“Uncle Scott!” A little girl with blonde hair in pigtails rushed at his legs and grabbed on tight. Scott chuckled and scooped her up. “Jelly Bean!”
She placed her hands on his cheeks and looked him in the eye. “Why can’t the turkey go to church?”
Scott chuckled. “I don’t know why?”
The girl started to giggle. “Because he uses fowl language.” She leaned closer. “Mama said that means he says naughty words.”
Scott threw his head back and laughed. I had the sudden vision of him as a father.
Whew. Okay. Don’t run.
I needed to have the no kids talk, but it never felt like the right time, and now watching him with his niece felt like a knife in the gut.This is it. This is what I always wanted.
What I couldn’t have . . . but he could . . . with someone else.
I took a step backward but felt the sweet reassurance of Nan telling me not to run.
Look to the future; don’t focus on what ifs and the past.
I took a shaky breath. Scott looked at me and must have seen the fear in my eyes. He set down the little girl and came over and wrapped his arms around me.
“Hey don’t worry, they’ll love you.” Scott whispered into my ear.
“There you are.” I looked up to see what must have been the girl’s mother. She was very pregnant and looked exhausted. She was holding hands with her husband as she came over.
“Mama, Scott thought my joke was funny!”
The mother smiled and stepped to me and Scott. I was pulled into a hug. Her bulging stomach turned to the side.
“Hey, I’m Jessica. Sorry if she overwhelmed you at all.” She motioned to her husband. “This is my husband, Blake.” He shook my hand and gave me a quiet smile.
“Nice to meet you,” Blake added.
Jessica smiled at her daughter. “She can be a lot, and Uncle Scott is her favorite.”
“Hey, I heard that.”
I saw a man who had to be Scott’s twin standing in the doorway. He looked a lot like Scott. Tall, with light hair. Michael’s presence exuded confidence as he strolled over. I knew Scott had mentioned several girls choosing Michael over him when they were younger, but as I stood there holding Scott’s arm, there was no comparison. My twin was beautiful inside and out.
Jessica smiled but did not take it back.
“Huh, I guess your girlfriend wasn’t imaginary after all.” His brother gave Scott a light slug on the shoulder. After that, his parents walked in, his dad’s arm draped around the mother’s shoulders. I could see the love radiating between them. Love for each other and the beautiful life they had created.
“Good to see you again.” Ron pulled me into a side hug and Emily embraced me in her arms.
“Thank you for taking care of my boy,” she whispered. “I’m Emily.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I blurted, “I brought pie . . .”
“Thats great.” Emily grinned and looked towards Scott. “Your father burned the last pan of mine.”
“It isn’t my fault. You distracted me.” The parents chuckled, and the siblings rolled their eyes as we walked towards the dinner table.
“Let’s go around the table and all say things we are grateful for.” Emily's eyes shined. “I’ll start. I’m grateful that my family could all come and celebrate Thanksgiving. For my wonderful children,” she grinned and looked at her granddaughter, “and grandkids. And to my wonderful husband and the life he has blessed me with.” She leaned to him, and they kissed.
“I’ll go next, if only to keep you two from embarrassing us all,” Scott piped up. “I’m grateful I have a wise father who told me that sometimes life works out better than you could ever plan.” He grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips, kissing the back of it. “I never expected to be so happy living the life I didn’t plan on, or expect. It’s so much better with you.” He kissed the back of my hand again, and I blushed.
“Looks like you might be grateful for more grandkids before too long,” Michael said, turning to his parents.
