Caleb’s mouth remains agape as he blinks down at Brody. Then, his eyes begin frantically scanning the area near the warming hut, rental area. Not knowing what it is he’s searching for, all I can do to try to calm his nerves is rub the knot that hangs out between his shoulder blades.
Marcus approaches next. He’s got a snow tube being dragged along behind him. He takes in the sight of his partner panicking. “Babe, Cam found some friends on his basketball team. He’s up the hill already, with them. He’ll be fine,” he intuits somehow.
It still blows my mind how well they communicate—sometimes it seems freakin’ telepathic or something.
Marcus then holds up the strap of his snow tube. “Since I know I’ll be on my ass on either skis or a snowboard, I’m opting to take the padded route downhill.” He leans in and kisses Caleb’s cheek. Then he whispers in Caleb’s ear, “Do I need to bribe you in order to get you to snap out of it and teach Lo and Brode how to snowboard?”
Caleb blinks again, still in an obvious state of duress.
“‘Cuz I will,” Marcus continues gently.
He cups his hand around his mouth and whispers something else in Caleb’s ear. Something I can’t hear. Something clearly not meant for neither my ears nor Brody’s, but whatever it was, it must be working. It gets a small smirk out of Caleb.
“Ah, look who’s coming out of it now,” Marcus hums, his lips pursed in amusement.
Caleb raises his gloved hands. “Whatever songs I request?”
Marcus nods, biting his lip. “You’ll get the wholeprivateconcert, babe. Anything eighties, and whatever ones I know all the words to.”
Caleb holds his hand out, and they shake on it, sealing the deal. There has to be more to that than just the singing, I’m sure, but I hope I get to take part in this “private concert” as well. Brody gapes up at them, thoroughly confused, but, thankfully, he doesn’t ask for clarification. He just plunks his bum down in the snow and huffs in silent consternation over the snowboard bindings.
Caleb bends down and removes his gloves so he can sign better. He explains all the parts of the bindings so well that I actually have no issues getting mine on. Although, that leaves me in a predicament now where I have to awkwardly scoot over to the tow rope. Caleb grins at me before guiding me there with his hand on the small of my back. Guess I wasn’t supposed to secure my back foot in just yet. Whoops.
The rest of the afternoon goes by smoothly, as if he didn’t spend all morning anxious about us all being here. Cam caught up with us a few times, sailing past us newbies—me and Brody—with his thumbs up. He had an absolute blast, and I think hanging out, feeling like a part of the team even off the court, got him out of the funk he’s been in about the upcoming court hearings he’s about to attend with Caleb to try to get custody of Aaronback.
I know he’s concerned about a rift forming between him and his grandparents on Aaron’s side because Cam’s not one for conflict of any sort. He also wants Aaron home with us as well though. He’s torn, and I know that’s a lot for anyone to have to go through, much less someone who’s still just a teenager.
Brody gave up trying to “shred” on his snowboard very early on—when he discovered it was much harder than he anticipated—and decided to join Marcus on the snowtubing side of the mountain. That left Caleb in charge of being my private tutor, and I’m not going to lie, I suck at snowboarding. I’d have spent more time on my ass, however, if it weren’t for him being there to catch me damn near every time. As predicted, because he’s one of my green-flag partners, Caleb was nothing but steady and patient, trying to teach me how to stay upright.
Regardless of his patience, though, I’ve eaten so much snow that it’s probably high-time I quit trying and go in for some hot cocoa instead. When we get to the lodge, the rest of the crew is out of their snow gear and warming up by the large stone fireplace. Cam’s, Brody’s, and Marcus’ cheeks are all ruddy from a day spent out in the cold, from all the exertion, and from the sun. I couldn’t be any more happy to see them—my beautifully blended family, which is just starting to blossom into something great. Something fantastic. Something perfectly imperfect, but one that makes my heart so, so happy.
Seeing as though everyone else is already working on their hot chocolates, Caleb tells me to go relax, that he will place an order for us. This makes me think back to that ice cream date we had so many months ago. The way I ducked away to observe him placing our orders for us at the time. How I didn’t want him to see me as merely a communication crutch back then. He passed the test, obviously.
He wanted something more, just like me. Well now, we’ve got it in spades. Once we meet with his lawyer, I’m sure we’ll be well on our way to growing even bigger, and honestly? I can’t wait to have Aaron join our lives. It makes me shiver with excitement over being able to see the look on both Caleb and Cam’s faces when we win this thing, because there’s no way we won’t be walking out of that courtroom without a victory on our hands. I know I’ve just started my new career in advocacy work, but I feel—I don’t know—like it’s given me wings or something.
Marcus ushers me over and once I get out of my snow gear, I sit on his lap, sideways across him, as he reclines back on a plush, faux-leather loveseat. He wraps his arms around my waist and holds me tightly to his chest. In his arms will always feel like safety, security, as if I’m allowed to relax and just breathe out any tension. He tucks some of my loose strands of hair behind my ear and kisses my cheek.
“Did you and C have a good time?” he asks me.
I nod. “He’s a good teacher. I’m afraid I’m just a terrible student,” I admit on a giggle.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day. You’ll get the hang of it the more you come out and do this with him. Do you think he’s calmed down at all?”
“Yeah,” I say with a relieved sigh.
“Thank you for doing this for him,” Cam says, peering up from his hand of cards. He and Brody look like they’re playing a game of Rummy. “Thank you for giving him that nudge out of his comfort zone, I mean.”
I smile. “You’re welcome. I hope you had a good time today too.”
Cam nods. “I did. The guys on my team all asked who my dad was trying to teach how to snowboard, by the way. I hope you don’t mind that I just called you my newstep-mother…”
I blink at him, stunned into silence. Marcus gives me a little squeeze, prompting me to respond to Cameron. I don’t know what to say though. I’m not—I didn’t…
“Your dad and I aren’t married though,” is what I end up blurting out. I mean, I know Cam hasn’t had a mother figure in his life for many years, but to callmethat? I’mshocked. Sure, there are flutters in my chest, but I’m still pretty certain that wasn’t what I was just supposed to reply with…
Cam’s lips thin into a line as he rolls them between his lips, worried that he just said something he shouldn’t have. “I’m sorry. I guess I should have asked you first? I don’t know, it just seems, uh, odd saying you’re one of the ones my dad is dating, you know? I mean, like, I’m notembarrassedabout saying that my dad’s in a relationship with two people or anything like that. It’s just… you’remoreto me than just someone my dad is seeing, I guess.”
“Aw, hunny,” I coo. “You have no idea how much that means to me. Yes, yes you can call me your step-mother if you want to. I’m honored, actually. Thank you.”
