Not the Only One (Book 1 in the Four of Us Trilogy)

Seventy-Eight - July 30, 2018

Luke

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Dad asked, glancing at me in the rearview as he drove my mom and I down Front Beach Road.

"Yes. Absolutely. It's the right thing to do," I said, looking away from the window to meet his glance.

He took a deep breath, tinged with relief. "Okay... what do you think he's going to say?"

"Man, I don't know. I don't think he has any idea it's coming. I mean, I didn't have a clue until you and Mom told me."

Mom turned and looked over her shoulder to smile at me. "You're an extraordinary soul, you know that, don't you, Lucas?" I looked down at my lap and she tapped my knee. "I love you, son."

"I love you too, Mom."

Dad pulled into the parking lot at the pier, and I saw Miles' Jeep was already parked in the lot.

Dad took a deep breath for what seemed like the fiftieth time in the past thirty minutes.

"Dad, come on, you're gonna steal all the oxygen," I teased as I got out of the car. "Let's go, y'all."

"All right, all right," he said, and before he could change his mind, we walked to the pier.

Miles

I stood on the very, very end of the pier, leaning against the concrete railing. The sun was beginning to set, and I was admiring all the reds, oranges, and purples when Luke, Adam, and Jane came up behind me.

"Hey bro," Luke greeted me, pulling me into a hug.

"Hey guys, what's up?" I asked, greeting Adam and Jane.

Adam shifted from foot to foot nervously. What's going on here? I thought.

"Let's have a seat," Jane said, gesturing to the two benches that faced each other on the end of the pier.

"Sure," I said, Luke and I on one bench and Jane and Adam on the other. "Sooo... what's going on, you guys?"

Adam looked at me and I noticed tears forming in his eyes. I furrowed my brow.

"Jane and I have something we want to ask you, Miles. And please... respond however you feel... no matter what, okay?"

I glanced at Luke sideways, but he betrayed nothing.

"Ohhhh-kay?"

He took a deep breath and Jane held his hand, nodding gently. "Miles, Jane and I want to make you a part of our family."

"What do you mean? I am already, right?" I asked, perplexed.

"I mean... we want to make you our son. We want to adopt you, Miles."

A lump immediately grew in my throat. "You – you want to adopt me?" I managed, tears prickling my eyes.

Jane smiled. "Yes, Miles, we do. You are Luke's brother... and you deserve to..." Her voice cracked. "You deserve to have a dad..." She started to cry, and the words caught in her throat.

"And I want to be that for you, Miles," Adam finished. "If you want me to."

I looked at Luke and he grinned. "You're already my brother. Sharing a last name would be pretty cool, huh?"

I felt a tear sneak out of my eye and I wiped it away quickly. "Can – can you do that? Even though I'm already 18?"

They both nodded. "We've been looking into this for a while now," Adam replied.