Page 94 of Josh’s Play

“Because I don’t think Devon is going to miss school. He’s coming to New York to be with me and daddy and to work and to go to a different school. And we’re going to have adventures and go to Explorer Girls.” Josh opened his arms, and Vera slotted between his legs, accepting the hug her uncle offered without taking a breath. “You could move to the city! Maybe everyone could move to the city. Uncle AJ is already there, but Uncle Vance can come! He can write anywhere. And there are schools there where he could teach. Maybe he could teach at my school! And grandma and grandpa can work at Devon’s new school. And you can go to Devon’s new school, and Uncle Hunter can play for the Hattans. I wouldn’t want my Florida grandparents to move, though, because then where would we stay when we go to Florida?”

Just then a flustered-looking Jamie and Devon arrived at the doorway.

“Here she is!” Devon said into the room, then, looking directly at Jamie, “Here she is.”

“We said we’d meet you outside, little one.”

“I know, Daddy. I just had to get Miss Octo and Miss Hedgehog.” Vera had extracted herself from Josh and held each one up as she said their names.

The men’s gazes shifted from the girl and her dolls back and forth between Josh and me as if they were clocking a tennis match. Devon spoke up first. “Come on, Miss Vee, let’s let these two finish their conversation.”

He stuck out his hand, and Vera took it. “They were talking about moving to the city like you, Devon!”

Devon shot a look at his best friend. “Really?”

Josh laughed as he stood up, taking his niece’s other hand in the one that would always sport a subtly crooked finger.

“No,” he said to the group before leaning down to speak directly to Vera. “My boyfriend and I are moving to a city but not yours. It’s closer to here. And I’m not going back to school. I’m going to work for the hockey team that Campbell is going to play on.”

Vera looked my way. “Are you Campbell?”

I nodded.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Vera.” I walked up to the group and wrapped my arm around Josh’s waist from the other side. With Jamie in front of us and the remaining four of us connected, we walked through the back of the house and out the slider to the beautiful back patio and the crowd of family, friends, and colleagues celebrating Josh and Devon’s graduation.

“You know, Vera, your Uncle Josh and I met because of you.”

“Really? I like to call him Uncle Joshy, by the way. None of my other uncles’ names are like that. But I have an Aunt Rosie, so that counts. I have lots of aunts and uncles and lots of grandparents. My Hampstead grandparents are here today but not my England grandparents or my Florida grandparents.”

I looked to Josh with a smile and a question on my face. “Welcome to the family,” he whispered in my ear before giving me a quick kiss behind it.

“Vera’s maternal grandparents live in Florida,” Devon explained.

“And my mother and her husband …”

I nodded in understanding and completed Jamie’s sentence “... live in England. Right, Josh mentioned that.”

Vera had continued talking but just so happened to have stopped as we neared the firepit, where Josh’s parents were sitting along with mine and a group that included a few people I recognized from pictures as some of Josh’s siblings.

The group went quiet at the same moment Vera did, but then Vera repeated the question I had clearly missed.

“How come you met Uncle Joshy because of me?”

I knelt down in front of the precocious girl. “Well, at the same time Uncle Josh hurt his finger, I hurt my ankle, and we ended up sitting next to each other while we waited for the doctor to see us,” I began, simplifying the story. Josh and I went back and forth, telling a short, PG-version of our story for Vera but really for everyone within earshot.

Epilogue

Josh

A Year or So Later

“I hope you’re sure this is okay, Finn, because it looks like Dev and Jamie and AJ and Jackson are going to beat us to the farm.”

“Babe, what’s the worst that can happen? My Dad will hug them all to death? My family's used to visitors. Especially now that fans might catch a glimpse of the soon-to-be reserve goalie for the Buffalo Blizzard.”

“We really should have thought that the agritourism business might boom based on you being all famous and shit.”

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t be so famous and shit right off the bat if it weren’t for a certain podcast causing a huge sensation in the hockey world.”