There Is Enough To Go Around

Chapter 14

Bill, Stef, and Mila's father were already gathered on the couches by the time Lena and Mila trudged in to join them. At the sight of her father, Mila clung onto Lena a little tighter and her averted her eyes from the once familiar man. Lena sat next to Stef, which was on the opposite couch of the two males. Mila's father nervously wrung his hands together, only taking small peeks at his daughter every now and then. Stef wrapped her arms around her wife's waist protectively and securely, before landing her eyes on the father.

"So...let's get down to it. We hear you wanted to speak to us about something Mr. O'Malley."

The older man suddenly looked up at Stef, as if he had just woken up from a trance.

"Oh, please call me Buddy."

"Buddy?"

"Yes...just Buddy."

"Bills says that technically you were allowed to get custody of Mila today. Is there something wrong that you didn't?" Lena spoke up, as Mila too turned her head to peek at her father.

Buddy continued to wring his hands as if he was gathering his courage and thoughts.

"Before I answer, I just want to apologize to all three of you. Back at the store, I was just upset. Fighting in Afghanistan has made me a little edgier. Hearing that my wife had died, and my daughter was taken by the state, I just snapped. I am usually a gentle and laid-back guy."

"We appreciate that Buddy, we do. I know I would have been upset if that happened to my wife or my children. However, are you ready to take in a child with all that unconscious rage? Mila is already very flighty, and she hasn't forgotten what happened yesterday. None of us have." Lena responded a little too harshly, but she couldn't help it. Yesterday's incident would not go unnoticed. Stef raised a brow at her wife. Though Lena's choice words were calm and gentle, there was a certain rage in her ora. Something she had only seen her wife show towards her. Never to anyone else.

"I have thought of that...and...I won't be taking Mila with me."

Silence washed over the mothers. Both with question and excitement. Buddy's troubled and disappointed face, however, made their excitement not show.

"Why is that?" Stef finally asked.

"I...was never around much. I was in the war even before she was born...I visited and sent money but...I don't think that qualifies me as a father...besides, I still have to go back. I can't take her with me and neither I nor Jordyn has any family to take her while I am gone..." Buddy struggled to say. It pained Lena to see him like this. No parent should be separated from their child, especially with a parent who loves the child Buddy obviously did.

"Are you saying you want us to take her?" Lena asked quietly, while the man tried to gain back his composure, him being hunched over his knees. He sat back up and gave a soft smile towards Mila.

"She obviously loves you, as you her. I just...want her to be happy. From the way she called out to you in the store and called you mommies...it is obvious she is well taken care of. She is healthier than I have ever seen her."

"So you knew her condition?" Lena asked, a tad angry that the man knew the conditions the two were living in.

He sighed. "Yes, I did. I sent as much money as I could but it never seemed to be enough I suppose. By the time Mila was born, Jordyn had become so paranoid, she didn't want to leave the apartment. She lived in an abusive house growing up. I took her away when she was only sixteen, and I eighteen. We were married when she was a legal adult. I guess I could never fully rescue her, nor could Mila's life get her out of her paranoia."

"Why didn't she ever get help?" Stef asked.

"Couldn't afford it...but...you will take her, won't you? I don't want to have her separated from any more people she loves." he practically begged. He was a humbling sight, in his dirty jeans, ruffled dirty blonde hair, and army jacket.

"We have wanted this little girl in our lives since the day she came to stay with us. We would be honored to adopt her Buddy. That is if that is what Mila wants." Lena said as she looked at Mila who looked a little dazed.

"Do you wanna be adopted honey? Like Callie is? And live with mommies forever?" Lena asked gently, and Mila furrowed her eyebrows. She looked at her father, who looked at her tenderly, yet with great sorrow. She jumped off Lena's lap and quite bravely, wandered to her father.

"You don't want me, daddy?" She asked quietly, and Buddy immediately started to cry. He reached out to touch her, but she took a step back.

"Kitten, I do want you...I just...can't...daddy has to leave again soon and...mommy isn't here anymore....Stef and Lena, they love you so much, baby girl. They make you so happy I can see, and you make them happy. I will always be your daddy, but you can live with them forever and they can be your mommies. And maybe they will let me visit you..." Buddy trailed on, his tears free-falling off of his face. It broke his heart to see his little girl afraid of him and think he didn't want her. Of course, Mila's tender and kind heart, felt sympathetic to her father crying, and immediately crawled into his lap to comfort him. He wrapped his arms around her small frame, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. This was the daddy she remembered.

"I am so sorry I scared you at the store Kitten...I missed you so much, and I behaved badly. Please forgive me....please..."

"I love you, daddy..." Mila squeaked out, and he whispered it back to her. A couple of minutes passed before Mila broke away from the hug and looked at her mommies. They looked happy, though Lena looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Can they really be my mommies?" Mila asked, keeping her eyes on her mothers.

"Do you want us to Milly Billy?" Stef asked, she too trying to hold back her tears. She ached for the little one to race back into her arms.

Mila smiled widely, before placing a kiss on her father's cheek. She climbed off his lap and raced into Stef's lap, who lifted the girl effortlessly in the air, before she brought her close to her, peppering her with kisses.

"Well...shall start with the paperwork then?" Bill finally said, feeling a little awkward to be in this obvious family moment. It was one of the few good things he loved about his work, however. Seeing families work out for the better, after all the bad before.

Once Buddy and the Foster ladies signed what they needed to, Stef spoke up.

"I think Lena and I agree that we would let Mila visit you while you are here. You could be a guardian...I think it is important she still has her father somewhat in her life." Though Stef and Lena knew there would need to be some guidelines and see if he could take care of her since they were skeptical of his actions the day before, all of the words were true. They would be heartless to let her never see him.

Once all the paperwork was filled out and Mila and Buddy said their final goodbyes for the night, Mila raced up the stairs, the mothers following at a slower pace behind her. All the kids had been listening at the top of the stairs of course, though they couldn't hear much of what was said. They all stood up once Mila reached them, and Mila jumped into Callie's arms excitedly.

They all looked a little confused, but the mothers couldn't help but laugh at Mila's actions.

"It looks like we will be having a double adoption after all," Stef said, as all the kids cheered and huddled around Callie and Mila in a big family hug sandwich.