More Than a Soldier

Chapter 47 - Together as One Family

Y/n's POV:

There is a part of me that doesn't want to return home today. I love the bubble that Scarlett and I are in right now. Though I have to remember that we're going on our honeymoon in a few days, and we'll get to recreate it. With late check out, we managed to get a few hours sleep, and still make the most of waking up to our first morning together as wives. I think I worshiped every inch of Scarlett's body last night, and I hope she could feel how much love I was trying to share.

After a late lunch and a quick nap, we checked out and made our way home. On the journey back in the cab, I got a little excited about seeing Ava. We've got a couple of days with her before we head off to Hawaii and I can't wait to have some family time all together.

When we get home, I see my parents' car on the drive. "I'm pretty sure your parents get separation anxiety from you." Scarlett jokes as I take our bag and dresses out the boot of the taxi. "Let's face it, they're here for the kid. Not me." I retort, making her laugh.

The front door opens before we have a chance to reach it and our mums are rushing out to take the dress bags from us, muttering about hanging them up straight away. "Hi mum!" I call after her as her and Melanie rush off upstairs. "They know we're getting them cleaned first, right?" Scarlett questions as we reach the doorway. "Oh, wait. Stop." I say, quickly putting my hand on Scarlett's arm to stop her going any further. "What's wrong?" She asks, turning to give me a concerned look. "I need to carry you over the threshold." I smile and she rolls her eyes at me. "Such a goof." She mumbles but walks towards me anyway.

She wraps her arms around my neck and smiles. I get lost in her eyes, my favourite eyes, for a moment. "Come on then." She nudges me. "Oh right. Sorry." I blush, bending down and picking her up bridal smile. "Welcome home my beautiful wife." I say to her as I walk us through the door. "Thanks babe. This is officially our marital home." She smiles widely, leaning in for a quick kiss. One that I can't deepen when we're interrupted. "Aw, isn't this cute." I hear my dad sarcastically coo. "Don't ruin their moment." Mum scolds him quickly and I laugh when I hear her hand make contact with his arm.

"Mummy! Mama!" Our gaze moves to the source of the padded feet on the wooden floors. I think both of our smiles grow impossibly wide as our daughter runs into the hallway. I place Scarlett down on her feet and we both bend down to catch her in a group hug. "Did you have a nice time?" She asks but before we can answer, my wise ass father speaks up once again. "With how tired they look, they had a great time." He chuckles to himself. I glare at him, along with Scarlett and I'm pretty sure that I hear him gulp.

"Ok, you're done now. Leave them alone." Mum tells him off once again and tugs him into the living room. I pick Ava up and give her my full attention. "Yes bug. We had a lovely time. Thank you for asking." I respond, which makes Ava happy. After having a cuddle with her, I pass her over to Scarlett to get her Ava snuggles and head towards the kitchen, chatting with Melanie.

"I was thinking that we could order in some Thai food for dinner tonight. Family night in?" I suggest to her as we move around the kitchen making drinks for everyone. "Yes please!" Hunter chimes in from nowhere, giving me a heart attack. "Jeeze! Where did you come from?" I ask him. "I was in the basement." He shrugs and grabs an apple and returns back downstairs.

Scarlett joins us in the kitchen and helps us to carry the drinks through to everyone in the lounge. As I'm walking in with my own drink, I'm stopped by a little hand on my leg. "Mummy, can I talk to you?" She asks with an almost sad look. It makes me worry instantly. "Of course, bug. Do you want mama as well?" I return but she shakes her head. I look up to Scarlett who's concerned look mirrors my own.

I take Ava's hand and lead her upstairs to our room. I sit on the bed and allow her the time to find the words for whatever she needs to talk about. "I'm sad." She admits and I feel a harsh tug at my heart. "Why are you sad bug?" I ask, taking her hand in mine. She thinks for a moment, and I can tell she's trying to find the right words. "I know I call mama, mama, but she's not actually my mum." She says which makes me frown. "Bug, that's not right at all. She is your mum. She loves you so much and sees you as her daughter." I try to reassure her, but she shakes her head and I see tears build in her eyes.

I can tell she's getting frustrated as she's unable to communicate her feelings properly. "No, that's not what I meant." She sighs. "That's ok bug. Take you time." I smile, moving her so she's in my lap, allowing me to comfort her. "You're a Johansson now." She almost whispers and I know what she's trying to say. I adjust so I can look at her. "Well, technically I'm not at the moment. We haven't legally changed my name yet." I explain which I think confuses her more. "When you get married, your name doesn't change automatically. You have to get it legally changed. So although people called us Mrs and Mrs Johansson yesterday, I'm still a Y/l/n until I get it changed." I explain further which seems to help.

There's a moment of silence and I decided to talk more. "We never wanted you to feel like you were pressurised into Scarlett being your second mum. Scarlett wants nothing more than to be your mother legally. But she is also happy to wait until you are comfortable with that." I try to reassure her as much as I can. "I want that too." She smiles up at me. "I want her to adopt me like Grandma and Grandpa did with you." She admits and my heart sores to hear that. "I think that would make her really happy. It certainly makes me happy knowing that you want that." I tell her excitedly.

"Can you help me?" She asks and I nod enthusiastically. "Definitely, I can try and get something sorted before we go away if you'd like. Then we can change our names together when we're back." I suggest and Ava's eyes go wide. "Yes! We can all become Johansson together!" She squeals, launching herself at me. "Ok bug. I'll work on that whilst you think about asking Mama ok." I say and she nods, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the bedroom door, our conversation clearly over.

When we rejoin everyone, Ava goes straight to Scarlett and snuggles into her, and I can see that it instantly provides Scarlett with some relief. I sit next to them and wrap my arm around my wife and place a kiss against her temple. She looks up at me and I smile. "She was just worried about us going away for so long." I lie to her to help put her mind at ease. Thankfully, she doesn't push further.

During the rest of the evening, I think about how I can go about getting this turned around in a couple of days. It would be great if we can get this done before we go away. It would put my mind at ease, knowing that Ava is feeling better about it all.

After we eat dinner together, I sneakily get dad on his own and ask him if he could put me in contact with Roger, his lawyer, to help me get some papers drawn up. He gets super excited and calls him right then and there so he can get started as soon as possible.

Just as we finish talking, Scarlett walks in and tilts her head at us in confusion. "What's going on here?" She asks and I panic, not knowing what to say. Looking at dad, he's no help either. "We uh. Dad was um, He offered us his jet to get to Hawaii." I rush out, looking at dad apologetically. "Yes. I wanted the two of you to have a perfect start to your honeymoon." He says far more calmly than me. "Wow, really. Thanks Robert. That's very kind of you." She says, snaking her arm around my hip. "I just came to tell you that Ava is getting ready for bed." She explains and I nod. "I'll meet you up there." I reply and she nods, leaving me with a kiss before heading upstairs.

I quickly spin around to dad. "I'm so sorry!" I apologise quickly. "I just panicked and..." Before I could ramble, he holds his hand up to me. "I actually was going to offer it to you, so you're lucky there. I was going to surprise you both about it on the day. But at least now you know!" He explains. I quickly pull him into a hug. "Thanks dad! I can't thank you enough." I mumble into him as he holds me close. "Just make sure they wash the sheets once you're back." He teases with a scrunched up face. "Gross." I mumble, pushing him away. "You ruined a perfectly sweet moment." I roll my eyes and head off to find my family.

Scarlett's POV:

I never thought I could feel happier than I did when Y/n agreed to marry me. Coming home as her wife, is a feeling I never thought I would feel. I know I've been married before, but nothing has ever felt like this. It's magical and feels completely normal, all in one.

I can't wait for us to head off on our honeymoon and really celebrate our marriage. I know it's going to be the most perfect 10 days. The house we have is beautiful and I can't wait to spend time with just the two of us. Though I am cherishing this time together as a family before I go.

My parents are going to stay a little longer to look after Ava whilst we're away. She is super excited for that. I think it's because she knows she is going to be absolutely spoilt by them. It's one of my favourite things to watch them dote on her and hearing her call them Nana and Papa.

The only thing I can't get out of my head is why Ava wanted to talk with Y/n privately. She seemed almost upset when she asked to talk, but when they both came out, she had a big smile on her face and came straight to me for a hug. So she can't be mad at me. Y/n did say she was just worried about us going away, but why couldn't she talk to both of us about that. Maybe she doesn't feel comfortable talking about feeling sad with me. Which in turn makes me feel sad.

But I trust Y/n and I know that she would tell me if there was something wrong. I also don't want to push and make Y/n break her trust with Ava. That just isn't fair on anyone. It still doesn't stop the uneasy feeling I have in my stomach.

Tomorrow is the day we leave for our honeymoon and I'm getting really excited. Y/n and I spent the morning packing everything that we would need. It's basically bikinis and summer wear. Though I know we both snuck some extras in, that if our bags get checked will mortify the both of us. Hopefully, flying private will help with that.

Once we were packed, we had lunch with Ava before I went out with Hunter in the afternoon. He practically begged me to spend time with him as he won't be here when we get back. He's heading to Puerto Rico in a couple of days, so I won't see him until he's back. Which made agreeing spending some time with him easy, although I was hoping to make the most of the time with Ava. She, however, was quick to encourage me to head out. Which made me feel less guilty about it.

When I returned home, I was grateful to get an evening with my family. Mom and Dad were going to dinner with Hunter to give us some time together. Which I thought was nice of them. After taking my shoes off, I stop abruptly when I notice that the house has been decorated.

All over the walls are hundreds of photos of Ava and me. There are ones from the first time they visited set nearly three years ago. I can't believe how young she looks there. She's grown up so much. I take my time in looking at each of the photos. There are some with Y/n in too dotted around. But the majority of them are just of the two of us.

I find myself getting teared up as I slowly walk through the house taking in each of the photos. This must have taken ages to put all of these up. As Ava gets older in the photos, I get closer to the living room. Again, I stop suddenly when I see Ava stood in a pretty dress looking anxious. Through my teary eyes, I notice that Y/n is stood off to the side, watching on with the biggest smile.

Ava is too busy staring at her feet to notice me. But it gives me time to see the biggest picture in a frame on the table. It's from the wedding. Dad took it of the three of us. It was our first official family photo. That's what Ava called it. I slowly get closer to Ava not wanting to startle her. "What's all this my little widow?" I ask kneeling down, so I was at her height.

As soon as her eyes land on me, a big grin grows on her face. In this moment, I notice how similar she looks to Y/n when she's happy. It's pure joy and I love seeing her like this. Before she says anything, she launches herself at me into a big hug. She almost knocks me off balance, but I'm able to hold the both of us up. My eyes landing on Y/n when I hear her chuckling quietly to herself.

I return my focus to Ava who is now pulling me back towards the coffee table where the framed photo sits. "Mama, when we took this photo, we said it was our first as a proper family." She starts and I nod, taking the frame in my hand to admire it closer. "It's one of my favourites, we all look so happy." I tell her before turning my gaze and attention back to her. "But that's not really true." She says and I'm sure for a split second my heart cracked.

"Yes, you and mummy had gotten married, but nothing had really changed for us." She shrugs, her eyes falling to her hands, which were fiddling with each other. I go to speak, to tell her that for me everything changed that day, but I can sense she has more to say, and I don't want to push her or talk over her. Instead, I take her hands in mine and cup her face gently.

When she looks at me, I give her a small nod to encourage her to go on. "You've been my mama for so long. Even before I called you it. You have always taken care of me and treated me like I was your own. Probably before even you and mummy were together." She shares her thoughts, making me smile to know that's how she felt. All that time I was worried she didn't see me like her mom because she hadn't bestowed the title of mama on me yet. But she did see me as one.

"I know that your wedding was all about you and mummy. You were showing us all how much you love each other. But I wanted to give you something for just us." She tells me. Whilst I'm confused, she reaches behind her and grabs a wrapped present and hands it over to me. "Ava, this is lovely, but you didn't have to get me anything." I tell her, carefully taking the present from her. "Open it." She tells me sassily. "Ok bossy." I tease, poking my tongue out at her making her laugh.

I take the wrapping paper off and see a white box. I scrunch my face up, still completely confused, maybe it's another photo? I lift the lid and instantly drop it, my hands flying to my mouth when I see what's in the box. "Application for adoption." I read at a whisper. Tears are already falling from my eyes as I read the papers and look to Ava. "You want me to adopt you?" I ask her. "Yeah! I want you to be my legal mama and I want to be a Johansson too!" She tells me excitedly.

I have wanted this for so long. I mean I've felt like her mother for a while now, but I wanted to adopt her, so she was actually mine too. That no one could ever question her being my daughter. Whilst my mind is racing, I realise I've not answered Ava and her face is slowly dropping. "It's ok if you don't want to do it legally." She mumbles, her whole body deflating.

I quickly jump up and pull her into me, standing her up and spinning her around. "There is nothing I want more in the world!" I tell her through an excited squeal. She starts to giggle as I pepper kisses on her face. "It would make me so happy to adopt you. Even happier to have you be Ava Johansson." I tell her which makes her smile wider. If that's possible.

"You're going to be my proper mama?" She clarifies, cupping my face with her little hands. "Yes!" I reply easily, leaning forward to place a kiss against her head. "I love you so much my Little Widow. I will always love you no matter what." I express, more tears starting fall as she hugs me tightly.

She then reaches out and waves her hand at Y/n. "Family hug!" She orders, making Y/n laugh. She pushes off the wall she was resting against and wraps her strong arms round the both of us. "My perfect family." She says, placing a kiss to both of our heads. "This was perfect." I tell them both as we move to the sofa to continue the family snuggle. "It was all Ava's idea." Y/n informs me. Then it all clicks.

"That was what you wanted to talk about when we got home." I realise and Ava nods. "She was sad that I was a Johansson, and she wasn't. She told me that she wanted you to me her proper mama. So, we made it happen." Y/n explains as Ava nods along. "Me and mummy are going to get our names changes on the same day when you're back from your honeymoon." Ava informs me excited. "Wow, really that quick?" I ask and Y/n nods.

"I spoke with Dad's lawyer, Roger. He helped me get the papers drawn up so quickly. Because I agree to is and Ava is happy, we don't need to go in front of a judge. Though we do have to go to the courthouse to get it officially completed. We just need to get the papers witnessed and signed. It just can't be someone that is related to either of us legally." Y/n explains. They really have thought this all through.

"We thought that Auntie Lizzie and Auntie Sophie could witness it." Ava now takes over, grabbing my hand, enjoying the close comfort I'm giving her. "I think they would love that." I agree. "Our plan is to not tell them and just take them to the courthouse with us, so they find out on the day." Y/n shares their idea. "Oh God, they're going to cry so much." I laugh. "Let's not lie. The two of us will be the worst for that." Y/n teases, reaching over to wipe a stray tear. "Ok, fair point." I chuckle.

"Can we have a movie night?" Ava asks with her puppy dog eyes. "Of course! Why don't you go and get into your pyjamas." I suggest and before we know it, Ava has jumped off and is rushing upstairs to get changed. "Thank you." Y/n's voice takes me by surprise. I turn to see her staring at me lovingly. "For what?" I question, not sure what she means. "For being the mother that she deserves. For stepping up and loving both of us with everything you have. I genuinely don't think I'll ever be able to tell you how much this all means to me." She shares with me honestly.

The words take me by surprise. It's all I've ever wanted is to give Y/n and Ava everything they deserve, for us to be a happy family. "I think I should be the one to thank you. You've allowed me to be a part of Ava's life even though others haven't been kind to you in the past. You've allowed me to love her and be that parent I've desperately wanted to be. She is the perfect daughter, and I can't wait to have you both be my Johansson girls." I respond, moving closer to her so I can hold her close.

I cup her face with my hand and rub my thumb over her cheekbone, our teary eyes locked on each other. "It's the start of our new lives together." Y/n mumbles, before connecting our lips in a loving kiss. It's full of passion and love that we want to share with one another. Resting my head against hers I take in this moment. "Together as one family."