Into Your Arms (Squad Stories #1)(85)

I scramble out of the booth again and don't know if he's gonna hug me or not, but then he sort of throws himself at me and I have to catch him.

"Are you my sister?" he says, looking up at me with a gap-toothed smile.

"Noah . . . remember we talked about this?" Rebecca says, giving me an apologetic look.

"Um, I guess I am? It's nice to meet you, Noah." He smiles even wider.

"Nice to meet you." What a precious kid. "Who are you?" Noah turns to Rhett. Rebecca does to, as if she's just now noticing him.

"Hello, Noah. I'm Rhett, Freya's boyfriend." I still get little shivers of pleasure when he calls himself my boyfriend. Why did I fight so hard against it in the first place? 

"Boyfriend?" He wrinkles his nose. I can't.

"Yup. He's my boyfriend."

"Do you kiss?" I look at Rebecca and she sighs.

"He doesn't really have a filter. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," I say. "Yes, we do kiss, but I think you're a little too young to talk about stuff like that." He bristles.

"I'm going to be nine soon."

"In ten months, buddy," Rebecca says, coming up and rubbing him on the shoulder.

"That's still pretty soon," I say. "You're almost all grown up."

"Don't remind me," Rebecca says.

We sit back down in the booth and our waitress finally comes back. We all order and I clutch Rhett's hand under the table as Noah chatters away, telling me all about his friends and his school and how much he wants a dog. I just sit and listen and wonder how the hell I got here. And that I can't wait to talk to Mia and Tobi and tell everyone that I have a brother. A brother and a birth mother. It's more than I could have ever hoped for.

I turn to Rhett and smile.

"I'm so happy for you, Luna." I kiss his cheek.

"I love you."

"Ewwww," Noah says, making a face.

"Be. Nice," Rebecca says.

"I love you, and I'm going to kiss you. Is that okay, Noah? Can I kiss your sister?" Noah pouts, but then sighs and rolls his eyes.

"If you have to. I guess."

"I do."

We kiss so long that Noah starts making gagging noises.

"Deal with it, kid," I say.





Epilogue


Rhett

"See? They're right there," I say, pointing at the stands. Freya waves, and her smile is so big, I'm afraid it's going to split her face in half. Rebecca and Noah wave back.

"I told you they were going to be here," I say. We're not supposed to be too affectionate in our uniforms, but I have my hand on her back.

"I still can't believe it, and I've known them for almost a month now. Is that weird? That I'm celebrating the anniversary of when we met?" I shake my head.

"No, not at all." It's been nearly a month, and I've never seen her happier. She's been spending at least one day a week with Rebecca, getting to know her, finding out about her life, and learning about her biological family's history.

"Is she here?" Tobi asks, coming over.

"Yeah, she's right there," Freya says, pointing. Rebecca waves again.

"Holy shit, she does look just like you." Tobi says. In a sea of people, you'd be able to pick the two of them out as related. It's eerie how alike they are. Even in mannerisms, which I found surprising. Makes me wonder how many of mine come from my parents, even though they're gone.

"Yeah, she does," Freya says.

Whereas she was so reluctant to tell anyone about her family before, now she's open about it. She has pictures of Noah in her wallet and brings them out whenever she can. She's even gone to some of his games and helped him with his homework. His art covers her fridge, and pictures of her with him and Rebecca are all over Freya's walls. She's got the family she always wanted, and in another week, her second family from Texas is coming up for a visit. I'm excited to meet Mia in person after only seeing her on Skype. Freya can't wait to introduce Melissa and Neil to Rebecca. Freya's whole family coming together at last. And I get to be there to see it.



       
         
       
        

Somehow I've become part of her family, and I can't believe my luck.

"Hey," she says, poking my chest. "What are you thinking about?"

"Luck," I say. "And how I must have wished on just the right star." She rolls her eyes.

"It wasn't luck. You saw me in a bar. It's the oldest cliché in the book." I laugh.

"So? It's our story. And it's my favorite." Now she's the one laughing.

"You sap. Hey, is Coach looking?" I turn and see that she's fiddling around in her bag, looking for something.