Now we were definitely gonna be late.
* * *
Micah opened my door and grabbed my hand as I slid from his truck, then pulled the seat forward to let the girls out. I hung back and looked at the house.
It was average-looking. Built in the 80s, I guessed. White siding with black shutters. Pretty big—unsurprising, given how many kids they’d had. The lawn was partially hidden under a crusted layer of snow, but it looked well-tended.
“You okay?” Micah eyed me in that way that made me feel like he saw beneath my outer layers, into the real soft core of me. “Can hardly tell with that big-ass coat on.”
“Well whose fault is that, then?” I forced humor into my voice, even though I was frankly scared. He’d insisted I get something warm for up there at his place. And, yeah, he’d been right, but I looked like a freaking dumpling in this thing.
“It’s cute on you.”
“Cute. Great. Here I was going for sophisticated and serious for your—”
“Oh my God, he’s here!” A woman yelled from the porch. “You guys! They’re—”
Seconds later, she was joined by another woman—Cindy, maybe—then a couple kids.
“Micah! Micah, look at my new princess shoes. They’re—”
“Bear! Here, boy!”
“It’s a girl, dummy. Don’t you—”
Voices overlapped, the dogs joining in, and within seconds what felt like about twelve families spilled out onto the snow-covered front lawn.
“Micah’s here! With his giiiiirlfriend! She’s so—”
“Get back in, Tony, you’re barefoot! You’ll catch—”
A toddler rushed out between two adults, stumbled down the steps and made a beeline for them. In two long strides, Micah got to her and scooped her up. He put his bearded face to her belly and had her giggling in half a second. I slowed, my eyes taking in this new version of the man I loved.
Love.
The word hit me in the belly, made my steps falter and my heartbeat go wild. I wondered, for a second, how I could contain this much emotion for the man. After a second’s hesitation I caught up to him, wide-eyed and out of breath.
His eagle eyes had witnessed my off-kilter moment. He leaned in, and put his forehead to mine. “Want to get out of here?” he whispered.
Yes.This was a lot for an only child, even if I was pretty comfortable with people. This wasn’t a crowd. It was a mob. A horde. “Course not.”
He gave me a quick peck on the lips and stood up straight again. “Hey, everyone,” he called. “This is Christa.”
I smiled and waved, awkward as I headed up the walkway right into the heart of the throng. But as I walked, I realized, it was an overwhelming number of people and, yeah, they were incredibly loud, but they looked sohappyto see us, so eager to meet me, that I couldn’t help but feel welcomed.
“Christa!” A tall, thickly-built woman whose long face was capped with short, grey hair pushed her way through to the front of the crowd, hands outstretched. “Come on in, honey. Let’s find you a quiet place so you can acclimate to...” She spread her arms with a grin. “Us.”
Hours later, after lunch and birthday cake, gifts and games, Micah checked with me before disappearing down a hall with his dad—a big, softie of a man I immediately felt at home with. I turned to see his mom coming toward me carrying a couple mugs.
“Here. Herb tea.” She handed me a cup and sank onto the sofa beside me, leaned in and said under her breath, “Or what I call a hot toddy.” Her chin lifted to take in the room, which had finally almost emptied of people. “I imagine you’ll need it after the Graham family hullaballoo.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Grah—”
“Oh, honey.” She sent an arch look my way. “I told you to call me Janie.”
“Right.” I smiled. “Thank you, Janie.”
Cinnamon and clove steam rose from the mug, bringing me immediately back to the holidays and that first weekend with Micah.
