by Beth Ehemann
“Seriously. How long do you plan on staying?” I said playfully as I picked her bag up off the couch.
“Shut up, you little asshole,” Gam spat as she walked into the kitchen.
I ignored her and continued teasing. “This thing is so heavy!”
“Of course it is. My whiskey is in there,” she called out.
“You brought whiskey? We have whiskey.”
“Probably not enough.” She shut the kitchen light off with a laugh and headed to the front door.
“You ready, you old bat?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be!” She grinned up at me excitedly.
“Everything locked up?”
“Except your mouth.” She punched my arm and laughed so hard I thought she was going to fall over.
I rolled my eyes and hooked my arm under hers, holding her tight as we walked to my car together, both of us still with slight limps . . . like two mangled peas in a broken little pod.
When I pulled into the driveway at mine and Michelle’s house, Maura and Matthew were jumping up and down at the front door. Typically when we saw Gam, we went to her house because it was just easier. She rarely came to ours for a visit, let alone a sleepover, and the kids were bouncing off the walls excited.
“Look at that.” Gam motioned to the door as we walked up. “You should have been as excited as they are when you rang my doorbell.”
I laughed out loud and helped her up the porch steps.
Gam slid out of her coat and I hung it in the closet as she pulled the kids against her and wrapped them in a huge hug.
“Boy, you guys sure know how to make an old lady feel good!” she said as she kissed the tops of their heads.
The house smelled amazing. Michelle had been working so hard all day, desperately wanting to impress Gam with making a big dinner all by herself. She wouldn’t even let me help. The whole thing had her so frazzled, I didn’t even have the heart to tell her that her apron was on inside out.
“Ooooh, it smells fantastic in here!” Gam lifted her nose in the air and closed her eyes.
Michelle’s eyes lit up. “Really? It does?”
“It does. If it tastes even half as good as it smells, we’re all in for a real treat.”
Michelle looked over at me and took a deep breath as a tiny grin crept across her lips. Her pleased blue eyes sparkled and the little bit of chocolate I noticed on the end of her nose only made her cuter.
“Were you baking, too?” I asked with a laugh.
She squished her eyebrows together and blinked up at me. “Yeah. I made fudge. Why?” Before I could answer, her eyes crossed and she looked down at her nose, finally noticing the chocolate. “Oh! Oops!” She giggled as she grabbed a paper towel and wiped it off.
Gam clapped her hands once and looked around the kitchen like a woman on a mission. “Okay, what can I help with?”
“Nothing.” Michelle shook her head. “I just want you to sit and relax while I do everything.”
Gam eyed Michelle skeptically for just a second before she shrugged. “In that case, I’ll make myself a drink.”
Michelle bent over and pulled the sweet potatoes from the oven just as the doorbell rang. She stood and stared at me with wide eyes and a hot dish in her hand.
I held my hand up. “You do that, I got this.”
A tiny body, all bundled up in a coat and hat, stood with its back to me on the other side of the glass door. As I walked up, Joel stepped onto the front porch and waved.
“Hey!” I opened the door and motioned them in.
“Hey!” Joel said, turning Gavin around and pushing him gently into the foyer. “We’re not staying. We’re heading out of town to my aunt’s for the evening, but then Gavin goes back to his mom’s house, and he just threw a royal fit because apparently he made Matthew something for Christmas and had to give it to him before we left.”
I glanced down at Gavin, who was grinning up at me anxiously. “Hang on, bud. I’ll get him.” I stepped back toward the hallway that led to the kitchen. “Matthew!”
Within seconds, he came sliding around the corner, holding onto the counter for stability, and ran toward us. “Hi!” he said as he ran up to Gavin.
“Here. I made this for you.” Gavin held out a small box.
I lifted my head to Joel who shrugged. “He made it at his mom’s. I have no idea what it is.”
Matthew opened the box and his mouth fell open. “This is awesome!” He pulled a rock that was painted to look like a Ninja Turtle out of the box and stared down at it in amazement.
Gavin smiled shyly and took a step back toward Joel.
Matthew’s face swept up to mine. “Can Gavin come and help me put it in my room?”
“Uh . . . fine by me, but it’s up to his dad.”
Joel gave Gavin a warning with his eyes. “You have two minutes, got it? We’re already late.”
Gavin nodded and he and Matthew shot up the stairs together.
Joel and I stood in the doorway like a couple of awkward teenage boys. I wasn’t sure what to say to him. Do you thank the man who spent Thanksgiving with your girlfriend? The old Viper would have probably punched him right in the mouth, but I didn’t feel like doing that anymore.
“I had dinner with Jodi and Vince the other night,” Joel said. “She told me that you’re home and you guys are doing really good again.”
I nodded slowly. “I don’t know that we’re really good, but we will be. I was a fucking moron and I realized it before it was too late . . . thank God.”
“I’ve been a fucking moron a time or two in my life.” He let out a quick laugh. “I’m glad it worked out though. She seems like a pretty awesome woman.”
“She’s the love of my life,” I said humbly.
“And you’re obviously the love of hers, too.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’m lucky enough to share that title with my best friend.”
Joel’s face pinched together and he narrowed his eyes but didn’t say anything.
“Oh! You don’t know that story?” I exclaimed, shaking my head again. “Bro, we’ll have to talk one day when we have time. That’s a story that requires at least three beers and is way too emotional for a day like Christmas.”
Joel grinned and held his hand out to me. “Noted. Another time, man.”
I shook his hand just as the boys came flying down the stairs again.
“Dad! Dad! Look what Matthew gave me for Christmas!” Gavin held out the box that the rock was in.
Joel leaned over and stared at the box closely. “Wait. Are those—”
Gavin interrupted him. “His dead roly poly collection! He’s been saving them for almost a whole year.”
“Wow.” Joel tried to sound excited, but his face looked horrified as he turned to Matthew. “You sure you want to part with all those, buddy?”
“Yeah.” Matthew nodded. “He’s my best friend!”
Joel took a deep breath and let it out on a loud sigh. “Well, okay then. You can take those home and keep them at mom’s house.” He shot me a quick wink as he opened the door. “You guys have a good Christmas.”
“You, too. Thanks for coming by and taking all those corpses off our hands.” I laughed and he rolled his eyes and went back across the street.
“Who was that?” Michelle asked as Matthew and I walked back into the kitchen together.
“It was Gavin,” Matthew said excitedly. “He painted me a rock for Christmas, so I gave him my roly poly collection.”
Her face flashed to mine, and it was obvious the roly poly collection wasn’t her concern.
I walked over and put my arm around her shoulders, leaning down to kiss her temple. “Everything is fine,” I said quietly.
She relaxed into me and closed her eyes.
“Food is just about done. Who’s hungry?” she called out when I let go and walked away. Matthew and I set the dining room table and a little bit later, we feasted like kings on Michelle’s amazing dinner.
Michelle was exhausted, so once the kids were down, I told her I’d clean the kitchen and handle the Santa stuff and sent her up to bed, too. I helped Gam with the stairs one at a time and got her all settled into the guest room. Thankfully neither of them argued about going up without me. I cleaned the kitchen and dining room in record time, fueled by my excitement to lay out all the presents.
All the presents.
I looked around the kitchen, pleased with how it looked, and put my game face on. I couldn’t wait till the morning!
“Momma! Momma!” Matthew’s footsteps stomped down the hall and he flew onto our bed like a squirrel. “Viper!” he shook my shoulder. “Wake up! Do you think Santa came?”
I opened my eyes slowly. His words finally registered with my brain and I sat up. “I bet he did! You go knock quietly on Gam’s door and I’ll wake your mom and Maura, okay?”
“Deal!” He nodded and held his little fist out for me to bump. We did and he sprinted from the room.
“Hey.” I bent down and kissed Michelle’s cheek. “Sorry. My morning breath probably stinks, but who gives a shit. It’s Christmas, wake up.”
She groaned and gave me a tiny smile without opening her eyes.
I put my hand on her small tummy and cupped my kid. “Santa even told me that he brought a couple presents for this guy, too.”
Her eyes flashed open. “What? No, he didn’t.”
“I’m pretty sure he did,” I said with a laugh.
She lowered her voice. “Viper, I bought all the Christmas presents, so I’m pretty sure I know what’s down there.”
“Uh . . . oooooor not.” I shot her a playful grin. “It’s Christmas. You’re not allowed to be mad at me, okay?”
Her eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”
I kissed her cheek swiftly and then stood up. “I love you. I’ll see you downstairs.”
I scooped a sleepy Maura out of bed, changed her diaper, and met Matthew at the top of the stairs. Gam came out of the bathroom and I held her arm as we slowly climbed down with Michelle right behind us. We all walked through the kitchen to the family room together, and I watched as all of their mouths fell open at the same time, except for Maura’s, who didn’t quite get Santa yet and was back asleep on my shoulder.
“Holy crap,” Michelle said under her breath as she stared at the pile of presents that covered all of the furniture and practically spilled out of the room.
Matthew started picking up boxes and shaking them as Gam cleared off a chair to sit.
Michelle looked at me incredulously, shaking her head slowly. She leaned in close. “When did . . . how did . . . You didn’t have to do all this.”
“I know,” I said quietly and shrugged, looking back at Matthew who was sitting on a huge box in the middle of the room, grinning at us. “I wanted to.”
Gam let out a quick laugh as her head fell back against the chair. “Someone’s overcompensating.”
I glared at Gam as Michelle giggled loudly and moved boxes so she could sit down, too. It took the kids two hours to open all of their presents, one box at a time and the looks on their faces made it all worth it.
Best two hours I’d ever had.
Four Months Later . . .
“Ugh!” I groaned as I pulled the Wild jersey over my belly. Maura sat on my bed and looked at me curiously, completely unaware of my struggles. “Maura,” I sighed. “I’m almost seven months along, but I feel like I’m ready to pop. How much bigger is this thing going to get?”
Maura stared at me innocently and shrugged. Her blond hair was pulled into pigtails with hunter green ribbons tied at the top, and she was wearing a Minnesota Wild T-shirt, layered over a white long-sleeved shirt.
“Are you excited to go to the hockey game, baby girl?”
She nodded. “I want popcorn.”
“You’ll get popcorn.” I giggled before calling out, “Matthew, are you almost ready?”
“Just a minute!” he called back.
A few second later, he came running down the hall and jumped into my doorway, putting his hands proudly on his hips and puffing his chest out.
“Oh. Wow.” I stared down at him. He was wearing a Wild T-shirt and jeans, but his blond hair was spiked up with way too much hair gel and he had messy eye black under his eyes, something hockey players never wear, but apparently Matthew didn’t know that. “You look super tough. Where did you get the stuff for under your eyes?”
“Your bathroom,” he said nonchalantly as he climbed into my bed.
“My bathroom?”
“Yeah, the bag on the counter. I took the pencil to my room and drew it on.”
“You mean my eyeliner?”
He nodded. “I used it all. Sorry.”
I sighed and checked myself out one last time in the mirror. “Okay. You guys ready to hit the road?”
Viper had left the house a few hours before, and I don’t think I’d ever seen him so nervous. He’d been medically cleared and it was his first game back, but it might as well have been the first game of his whole career. His hands had been shaking and I could feel his heart racing through his jersey when he’d hugged me good-bye. I’d known he was nervous the night before and when we woke up that morning, I’d dipped my head under the covers and did my best to relieve his stress, but it had only helped a little . . . and only for about two minutes.
Nonetheless, the kids and I piled into the car and headed over to pick up Gam. Then we were all on our way to the arena.
The stadium was buzzing. There had been a few stories on the news in the morning about Viper’s return, and the kids and I had watched him and Coach Collins do a big press conference the day before. The fans were excited to see Viper back out on the ice, and so were we. Viper was able to secure us some extra tickets to pass out, so I tried to pack the stands with everyone I could think of to come watch his return.
The usher directed us to our seats, which were right in front of Kacie and the girls. They waved at us excitedly as we made our way down the concrete steps.
Kacie stepped into the aisle and took Gam’s hand, leading her into her seat carefully, then she came back and hugged me. “Are you excited?”
I nodded. “Excited. Terrified. Nervous. It’s been a while.”
She tilted her head to the side and smiled at me. “He’ll do great.”
The kids and I took our seats just as Andy walked up with enough popcorn to feed a small army. “I hear we have some hungry kids over here!” he called out playfully.
All of their arms shot up and he began passing out boxes.
As soon as our eyes met, we gave each other the exact same anxious look. “Did you see him yet?”
“Yeah, I was in the locker room a little bit ago.” He paused and licked butter off his thumb.
“And?”
He shrugged. “And he’s great. Nervous as hell, but I think after a few minutes, it’ll disappear. Coach Collins did tell him he might not play long periods of time just yet, but that all depends on how his knee feels.”
“Good. I don’t want him to push himself too much.”
“Please.” Andy rolled his eyes. “This is Viper we’re talking about. His knee could swell to the size of a basketball and he’d still insist he was fine.”
“True,” I said with a laugh.
The usher walked up behind Andy and waved at me to catch my attention. With him was a large man with dark, grayish hair, dark green and white polka-dotted sweatpants, and a huge smile on his face. I didn’t even have to ask who he was. I already knew.
“You must be Sherman.” I stepped past Andy and opened my arms wide. “It’s so nice to finally meet you!”
He gave me one of the warmest, most comforting hugs I’d ever received in my whole life. “Nice to meet you, Michelle. I feel like I already know so much about you through that pain in the ass of yours, but it’s great to finally put a face to the name.”
“I feel the same about you. We both put up with a lot from him, don’t we?”
&n
bsp; He leaned in close. “That’s an understatement.”
I let out a quick laugh. “Here, come sit by me.” I introduced him to everyone else and within a minute, the guys took the ice and the crowd started cheering.
I stood up and scanned the white and green jerseys, looking for my guy, who was skating straight for us. He came over and banged on the glass, grinning like a proud little kid. Matthew stood on the seat and pumped his little arms in the air, while Maura ran up to the glass and blew him kisses. Finally Viper looked over and shot me a quick wink. I raised both hands and pointed next to me. His eyes slid to Sherman and practically bulged out of his head as his mouth dropped open.
“I didn’t know you were gonna be here!” he yelled, though we barely heard him over the glass and the crowd.
Sherman pointed to me with him thumb. “She did!” he shouted back.
Viper’s eyes drifted back to mine and he pulled his brows down low, giving me a sweet, thankful smile.
“I love you!” he shouted as loud as he could.
“Love you, too!” I mouthed back quietly.
He winked at me one more time, punched the glass playfully, and skated away.
The game moved, fast and intense. The Wild won and Viper even scored one of their three goals. As soon as he shot the puck and the red light turned on, the place erupted and I jumped out of my seat. Poor Maura covered her ears and started sobbing, but Kacie scooped her up and let me have my moment. Viper hugged and high-fived his teammates before skating over to us and giving Matthew a thumbs-up. Matthew, so proud of his Viper, started cheering and high-fiving complete strangers in the aisle.
“Matthew, get back here.” I giggled, waving him back to me.
“Hang on, Mom. I’m telling them that my dad just scored a goal.” He beamed proudly.
I froze and felt Kacie’s hand on my shoulder. “Did you just hear that, too?” I asked her without turning around.
“I sure did.”
