Her dad spears his gaze at me. “Yes, it’s not like that, so please now do the right thing and marry her.”
Piper rolls her eyes and looks frustrated at her husband’s level of crazy.
“This isn’t the stone age. We don’t need to be married.” Gracie stands, clearly annoyed.
Straightening my spine and feeling confident with our situation, I’m ready to challenge him. “She’s right. But I have no intention of leaving her side. I’m going to take care of her and the baby. In July, you’ll have another grandchild, and hopefully, you will be happy along with us.”
He lifts his chin, appearing to calm a smidgen. “Of course, I’ll be happy that we have a grandchild to add to the Arrows brood. But you two…” He grabs his glass of sangria from the side table next to the sofa and takes the world’s longest sip before setting it down. “I didn’t even know you two are together.”
“Eeeh,” Gracie peeps out then tugs my arm. “Just go with it,” she informs me under her breath. “We’re new. Going slow because of messy schedules and his public life, you know how it goes.”
Hudson’s eyes grow. “Having a baby isn’t slow,” he deadpans.
“Well, you better catch up really quick because we’re happening,” I reiterate.
My brazen attitude takes him by surprise. “You know, I’m excellent at throwing things. That’s the whole point of football. Then I have my son who I can borrow things from the farm to throw. Axes would be my tool of choice.”
I don’t blink once. “And? You’re not going to do anything to the father of your grandchild. Especially when he wants to step up.”
Gracie walks to the middle of the room and raises her arms on each side as if she needs to keep us apart. “Will you two calm it down a notch? If I need to lie down from exhaustion, I can promise you both that it’s from you two and not the baby.”
Hudson and I both pin our eyes on Gracie before we square off with hardened stares. I’m on board with Gracie’s request. Is her dad?
His jaw stretches to the side, and he is contemplating. “You’re right, princess… and… I’m confident that Asher will take care of you and the baby.”
A smile emerges on her face. “See? Was that so hard?”
“I think it’s a good idea if we can maybe settle and celebrate. Oh…” I point to the menorah with four lit candles on the fireplace mantel. “You know that seems to be a special menorah, very old and classic. A lot of meaning and truly exquisite.”
Piper perks up and is elated by my comment. “It is. Everyone talks about Hudson’s tree, but really look at it. It belonged to my grandmother Ruth.” She splays her hands in the direction of the fireplace.
Gracie turns to me and gives me a thumbs-up that nobody can see for buttering up her mom. “Come on, Dad. Your chicken will get dry if we drag this out.”
He bobbles his head side to side and cracks a smile. “My little girl is no longer a little girl.” She walks to her dad, and he gives her a side hug. It’s heartwarming to see actually. “How are you feeling?”
I follow as they walk side to side, and Piper smiles affectionately at me as she toofollows.
“I’m doing well. The baby is due in July.”
“The off season. At least something was well planned.”
She playfully pinches his arm. “Funny. Now let me tease you about your apron.”
The calm after the storm is a welcome relief. A few minutes later we are all sitting at the dining table with food in the middle. The table is elegant, decorated with little details.
Piper pours me a glass of wine. “A shame Drew couldn’t join us, but it’s his wife’s year to be with her family. A few neighbors will stop by later. Of course, we will keep everything under wraps until you two are ready.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Gracie turns to me and squeezes my hand, leaning in to speak into my ear. “We did it. We survived. Another step achieved.”
Yeah, we did. Now we can focus on other things: us.
That makes me smile to myself.
Hudson passes me the plate of latkes, but my nose begins to tingle in the process, and I sniff, as do the others. It’s smoke.
“Do you smell that?” Piper squinches her nose.
Hudson peers over her shoulder only to bounce up. “Oh no.”
