“Hi! Hello, yes! That’s me. Adrian. So lovely to meet you both,” I ramble, unable to stop myself. “Are you guys okay with hugs? This kind of feels like a hug moment, but that could totally just be a me thing…”
“You can call me Tina, and I would love a hug,” Hudson’s mom confirms warmly, cutting my nervous rambling off as she opens her arms. I rush forward to embrace her. We’re about the same height, and although it doesn’t last long, I’m still left with asense of comfort as though I was momentarily wrapped in a warm blanket that could make all my troubles go away.
The first time I had a hug like that was from Beck’s mom, and I immediately knew I liked her. I smile, having that same feeling now about Hudson’s mom. I turn to his father next, not wanting him to feel left out, even though I’m unsure if a hug is something he can physically participate in. “And what about you, sir, would it be alright if I hugged you? I won’t be offended if you want me to skip it.”
Hudson warned me that his father’s speech was heavily impacted by the stroke, and that it can take him a while to attempt to communicate. He suggested I give him a long time to reply, but that I didn’t need to adjust my own speaking speed or volume because his stroke mostly affected the way his brain produces speech. He still has fairly good comprehension. He also suggested clear questions that didn’t require long answers, so hopefully my rambling wasn’t too confusing.
He nods his head slowly. I smile before I approach him and lean in for the hug. He wraps his one usable arm around me as I do, and for some reason, I have to fight back tears. I think about everything Hudson has told me about this man, how he gave him such an amazing childhood that now all Hudson wants in life is to pass that on to kids of his own. I pull back from the embrace before I really embarrass myself by crying moments after meeting them.
I clear my throat so I don’t sound overly emotional. “Hudson has told me such amazing things about you guys. You both raised such an incredible man. You should be so proud.”
His mom’s smile grows. “Oh, sweetie, thank you for saying that. We’ve also heard great things about you, quite a bit actually, so we were thrilled to get to meet you. Thank you for coming all this way to do it in person.”
Okay, they actually want me here.That's arelief. I was worried one look at me and they’d realize I’m obsessed with their son and want me to leave.
I smile, a little more relaxed now. “Last game that you’ll be at, how could I say no? I hope you got the Werewolves merch package the team sent to your house.” The team, me. Same difference.
“Yes! Thank you so much. We’re both wearing the jerseys now.” Tina does a little spin to show off her look. I love her already. “Well, I want to know everything about you. But the game is about the start, and Robert, honey, are you still feeling alright?” He slowly nods. “So maybe we can move to the seats at the front of the box. He can’t get out of the chair easily enough to go down, but there’s enough room behind the stadium seats for him to park and still see the ice.”
“That sounds great.” I hang back and let them get settled. I know the Caldwell center has some accessibility programs in place, but seeing how limited Hudson’s dad’s experience is, even in the fanciest seats I’m sure money could offer, I can’t help but wonder if we could improve our disability accommodations. I don’t think our boxes have any special wheelchair accessibility… We have wheelchair seating but that’s out in the main area where it’s considerably louder than here. Hudson’s mom offers Robert noise-canceling headphones, so that must be a factor for him. And the lights are off in the suite, but the arena is really bright with a lot of flashing lights, so that barely affects how light it is in the box. To watch the game, it does need to be bright, there isn’t much I can think of to counteract that, but maybe offering more sensory rooms where people could excuse themselves would be an option. I think we have one, but it’s a huge arena, and I wonder if we could add more…
“I don’t know what Hudson told you about us to have you looking so nervous and staying so far away, but you can come join us. We don’t bite, promise.”
I laugh as I do just that, taking a seat next to Tina in the same row. “All good things, I promise. I was just thinking about work.”
She hums knowingly. “Hudson did mention you’re somewhat of a workaholic.”
I laugh again, surprised. “He did?”
“Well, he didn’t call it that. We were just wondering about the person he’s been living with for months now, so we asked about you a bit. I hope you don’t mind.” I shake my head. “Hudson went on and on about how hard you work and how much you do for the team and all the players and staff who work for it. He’s played professional hockey for how many years now? I’ve never heard him mention the behind-the-scenes operations in more than passing. But he talked for probably twenty minutes straight about all the things you’ve done to help the team, and how you’re constantly bringing work home.”
Tina turns to her husband throughout the conversation, and her chair is slightly behind his allowing me to see them both, so even though she’s doing the talking, it does feel like we’re all chatting together. “We know it must have taken effort to come here tonight, but it seemed important to Hudson. I’m glad you were able to.” She reaches out to squeeze my hand and gives me a knowing look.
But what the hell does she know?
“Can we pretend like I’m handling this really casually and that I’m not turning the color of a tomato right now?” I ask with a big smile, only half joking. It earns a laugh from Hudson’s mom, and what I think is a chuckle from his dad, so I’m fairly certain things are actually going pretty well though.
“Don’t sweat it. I loved hearing all about it. He obviously has a lot of admiration and respect for you. I’m so glad he has good people to lean on when he’s so far away from us. You’ve been so kind letting him stay with you, and he said you’ve been a big help with finding a house and encouraging him toadopt, too. He’s talked about wanting to be a dad for as long as I can remember, and I’m just so relieved that his divorce didn’t crush his spirit.”
“Me too. He’s been so positive the entire time. I would have definitely thrown a fit at some point, but he really has stayed so calm. He’s still so full of hope for his future. It’s amazing.” Just like he is. Crap. Do I sound a little too impressed by him? I can’t help it.
I’ll choose to pretend like I’m successfully managing to maintain the supportive friend role, but I really doubt it.
“Don’t underestimate your part in that, sweetie. He’s never liked being alone. I think living with you has really helped him, allowed him not to focus on the bad things that have happened. Especially now that I’ve met you and see how positive you are too.”
My smile feels permanent. I had hoped that his parents would like me, but I never expected his mom to be full of praise. “Well, he’s an ideal roommate. I don’t know who taught him to clean and do laundry, but I have absolutely no complaints about living with him.”
“Oh, that was all Robert. Hudson has always imitated his dad. I’m glad those good qualities stuck,” she says with a wink that reminds me so much of her son, her eyes the same gray-blue as Hudson’s. I think both of these amazing people had a big influence on making him the man I know and adore today. It’s easy to see how kind and loving his parents obviously are, and how easily they’re extending that to me is such a bittersweet feeling.
On one hand, I’m eating it up, thriving as my chest feels ready to burst with the warm, fuzzy feelings they’re offering. But on the other hand, this feels like a stolen moment. Another on the long list of things I’ve done with Hudson because he’s single, and I’m the next best option while he’s living with me, and I’m helping him with his house. I know I’m sitting in a temporary seat, a placeholder until he meets his future wife, and she’ll be the onesharing future moments with his parents. She’ll get to call these people Mom and Dad while they’ll forget all about me. This is probably the one and only night I’ll spend with them.
But I also know there’s no use wallowing. I’m here with Hudson’s amazing family, about to watch the final professional game they’ll ever see him play. I’m going to focus on all the amazing parts of tonight, take some mental notes of things to look into regarding accessibility at the Werewolves’ games, and have a fabulous time.
I can be sad about it being a onetime thing later.
21
HUDSON
