One in a Maximillion

Being a Mother

So, it's exactly what we ended up doing. We moved in with my grandparents, explaining the whole thing and they wanted to have a funeral for those in Arcadia. We came out to them as well, but they didn't care. They were accepting, and they were more concerned for the deaths of everyone in our town.
We had that funeral. It was long and depressing, but it was well needed, so we could grasp that they were gone. It was harder on Max than it was on me. She knew more people. She got to know them. It's hard to let go. I had a lot of friends but they were mainly all just connections to drugs or booze, and if we saw each other in public, we'd be cool. Like my buddy Justin.

It took years for both of us to fully grasp that they were gone. Sometimes, I'd wake up and call out for my mom, and have only Max walk in. She sometimes did the same thing, and it went around and around like a horse on a carousel. The same year we finally stopped having such a hard time with work, sleep, my drinking and drugs, and coping with all the deaths, we got married.
Max was wearing a beautiful long white dress, like most traditional brides. I wore a tux, because dresses weren't my style. I still remember watching her grandfather give her away with tears in his eyes, as she walked down the isle with grace, precision, and beauty. I stood at the alter, tears flowing down my face, and a smile keeping it all together. She was looking at me with the same look of love I was giving her, and stood right in front of me with a priest on my right. He said we had written our own vows, and it was true... for her. I took my vows directly from a movie we watched together.
'With this cup, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never be empty, for I will be your wine. With this candle, I will light your way in darkness. With this ring, I ask you to be mine.' I spoke my vows first and she knew where I was quoting them from.

She spoke next, 'Chloe. I've loved you since we met. I just didn't know it until a few years ago. If I could go back in time to the day we met, I'd tell myself to never let you go. My love for you is... unexplainable. It's remarkable. It's much better since you feel the same way.' Her vows moved me and that last part made me laugh. 'I just wanna spend the rest of my life with you. No matter how many times I have to hit repeat. I never want this song to end.' They reminded me of the good old days when our moms would sing us to sleep. Now, we're getting married, and we've moved in together.

It was a few years after our marriage that Max and I had a serious conversation. She wanted kids. Since we were lesbians, that wasn't gonna happen and we thought of other options. One, we adopt, or two, we get a donor. I didn't like the idea of someone else getting my wife pregnant, so we adopted. We adopted two kids: Kai and Jenna, and that kids, is how you came to be."

"Mom, you could have just skipped over most of the story and told us." Jenna, the older of the two, spoke up.

"Hey. You asked for the story." I spoke once more.

"Chloe! Stop being mean." Max had walked back in the room when I wasn't looking.

"Alright, kids. Who wants a demonstration?"

"Of what?" Kai asked. Boy, was he in for a treat.

"You'll see." I stood up from my seat, and walked over to Max who was already walking towards us. I stopped her, and grabbed her hand. I pressed myself to her, and let our lips hug.

"Oh, mom. Sick!" Jenna called out. At twenty five, I still got it.

Max was into it. Although, when we pulled away, she put her hand to the center of my chest, and gave me Nala eyes. "Let's stop now, before the kids throw up." I smiled, and walked towards the exit.

"Mom." Kai, being only four, spoke in a baby voice.

"Yeah, sweetheart?" I turned back to him, tucked in his bed.

"What's a-dop-ted mean?" He sounded out his words, and I dreaded the answer.

"Erm... Ask your mother."

"Chloe!" Max looked at me with confused face, because of the question I just threw on her.

I muttered back to her, "I'm not answering that."

"Kai, being adopted means... someone wanted to pick you out, and make you a part of their family." She explained to him, and Jenna was looking at us like it wasn't true. I gave her a look telling her to keep quiet because she knew what it meant.

"If you're done with your questions, we'll be going, and Kai you're going to bed. Come on, Jenna." She stood up, and came with us.

I was the last one out of the room, and went back to Kai at his bed and kissed his forehead so he went to bed with a smile. I walked back to the exit and shut off the light and closed the door, and Kai said, "Goodnight, mom."

I smiled at that and said, "Night, bud." I walked to Jenna's room, across the hall, and saw Max knelt over, talking to her. She stood up, and walked out, shutting off the light on the way, and closing the door. "Now, I've got you all to myself." I grabbed her hands.

"Yeah, you wanna take this to the bedroom?" She asked.

"You know it, Price."

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The story is finished, alas there is a puzzle hidden within the titles.
11313 is your only clue.