*Maddox*
April 16, 2020
When I was a boy, I was surrounded by people who lived devastating lives. Their influence on me was poor, yet I couldn’t see that. I was so consumed by the smog they produced, that I couldn’t see anything but the haziness of violence and drugs.
I was excited to grow up. I wanted to be like my father, the leader of our gang. I wanted to project power and order people around at my every whim. I wanted to carry around a gun and obtain the money he did.
I was eager to learn with Nile. To go on our outings where he would condition me to be the perfect soldier. I was ready to be more.
I just didn’t know what more truly meant.
It took the small town of Grove, Oklahoma to change my life. It took the kindness of Missy Crane to change my heart.
I was yanked out of the smog and thrust into a world of brilliant light. Of singing birds and rustling wind. Of two thousand-pound horses that taught me more about being human than any actual being in my past. I was introduced to a love so intense and all consuming, that it snuffed out everything else.
How naïve we are. We have tunnel vision. We walk through life, our eyes focused straight ahead. Heaven forbid we turn our gaze elsewhere. I didn’t have the choice about changing scenery. And I know that if God hadn’t placed me into the care of the Cranes, I would be my father.
“Write it down,” a soft voice whispers in my ear, and I smile widely as arms wrap around my shoulders from behind. I lift my hands and place them atop her delicate ones, my silver ring glistening under the kitchen light.
“What?” I ask, though I know what she’s going to say. She says this every time I’m lost in my head.
“You have a story, Cameron Maddox Steele. A story that should be told,” Adelaide says. I drop hold of her left hand and tug her to the right, directing her to walk around to face me. She smiles softly, placing herself sideways in my lap. My arms wrap around her waist.
“Who would care to hear it, Addy-Mae?” I ask. Adelaide dramatically rolls her eyes and my heart does that thing it’s done since the day I met her…where it stumbles for a beat and then picks up at a heavy pace. I love her more each day.
Three weeks ago, I found a mole hidden in her hairline at the base of her skull while she slept. I placed a kiss to it and fell more in love.
Five days ago, I tickled Adelaide until her laugh turned into an atrocious, hideous croak. I stored that sound into my memory to have forever. And I fell more in love.
Yesterday, when I came inside to share lunch with Adelaide, I found her dancing with Cooper. His paws were in her hands and her hair was in a miserable updo. She had flour caked on her left thigh and I believe a piece of broccoli in the neckline of her shirt. I swooped in and gathered my messy wife into my arms. And I fell more in love.
At our wedding, she had her father, Detective Xavier Gonzales, walk her down the aisle. Adam met them at the end and proceeded to give Adelaide away, for she felt it was Adam’s right. But she has given her father the opportunity to be in our lives. Her heart is so big. And that day, I fell more in love.
“I would. Missy would. Sally from down the street. Sadiq from Asia. Sofia from Germany. Thomas from Australia. Honestly, anyone would love to hear your story. It’s a beautiful story.” I look at my wife and slowly nod.
“I’ll think about it.” I will. I can deny my wife nothing. I’m beginning to think she’s picking up on that too.
A few days ago, Adelaide begged me to go see a romantic movie with her in the theater. We had made a predetermined deal that if I am to see a romantic movie with her, it would have to be in the privacy of our own home.
Yet I found myself sitting in the fifth row, middle seat with the love of my life on my right. And darn it, I couldn’t find a care in the world. The smile on her face lasted the whole movie. She held my hand through the two hours. And again, during the duration of the film, I fell more in love.
I paid no mind to the characters on the screen. Our love story trumps all others.
Crap. I grit my teeth and squint at my wife. She just beams at me because she knows. She knows that I agree. But it’s not my story. It’s ours.
“Come on. We have chores to do.” I smack a loud kiss on her lips, causing her to giggle as she hops off my lap and quickly finishes getting ready.
Adelaide and I live in my old house, just down the street from the Cranes. We have been married for four months now and I honestly couldn’t be happier. Seeing her experience new things, though they are fewer now, fills my life with so much joy. She is so happy, even when the experiences are bad.
She was glad to be skunked. I didn’t think that was possible. And heaven knows, I loved my wife all the more as she gleefully ran into my arms smelling like rotten eggs and carcass. She was excited to take a tomato bath…
Didn’t she know I would have gladly given her a tomato bath, that we didn’t need to experience the skunk part of it?
We walk the short distance to the ranch, Cooper trotting leisurely beside us. The trusted dog is growing old and I see the sadness in Adelaide’s eyes as she gazes at our dog. She knows what’s to come. I dread the day she’ll have to say goodbye to him.
That dog, along with Serendipity and Phoenix, was our bridge to one another. I felt Adelaide with every fiber of my being while I was gone. But Adelaide needed a little more. The three animals kept me close over that year.
I smile when we walk down the driveway and Adelaide squeals. “They’re back!” she cheers, gripping my arm tightly. I tilt my head down at her the same moment she rises to place a kiss on my lips.
“Go. I’ll saddle the horses.” I swat her butt, earning another squeal as she sprints into the house.
Kristy got married. The thought blows my mind and ignites every overprotective brother instinct in me. But Scott is a good man. I knew from the beginning that they were a forever sort of deal. I just didn’t think Kristy would be so young.
Adelaide didn’t hesitate to tell me that Kristy is only a few months younger than her. I grimaced at that. I often forget the age gap between us, because I don’t look at Adelaide as any age. She’s mature with just the perfect amount of child-like innocence. She’s my mate in everything and the seven-year gap doesn’t mean anything.
So if Adelaide can get married at the age of twenty-one, then so can Kristy…I guess.
I head into the barn, pulling out Serendipity to tend to her first, since she’s more patient than her eager son. The two are practically identical. The only selling factor is that Phoenix is a beast. He’s much taller and stronger than his mother.
The wound to my leg has left me with a limp. I’m able to ride at a stress-free level. I’m no longer able to break horses, though that’s a task I admired doing. I am able to walk, and sometimes canter for short periods of time. I’m not complaining. I’m happy to be able to be up on a horse at all.
I place a kiss on Serendipity’s snout and leave her tied as I move on to Phoenix. I am in the middle of tacking him up when Adelaide joins me. She kisses my cheek before helping me finish. “How are they?” I ask.
“Great. They said they enjoyed their honeymoon,” Adelaide says. I look at her, my head tilting.
I wish to give Adelaide the world. But one thing we don’t obtain is the money I had dreamed of as a kid. While we did go on a small trip to Florida, it wasn’t a cruise to the Caribbean. I worry she’ll be envious.
“We’ll go one day. I promise,” I tell her. Adelaide looks over at me and her eyebrows raise.
“Will we?” she asks, and I can tell by her tone that she was trying to be funny, but it still strikes me in the chest. I don’t make promises I don’t intend to keep.
Before I can address her comment, she fixes the hat atop my head and offers me her beautiful smile. “Let’s go, cowboy. We have a day’s worth of chores, but I wish to enjoy a ride with my husband beforehand.”
Chills run down my spine every time she calls me by that title. I still can’t believe, against all the odds, that I married Adelaide Mae Crane.
Now, Adelaide Mae Steele. My sweet Addy-Mae.
Adelaide follows me out of the barn where we mount the horses. We walk side by side, Cooper leading the way. I look over at my blonde-haired beauty and grab her hand. Her fingers easily interlock with my own and they rest on her thigh. Her thumb subconsciously rubs against the back of my hand.
I look around the beautiful land as our horses walk at a leisurely pace. This is perfection. This is God’s creation. This is the beauty of the world that was almost snuffed out by all the ugliness my family enveloped me in. To think that there are so many people who are missing out, living fast paced lives and letting the world pass right by them. People who aren’t stopping and enjoying every little facet. Sure, not everything is beautiful. But you need to be exposed to the bad to be able to appreciate the good.
Adelaide and I stop at our usual spot, a hill that overlooks the property. With her hand still in mine, I squeeze it to gain her attention. Though it’s hard, she drags her eyes away from the ranch and looks at me, a contented smile on her face.
“Adelaide, I want you to know that when I promise you something, I intend to keep it. If you truly want to go on a cruise to the Caribbean, I will save every penny to make that happen. Don’t doubt what I will do for you,” I tell her, trying to hide the hurt of her doubt.
Adelaide’s eyes widen before she drops my hand and dismounts. She pulls Phoenix’s reins over his head and leads him to a tree, tying him to a low hanging branch. I do the same with Serendipity. “Maddox, that was not what I meant.” Adelaide grabs my hand and pulls me close, a few steps away from the horses. Her gaze is downcast and the fact that she can’t meet my eyes bothers me.
I hook a finger under her chin and tilt her head back, demanding her eyes. When I see them, I’m met with uncertainty. My heart races, worried with what thoughts are brewing inside her head.
“I wanted to wait until tonight. I had it all planned out. I was going to make us lasagna…it was the first meal we ever shared together. I wanted it to be special.” She pauses and my eyebrows come together. She wanted what to be special? Did I miss something? It’s not an anniversary…or a birthday. “But I can’t have you worry that I doubt you. Or that I want to go on a cruise. Because our money can’t go toward that. We have to worry about buying a crib and a stroller and a car seat. Oh my gosh. We need a baby-friendly car. There’s no way I’m putting my baby in the back of a two-door truck!” Adelaide’s tone becomes panicked at the end and the instinct in me tells me to calm her down, to comfort her.
I wrap her up in my arms and softly tell her of my love for her. That everything is going to be okay. As I’m doing this, I go over her words. Car seat? Stroller? Crib?
“We’re having a baby?” I ask, stepping back to look down at Adelaide. Her eyes are wide and watery with tears.
“I know it’s early. We’ve been married for a minute. But we never took any actions to prevent this from happening. We’ve spoken about a family…I’m glad, Maddox.” Adelaide places a hand on her stomach and I think the goofiest of smiles crosses my face as I drop my forehead against hers.
“Adelaide Steele. We’re going to be parents! This is incredible. I already have so many names in mind. I was thinking Elena for a girl. Your mother is a woman to acknowledge. For a boy, I was thinking Asher.”
Adelaide giggles, leaning back to look up at me with wonder. “Asher?” she asks.
I cup her beautiful face in my hands and look at her. “Asher means blessing. Happiness. You have given me both. More than I can begin to express. More than any story written can express. If we have a son, think of all the happiness you’ll give him. He will be my blessing. Mine to love and cherish. Ours.”
Adelaide nods her head, in agreement.
The young boy I once was would have scoffed at the man I am today. He would have thought I was weak and pathetic. Truth is, I have never been stronger than I am now, with a scarred face and a limp to my gait.
I’m glad I didn’t become the man I dreamed. Instead, I became the man God intended. The man created to love and provide for my growing family.
I am truly blessed.