More Than a Soldier

Chapter 53 - Adoption Day!

Scarlett's POV:

Y/n and I have been back from our honeymoon for three days now. With neither of us working, we're still in our little bubble, but it's expanded to include Ava. Especially considering we're going to complete the adoption this week. We're all very excited and I can't wait to officially and legally call Ava my daughter.

We called Sophie and Lizzie when we were home and told them that we had a surprise for them. We just instructed them to wear something nice and that we would be picking them up at 10am on Thursday. They were both confused but agreed. Sophie was far better in accepting the lack of information. Lizzie on the other hand has been messaging me every day to get any sort of information from us on what is going on. She has always hated not being in on the know.

We're taking Ava out of school for the day as there was no way around doing it without it clashing with her school. But she only has a couple of weeks left before the summer break so she's not missing too much.

I can't believe how quickly this time has gone. Last summer, Y/n was in Afghanistan and Ava was coming out to join me in Atlanta. Now we're married and I'm about to finalise Ava's adoption. We've come so far in the last twelve months and I'm so proud of us as a family. They've not been easy, but we've been there for each other and come out the other side.

We'll be facing new challenges over the next year though. Y/n will be starting work with Alan in June. She'll be shadowing him at the studio a couple of days a week, which she's really looking forward to. She's also starting to work on the new café with Sophie and they're planning to start their search for a location in the next week or so. It's all change for Y/n but I'm excited to see where she goes next. I always knew she was going to thrive after she left the army, but now I get to witness it and I'm excited for that.

For me, I'm heading to the Czech Republic to start filming Jojo Rabbit in the first week of June. I'll be gone for about 8 weeks and I'm a mix of dread and excitement. I really don't want to be away from Y/n and Ava for so long, but then I really can't wait to work on this film. It's different to anything I've done before, and I really think it's going to be a special film.

I love my job and I need to find that balance again now that I have my family. Especially considering we're hoping to expand it. It's part of the reason I've been looking to start a skin care line. It's been something I've been interested in for a while, but it would mean that I can stay local to here and be around with Y/n and Ava whilst we go through, hopefully, having another child. But that's all in the future and not a certain thing until we talk to Ava. She may not want to have a sibling, and ultimately, we're not going to do anything that makes her unhappy.

When Thursday comes, we're all excitedly getting ready for our day. We picked out our outfits last night and we're all matching slightly. Y/n is wearing a blue jumpsuit, whilst Ava and I are both wearing blue dresses. We look so adorable. Like one true family.

Our parents going to be waiting for us after we're done at the courthouse. We're then going for a big family lunch all together. Robert has booked a room at the local Italian that we go to quite often. It'll be the perfect way to celebrate, all of us together. The only disappointment is that Hunter can't be with us as he couldn't get back to LA. But he's working so hard and I'm incredibly proud of everything that he's doing. I know he'll be there in spirit.

When we're all ready, we get into the car and make our way to pick up Lizzie first. When we pull up to her house, she's waiting by the door, chatting with Robbie. As soon as she sees the car, she gives Robbie a quick kiss and rushes over to us. Leaving Robbie chuckling to himself at her excitement.

She practically throws the door open and jumps in the back with Ava. "Hi everyone!" She greets us cheerily. "Hi Lizzie." We respond in chorus. "You are all looking so smart! Are you finally going to tell me what this is all about?" She asks us, but we all shake our heads. "Not yet Auntie Lizzie." Ava smiles, which only makes Lizzie huff.