Treasured Miracles [Series 3 of Bittersweet Disasters]

[38] "Your Name Is Officially Austin Jace Allocco."

♜♖♜ KAIDEN PARKER ♖♜♖

{4:46 pm} "Y'ALL ARE OVER HERE EARLY," Dezerae replies to her brothers' as she enters the living room. "I thought y'all said you were going to be here at 5:00."

"It's 4:46," Trent answers. "It's not that early. Where's Mom?"

"Right here," Aubrie answers. "Where are all my grandchildren?"

Lily and Matthew rush over to Aubrie and hug her legs. "Hi, CiCi," they greet.

Aubrie smiles at them. "Hi."

That's when Annabelle starts reaching out for Aubrie from Trent's arms. Trent passes Annabelle to Aubrie and she smiles at her granddaughter. "Hi, honey."

Annabelle smiles at Aubrie and whispers, "Hi."

Trent and Destiny gasp excitedly as they peer at their daughter. "Did she just say hi?"

"She did," Aubrie answers, grinning.

"She's never said that before," Destiny replies. Destiny lightly tickles Annabelle's hand. "Can you say that again?" she asks, smiling at her daughter.

Annabelle shakes her head before she lays it against Aubrie's shoulder. "Dammit," Destiny murmurs as she shrugs.

"Maybe she'll say it again later," Aubrie replies. "She probably just has stage fright right now since almost all eyes are on her."

Destiny nods. "True."

♥︎♡♥︎ DEZERAE PARKER ♡♥︎♡

{6:06 pm} "Pizza will be here in about forty-five minutes," I tell Kaiden as I pass him.

He shoots me a thumbs up as he continues talking with his best friend.

Appearing beside my eldest brother, I wrap my left arm around his waist. "Hi, Bubba," I whisper, smiling up at him.

"Hi, baby sis," he greets. "What's up?"

"Pizza's going to be here in about forty-five minutes," I answer. "When are you going to tell Jace?"

He shrugs. "Probably after everyone eats," he answers. "I want Jace's full attention and while he's eating the pizza I won't have it, so you know."

I nod as I giggle quietly. "True." I'm about to turn around to go over to my hubby when Jake grabs my shoulder. Spinning back around, I face him and cock an eyebrow. "Hmm?"

"I want to show you what I got for Jace," he replies, gesturing for me to follow him.

Entering one of the guest rooms, Jake quietly closes the door and retrieves something from the closet. "What is it?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"So I got him a shirt made that says officially Jace Allocco, 1/3/19," he announces, showing me a plain black T-shirt that says Officially Jace Allocco, 1/3/19 in bold, white letters. "And I got his birth certificate framed and I made sure that his legal name change is bold and I highlighted it." He also shows me that.

I fork over a wide smile. "That's great, Bubba," I reply, enveloping him into a hug. "Jace is going to be so excited when you tell him in a little bit."

He crosses his fingers as he whispers, "I hope so."

{6:13 pm} Entering back into the living room, Jace runs up to Jake and he scoops him up in his arms. "What's up, dude?" Jake asks, kissing his cheek.

"I'm hungry," Jace whines, rubbing his stomach.

"Pizza'll be here soon," he replies. "Then, after pizza, your mom and I have a surprise for you."