Missing Pieces

Chapter 34: Daddy

"Mommy, Finny, come on!" Emma exclaimed as she ran back into Rory's bedroom.  She'd been waiting so patiently for them to come to the living room to see what Santa had brought, but she'd run out of patience.  She saw her mom and Finn in the floor and noticed that her mom had been crying and she instantly became concerned.  "What's wrong, Mommy?"

"Nothing's wrong, Em.  Actually, everything is right.  These are happy tears," Rory replied.

"Why are you happy?"

"Can I at least have my moment and ask her, Love?" Finn asked with a grin.

"Yeah, go for it," Rory agreed.

Finn turned toward Emm and pulled her into his lap.  "Emma, I love you and your mommy so much.  You two are so important to me.  Your mom and I were just talking about us becoming a family, and there's something I want to ask you, Little Love," Finn said.

"Okay, Finny," Emma answered.

"Emma, if you would let me, I would like to adopt you and become your dad," he said.

Emma threw her arms around Finn and squealed.  "We wrote letters to Santa at school, and I told Santa that the thing I wanted most for Christmas was for you and me and Mommy to be a real family!"

Now it was Finn's turn to cry.  "You did?" he asked.

"Yes.  I just love you so much, Finny.  I've never had a daddy, but I know that you love me and would be the best daddy I could ever have.  Does this mean I get my Christmas wish?"

"You do, baby girl.  Finn and I are going to get married, and he wants to adopt you and be your dad.  We also want to find a new house - one that we can all live in together.  Would that be okay?" Rory asked.

"That's better than okay!  Can I call you Daddy, Finn?" she asked.

He was completely overcome by emotion and nodded his head as he choked back tears.  "Of course, Em.  There's nothing that would make me happier.  I love you, Emma," he finally managed to say through his tears.

"I love you, too...Daddy," Emma whispered as she hugged him tightly.

Finn reached over and pulled Rory to him and Emma, engulfing them both in a huge hug.  No words needed to be spoken - this moment was everything he wanted.  After several minutes Emma finally wiggled out of their arms and faced them both.

"Can we please see what Santa brought now?" she asked, hands on her hips.

"Of course, sweetheart," Rory said with a laugh.

They all stood up and Emma went running back into the living room.

"I love you, Ror.  This is going to be amazing," Finn whispered, pulling her in for one more kiss before the Christmas morning craziness began.

"I love you, too, babe.  It's everything I could ever want," she said softly.  She took Finn's hand and they walked into the kitchen and started the coffee maker and grabbed some Pop-Tarts for breakfast - they knew Emma wouldn't want to wait for them to cook breakfast. 

"Alright, let's see what Santa brought you," Rory said as she and Finn sat down on the couch with their mugs of coffee.  She snuggled into his side and turned her attention to Emma.

"Look, Mommy!  Santa brought me a Barbie Dream House, and an American Girl Doll that looks just like me!  Then there's lots of books and doll clothes!" Emma exclaimed as she sat down and began playing with all of her toys.

"Wow, you must have been a very good little girl," replied Rory.

"I must have been the best, because I got everything I wanted.  Finn is my daddy - that's the bestest ever!  Aren't you going to see what Santa brought you?" she asked.

"Of course we will.  I don't know what I was thinking," she said with a laugh.  She and Finn got up and walked across the room to where their gifts had been laid out.

"Oh wow, this is amazing!" Rory said, looking through her gifts.  "Santa brought me a gift card for my favorite coffee house, some new gloves, a beautiful pair of earrings, and some of my favorite ink pens.  Ooh, and a gift certificate for my favorite book store.  What did you get, babe?" she asked, turning toward Finn.

"It seems that Santa brought me a bottle of my favorite scotch, a new watch to replace mine that just broke, and some new pajama pants," Finn said as he looked through his stocking.

"Do you love your Christmas presents from Santa, Dad?" Emma asked.  He didn't think he would ever get over how amazing it felt to hear her call him that.

"I do, but my favorite Christmas gift is you and your mom and me being a family - nothing is better than that," he replied softly.

"That's my favorite present, too," Emma agreed.  "Will you help me put together my Barbie house?"

"I sure will, Em.  Let's see what we have going on here," Finn said as he moved to the floor next to Emma and opened the box to begin assembling the house.  "Holy - that's a lot of pieces," he said as he looked at the directions.

"It seems kind of appropriate that this is your first task as Emma's dad," Rory said with a laugh, snapping pictures of him and Emma sorting out the pieces. 

"Laugh it up over there, Love.  It's part of being a dad, so I'm more than happy to do it," Finn chuckled, his face beaming.

*                    *                    *

"We're here!" Rory exclaimed as they pulled up in front of the Crap Shack.  Emma immediately unbuckled herself and ran into the house, excited to see her Nana and Papa along with her Uncle Will.

"She's a bit excited," Rory said with a laugh.

"As well she should be - it's been an amazing day already.  Speaking of which, I grabbed something from my house when we stopped by to get my gifts for your family.  When I went to pick up your Christmas gift, I saw this and I couldn't help myself.  I wanted to have it for one day, when you were ready.  I just didn't dream that it would be this soon.  I believe this belongs to you now, Miss Gilmore," he said as he pulled the ring box out of his pocket and opened it, revealing a beautiful white gold engagement ring.  It had a stunning princess cut center stone that was surrounded by smaller diamonds, and the band was also encrusted with small diamonds.

"It's...wow," Rory whispered.  "You just gave me a ring last week, babe.  You didn't have to do this."

"That wasn't an engagement ring, though.  This is an engagement ring," he said.  He took the sapphire ring that he'd given her for Christmas off and moved it to her right hand and then slid the new ring onto her ring finger.  "Now it's official," he whispered.

"It really is.  This is perfect.  Thank you, Finn.  It has to be the most beautiful piece of jewelry I've ever seen."

"Then it's perfect, because you are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.  Now, let's get in there to our girl before she forgets and spills the beans without us."