I'd done well in choosing Monique. While both cases had seemed daunting up front, she'd guided me through all of it with no issues. By the time Halloween arrived, I was a mother to Jashanna and divorced from Elliot.

Jashanna's mother was the easiest, as we set things up the next week on a Monday and did the call from my office to the bank where Monique's investigator was with the paperwork for Jashanna's mother to sign, and then we released the funds as soon as it was notarized and legal. A week later we'd finally dealt with the family court and Jashanna was my daughter.

We spent the next weekend painting her room, and then the furniture arrived, and she was in heaven. It seemed like every day I got a giant hug and happy tears from her. I know a lot of kids don't like to know they're adopted, but for Jashanna it was like she was thrilled. It didn't hurt that she got to sleep in the same bed as Gracie every night, alternating beds every time, but I think even if they were just friends she would still be just as happy.

Elliot didn't fight the divorce. He did hire a lawyer, and they wanted to do mediation, but when Monique pointed out just how many times that he'd violated the prenup, and that we had multiple witnesses including his mother willing to testify to his homophobic comments, he folded right up. The process still took time though, as everything had to be filed and signed and a judge had to review the documents before it was all done. But finally, after almost two months of waiting, I was a single woman just a few days before we could go trick or treating.

That was perfect timing, because Gracie and Jashanna were so excited to help me find someone that they were driving me a little crazy. Halloween was on a Thursday this year, and the Marshalls were having their party that Saturday since everyone was doing the trick or treating on Friday.

But I also might have been sneaky and gone to the high school website and cross referenced the faculty to the girls' schedule to try figuring out who they were setting me up with. It wasn't that I didn't want the surprise, but I had to admit I was a little curious. Just looking at the biographies of the teachers, my money was on their biology teacher, Mary Bannis, who looked like the kind of woman that they might choose for me. I had to admit if she was their choice then I'd be just fine with it.

When Friday rolled around, they were giggling like they were back in elementary school then sharing whispers that were maddeningly hard to hear. I know, that was their intention, but now that I was single and I was anticipating the party tomorrow night, I was going nuts wanting to know.

"You two already have someone picked out for me, don't you?" I asked them as we got closer to the house. I saw their eyes go wide as they realized that I was onto them. "You invited them to the party, didn't you?"

They shared a look, then they both smirked at me. "Yes, we did," Gracie replied.

"And you're gonna flip out," Jashanna added. "Because we found someone you'll never say no to!"

"But we're not saying anything else. We want to see your face when you see them. But trust us, you're going to like them, okay? We wouldn't just grab a random girl off the street." Gracie was smiling like she couldn't wait, so I let it go. If it was the teacher I thought, then they had seen her every day at school for months, and no doubt talking to her outside of class to make sure that she might be interested in me and worth my time.

I was sure that tomorrow night would be interesting, if only because it would be my first time meeting anyone like this, and I hoped my girls had good taste in women! It was nice saying that. My girls. With Jashanna being a part of the family now, nothing had changed at all, as she still fit in the way she always had. From a company beneficiary standpoint though, things had changed a little. I'd talked to Henry, our Human Resources guy, and made a new change to my dependents. I added Jashanna to my medical and dental insurance, and then added her as a beneficiary to my life insurance along with the other girls. If she was a part of the family, then she was going to be treated like it.

"You're really going to make me wait?" I knew the answer, but I had to ask.

"Yep!" Jashanna replied. "Just be patient a little longer. It will be worth it."

"Fine. I'll be patient, but if this blows up, I'm blaming you both!" I could only smile as they cackled at me. The more they showed their confidence in their choice, the more that I thought they might just be onto something. A teacher would be good to date. She'd have summers off, and with my work from home schedule, we could spend a lot of time together. I could easily schedule vacations over the summer too, so we could travel a lot. "Well, since you're both in a good mood, how about you tell me what we should pick up to cook for everyone tonight?" Hollie should be showing up later in the afternoon with some of her roommates for the party, and I wanted to feed them something good, so they didn't regret the long drive.

Gracie just snorted. "Mom, you know Hollie loves your burgers, so just get those and maybe make some fries and a big salad." I couldn't argue with that, Hollie loved a good burger, and they were easy to make.

"That sounds good," Jashanna agreed. "Me and Gracie can make the salad." They shared a little fist bump in the back seat, and I nodded in my own agreement.

We stopped at the supermarket on the way home and went shopping for everything we needed. The girls were in charge of the salad, but that was really just two premade Caesar salad kits. There were evidently two roommates coming with Hollie, so that made six people total. I got enough to make eight big burgers, just in case someone was really hungry, and then a bag of shoestring potatoes that we could put in the air fryer. We had candy at the house to handle all the trick or treaters that I expected after dark, but I got some ice cream for everyone else, as I didn't think all the girls would want to go out for candy with the smaller kids. The last few years, they had stayed home and watched spooky movies instead of going out, and I expected more of the same.

"Okay, let's go!" Gracie said as we got in the car. I gave her a look in the rear view mirror and saw Jashanna smacking her on the arm. Why did they want to get home so quickly?

"We're going, we're going." I pulled out of the parking lot and got back on the road home. "Did you decide what movies you'll be watching tonight?"

"We're waiting on Hollie to get here," Jashanna informed me. "We didn't want to make a choice without her. Do you think we can set up the outdoor screen and watch in the pool?"

We didn't use it much, but we had a portable movie screen and projector that we could bring out to the pool deck, and maybe we could do that tonight. It was still warm, and we had solar panels on the roof to help heat the pool throughout the day, so there wouldn't be an issue with everyone freezing while they watched. I'd probably do that for them while I manned the door to see the little kids in their costumes, so it worked out. I wasn't a huge scary movie fan, so if it was outside, I wouldn't have to see it much.

"Yeah, we can do that. Just make sure you don't turn into a prune in the pool!"

"We won't!" they chorused.

I knew that was a lie, they did it all the time. Once they got into the pool, they turned into mermaids and stayed there for hours. It was definitely one of the perks of living in Florida, which wasn't enough to offset all the craziness here, but it was alright. I got the groceries unpacked while the girls made sure they got all their homework done early. With Hollie coming home for the first time since she went to college, I figured they'd want to spend time having fun until she had to head back, so this way they wouldn't have to worry about scrambling to finish their homework at the last minute.

While they did that, I did some prep work in the kitchen so that dinner would be quick. I got all the ground beef made into patties and then seasoned before I stuck them in the refrigerator. Once it got to dinner time, it would be easier to pop them on the grill and cook them up. With that done, I went into my bedroom and changed. I might not watch movies in the pool, but I fully intended to go swimming later. I put my pink bikini back on, then threw on a pair of cut off jean shorts and a white tee shirt so I'd be ready to strip them off and jump into the water.

I finally had time to relax a little, so I got a glass of chilled white wine out of the fridge and brought it out to the patio that overlooked the pool. I had about ten minutes of relaxation with my feet up and enjoying the sun before Gracie excitedly stuck her head out with her phone to her ear.

"Hollie says they just got off the highway, and can you please start dinner because they're starving!"

"Tell her I'll start now, so they have a few minutes to relax when they get here." Gracie ducked back inside as I sighed and stood up. It would probably be a lot noisier with three college girls here, but I could still have a little solace here and there.

I went back inside, getting the fries out and putting them into the air fryer, as they would take the longest. I put the burgers on the counter and then went back out onto the deck to light the gas grill. With the grill preheating, I got a skillet heating up on the stovetop and then tossed in some mushrooms to put on the burgers. Now that I'd started cooking, I was pretty hungry myself, and I was glad the girls were almost here. I plucked a couple of the mushrooms out of the pan and popped them into my mouth, chewing happily as my belly thanked me for the contribution.

When the grill was hot enough, I brought the plate of burgers out and slid them onto the grate, hearing them sizzle as I did. Now I was almost salivating at the thought of digging into one of them. I went back in, put the plate into the dishwasher, washed my hands, and then set the timer as a reminder to flip the burgers. I'd just taken a deep breath to focus myself when I heard Gracie squeal in the other room.

"They're here!"

I stirred the mushrooms as I heard the chatter in the other room, with voices coming closer. I turned, holding my arms out for Hollie as she rushed in, giving me a big hug. And yet, I froze, staring over her shoulder at the two people coming in behind her. I didn't recognize the blonde, but my eyes went wide at the sight of Zee looking back at me, her jaw slack, and eyes as wide as mine.

And behind them, Gracie and Jashanna were recording our reactions on their phones, because the little shits knew she was coming. There was no teacher I was meeting, they had done something much sneakier. And yeah, they knew I'd never say no to Zee. Or would I?