We awoke the next morning ready to enjoy the final day of our cruise.

Ann would be picking us up that evening when we disembarked back in Sydney, and I was so excited for Ashton and Gracie's surprise this evening I could hardly contain it.

Of course Ashton noticed my ridiculously stupid grin that I had been wearing all morning, but whenever he asked I would always reply that I was just really happy we were spending this family vacation together, and every time I told him he would just hug me and say he was happy we were spending this time together too.

After breakfast in the dining hall we did some shopping in the gift shop and then decided to catch the ships ice skating show.

Of course Ender and Gracie dragged Ashton and I to the front row and we took our seats as we waited for the show to start.

Gracie kept going back and forth between sitting in mine and Ashton's laps, until finally the lights went out signalling the show was starting and Ashton captured the energetic child, putting his arms around her while she reclined into him.

I could just see it in the way he looked at Gracie that he loved her so much. The way he smiled down at her when she saw the ice skaters come out and gasped made me smile as well; it was just so sweet I couldn't help it.

"Look Gray." Ashton moved down so his head was at her level and pointed to the ice skaters, Gracie looking up at him with a massive grin on her face.

I couldn't take my eyes off the pair as Ashton danced with Gracie to the songs, moving her arms around sillily, making her laugh and giggle adorably.

Looking past the giggling duo I saw Ender who was watching the show, clapping when one of the performers successfully completed a trick.

After our conversation from our first day on the cruise, I hoped that tonight wouldn't hurt his feelings if we were celebrating Gracie legally becoming mine and Ashton's child.

The more I thought about it the more I worried and after the ice skating show I made an excuse to go back to the room so I could call Ann.

"Hello?" She answered on the third ring.

"Hey Ann, I just wanted to know how everything was going?" I replied cheerfully.

"Oh it's going great! Ari and I are setting everything up right now and Jason and the boys are at the grocery store for us."

"That's wonderful! I was wondering if I could ask one more favour of you if you don't mind?"

"Of course honey, what is it?"

"Well Ender had a bit of a meltdown the other day about not having parents, and Ashton and I explained to him that we were legally responsible for him, but I was wondering if I called the courthouse if you could pick up a copy of our statutory declaration of Ender's guardianship? I'm just worried that he might feel left out and I want him to have that so he knows for sure that he's really ours." I asked, biting my lip as I paced around the room talking.

"Of course! I think that's a wonderful idea! We will make tonight extra special for the both of them." She said with a very cheerful and excited voice.

"Thank you so much!" I smiled.

"Of course, I'll see you all later."

After I had ended my call with Ann I called the Haven Harbour court house and gave them all the necessary information to request a copy and so that Ann would be able to pick it up.

I then relayed that information to Ann before re-joining Ashton and the kids on the pool deck where the rock wall was.

We had a blast climbing the rock wall and finished the rest of our day playing mini golf, getting milkshakes, and just having the time of our lives.

Before we docked back in Sydney we went back to the room to pack up our stuff and waited until the Captain gave us the go ahead so we could leave.

Ashton carried our duffel while Ender carried his and Gracie's as we walked off the ship. Gracie held onto my hand, continuously asking where Grandma was.

Once we were on land again we walked past the taxis to where the other cars were where Ann was standing in front of the SUV.

"GRANDMA!" Ender and Gracie both shouted before running across the sidewalk and straight into her waiting arms.

"Hello hello!" She grinned as she crouched down and hugged both smiling kids. "Did you have a fun cruise?"

"It was awesome!" Ender exclaimed.

"Aw, I'm glad you had fun. Are you ready to see Bear?" She smiled, reaching up to caress behind his ear.

"Mhmm." He nodded. "Did he do okay?"

"He did great. We took plenty of walks and played fetch and had a great time."

Ender and Ashton then went to take the bags to the trunk of the car and Ann sent me a wink and a thumbs up as we went to get in our seats.

The entire drive home I was so excited and anxious to see Ashton's reaction.

He was going to be so surprised.

When we pulled up into the car lot my heart started to pick up its beating and a jittery, tingly feeling took over me.

Gracie and Ender both skipped down the docks and Ann made a show of unlocking the door before it swung open and she stepped inside to reveal the party she had put together along with the help of everyone.

Ari, Jason, Michael, Calum, and Luke all stood around the kitchen and living room with big smiles on their faces.

The bar was covered with a pink plastic table cover, drinks, snacks, and a pink frosted cake all placed on top.

There were pink and black balloons decorating the living room and kitchen along with black and pink paper decorations that were hanging on the walls.

On the coffee table were two packages.

Both were wrapped with black and white stripped paper, one with a pink bow on top, one with a blue.

"What is all this?" Ashton asked, a surprised and confused smile on his face.

"Come on." I grinned at him, taking his hand and tugging him inside the house.

While Ashton and Ender went to greet everyone I placed our bags on the stairs and hugged Ari, thanking her.

"Okay, Ashton and Gracie come here." I took Ashton's hand and Gracie's before walking them over to the sofa, having them sit.

"What is going on?" Ashton asked as everyone came to gather in the space, taking out their phones in order to capture what was about to happen on film.

"Well I have a present for you two, but you have to open it together." I picked up the thin package with the pink bow and handed it to Ashton.

"I get present!" Gracie gasped excitedly, clapping her hands together causing everyone to laugh.

"Open it." I smiled at Ashton and he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, a little smile on his face and he opened the paper carefully.

"District of Greater London social services?" Ashton raised his eyebrows when he read the tag on the large orange envelope.

"What is it?" Gracie asked him.

"I don't know, but let's open it together, okay?" He told her and she nodded happily, the two of them opening up the envelope and Ashton pulling out the cream coloured sheet of paper.

"What is this..." Ashton trailed off and I watched as he began to read the sheet of paper. His facial expression changed from confusion to surprise to realisation, and his hazel eyes flashed up to mine, his jaw dropped.

"This is her birth certificate. Those are our names." He spoke, a smile making its way onto his lips and I nodded.

"Mhmm. We are now officially and legally Gracie's parents." I told him and I saw him break into a massive grin.

"Are you serious? This is for real?" He asked in disbelief, the grin never leaving his face and I nodded.

"You are officially a parent." I smiled cheekily and he kept looking at me in total awe.

"You're a dad, Ashton." Ann was grinning next to me as she was videotaping him on her phone.

"Oh my god." Ashton breathed. "Oh my god, I'm a dad!" He exclaimed, the brightest smile overtaking him.

Everyone began to laugh and applaud, cheering for him.

"What's on paper?" Gracie climbed over into Ashton's lap, smiling widely because her daddy was smiling.

"It says I'm your dad." Ashton showed her the paper and she continued to smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck to hug him.

Ashton set down the paper before pulling her into a tight hug, crushing the little girl to him as he held the back of her head.

"I'm your dad Gracie. I'm really your dad." Ashton said into her hair, everyone smiling.

"I know you're Daddy." Gracie giggled causing the rest of us to laugh.

Ashton pulled back to look at Gracie and I could see something shiny on his cheeks.

He let out a laugh as he looked at her and Gracie gasped.

"Mommy, Daddy is crying!" She turned around to look at me and Ashton glanced up and I could see the water in his eyes.

"Why are you crying?" I asked him, my eyes a bit misty as well due to the touching moment we were all experiencing.

"Because I'm happy. I'm really her dad." He reached up to wipe under his eyes and I smiled at him.

"You're really her dad." I nodded and he went to wipe at his cheek.

"I am so happy right now." He let out a laugh as I saw another tear roll down his cheek, and he pulled Gracie back in for another tight hug.

"Daddy you're silly!" Gracie giggled at Ashton who grinned, laughing with her before kissing her forehead.

Ann squeezed my shoulder and I smiled at her, noticing she was tearing up as well, before stepping forward and making my way to Ashton and Gracie.

I placed my hand on Ashton's cheek and brought my lips down to his forehead, pressing an extended kiss to his skin.

"You did this for me?" He asked me when I pulled back, his eyes still teary and emotional and I bit my lip as I nodded yes. "Oh my God, I love you."

He slid his hand to the back of my neck and pulled me down for a kiss causing Gracie to squeal and Ashton to chuckle against my lips.

Leaning back I looked into Ashton's eyes, laughing when I saw him still crying.

"Surprise!" Gracie exclaimed from where she was sitting on Ashton's lap and everyone in the room laughed.

"I know, your Mommy surprised us good." Ashton wiped at his cheeks again.

"Did you read her name?" I asked him and he looked back at the birth certificate before cracking another grin.

"Parker Grace Irwin." He read aloud, sniffling. "This is so freaking cool!"

"Look Gracie, your last name is officially Irwin." I showed her.

"Yay!" She cheered, clapping her hands together before taking the paper and running to show Ann.

"Wow." Ashton said next to me and he stood up, the look of disbelief and total surprise still on his face.

"Congratulations, you're a dad." I looped my arms around his neck and he placed his hands on my waist.

"You...are seriously the most incredible person in the entire world." He grinned at me and I matched his expression, moving my thumb to his eyes to wipe away his tear drops.

"I love you." I smiled up at him and he bent down to kiss me sweetly.

"I love you too. This has been the most amazing day." He spoke against my mouth.

"Well it's not over yet." I winked at him and stepped out of his arms. "Okay End, come here."

Ender who had been standing next to Ann furrowed his eyebrows as he came forward and I handed him the package with the blue bow, Gracie running over to see what his present was.

Ender opened the package carefully and pulled out the sheet of paper.

"What is it?" He asked me.

"It's our statutory declaration of our guardianship of you. I wanted you to have a copy of it so you never forget that you're ours." I explained to him.

"Really?" He looked up at me in awe and I nodded.

Ender grinned before throwing his arms around my waist and wrapping me in the tightest hug I had ever received.

"You're the best, Car!" He squeezed my waist and I laughed.

"You know we love you so much, never forget that." I pet his hair and he looked up at me with a smile before moving to hug Ashton.

"You'll always be our little man, End." Ashton hugged Ender tightly. "Do you feel a lot better about it now?

"Yeah." Ender nodded. "Thank you, Ashton."

I smiled as Ashton let him go and gave Ender a high-five before ruffling his hair.

"What my present?" Gracie asked me as she stood up on the couch.

"Your present is that you get the best mommy and daddy in the world." Ann answered her.

"I have that present." Gracie pouted.

"You already have that present?" I laughed at her before pulling her into a hug.

I lifted Gracie up into my arms and she wrapped her legs around my waist as Ashton came to join us, putting his arms around us both.

"I love you baby girl." Ashton leaned down to kiss Gracie's nose and she squealed happily before moving over into Ashton's arms where he held onto her tightly.

Ashton began to walk around the room with Gracie, taking her to hug Ari, Jason, and the boys who all congratulated the two, Gracie receiving plenty of kisses on her cheeks.

"Okay, it's cake time!" Ann said and Gracie cheered as Ashton took her over to the kitchen where he snagged them two slices of cake.

I got a picture of the father-daughter duo eating their dessert, Gracie smiling up at him with her little cheeks puffed out and pink frosting on her mouth.

As I was eating some of my cake I looked to see Ashton whispering something in Gracie's ear and she smiled at him before he walked her over to Ann and she reached up to dab a bit of icing on her nose.

"Did you get me with the icing?" Ann gasped while Gracie laughed adorably and Ann went to put a spot of frosting on Gracie's nose as well.

"Do you want to take a picture?" Ann asked and went to take her from Ashton who pouted.

"But I wanna hold her." Ashton whined.

"She's my granddaughter, let me hold her for two seconds." Ann frowned at him and he sighed before letting Gracie go and Ann took her up in her arms and they made silly faces as Ann held her phone up to take their picture.

"She's mine." Ashton said as he took Gracie back and Ann just shook her head as Ari and I laughed.

"So how does it feel to be a dad?" Luke came up and clapped Ashton on the back.

"Amazing. It always felt amazing being Gracie's dad but now it's like for real and I don't know...this is one of the best days of my life." Ashton told him and I couldn't stop my smile that hadn't seemed to go away since this morning.

We were all stood around the bar talking when Gracie reached over to pat my stomach with her hand.

"Now I in tummy." She said with a smile and I looked up to Ashton.

"You really want to have been in your Mommy's tummy, huh?" Ashton asked her and she nodded her head joyfully.

I was conflicted.

I knew she probably didn't remember who's tummy she had been in, and I would always keep Abby prevalent in her life...would it be such a bad thing?

"Carter, she's yours now. Gracie knows who Abby is and I know you'll always keep her involved, but it's okay to tell her she's yours." Ari spoke up from behind me and Ann nodded next to her.

"I think you should tell her she's yours." Calum said next and I glanced back at Ashton who shrugged and I bit my lip before looking back at Gracie.

"Yes baby, now you were in my tummy." I told her, deciding on what I wanted and she smiled happily before reaching out for me.

"Yay!" Michael laughed as everyone cheered and Gracie continued to absolutely beam in my arms.

After this it was picture taking time and there were so many pictures and videos being taken I couldn't keep up except for when I was dragged into one.

It got late and Ashton and Ann took Gracie upstairs to change her into her pyjamas while Ender and I said goodbye to Ari and Jason.

The boys bid farewell also and Ann decided to stay another night.

"I wanna sleep with Mommy and Daddy." Gracie whined as she sipped milk from her sippy cup while Ashton held her like he had done all night.

"Can I sleep with you guys too?" Ender asked and of course we told him yes.

Ann said her goodnights to us and the kids before we went to our separate bedrooms.

Once the kids got situated snuggled up with me and Ash, they went to sleep while he and I took to Instagram.

Ashton shared a picture of him with Gracie, the two of them sitting on the couch while holding up her birth certificate.

'Today I became the father to the most beautiful, smart, silly, giggly, imaginative, sweet, cuddly, adventurous, and amazing little four year old girl on the planet.
I can't believe today actually happened but I'm so happy and I can't thank you, Carter, enough for what you did for me today. I love you so much.
I'm so happy I get to raise OUR daughter with you, and be parents together.
I've had so many people ask me why I would want to be a parent right now in this stage of my life, but I will take all the crying, temper tantrums, cereal throwing, sippy cup spills, wall colouring, screaming, time outs, and toy flushings down toilets, because that means I get all of the constant Gracie hugs and kisses, the good morning Daddy's, the bed time kisses and snuggles, the Disney movie marathons, the sing-a-longs, the dance parties, the tea parties, the dress up days, the Mommy-Daddy-Ender-Gracie naps, the sweet pictures drawn of our family that cover my refrigerator, all of the unmissable moments, and the I love you Mommy's and Daddy's that make being a parent worth everything.
Why would I not want to be a parent?
Today you got your wish Gracie, you got to be in Mommy's tummy when you were a baby.
I love you so much (and her name is official now) Parker Grace Irwin. You will forever be my little princess.'

I leaned my head on Ashton's shoulder after I had read it and he kissed my forehead before going to read mine.

I had chosen a picture Michael had taken of Ashton and Gracie when he realised that he was now Gracie's dad. You could see Ashton's massive grin and also a few little tears in his eyes.

'It's official! Ashton and I are now the parents to most amazing little girl in the world! Parker Grace Irwin you are the light of our lives and we love you so much.
One day we will get to tell you the story of how we surprised you and your Daddy with your birth certificate and he was so happy he cried when he saw his name listed as your father.
Today was an amazing day.
We love you princess Gracie, forever and always.'

Ashton kissed my forehead again at this and we set our phones on the nightstand, curling up into each other as best we could with two little kids on top of us.

"I'm still in shock." He said as he went to place his hand on Gracie tummy, the little girl turning into him in her sleep.

"I've been waiting forever for today. I couldn't wait to surprise you."

"Today was incredible Carter. I'll never forget this day for the rest of my life." He smiled down on me.

"Me either. We finally have our baby girl."

"She's really ours."

"She's really ours." I repeated and then fell into the most blissful sleep I had ever experienced.

--

Aw! Yay! Yay!

I loved writing this chapter so so much!!!

I'll have the next parts up soon!

Comment and vote if you'd like!

Much love xx -M