I wasn’t sure how I’d gotten so lucky, but if there was anything I was thankful for, it was him.
With a quick stop back in her apartment, we headed out. “Happy Thanksgiving,” I said, hugging her.
“Happy Thanksgiving, sweets and sweets.”
I grinned at Axel. “You’ve been nicknamed. That means you’re a keeper.”
We made a quick stop at his house to gather the brownies we’d made, and headed to the Karlsons’ for Thanksgiving chaos. Their house was larger than Axel’s, with more open space.
“Wow, this is impressive,” I said to Axel.
“Jenna likes to do this. Since we only have today off, most of the rookies and single guys couldn’t go home. She takes her mother hen thing seriously.”
A buffet was set up in the dining room and kitchen, while event tables and chairs were spaced all around the room.How they’d crammed an entire hockey team in there was mindboggling.
Walking into the massive kitchen, Jenna spotted me immediately. She’d added me to the text chain for wives and significant others and made a point to include me. “Hey, Luca! Desserts over here,” she said, pointing to the kitchen table. “Gotta keep the kids out.”
Football was played on the biggest TV I’d ever seen in the family room, where most of the team was congregated. They were talking hockey and football, with Axel right in the middle since his brother was in the NFL. It wasn’t long before I was swallowed up by the ladies asking a million questions about us. I wanted to be in the room with Axel; the team had gathered around their captain, including Heath. My gut churned until Jenna held out a beer. “Here ya go, hon. You look like you could use this.” I loved her immediately.
I fielded questions about when I would be finished with classes. “Next month.”
How many exams do I have to take? “Two.”
And the most invasive was when I was going to move in with Axel. “Umm, I don’t know.”
Luckily, when it was time to eat, Axel made it back to me. “How are you doing over here?” he asked, wrapping his arms around me from behind.
I finished my beer. “Fine now that you’re here.”
Everyone waited while the moms all took care of preparing plates for the little guys. I was fascinated by the way they went about it, selecting some things and not others. Kids rejected most of the vegetables but agreed to others. When I was a kid, I couldn’t remember ever having a choice. I either ate what I was given or I didn’t eat. And there were some nights when I went to bed hungry. My fingers brushed over the elastic band, but left it in place.
With the kids settled at tables together, Jenna handed everyone a plate with instructions to clean the table. As we circled it, Axel and I decided there was too much food for some of everything, so whatever he got, I didn’t. When we were finished, we had two plates full of a little bit of everything. We sat down at the table in the corner and dug in. By the time dessert was served and the next football game started, I was ready for a nap.
Needing some time alone, we said our goodbyes and headed home. I smiled to myself.
“Did you have a good time today?” he asked, holding my hand as we walked home.
“Yeah, I did. It was great. You have a great big family now.”
He hummed. “So do you, love. So do you.”
Chapter 34
Axel
The day we’d been waiting for came a week before Christmas. As I waited for Luca to walk across the stage to accept his advanced graduate degree, I was brimming with pride and happiness for him. The kind that settles into the darkest places of your heart and unexpectedly lights you up. He had made it out of a nearly impossible situation and created a life for himself.
“Luca Vaughn. Master’s of Clinical Social Work,” the dean announced.
The roar from his cheering section startled him as he stood at the edge of the stage for the photo with his professor. His smile was bright as he found us in the center of the crowd. He assumed I was the only one attending, but I’d pulled off the surprise of surprises and invited as many people as I could.
When the ceremony ended, he found his way to us. His big brown eyes were full of happiness as he walked into my arms. “I’m so fucking proud of you, love.”
Luca chuckled, but I felt the tears on my neck. “How?”
I knew what he was asking. He was only allotted two tickets. “I gave a little donation to the college in return for some extra tickets.”
“Of course you did,” he mused. “Thank you.”
