
Alex shook his head, moving so close that Henry swore he could see each individual strand of curls on his head. “All in a day's work. And when it's for you, I don't mind doing it at all.”
Henry couldn't stop thinking about Alex's words for the rest of the night. Could his dreams finally be coming true?
Soon, Henry could hear Alex's alarm going off, and his eyes met Henry's. “Do you want me to go wake her up?”
Normally, Henry liked doing these things himself, but waking Taylor wasn't like putting her in bed- there wasn't a special routine involved. “Go ahead, love.”
When Alex disappeared, Henry berated himself. Of course, there had been that one comment of Alex's, but he couldn't jump to conclusions. Why had he used that term of endearment? That was the fast track to heartbreak.
Once Taylor was in the room, it was time to start counting down.
“30!”
“29!”
“28!”
“You know,” Alex told him. “The best part of this year for me was you and Taylor.”
“Really?” Henry and Taylor asked in unison.
Alex nodded. “And if you want, I'd like to see you both much more than once a week or so.” His eyes met Henry's. “We could maybe even leave Taylor with Pez sometimes?”
Henry could barely hear the countdown thanks to the Hallelujah Chorus in his head and the pounding of his heart as he bridged the gap between himself and Alex. “I would love that.”
“Three!”
“Two!”
“One!”
“HAPPY NEW YEAR!”
Alex, always the more bold of the two of them, kissed him, making Henry's heart soar. There was no need for fireworks for this New Year's celebration, not when they were already going off within Henry, Alex's kiss making him come alive in a way he had never felt before.
Alex deepened the kiss, his tongue joining Henry's in a tango unlike any Henry had experienced, his fingers finally getting the opportunity to get lost in Alex's curls, making Alex moan in a way Henry wanted to hear for the rest of his life, if Alex would let him.
As he swept Alex off his feet and spun him around, he heard clapping, and it was only then that he remembered they had an audience.
He turned to Taylor, suddenly nervous. “It's okay if Alex joins us on some of our adventures, yeah?”
“Yeah!” she nodded eagerly, clapping her hands.
As he pulled her in, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, Henry celebrated the family he had finally found, more thankful for them than either of them would ever know- although somehow, he suspected that Taylor felt the same way.