Jilly stood at his side. He could feel the boys' presence from the opposite side of the room, watching.
Paper ripped, and he heard the soft catch of Lindsey's breath. Hopefully, that was a good sign.
Jilly squeezed his shoulder.
"This is... amazing."
He went a little hot at the awe in Lindsey's voice. The child's digital camera hadn't even been that expensive. Aiden had suggested it. He'd bought his niece one for Christmas last year.
He felt her jump from the chair and barely had time to put his coffee mug on the table before she threw herself in his arms. He caught her in a hug.
"Thank you thank you thank you."
"You're welcome."
She let go, and he heard paper crinkle again as she must've picked up the box. "Can I open it, Jilly?"
"Let me get some scissors to cut the tape."
Lindsey followed Jilly away from the table, and he cleared his throat. "I figure I missed PJ and Casey's birthdays this year, so I brought this for you guys to share."
He picked up the cardboard box—this one wasn't wrapped. He didn't think the boys would care.
They weren't as polite as Lindsey. They fell on the box and ripped it to pieces to find the flag football set inside.
"Awesome!" PJ cried.
"Yeah, thanks!" Casey echoed.
Jilly laughed from across the room. "Flag football? Really?"
He grinned at her. "The boys have never seen you play. And I don't actually recall you whooping up on me the way you claimed to. I think we need a rematch. With the kids, of course."
"Yeah!" PJ said.
"You're gonna play?"
The boys' excited words overlapped each other.
"I'm gonna play," he confirmed.
"Areyou sure this is a good idea?" Jilly asked.
She handed Noah the Velcro belt with its colorful flags attached.
"Scared of a little friendly competition?" His grin was throwing off her equilibrium. She hadn't seen it in years.
She didn't remember it being quite so intense, or maybe his charm hadn't worked on her back then.
She hiked her chin. "Of course not."
"Then stop worrying. If I fall, I fall. The kids will laugh, and I'll get back up."
It was more than that. How was this supposed to work? He'd folded up his white cane and left it near the now-empty box that had held the belts and flags. He’d revealed a foam football that emitted a constant high-pitched beep. Right now, the boys were tossing it back and forth.
"C'mere." He held up a length of—no. It was several pieces of yarn he'd turned into simple necklaces. Each one had a jingle bell threaded on it.
Casey saw from where he and PJ were already tossing the football around and started laughing.
