“Exactly.”
Pulling me onto his lap he frowns. “Wait, if Hannah has Carter who has—”
“Tobias is holding Clara, silly.”
Tanner gives a quiet laugh, shaking his head. “When she grows up he’ll probably train her how to fight.”
“Probably. He taught Hannah.”
“Still hard to imagine that beast with a daughter.”
“Speaking of…”
Tanner’s eyebrows go up. “You have something to tell me?”
“Oh, no, I’m not pregnant.”
He relaxes, even looks a little bit disappointed. “Okay.”
“But I wanted to ask you about…Rose.”
He eyes me, a smile sparking his lips. “I’ve been waiting for this.”
“What do you mean?!” I laugh.
Tracing the side of my face with his knuckle he murmurs, “You think I’m blind, Emm? I’ve seen how much attention you give her.”
“I wanted to help!”
He pulls me in for a kiss, and asks the serious question. “What about Henry and Isabella?”
“They’ll love her.”
“The other children here at A.L.A? How would we explain?”
Frowning I burrow into Tanner’s chest, and he rests his chin on my head. “I don’t know. But so many of the other kids have gotten placed, and I don’t have any doubt that they all will be, especially with all the publicity we’ve done. Even the new ones who arrive will all find homes.”
“Right, and you don’t feel Rose will find a home? Continue going to school here like the others?”
Hugging him I whisper, “I don’t want her to find another home, Tanner. I want her in ours.”
He rocks me for a second and pulls back to meet my eyes. “What if we fostered her for a little while, to see how it goes? A few children have been fostered by the teachers here before. They’re used to the concept. It will give us a way to ease them into it. They’ll grow used to Rose arriving with you, or me, and leaving with us, too. And she’ll get a chance to see if she likes us.”
Relieved and hopeful, maybe even very excited, I ask, “Really? You’re open to this?”
He nods, “She’s a special little girl. She reminds me of Riva, not in her looks, but she tries so hard in school. Margaret told me she stays after the other kids run out to play—that she’d rather stay in and keep learning how to read.”
“You’ve been watching her, too? Oh, Tanner, that makes me so happy! And if she doesn’t like us, then I will of course drop it and we’ll find her a forever family of her own, I promise. I just want to try!”
He kisses me and I throw my arms around his neck, squeezing him. The man can drive me crazy sometimes, because he’s such a bull with many opinions and a knack for going silent when he’s angry. But it’s a small price to pay for all the wonderful things I love about him. How often he supports me, how he cares for Carter and snuggles with him all the time, saying things like, “I’m going to teach you all about finance.”
And on days like this he’s just a miracle.
As the months pass, Rose finds her forever home…with us. She blossoms and finally reaches out to the other children, shows them who she is. Takes chances and laughs a little bit more each day.
She isn’t the last child we adopt. And Carter isn’t the last I give birth to, either. We had Henry and Isabella early in our marriage, then thought we were done, and Carter changed that plan. Now Rose. Why stop there? We have the means and the space. As our family grows, the children don’t act like they’re not blood related. To them, they’re brothers and sisters, looking out for each other, and driving me and Tanner out of our minds with pride and love.
The world has grown, emotionally, accepting families of all types without even raising its eyebrow. What a blessing for our hearts to be open. So much more fun this way.
THE END.
Emma & Ethan’s younger brother, Eric is next! Completing Jake and Drew’s immediate family.
One of my readers was wearing a shirt with a quote from his book in a Whole Foods store when she heard the person in line behind her say, “I loved Eric and Wren’s story.” Turning around she discovered another fan of the series and they got to talking about it. Small world, and so fun.
Welcome to the family!
COCKER BROTHERS SERIES
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THE NEXT GENERATION
8. Hannah Cocker
9. Ethan Cocker
10. Gabriel Cocker
11. Emma Cocker
12. Eric Cocker
13. Sofia Sol Cocker
14. Sean & Celia
15. Max Cocker
16. Nicholas Cocker
17. Cocker Bonus Scenes
18. Caden Cocker
19. Tonk Jr.
— side character novella
20. Billy Cooper
— side character novella
21. Samantha Cocker
22. Jack, Marion, & Troy
— side character novella
23. Wyatt Cocker
24 May Cocker
(Grams as a young girl, where true love in the Cocker Family began)
ONLY SIX MORE COUSINS LEFT!
Lexi, Nate, Ben, Elijah, Zoe and Hunter
(Though not in that order.)
Click the pic for their dedicated store on Amazon!
Thank you for enjoying Cocker Brothers.
COCKER EXTRAS
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T-shirts/Mugs/Totes 100% for Charity
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And here are Series playlists made by the fabulous blogger “Belle Reader,” a labor of love.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Faleena Hopkins specializes in love stories about good people with strong family bonds, in both books and film. Find out more on her website: AuthorFaleenaHopkins.com
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Copyright © 2017 by Faleena Hopkins
Cocker Brothers
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This is a work of fiction. Any parts of this book resembling real life have been fictionalized or come directly from the author’s imagination.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Contents
EMMA COCKER
Epigraph
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
44. EPILOGUE
Cocker EXTRAS
About the Author
Copyright