Make Mama Proud

We both looked like deer caught in headlight; head up, eyes wide, body stiff. Dad quickly fixed himself, taking a few steps away from auntie as she fixed herself as well.

"Wh-what are you kids doing here? I thought you were going to be sleeping over at Lisa's" Dad asks me as he regains his breath.

"I think the better question is, what are YOU doing here? Weren't you supposed to be away for a meeting?" I asked, turning the tables on him. He scratched the back of his neck, turning his head slightly towards Auntie. What is going on between the two of them?

Auntie quickly cleared her throat and her eyes fell on Chris.

"Aww, you are so cute!" Auntie leans towards Chris ruffling his hair. All of us still in shock with what we had witnessed.

"I know!" Chris giggled, with a bright smile.

At this point, Dad's eyes fell on Blake and he cleared his throat.

"I don't believe we've met. I'm Jackie's dad" He introduced himself to Blake in an assertive tone, making Blake stand up and shake his hand.

"Blake, sir" He introduces himself

"If you're mommy's dad, then are you my grandpa?" Chris asks in an innocent voice but I can't help but mentally facepalm. Not the right time Chris.

Dad's eyes open in shock as he stares at me in disbelief. "Jackie...?" He tries for an explanation.

"You might want to sit down Pops" Lottie seats him on the couch then walks over to get Chris and take him to a different room, Caden follows her.

Auntie sits beside dad, also wanting to hear what I had to say but mostly there to support me and calm my dad.

"That was Chris. He's lost" I tell him.

"So he calls you his mom?" He asks me, the vein in his forehead slowly starting to show.

"No, he thinks we're his parents," Blake tells him. Realizing that Chris thinks of Blake as his father, his vein starts becoming more prominent. Auntie slowly running her hands up and down his arm trying to calm him down.

"Dad, listen.." And Blake and I told him the whole story; from how Blake and our class found him, to how he only went to Blake and I, to the picture of his parents, to the meetings with the officers.

He looked at me with the softest eyes.

"His name Chris?" Dad asks. Both Blake and I nod. He thinks about something for a minute and smiles to himself, almost letting out a little chuckle. He gets up and walks over to me.

"Your mom would have been proud of you kiddo." He ruffles my hair and goes to where Lottie, Caden, and Chris were.

I was confused but I couldn't help but smile. I look up at Auntie to see her smiling to herself as well. I was even more perplexed. My eyebrow shoots up "What?" I ask her.

She shakes her head. "Nothing." She lets out a little laugh, walking over to me, also ruffling my hair then following my dad to the next room.

I look at Blake, baffled. I was missing something here, he didn't seem to think that. He just looks at me with a smile on his face.

"You good?" He asks me.

"I think so?" It came out more like a question. His hand went over my shoulder and gave me a quick side hug, softly rubbing my arm for comfort.

"You don't have to hide Chris anymore." He smiles at me. "AND you can spend time with him openly." He made me smile.

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"Bye Daddy! Bye, Uncle Caden! Bye Auntie Lottie! Bye Grandma!" We all looked at Chris in confusion as he hugged Blake.

"Auntie Grandma?" I asked him.

"She was kissing Grandpa, so she's my grandma, right?" We all chuckled at his response. Kids.

After Blake and I told my dad about Chris, he got so attached to Chris. Although my dad would never say it, I knew that he wanted to spend more time with Chris and so did I. Apparently Blake is a mind reader and asked me if I wanted Chris to stay over for a few days and of course I said yeah. He then asked Chris who jumped at the opportunity.

"I'll bring some of his stuff tomorrow" Blake leans in and tells me. I nod in response and I see Lottie looking at him with a sly smirk while Auntie and Caden had left to their cars.

"Bye little man" Blake hugs Chris bye one more time and both he and Lottie leave.

Chris lets out a big stretch, followed by a big yawn. "Ready to sleep?" I ask him and he responds with a nod.

After getting him ready for bed, I put him in my bed and he falls asleep almost instantly.

I go down to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. I see my dad already sitting there with a big glass of water and he was looking at something that was placed on the table.

I sit in front of him with my glass of water, catching his attention. He turns the picture he was looking at, towards me so I could see. It was a picture of my mom and dad holding me. I look about two years old with pigtails.

"You know, you were supposed to have a little brother, but then your mom passed away." I looked up at him, shocked. "You wanted to name him Chris. For some reason, you just loved that name." Why don't I remember this?

" We thought you'd name your kid that. Look at you now. Taking care of a kid named Chris." I couldn't help but smile. I knew the whole point of this talk was him trying to tell me that I've grown up so much. That he can't believe that time went by so fast.

I suddenly remembered how dad had caught us and I knew it would bother me until I had answers.

"Dad, you never told me. What's going on between you and Auntie?" He looks at me, almost nervous.

"Lisa and I have been kind of seeing each other lately. She's a nice woman. She cares about me. She cares about you. She's a very good friend-no if I'm being honest, I like her a lot. I wouldn't mind marrying her." I could tell he was asking for permission.

"Dad, it's been a long time since mom passed away. If you think you're ready then I think you should be allowed to move on." I tell him.

"I loved your mom so much. Part of me still does and it's never going to disappear. I know that I can't give all of my love to Lisa, she knows that. But I wanna marry her."

"How long have you guys been together?"

"More than a year?" My eyes opened in surprise. How did I not find out about this?!

"I'm happy for you dad. If she makes you happy, then I say ask her." I smile at him, standing up and grabbing my water. I head upstairs and see Chris sleeping peacefully with a smile on his face.

I place a soft kiss on his forehead, closing the lamp and lying in bed. Chris turns to me and holds me tightly, almost like I'm going to disappear when he wakes up.

I couldn't help but hold him tight too like he was going to disappear when I wake up.