Karen raised her hand slightly. “That’s me.”
The judge continued, “Very good. Ireland?”
“Yes?”
“Look at me.” Ireland turned so her back was to us. “You can whisper in my ear, I can ask everyone to leave the room, or you can just say it, whatever, it is up to you. Your mom and dad wanted Aaron to take care of you if anything ever happened to them, you know that, right?”
Ireland nodded. “Yeah, ’cause he’s my biological father.”
“That’s right. Is there any reason why you don’t want to live with Aaron?”
“No. I want to live with him.”
Hearing her say that lifted something in me that I hadn’t known had grown so heavy. I had been so scared that she would say no.
“Very well, sunshine. And, Mr. Skkye, I’m to take it that you have the financial means to care for a second person considering her future such as college, wedding, and other things the girls deem necessary?”
“Yes, I believe that I can afford those.” I gave him a grin.
“Then I declare that you, Aaron Edward Skkye, to henceforth be the legal guardian of Ireland Kelly Lacy. Miss Lane, do you have the documents for us to all sign?”
“I do.” Jameson slapped them onto the desk. She was as excited as I was.
While still dressed up, we headed to Oak Lawn Cemetery. Heidi had arranged a small graveside burial so Ireland could say goodbye to her parents, who had done an amazing job raising her when I couldn’t be there for her.
We walked into the office at Oak Lawn and then were directed to the plots and small covered area surrounded by flowers.
I took a moment to examine some of the cards, noting that Heidi had gone above and beyond. There were flowers from Gage and LeeAnn, and there were still more cards and flowers from some of the other guys on my team. I had asked Gage not to tell anyone, so I was guessing it was Coach who told them that someone I had been close to had passed away. Carmen sent flowers from herself, the team, the team mascot lightning bug, the coaches, and the staff, and one of the five arrangements was addressed to Ireland.
“Who are all these flowers for?” Ireland touched the tips of several buds.
“You, they are from people who want you to know that they are thinking of you and are sorry that you had to go through all of this.”
“That’s nice of them.” She plucked a card and read, “From Gage and Ciara. Who is that?”
“Gage is my best friend, and Ciara is his daughter, she’s a baby.”
“He knows about me?” Ireland’s eyes were wide with disbelief.
“Of course, I told you, I always thought about you,” I whispered as a man in a suit holding a Bible walked in, followed by three women carrying instruments: two had violins and one had the larger version, a cello, I think it was called.
“Why are they here?” Ireland asked.
“This is a funeral, this is your time to say goodbye to your mom and dad.”
“But I don’t want to say goodbye. I want to see them.”
“They’re right there,” I pointed to the two caskets.
“Are they inside?” Ireland squeezed my hand tight but kept her focus on the two caskets.
“Yes.”
“Can I see them?”
“No sweetie, their souls are already in heaven, so they won’t look like your parents.” In actuality, it was a closed casket because of the damage their bodies took during the accident. “The good thing about their souls being in heaven is that they can be wherever you are. When you need them, you just have to talk to them.”
“I don’t believe that. They’re dead, they’re never coming back to me.” Ireland’s voice hitched up a few octaves. “They left me, why didn’t I go with them?”
I pulled Ireland over to me, wrapped her in a tight hug. “Shhh, it wasn’t your time to go. God knew that you had more things to do. You have to grow up still.”
“But I have no one, it isn’t fair. I belong to no one.”
“Hey.” I tilted her face back, so her eyes were locked with mine. “You have me. I belong to you, and you belong to me. We’re a package deal now. Consider us a Happy Meal.”
“I’m not very happy.” Ireland wiped her cheeks.
“Of course you aren’t. But one day, when you don’t expect it, you will find yourself smiling and laughing and then you’ll know we are a Happy Meal.”
“But we’re only hamburger and fries. We need a drink to be the whole deal.” Ireland’s simple proclamation hit me like a ton of bricks in a heart-clenching, belly-rumbling way.
Vivian, my little drinker, she was the drink to our complete package. I needed to call her, no, I wanted to call her, hear her soothing voice. Shaking the thought from my head and promising myself to reevaluate my feelings later, I turned my focus back to Ireland, who needed me.
The minister stopped talking, since obviously we weren’t listening and were drowning out his speech, but the strings players kept the music flowing.
“Is there anything you would like to say?” the minister asked Ireland.
“Say about what?”
“To your parents?” he clarified.
“My parents aren’t in there. They’re up in heaven.”
“Very well then.” He closed his Bible and moved to the back chair.
“Will I be able to go up and see them, like up here to Evansville, since you live in Orlando?”
“Absolutely, we can schedule a trip to come up, we can stay in your house, and you can visit your parents.”
Ireland nodded and then straightened herself and walked over to where both caskets
