“Yes, I think so; he crawled right into my heart very soon after meeting him and he’s been there ever since. He’s a little love muffin, and everyone will agree with that. Everyone has made the same comment at some point about his loving ways. He so loves his AuKi, too. They have amazing times together when she comes for a visit.”

“Is there anything else that he loves to do?” Tina inquired as she kissed her love on the cheek.

“Well, I found the Yale Club, a gym built by alumni that has everything you could ask for in a gym. It has a good-sized pool and we go for family swim, as he wants to learn how to swim so he isn’t afraid around water. He wears a lifejacket now and I think that that will last for a while as he sinks. He’s all muscle but, we still work hard on practicing the skills he learns in his swimming class and he is getting more confident in the water.

By the time we leave the pool, he’s exhausted and ready for bed when we get home. For a treat, we sit in the hot tub for five minutes so that he can warm up before we go to the locker room and shower and then get dressed. He’s such a happy guy and loves me up for all the activities we get involved in.

He loves to kneel on my lap when we talk and we chat frequently about everything. I love the way he holds my cheeks with his little hands as we chat. He makes me so happy inside… Yes, Tee, I truly believe  that he is the son we always wanted and I am going to do everything in my power to keep him here and with us. I don’t want to loose him to leukemia…”

“I don’t want to lose him either as I want to get to know him as you have. Did you check in with the lawyer to see that she submitted the second adoption for both kids?” Tina asked.

“Yes, she text me that she had submitted both adoption requests to the judge. Do you still want to marry me when we get to New York?” Bette asked sheepishly and Tina answered her by giving her a very long, deep, kiss. When they broke apart they gazed into one another’s eyes and saw the love in their partner’s eyes that was still so deep inside for them.

“Yes, as soon as possible. We can go before a judge and do it with two witnesses and if we feel like it later, we can have a regular wedding and invite everyone and redo our vows. We can decide that all later. I love you Bette Porter, endlessly…”

The door opened and in came Ozzie, on his gurney, still asleep and hooked up to a few IV’s. The two nurses wheeled the bed into the room and placed him in his area of the space and then hooked up the monitors on him to begin taking his vitals. Bette stood up from the loveseat with Tina and after the nurses left the room, placed a chair next to his bed and sat and held his hand, waiting for him to wake up.

Kit and Maxine arrived back to the room just after the nurses left the space, and Kit joined Tina on the loveseat as Maxine stood next to Bette at Ozzie’s bedside to give her daughter some support. Kit took the baby to hold as she had fallen back to sleep. Tina stood up and stretched and then went over to Bette’s side to also offer her wife, loving support for their son…