She wandered off to her husband, and he gave me a thumbs up, but I still waited until he was free, given he seemed to be involved in everything from skating to an ice-snow fight. When the chaos settled again, everyone was getting ready to head over to BBs for dinner, and Callum was waiting for an excitable Alice to get her outside shoes on. My pulse jumped. Now or never. Willow had chosen Hunter to be her personal carrier and was asleep in his arms now, her tiny body curled into him. One fist had bunched in the fabric of his sweater, holding on even indreams.
I nudged him gently. “I just need to talk to Callum. You okay here?”
He glanced down at Willow. “Sure.”
Then I crossed to the benches where Callum was half bent over Alice, steadying her while she wobbled on her skates. I dropped my voice. “Hey, Callum—could I… Brooke said it was okay to ask for your advice.”
“Sure,” he said easily, glancing past me at Hunter holding Willow and smiling, though his attention was split. “Alice, the bunny goes through the hole, around the tree, and back down the rabbit hole. See? Pull tight.” He looped the lace with practiced hands, showing her once more before letting her try.
Alice’s tongue poked out in concentration. “Through the hole… around the tree…” She tugged the laces, proud when they came together in a decent knot.
“Perfect,” Callum praised, kissing the top of her hat before turning back to me. His lawyer’s face clicked into place without missing a beat. “What’s up?”
“It’s about some paperwork I got. Family stuff. I don’t want it public. Could you maybe look at it for me? Just… off-the-record?”
His brow furrowed, lawyer mode clicking in instantly. “Bring it by tomorrow. I’ll keep it between us.”
Relief loosened my shoulders. “Thank you.”
“No worries.” Hunter stepped up beside me. “You want me to take Willow?”
“She’s fine, I’ve got her,” he murmured, and Callum grinned.
“She loves her Uncle Hunter.”
I could tell the words caught him off guard—Uncle Hunter.
She woke up when we went out into the cold and got cross when Hunter and I couldn’t fit into her car seat with her, her little face screwing up in indignation as if we’d broken some sacred toddler pact.
“I hate to disappoint her,” he whispered, as her tiny hands reached for him, as Callum buckled her in. The lump in my throat was ridiculous, but I swallowed it down, shoving a grin onto my face while we both waved like fools through the frosty glass until she finally gave us a sleepy little smile back.
The ache in my chest sharpened as the car pulled away. I had five niblings at last count—three nephews, two nieces—and I would never know them. Never get to hold them, or read them bedtime stories, or let them crawl all over me the way Willow did. To them, I was a ghost, erased from the family tree before they were born. A nameless shadow their parents would never mention.
The weight of that hit me harder than I expected. I shoved my hands deep into my pockets, blinking awaythe sting in my eyes as the laughter and chatter of the Haynes family faded into the crisp air.
“What’s wrong?”
Hunter’s voice was gentle, and then he tugged me in, firm and warm, wrapping around my shoulders by his car. I let myself lean into his solid strength for a second.
“I’m just… fuck… I’m just fucking sad, okay?” I sounded defensive.
He stepped back a little so he could look me in the eye. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, the concern in his tone cutting right through me.
“I wish…” My voice cracked, and I tried again. “I wish I’d gotten to know my nephews and nieces. But I won’t. And that’s… fucking horrible.”
Hunter didn’t say anything, simply tugged me close, and I breathed in the steadiness of him.
“I’m sorry, Wes.”
“But family finds you, doesn’t it? In bookshops and coffee shops, on parade floats, in people who call you ‘Uncle’ even when you’re not. I may never have the family I lost, but I know I’ve found the one I need.” I let out a shaky laugh when he didn’t answer. “God, listen to me. I sound like a Hallmark movie.”
“Maybe,” Hunter said, his voice warm against the cold. “But you’re not wrong.”
BB’s Diner had never looked so full. Every boothwas crammed, tables shoved together until the place was one long line of plates and chatter. Bailey and Kai were hosting this year, and Bailey had gone all-out—pumpkin centerpieces, mismatched but festive tablecloths, every inch of space filled with platters of turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and pies that seemed to multiply whenever my back was turned. The air smelled like cinnamon and roasted everything, and the sound of laughter bounced off the tiled walls louder than the jukebox ever could.
We were squeezed into a booth along one side—me, Hunter, Lucas, Brooke, and little Willow, who had climbed onto Lucas’s lap the second she spotted turkey. She was a food thief of the highest order, reaching with sticky fingers for mashed potatoes one second and snagging a green bean the next, popping them into her mouth with the solemnity of a queen sampling delicacies. None of us stood a chance. By the time she was done, all our plates looked like a crime scene.
Lucas didn’t protest, just grinned like the big softie he was, feeding her slivers of pie crust while Brooke rolled her eyes affectionately. Across the table, Callum was cutting Alice’s turkey into careful bite-sized pieces, Duncan was already sneaking an extra dinner roll, and over by the counter, Bailey clinked his glass with a spoon.
