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May had only intended to grab a few baby photos.
That was it.
Simple task. Zero emotional landmines expected.
Her lofi playlist hummed through her speakers, the one Athena insisted was “elevator music, but rude.” May insisted it was vibes, Athena insisted it was “better than that screaming music the twins discovered on TikTok.”
Her debut was only days away. Athena was doing battle with caterers. Bobby was gleefully approving every rental receipt like a man who had just discovered the magic of LED fairy lights. The twins were planning a surprise dance number that no one was absolutely surprised by.
Everything was normal.
So why did opening her baby box feel like sticking her arm into a portal to another universe?
She dug through the bits and pieces of her babyhood—hospital socks, the blanket with faded strawberries, the pink onesie she’d memorized from photos.
Then the photos themselves.
Her and Athena.
Her and Athena.
Her and Athena again. Sometimes Hen in the background. Sometimes Karen. Occasionally Maddie. Chim.
But never Bobby.
Not until she was older.
Odd.
Not alarming, not yet. Just… curious.
She kept digging. Her fingers brushed a paper envelope buried beneath a stack of ultrasound printouts she recognized and assumed she had seen a hundred times.
The envelope was old. Yellowed. Corners soft. Athena’s handwriting on the front.
Her name.
May Carter
Her breath stuttered.
She opened it.
And her world—the world she’d always known—tilted on its axis.
Adoption papers.
Signed. Legal. Binding.
Her name written as Carter, crossed out and replaced with Nash in the final paperwork.
Adoptive Father: Robert Wade “Bobby” Nash
The air left her lungs in a soundless gasp.
And for one dizzy, terrifying second… she was little again.
Four years old. Searching for something familiar in a life suddenly too big.
“May?”
Athena’s voice from the doorway.
May turned. Athena froze.
“Mom… what is this?”
Athena swallowed, moved to sit beside her daughter like she was approaching a wounded dove.
“It’s time, baby,” she whispered. “It’s time I tell you everything.”
──────── ✧ ────────
The fire had already been put out hours ago, but the smell lingered.
Bobby stepped over the caution tape with his clipboard tucked to his chest.
Hen had asked, “What hunch? The owner isn’t even shady.”
Bobby shrugged. “I dunno. Something feels… off.”
“What feels off,” Hen deadpanned, “is your face whenever Athena Carter is on a call.”
“Okay,” Bobby said, pointing at her, “first of all—no.”
And then his voice cracked. “Second of all—shut up.”
Hen cackled all the way back to the truck.
Inside the restaurant, Bobby crouched to inspect the wiring when he felt, more than heard, someone enter.
Boots. Authority. A stare you could sense before you even turned around.
“Back again?” Athena’s voice floated over him, that perfect mix of unimpressed and curious.
He stood too fast and hit his head on the counter.
“Ow—hi.”
Athena crossed her arms. “Checking for missed hotspots? Or doing an undercover shift as a construction worker?”
“I’m… being thorough,” Bobby managed. “And you?”
“I’m being intimidating.”
“That’s… working.”
She smirked, and he swore a beam of sunlight cracked through the sooty air.
They walked the place together. Bobby explained his theories, she countered with procedural logic. They bickered. They laughed. They sparked quietly, unintentionally, like neither meant to start anything but both absolutely did.
When they left the restaurant, she paused by her car.
“You are thorough,” she said.
“You’re terrifying,” he countered.
“But in a good way.”
“Oh,” she teased, “so you like terrifying.”
He cleared his throat, embarrassed.
Athena hid a smile, got in her car…
…and Bobby stood there five full minutes after she left, wondering what the hell had just hit him.
✧
A week later, Athena brought May to the station to drop off paperwork.
May, tiny and curious, clutched a pink plush unicorn under one arm.
Bobby, who happened to be there to drop some reports, froze when he saw them. Athena beautiful as always, and a tiny version of her with bigger eyes and even bigger attitude.
“This is May,” Athena introduced. “May, this is my friend—”
“Hi, Daddy!” May chirped.
Bobby made a sound that could only be described as a squeak mixed with a gasp and possibly a stroke.
Athena nearly dropped her purse.
“I—May!” she sputtered, mortified.
But May beamed up at him like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Bobby crouched, awkward, gentle, his heart already collapsing into confetti.
“Well… hello,” he whispered, smiling despite himself.
May showed him her unicorn. Then her stickers. Then her shoelaces.
Bobby listened like she was giving a TED Talk.
Athena watched them, stunned and soft and not a little terrified of how natural it all looked.
✧
Friendship turned into something else before they even admitted it.
Coffee runs were “coincidentally at the same time.”
Lunches became routine.
Athena started asking, “Have you eaten?”
Bobby started asking, “How’s May?” with too much affection to be casual.
When May’s preschool had a “Bring Someone Special” day, Athena showed up… and found Bobby sitting crisscross on a tiny chair, listening to May explain how glue works.
“May invited me,” he said, guilty but also weirdly proud.
Athena raised an eyebrow. “Did she now?”
“She said I’m a good listener.”
“She’s not wrong.”
They were doomed. In love. Not ready to admit it. But doomed.
✧
Christmas came.
May insisted on making ornaments out of macaroni.
Athena insisted they were a choking hazard.
Bobby ate one by accident during decorating, trying to be polite.
May declared him perfect.
He bought her a tiny pink bike with training wheels.
Athena said it was too expensive.
“I had a coupon,” he lied.
He didn’t.
They sat on the carpet that night, Athena leaning against the couch, Bobby beside her, May asleep across both their laps like a tiny, trust-filled bridge.
Athena watched him stroke May’s hair as she slept.
She didn’t fall in love in that moment.
She admitted it.
✧
One school morning disaster.
May wanted “princess braids.”
Athena was late for roll call.
Panic.
“Let me try,” Bobby said.
Athena stared like he had volunteered for neurosurgery.
But he sat May on a stool, took the comb, and—
the man did magic.
Perfect braid.
Tiny bow.
Zero tears.
Athena nearly proposed right there.
✧
“One more story!” Beamed little May.
Bobby patiently answered. “Three is enough.”
May gave him big puppy eyes and her signature pout.
“…Four is fine.” Bobby caved. Of course he did.
He did voices.
He did sound effects.
He dramatized so intensely the neighbors once checked if everything was okay.
May fell asleep on his chest.
Athena watched from the doorway, heart tangled, breath thin.
✧
Two years later, on a quiet evening, Bobby took Athena to the restaurant that had burned down—now fully rebuilt, bright, safe, and symbolic.
He held her hand, nervous.
“I knew something started here,” he said softly. “Something worth rebuilding.”
Athena swallowed, eyes shimmering.
He knelt.
She gasped.
He proposed.
She said yes through tears.
He kissed her hand like she was something sacred.
But then—
Bobby took May aside the next morning.
She was six. Missing her front teeth. Wearing polka dot pajamas.
“May,” he began, kneeling, “your mom said yes. We’re gonna be a family.”
May gasped so hard she hiccuped.
“And I want to ask you something too.”
She blinked, waiting.
“I’d like to be your dad. Not just by name, not just at school events, not just because you call me that. I want… I want to be your dad officially. Would that be okay with you?”
May launched herself into him so fast he nearly toppled backwards.
“YES!! Daddy please be my Daddy forever!”
Bobby cried.
May patted his cheek.
“Are you leaking?”
He laughed through it. “A little.”
“I’ll get tissues!”
She returned with an entire roll of toilet paper, leaving a trail behind her.
✧
Then came the adoption process.
It wasn’t easy. It never is.
But Bobby showed up to every meeting in a pressed shirt and a folder thicker than a Law & Order script.
He answered questions with sincerity and shook from nerves.
He framed May’s drawings.
He recited her favorite foods.
He explained her bedtime routine.
He carried photos of her in his wallet like a man possessed.
When the adoption was finalized, May sat in his lap, swinging her legs.
“You’re officially my daddy now,” she whispered.
“I always was,” he whispered back.
✧
May was eight when she overheard it.
Some moms at school pickup—those moms—stood by the gate, whispering.
“She doesn’t look anything like him.”
“She’s all Athena.”
“I heard she had a different father.”
“Do you think Bobby knows?”
Athena stiffened instantly.
Bobby’s jaw flexed.
Hen, who was there purely for drama, whispered, “Say the word, and I’ll handle it.”
Before they could step in, May’s friends tugged her toward the monkey bars.
So she missed the adults confronting the gossipers.
Athena stepped forward, calm but lethal.
“Don’t you dare speak about my daughter like she’s some rumor.”
Bobby stood beside her. “And don’t ever question my place in her life.”
The mothers shrank.
Hen added, “Also, your highlights are uneven.”
She only saw her parents later that night—quiet, tired, shaken—but still smiling for her.
She didn’t understand then.
She understands now.
──────── ✧ ────────
She wasn’t crying.
Not yet.
She was simply… lost.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she whispered.
“Because I was scared,” Athena admitted. “Scared you’d think you weren’t ours. Scared we’d lose time with you. We planned to tell you at fifteen but life… happened.”
May swallowed hard.
“I’m… confused. I don’t know what this makes me.”
Athena touched her cheek.
“You are my daughter. And Bobby’s. Our first baby. Our girl. Nothing changes that.”
Before May could reply—
“TWINS, I SAID STOP WRESTLING! JOSH, PUT THE SHOE DOWN—”
Bobby appeared in the doorway.
Saw May’s face.
Saw Athena’s.
And his entire soul cracked.
“May…” he murmured.
She ran into him.
He lifted her clean off the floor, arms around her like she was still four and calling him Daddy for the first time.
“You’re mine,” he said, voice shaking. “You’re my little girl. Always.”
“You’re my only dad,” she whispered into his shoulder. “I don’t care about biology. You loved me. You raised me. You chose me.”
He cupped her face.
“It’s okay to feel everything you’re feeling.”
She nodded.
“I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you more, my Princess.”
Jake and Josh peeked in like tiny meerkats.
“Should we hug her?” Jake murmured.
“Yes, obviously!” Josh hissed.
They sprinted in and grabbed May’s legs.
“We love you even if we have no idea why you’re leaking—whatever this is!”
“Stop crying, May-May, you look awful!”
“And can we still do the dance number!?”
May laughed through tears.
“Yes, you adorable dorks.”
──────── ✧ ────────
May sat on the porch, legs curled under her, hot chocolate growing cold.
Athena joined her, draping a blanket over both their shoulders.
“You hangin’ in there?” Athena murmured.
“Barely,” May admitted. “But… I’m processing.”
Athena nodded.
“You don’t have to be okay overnight.”
May leaned into her.
“Thank you for telling me. Even if it was a bit late.”
Athena’s throat tightened.
“You deserved the truth sooner. I’m sorry for that.”
“Mom?” May said softly.
“Hm?”
“You’re still my favorite person in the world.”
Athena broke.
Just a little.
“We love you,” she whispered. “So much.”
──────── ✧ ────────
Lights dimmed.
Spotlight softened.
May stepped forward, holding the mic with steady hands but shaking breath.
“Good evening,” she said. “Thank you all for celebrating with me. Eighteen years. That’s… a lot. Legally, I could buy a chainsaw today. Don’t worry—I won’t.”
Laughter.
“But I want to thank my parents…”
She looked at Athena who had Bobby’s arms wrapped around her from behind.
“Mom—for raising me with strength and tenderness. For the endless supply of gossip only the two of us understand. For the life lessons. For being the woman I want to become someday… And Dad—who didn’t just step into my life. He ran in. He chose me. He fought to be my father. And he has loved me every day since.”
Bobby was already crying on Athena’s shoulder, Athena held his face, kiss-sniffing his temple.
Jake whispered loudly, “DAD IS LEAKING AGAIN.”
May kept going, voice softening:
“You are my parents. Full stop. And I’m proud—so proud—to be your daughter. Thank you for giving me a life filled with love. Thank you for choosing me. I choose you too. Forever.”
Applause swallowed the room.
──────── ✧ ────────
During the Father-Daughter dance, Bobby held her like she was both grown and still his baby.
“I’m scared to spin you,” he whispered. “You’re too tall now. I might cry.”
“You’re already crying.”
“You weren’t supposed to notice.”
She laughed. Then leaned in. “Thank you for being my dad.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Best job I ever took.”
──────── ✧ ────────
Bobby excused himself, slipped into the hallway.
And burst into uncontrollable sobs.
Hen found him clutching the wall.
“She said I’m her dad,” he wheezed.
Hen patted his back.
“You ARE her dad.”
“I KNOW THAT’S WHY I’M CRYING.”
──────── ✧ ────────
The lights drop.
The twins appear in matching glitter jackets.
The opening beat of “Soda Pop” plays.
It is chaos.
Jake does a split he absolutely did not stretch for. Josh attempts a backflip, settles for a “back-roll-with-commitment.” They do a synchronized finger-heart routine that is somehow both adorable and deeply uncoordinated.
At the end, they yell:
“WE LOVE YOU, MAY!”
“YOU’RE OUR FAVORITE SISTER!”
“I’m your only sister,” May yells back.
“STILL counts!”
──────── ✧ ────────
Athena watched her family from across the room—the twins causing cute chaos; May, radiant and brave, leaning into the man who had loved her fiercely since the day she called him Daddy without hesitation.
Tears streamed freely.
Her heart glowed like firelight.
This was their family.
Built from choices and love.
And absolutely perfect.
✧ ✧ ✧