You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me

Chapter 31

"I now pronounce you, man and wife. You may kiss your bride!"

Dean kissed Chrissy on the lips and whispered, "Finally..."

And in the true fashion of their love story, the celebration following the wedding was a simple and sweet gathering at Guy and Angela's home. Everyone was overjoyed.

Christmas came and went quickly, sending the entire Martin family back to California.

When they returned, there were some orders of business that Dean needed to attend to. Finally, in late February, he got around to the first one which was Jamie. Dean wanted to talk man to man to Jamie to see if he wanted to be legally adopted.

Similar to Frank, he took Jamie out for dinner,  just the two of them. He wasn't going to dance around. Jamie was a young teen now. He could make his own decisions. Dean would shoot it straight with him.

They entered the diner and sat down. The start of the meal was filled with easy topics: sports, music, movies. Then Dean cleared his throat, "Listen, Jamie... I took you out tonight for a reason. Now, I know you were in the same boat a few years back and it was all sweet and cutesy bullshit. Don't tell your mother I said bullshit. But Frank asked you if you wanted his last name right?"

"Right."

"Well, it's more than a name, sport. So I'm offering to legally adopt you as my son, and here's why," Dean pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. He cleared his throat, "1. I've loved you like my own since I first held you.  2. Everyone else in the house is a Martin. 3. When I die someday, I want you to inherit some of what I've worked for. And the money hungry whores will have less to say about it if you're my son... Don't tell your mother I said whores either."

Jamie laughed.

"And 4.... Well, I couldn't get the words on paper, but it would mean a hell of a lot to me. You mean a hell of a lot to me, Jamie. It's okay if you don't want to, but I just want you to know it's not because I married your Momma or feel bad for you or something. I love you, sport."

Jamie was overcome with emotion, but tried to hide it since he was a man now.

"I don't need an immediate answer. Think about it and talk to your Momma."

"I will. Thank you for everything."

"Of course, sport. Now, how about a chocolate milkshake?"

That evening, Chrissy sat on the edge of Jamie's bed as he explained the conversation. Chrissy felt tears spring to her eyes. "You are a smart young man capable of deciding what you want. The choice is yours."

"Momma, can I ask a slightly inappropriate question?"

Chrissy nodded.

"Will you stay married to Uncle Dino? I'm sorry if that's mean. I know grown up things happened with you and Frank, but I don't want Uncle Dino to adopt me if..."

"This is it, Jamie. Uncle Dino is it for me. It's okay to ask that. You know, in all the chaos of Frank and I breaking up and losing Rosie, I don't know that I ever stopped to make sure you were okay. I'm sorry for that."

"Frank checked in on me all the time. He told me he'd check in because you were dealing with a lot. Don't get me wrong, I was sad that you and Frank got divorced, but he said we can still be pals and that's been good. The thing that stunk the most at the time was the baby dying. I guess I was looking forward to being a big brother more than I realized."

Chrissy was listening to all of it, but he stunned her when he said that Frank had been checking on him all the time. "I love you, Jamie. You're a wonderful young man and the best son in the whole world."

"Thanks, but I've got the best Momma in the world so it's easy."

"Love you, Jamie. I'll give you some time to think."

"I love you, Momma."

She left his room and ran straight into Dean, "Ah!" She squealed, startled by him.

"You're so jumpy," he laughed, "How's he doing?"

"Good, maybe a little overwhelmed. I think something he dreamed about all of his life is coming true and he just needs to process that."

Dean nodded, "Let's go to bed. I've been meaning to talk with you about something."

Dean grabbed her hand and led her into their bedroom.

"So," he said quietly, "I've done a lot of thinking about this, and for your health, I don't think you and I should try for a baby. I just worry. If something happened to you... I couldn't face Jamie and I couldn't live with myself."

Chrissy felt her heart sink, "Yeah, that makes sense." She couldn't bring herself to tell him what she needed to. "Hey, I'm wiped. Can we talk tomorrow sometime?"

"Sure," he replied gently. "You okay?"

"Mmhmm. Love you." She quickly got in bed.

"You and Frank meeting up tomorrow?" Dean referred to a tradition of sorts that began between Frank and Chrissy. On the twentieth of every month, they met and had a drink to remember their angel, Rosie.

"Mmhmm."

"That's good. You sure you're alright? We can talk about the baby thing... I was just..."

"I'm just tired. Goodnight, sweetheart," Chrissy whispered.

The next evening, Chrissy was picked up by Frank. Then they went to their usual spot. Frank began to order, and then looked at Chrissy, "Your usual?"

"No, I'll just have and iced tea. Thanks."

When the waitress left, Frank raised an eyebrow, "I'm drinking alone today?"

"I can't drink," she whispered as a sob escaped her lips.

"Chris," he grabbed her hand, "Are you?"

She nodded and continued to try to mask her tears, "Dean doesn't know. He said he didn't think we should try before I could tell him that it already happened."

"Is everything healthy?"

"So far. I'm only eight weeks."

Frank's blue eyes were filling with tears. "It's going to be okay. Dean will be happy. He's just worried about you."

"Oh, Frank... I can't lose him too. I didn't want it to happen either. We were careful."

"Why didn't you want it to happen?"

"Because if something bad happens, it will drive us apart. If Rosie hadn't died, we would still be together, wouldn't we?"

"Maybe, but I've told you this before, you deserve someone who was going to treat you better than me. Rosie came into and left our lives for a reason. You and Dino will be alright."

"Thank you."

"Anytime."

They carried on pleasant conversation for the rest of their meeting. When Frank dropped Chrissy back at her house, he gave her a smile, "Go give Dad the good news."

When Chrissy entered the house, Dino nearly swept her off her feet,  "I'm going to be on Hollywood Palace! If they like me, NBC might give me a whole show!"

Chrissy smiled and kissed his cheek, "Congratulations!"

"We should pop some champagne or something!" He smooched his wife again.

"Before we do, can I tell you something?"