Lost & Found

The tale of a loved girl

With the wedding fast approaching, Emma and Aiden decided to find a bit of time to bring some normalcy back into their lives, taking the kids to the park for an afternoon. The last month had been non-stop wedding preparations and Emma knew they all needed a little break.

Patrick's parents had flown in from Pennsylvania to attend the wedding, so they were spending time with Lucy, which meant Emma and Aiden only had Haven and Jack with them at the park. Haven was running around the playground trying to do everything all at once it seemed. She found friends immediately and was happily playing with them.

At five-years-old, Haven was a bubbly extrovert who loved doting on her sister and brother - even if they annoyed her sometimes. Lucy was two-and-a-half and talking more and more each day, learning from her big sister, and developing a personality that sometimes seemed to be just as goofy as Patrick's was. Jack, at nearly a year old, was a happy baby, growing bigger each day. He looked more and more like his father, with green eyes and dimples in his chubby cheeks just like Aiden.

Emma and Aiden felt so blessed because of their children and were so happy to be permanently bringing their family together once they got married and adopted the girls.

"Soon you'll be Mrs. Hawthorne," Aiden cooed, leaning over to kiss Emma as he lay on a blanket in the grass with Jack on his chest.

"Mm," she hummed against his lips, laying next to him, periodically looking up to make sure Haven was still in view and safe.

Aiden pulled back to look at her through his sunglasses, seeming as though he was trying to read her mood.

"What?" She asked, knitting her eyebrows together in confusion.

"You're still okay with that?"

"With what?"

"Changing your last name to 'Hawthorne'," Aiden questioned, "Because I know—"

"Aiden, yes. Yes, I'm okay with it," she chuckled under her breath. She knew he was just nervous, but she felt like they had this conversation nearly every week leading up to the wedding.

When Emma first sat down to really think about what her name would be once she married Aiden, there were a lot of tears and a lot of indecision. She knew if she were to change her name to 'Hawthorne' it would completely wipe away Patrick's family name 'Gaunt'. She had a lot of feelings about that.

Even when marrying Patrick, she legally hyphenated her last name. Emma Rose Haines-Gaunt - though professionally only went by Gaunt. This time around, she decided to solely take Aiden's family name. Emma Rose Hawthorne. Not only would it be like she was wiping away Patrick's family name, but she would also be wiping away her father's family name.

On top of that, Aiden and Emma decided that on their wedding day, they would both be signing adoption papers. Aiden for Lucy and Emma for Haven. And they decided, as to make all of their last names the same, that they would shift Patrick's family name in Lucy's name, making it one of her middle names instead of her surname. She would, from that day on, go by Lucy Hawthorne - which was hard for Emma to process. Lucy Rose Gaunt Hawthorne. But it made sense. Uniform and consistent for all five of them.

Emma knew there would be a lot of tears on the day of their wedding, for many reasons, and it was hard to prepare for something like that. But she knew she would have Aiden to help her through it. He would be by her side, pledging his life to her, forever. As would she.

"Mama?"

Emma sat up immediately hearing Haven's voice. Haven calling her 'Mama' wasn't new, but it still pulled at Emma's heartstrings nearly every time. She called her 'Mama' and she referred to Scarlett as 'Mommy' when talking about her.