Page 36 of Protecting Addison
“It’s true. But they’ll be back. Hopefully tomorrow. Ricky has a friend who’s helping us cut through the red tape.”
Ellory’s eyes filled with tears. “Why’d they take them away? Did they not think we were a good enough family for them?”
Addison’s heart broke at that question. She hated seeing her daughter in pain, and while this wasn’t a physical pain, it was still hurtful.
“Come here, El,” Ricky said, putting his hands on Ellory’s shoulders and turning her to face him. He knelt down on the kitchen floor so he was eye-level with her. “Honestly? We don’t know what happened. Butno oneis going to break up our family. Your mom and I will fight to get Artem, Borysko, and Yana back where they belong. Sometimes in life, things don’t go the way we want, but we don’t give up. We keep fighting for what’s right and fair.”
“Like me having Crohn’s,” Ellory said with a sniff.
“Exactly. It’s not fair, but none of us are just going to shrug our shoulders and say ‘oh well,’ right?”
“Uh-huh. Is it because they were taken out of Ukraine without any paperwork?” Ellory asked, with far more insight than Addison expected.
“I’m guessing yes. Obviously, it’s illegal for people to be transported to another country without the proper permissions and paperwork. But it wasn’t as if we had a choice.”
“Because Borysko was hurt,” Ellory said with a nod. She wiped her face and nose on her sleeve.
“Exactly. And as soon as we could, your mom and I took the necessary steps to make it legal for them to stay here.”
“You got married,” Ellory said.
“Well, not exactly. We filed the paperwork with the Navy and the country, to grant them asylum, and then we did what we could to make the decision for them to stay with us easier to make.”
“By getting married,” Ellory repeated.
“Yeah,” Ricky agreed with a shrug.
“If they get taken away forever, will you and my mom get divorced?”
Ricky’s gaze met hers, and he let out a little huff of laughter. “No, Ellory. Your mom and I aren’t breaking up. No matter what.”
“Promise?”
“Well, I don’t know what the future holds, but I can promise you this…I’m going to do everything in my power to make your mom never, ever want to leave me. I’m going to give her—and you, Artem, Borysko, and Yana—the best life possible. I’ll be the best dad and stepdad I can. How about that?”
Ellory nodded. Then she turned and looked up at Addison. “Can we have a party when they all get back? I think they’d like that.”
“Sure,” Addison agreed without hesitation.
“Okay. Mom, you should’ve seen Ricky and his friends today. They were awesome!”
Addison used to be surprised by her daughter’s abrupt change of topics—and moods—but she’d mostly gotten used to it. Ricky stood and leaned against the counter.
“That’s right, I forgot with all the other stuff happening. How was Career Day?” Addison asked.
Remi, Wren, and Kevlar had gone into the living room, giving the trio a little privacy, but they returned to the kitchen eagerly when they heard the subject change.
“We flexed and proved that we were the biggest, baddest guys in the school,” Kevlar joked. He’d stepped up against Remi’s back, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her back so she was leaning against him.
Remi rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah, like that’s hard when you outweigh everyone and are older than them by decades.”
“Don’t make it sound like I’m an old man,” Kevlar complained.
Addison chuckled at her friends’ banter.
“The SEAL sessions were the most popular,” Ellory gushed. “Everyone wanted to meet them, and when they did the obstacle course after lunch, even the old SEALs were impressive.”
Addison met Ricky’s gaze and suppressed her laughter as much as she could. “Oh yeah?” she asked, encouraging her daughter to continue.
