“Something we should’ve done a long time ago.”
She led me onto the stage.
Sophie handed me three framed documents.
I looked down.
At first, the words blurred.
Then I saw them.
ADULT ADOPTION DECREE.
My name.
Their names.
All three.
I stopped.
Actually stopped breathing.
“Dad?”
I looked at Sophie.
She touched my arm.
“The judge approved everything last Thursday.”
Lily stood on my other side.
“You adopted us in every way that mattered twenty-two years ago.”
Brooke smiled.
“We finally returned the favor.”
I shook my head.
“I don’t understand.”
Sophie took the microphone again.
“Our biological father gave us life.”
She looked at me.
“But this man gave us a home.”
Lily added,
“He taught us to drive.”
Brooke laughed.
“Badly.”
The audience laughed again.
“He sat outside our bedrooms when we were sick,” Lily continued.
“He worked extra shifts without telling us why.”
“He learned to braid hair,” Brooke said.
