It makes me laugh and clears the last of the embarrassment caused by what Chloe said from my face so I turn to Ryker and then Easton with a smile.
Ryker hmm’s in his throat and then growls out, “Thankful for our family.”
When he doesn’t say anything else, my gaze goes to Easton. His eyes meet mine and he lifts his wine glass and tilts it my way like he’s making a toast.
“I’m thankful I slid into that ditch.”
The heat swims back up into my cheeks as flutters fill my belly and I quickly look away.
Chloe bounces in her chair. “What about you, Mommy? What are you thankful for?”
I breathe in deep and the smile that lifts my lips is true when I look to each person at the table and simply say, “You.”
The rest of the dinner is filled with easy chatting and laughter but by the time all the plates have been cleaned, Chloe is looking grumpy and she starts dragging her cast against the edge of the table.
“Baby, stop! You’re going to damage the wood.”
Her bottom lip pouts out even more. “It’s itchy! I wannit off!” She cries.
I push back from the table and stand to take her to our room but Ryker beats me to it and plucks her into his lap.
“Let me see.” He tells her and then holds her arm straight out so he can see into her cast. He squints one eye shut and screws up his lips making my pouty girl smile again and then blows directly into the space between the cast and her tiny arm. Her eyes pop wide and her lips form an O.
“It doesn’t itch! How did you fix it?” She gushes.
He blows into her cast again and then tells her, “It’s just hot and sweaty in there from playing in the snow. A hairdryer set on cool works better but this should help for now.”
I send him a grateful smile as Chloe leans back against him, completely content to stay right where she is.
“When can she have it taken off?” Zack asks as he snags another roll from the almost empty basket. The simple question has shame smacking me in the face again. My fingers start twisting together and my eyes drop down so I can’t see how bad they must judge me from the only answer I can give them.
“I don’t know. I…I…he…took her to the doctor. I…wasn’t allowed…”
“No problem.” Easton interrupts me and then leans over to top off my glass with more wine. “I’ll make an appointment for next week with my personal physician. He can get an x-ray and let us know how much longer it needs to stay on for.”
My head shoots up to stare at him as panic courses through me. Doctors mean paperwork, records, and history but Easton reads my mind and flashes me a reassuring look.
“Trust me, Avery. We won’t leave a trail and we’ll make sure she gets looked after.”
I swallow the panic down and slowly nod because I do, I do trust him. I trust all of them. I blow out a breath and let the fear and tension go from my body and then push to my feet to start gathering the empty dishes to take back to the kitchen. Zack and Easton jump to their feet and Easton takes the dirty dishes from my hands.
“Uh-uh, you did all the work creating this feast so we will do the clean-up. Why don’t you take your wine and go relax in the living room with Chloe while we take care of all this?”
A denial sputters out of my mouth but he’s already steering me out of the room after handing me my wine glass.
“Go on. Let us do this, Avery.”
I have no choice but to do as he says when Chloe grabs my free hand and drags me to the living room. I can’t help but send nervous looks toward the kitchen as the two of us sit at her tiny table and work on a puzzle together. When I start hearing laughter and banter from them, I finally relax enough to take another sip of wine and focus on my daughter. Ariel and Sebastian come together and smile back at us from the completed puzzle in no time and then Chloe is clamoring for pie so we go into the kitchen just as the last dish is being dried by Zack and Ryker is wiping down the counter. I smile my thanks to them all as the warm glow from the wine spreads through my body.
The pies are a hit with all of them and it’s not long after that when Chloe starts to droop sleepily. She’s curled herself up against Zack on the couch as he flips through a picture book with her about a superhero puppy. There’s a football game playing on the TV that Ryker and Easton are watching and the mood is calm and sated from the big meal. My own eyes start to droop from the late night, full day, and the wine.
When I blink my eyes back open sometime later, it’s to a set of sleepy brown dog eyes. I’ve somehow ended up leaning against Ryker with Kanga leaning against his other side. One of his huge arms is around my shoulders and his fingers rub gently in small circles against my arm. It makes me feel things I probably shouldn’t, considering I work for him. My eyes slide to the other end of the couch and see Easton and Zack both watching me with looks I don’t understand so I drop my eyes to Chloe and see her sleeping against Zack’s side. I sit up away from Ryker causing him to lift his arm and I mumble “Sorry.” And then I rise to scoop up Chloe and take her to bed. I pause before leaving the room and glance back.
“Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you…all of you, for everything. Goodnight.”
Ryker
It’s just about the most perfect Thanksgiving I can ever remember. Surrounded by my brothers, making snowmen, having snowball fights with an angel, filled with the best meal, and topped off with having Avery slowly slide against me as she fell asleep. It’s a far cry from the holidays of my childhood where the turkey came on microwaved trays between my overworked mother’s split shifts through a cloud of cigarette smoke.
