Squared Away (Out of Uniform 5)

And he was thankful every day for his own second chance, the one Isaiah had given him. He leaned in for more of a real kiss from his husband. “So who all is here?”

“Aunt Louise is setting the table in the dining room.” Isaiah grinned broadly. Few things seemed to make him as happy as a crowd around the big table in there. “Grandma’s dozing in front of the TV, and Aunt Cecily is playing dolls with Zoe. Ben’s manning the grill. He brought the dogs. Maddox is on the way with dessert. Bacon just went wheels up—said he texted you that his team’s deploying.”

“Ha. He’s just afraid we’ll ask him to babysit again.” Mark laughed. “And your dad?”

“Here. And hungry.” Isaiah’s dad came into the kitchen from the back of the house. Back from his summer research, he was spending the week with them before the coming semester, and Mark had a feeling they’d be seeing more of him that fall. “And ready to hear your big news.”

“It’s about the judge,” Daphne announced. “The one who asked all the questions.” The judge at the guardianship hearing had indeed asked Daphne several questions directly, mainly just confirming things in the court investigator’s report. It had been scary for Daphne, but she’d done great.

“The guardianship orders came?” Isaiah’s father asked. “Finally. And the other ruling you’re waiting on?”

“It came too. We are officially out of probate. Tom Yates called yesterday, but we wanted to wait, tell everyone together. The court found that I have ownership of the house, thanks to the way my parents structured their wills, so no sale will be necessary. We can stay here.”

It could have gotten very legally and financially complicated had the court found the children had half interest in the house through Danielle, and Isaiah had adamantly refused to let Mark cede his interest to him. So now, the house was his, and Tom Yates had already drawn up the paperwork that would leave the house to Isaiah and the kids if anything happened to Mark.

“And your uncle?” Aunt Louise joined them in the kitchen “He can’t be happy.”

“He’s not. But the court named Isaiah and me joint guardians, both physical and financial, so he doesn’t get a say. The court didn’t find his arguments compelling, and the judge said she was impressed by the court investigator’s report about our family.”

Mark doubted his relationship with his uncle would ever be repaired, but he couldn’t be bothered to feel too terrible about it. If the man was determined to be that narrow-minded, he simply didn’t deserve Mark and his family in his life.

“So much trouble.” Aunt Louise shook her head. “Such an ugly fuss. Well, I’m glad that’s over.”

“We all are.” Isaiah put an arm around Mark. “And now that we know we’re staying and that we’re officially a family, we wanted to celebrate.”

“We’re a family!” Daphne twirled. “You hear that, Liam? The judge lady says Uncle Mark and Uncle Ikey get to keep us forever.”

“That’s right.” Mark’s voice went hoarse. “Forever and ever. You’re ours.”

“Unca!” Liam pulled up on the low kids’ table. And then he let go, took his first lurching step toward them both. Then another. “Unca!”

“Come on,” Isaiah coached. “You can do it.”

“Go, Liam, go!” Mark had never celebrated two steps harder.

One step. Then another. And another. That’s how we got through this. Together. Each step they’d taken over the past six months had gotten them here, to this moment, to the family they were now. And at the center was Isaiah. His heart. The thing that Mark had walked toward when grief had nearly blinded him. And now they walked together. Until they weren’t just enduring, but thriving. Flourishing. One step. Then another.

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