Absolutely yes. ”
Sophie threw her arms around them. “Does this mean Jake will be my dad? ”
“If you want me to be.
”
“I want that so much. ”
The wedding was six months later. Small, intimate, with an ASL interpreter. Sophie scattered petals while signing the lyrics.
Victoria spoke and signed her vows. Two years after that, Jake started teaching at the Chicago School for the Deaf. Victoria restructured her company, stepped back, hired a COO. They had a son, Michael, who grew up bilingual in deaf and hearing worlds.
On the fifth anniversary of that Christmas dinner, they returned to the Grand Ashford. Sophie, now twelve, walked between them, no longer the guarded child. Jake’s hand in Victoria’s. Michael asleep in a carrier.
The chandeliers glittered. The tree stood gold and red. Victoria looked at her family and thought of the spilled champagne, the broken dress, the stranger who had knelt and signed. She squeezed Jake’s hand.
He squeezed back.