But for now, I soak in our first morning as a pack.
As a family.
I make a silent vow right then and there to never abandon my pack the way my parents abandoned me to a system that didn’t give a shit about anything but the paycheck I came with. My family deserves better than what I had. They deserve love and nurturing. They deserve my presence and energy.
And I’ll make sure that’s exactly what they get.
Eli
Idon’t want to overthink this.
If I do, I’ll stall. If I stall, I’ll overcomplicate it. And if I overcomplicate it, I’ll turn something simple into something confusing for a nine-year-old who deserves better than that.
So, I don’t wait.
I set my mug down as I look over at my daughter.
My beautiful, wonderful daughter, who I hope experiences the joy of finding her own pack someday. She’s still curled up in Lia’s lap, talking a mile a minute about something Pickles did while he was at my parents’ house. Lia’s listening as if it’s the most important story she’s ever heard, her fingers absentmindedly combing through Amber’s hair.
I have to swallow the knot in my throat. “Hey, kiddo.”
Amber looks over at me immediately. “Yeah, Daddy?”
I crook my finger at her. “C’mere for a second.”
She slides out of Lia’s lap without hesitation, padding over to me in the footed pajama onesie I know she insisted on wearing all day while at her grandparents’. I lift her easily, settling her on my lap like I’ve done a thousand times before.
One of these days, she’ll be too grown for me to do such things. I take the opportunities when I can.
“Okay,” I say, brushing her hair back from her face. “I’ve got a question for you.”
She narrows her eyes at me playfully. “Is it a trick question?”
I huff a quiet laugh. “No, princess. Just a regular one.”
She nods. “Okay.”
Keep it simple. “What if I were to tell you that all of us sitting at this table are family now?”
She blinks at me as her little head tilts. The hood of her unicorn onesie falls off the top of her head, and the static cling of her hair bounces it in all directions as she looks around the table. She studies Walker and smiles at Knox. She looks over at my parents, then Walker’s parents. It’s like she’s trying to piece together who’s in the room in real time.
Then she looks back at me with that wrinkled little nose of hers. “Does that mean I have more grandparents now?”
Behind me, I hear a very poorly stifled squeal. I don’t have to look to know it’s Walker’s mother.
It makes me smile. “Yeah. That means you’ve got more grandparents now. How does that make you feel?”
Her face lights up, wasting no time expressing her joy. “That’s awesome! Can we call Meemaw and Peepaw and tell them? I was supposed to see them, but Meemaw’s been sick.”
Gloria’s parents. My brow furrows. “How sick is she?”
Walker’s mother interjects from the kitchen. “Just some sinus problems! You know how it is with spring! I checked up on her a few times this week.”
Walker groans, but I just look over at him and toss him a playful wink. He may find that his mother meddles too much, but I find that not enough people meddle in mine and Amber’s lives.
“Thank you, Mrs. Boone,” I call back.
“You’re welcome, son,” she chirps.
