Brenda's Song

Chapter 4

I hadn't told my parents everything. That changed when Amanda and Brenda spent another weekend with me. Her parents were hosting a gathering that Saturday, while Amanda and I had another school project. We only needed Friday evening to get it done, so we had the whole weekend to spend together. We spent a good chunk of Saturday telling my family everything. Brenda wouldn't let go of me, and Amanda held my hand the whole time. They saw me reading to Brenda. Afterward, my mom said I will make a great dad someday.

Things really came to a head just after breakfast on Sunday morning. Amanda and I were helping my mom clear the table.

Dad asked me point-blank, "Doug, what sort of vision do you have for your future? Does it include these two?" I had to answer honestly.

I was blunt, "Yes, it does. I don't want your life. All the moving, never being able to keep friends. I don't want that for myself, or Amanda, and especially not for Brenda."

"Okay. What do you want? What is your vision for your future?"

"I want to marry Amanda, and adopt Brenda as my own. I want us to settle in one spot, and live a comfortable, quiet life." Brenda had just started playing with her dolls. She dropped them, ran over, and hugged me. She had tears flowing down her cheeks. I picked her up, and held her for the next couple of hours. I had just finished getting Brenda situated when Amanda hugged us.

My mom asked, "Amanda, how are you feeling about all this?

"So far, I love the idea. Doug is absolutely amazing with Brenda. He's been opening up to me, making himself vulnerable for what seems to me is the first time in his life." Once the tears had stopped, the three of us posed for my dad to take a "family" photo. I took Amanda shopping for an engagement ring the following Saturday, and we made it official.

Easter fell at the end of March. Amanda and I spent Saturday morning putting together a basket for Brenda. We hid it in Amanda's parents' bedroom. The three of us colored a dozen eggs, after which Amanda and I went to my house. My parents would host Amanda's family for a barbecue and an Easter-egg hunt in our big backyard. We bought a fifty-count package of plastic eggs. We put candies in some. In the others we put various coins for Brenda to put in her piggy bank.

Sunday morning, we took Brenda to a church service. We dressed up, I even wore a tie. Brenda wasn't acting at all shy. Her big, curious eyes were taking everything in. After the service I held Brenda while we talked to people.

"I'm Doug Carter, this is my fiancée, Amanda Miller, and our daughter, Brenda."

Someone asked, "She's your daughter? How old are you?"

Amanda replied, "We're sixteen, and Brenda is eight."

"If you're sixteen, and she's eight, there's no way you could be her parents."

I asked Brenda, "Spud, am I your daddy?" She smiled, nodded, and hugged my neck.

One of them asked, "You call her Spud?" She nodded again.

"Yeah, it's a nickname. We were discussing food, and she said, 'You are what you eat.' She was packing away french fries, so I called her Spud. It just sort of stuck. She likes it almost as much as she likes french fries. Right, Spud?" She grinned, nodded, and signed that she wanted to eat. We continued our conversation for another twenty minutes, and were told we are a beautiful family. We were invited to start attending regularly.

We went straight from the church to my parents' home. We all felt so much joy, watching Brenda finding the plastic eggs and opening them. Amanda's eyes were moist. She was on the verge of some very happy tears.