Twenty-five-year-old Travis Mabrey walks into Glory’s Place at seven, wearing jeans, a flannel shirt, and Carhartt jacket. Travis works for the Grandon Parks and Recreation Department and his job brought Lauren into his life one year ago this month. On the evenings that she closes, he arrives to help clean as she gets the last of the children loaded into cars. Travis spends his days keeping ball fields in shape and city parks looking beautiful, so he doesn’t mind sweeping and mopping floors; sanitizing tables, toys, and games; emptying trash cans; or cleaning windows at Glory’s Place. He enjoys the children and when he and Lauren are finished, they are always hungry and ready for dinner.
“Hi, Mr. T.,” Maddie says, waving as he comes in the door.
“Maddie!” Travis says, giving her a high five. “How’s school?”
“Good! I rocked a Florence Nightingale presentation today.”
Travis looks impressed. “Awesome!” He catches Lauren’s eye and smiles. “Hi, babe!” She rolls her eyes, embarrassed.
“We all know he’s your boyfriend,” Maddie says, making the remaining three children laugh.
“Yeah,” says Marcus, a ten-year-old with shaggy brown hair and a toothy smile. “We all know that you kiss each other when we’re not around.” The children begin to giggle as Lauren covers her ears.
“You looooove each other,” Brianna says, her bright red hair bouncing in pigtails on each side of her head.
“Hey!” Maddie says, her hand on her hip. “You two should get married!”
Travis opens his mouth, pretending to be shocked, as the children begin to howl with laughter.
“Yeah,” Brianna says. “When are you going to get married?”
“She doesn’t have to get married,” Luke says, running to stand near Lauren. “Maybe she wants to be with us instead.” Lauren smiles, putting her hand on his shoulder and pulling him to her.
Travis nods, thinking. “I’m pretty sure that if she married somebody, she would still want to be with you.”
Luke looks up at her. “Is that true?”
Lauren smiles. “Absolutely! What could ever tear me away from you guys?”
“A honeymoon,” Travis says, grinning.
“She can’t go on a honeymoon!” Marcus says, taking his place next to Lauren. “What’s a honeymoon?”
Lauren bends over, laughing. “It’s like a vacation that a newlywed couple goes on together.”
“Just the two people together?” Luke asks. Lauren nods. Luke shakes his head. “Sounds boring. If you two get married, then you have to take us on your vacation with you.”
Travis laughs, picking chairs up off the floor and setting them on top of tables. “Apparently, you guys don’t know too much about honeymoons.”
“And you don’t know anything about Super Mario,” Brianna says.
Travis retrieves the large broom from the storage closet and begins sweeping the floor. “You got me there!” he says, winking at Lauren.
The children help straighten books and wipe off games with cleaning wipes. Lauren feels especially close to these four children who are the last to be picked up each day. Brianna’s mom pulls into the driveway, followed by Luke’s, and Lauren makes sure that they each have their jackets on before reaching for their backpacks. She hugs each child before sending him or her outside and notices Marcus’s grandmother sitting in her car at the streetlight.
“Marcus! Grab your jacket and backpack.” He races for his things and rushes for the door. She stops him, making sure his jacket is on. “See you tomorrow, handsome man.”
He points to Travis with his thumb. “You better not let him hear you calling me that.”
“I’m used to it!” Travis says, sweeping into a dustpan.
Lauren closes and locks the front door and watches as Maddie straightens the games on the shelves. She is always the last to be picked up. “So! Miss Denison seems great,” Lauren says, organizing a shelf.
Maddie nods. “I like her! I like everybody here.”
“Me too. I liked everybody at Glory’s Place so much that I decided to move to Grandon. They were like family to me.”
Maddie stops her work, looking at her. “Is that why you live with Miss Stacy and her family?”
“Yeah, it is. Stacy was the first person I met in Grandon, and because of her work here I got to meet Miss Glory and Miriam and Dalton and Heddy and all of you. After that, I just couldn’t go anywhere else. I had to live here.”
“But where’s your real family?”
Lauren smiles. “This is my real family.” She sits on the table. “If you mean where is the woman who gave birth to me or the man who is supposed to be my father, well, that’s a great question. The truth is, neither one of them was cut out for being a parent. My dad left early on and my mom actually spent time in jail. When she got out she knew she couldn’t raise me so I grew up in foster homes.”
Maddie’s face opens up. “I live in a foster home.”
Lauren’s eyes are full, seeing herself as a child in Maddie. She has wondered about Maddie’s background because she never mentions a mom or dad, but Lauren can tell that her foster mom takes exceptional care of her. “You know what I always wondered about?” Maddie shakes her head. “I wondered what my dad looked like. I mean, I knew I must have looked like him because I didn’t look like my mom. She had light skin and blondish-brown hair and I have dark skin and black hair. Of course I always wanted blond hair and light skin.”
“I love your skin and hair,” Maddie says, touching Lauren’s ponytail.
“I love it, too. I wish I had loved it when I was your age.”
Maddie is quiet, putting her hands in her lap. “I wonder what my mom and dad look like.”
Lauren crosses her arms, looking at her. “Well, they might have this beautiful hair,” she says, touching it. “Or maybe blue eyes, but all of it: the smile, the beautiful skin, the personality, the brains, all that is God’s own special recipe to make you you.”
“The cerebral palsy?”
“I know you don’t think that it makes you beautiful but it does.” Lauren bumps her forehead to Maddie’s. A car turns in to the driveway and Lauren uses a British accent to say, “Your ride is here, milady!” She helps Maddie with her jacket and carries her backpack outside, opening the back door of the car, looking at Linda, her foster mom, who often works late as a nurse. “She had a really good day!” Lauren says. She sets the backpack at Maddie’s feet. “See you tomorrow, beautiful!” She watches the car drive away and walks back into Glory’s Place, locking the door behind her. She turns to see that Travis is waiting for her and her eyes fill with tears.
He moves to her, pulling her close. “She’s one of your favorites, I know.”
Lauren nods, wiping her face. “I see me at that age, you know?”
He takes her by the hand, leading her to the beanbag chairs. He sits down and pulls her onto his lap. “But with a huge difference.” She looks at him. “You didn’t have a Lauren at that age. You didn’t have a Miss Glory or Glory’s Place or any of these people at that age.”
She rests her head on his chest and they sit in the quiet together. Lauren has always felt whole with Travis. She has never had to pretend to be anyone but herself with him. He is safe and kind and good, with simple tastes like hers.
“So what about it?” he asks, breaking into her thoughts.
“About what?”
“About what Maddie asked. When are we going to get married?”
She looks deflated. “We’ve talked about this. When we have money saved and we’re on our feet.”
He pushes her off his lap and stands. “We’re on our feet.”
She shakes her head, putting the broom and dustpan back into the closet. “You know what I mean. We need to save a lot more money if we want to get into a house.” She shuts the door and turns. “We need to…” She stops talking when she sees that Travis is down on one knee.
“We need to what? Love each other more? That’s not possible for me.” Her eyes fill with tears again. “I loved you the day I met you in this place. You know that.” Tears fall down her cheeks and she laughs. “If you’re saying that we have to have a certain amount of money in the bank before we get married then that’s never going to happen because life happens. But I don’t want it to keep happening without you. I don’t have a ring because I didn’t plan this but…” She laughs out loud, wiping her face with her hands. “Lauren Gabriel … will you marry me?”
She crumbles in front of him, laughing and kissing him. “Of course I will!”
“Will you go on a honeymoon with just me or do we have to take all these kids with us?”
She laughs out loud. “Just you.”