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Gray elbows me and I give him an apologetic smile but he just grins at me.
The two of us are closer than ever. We both went to therapy for a few years and I would sit in on his session every couple of months. It was the right thing for us. We both worked through our childhood and residual feelings for our parents.
Hearing him talk about what it was like when I left for the military was hard to hear and there were a few sessions where he just yelled at me and got out all of the emotions that he felt when he was left alone.
We’ve moved past that though and Gray left therapy a few months ago. I’m still going and still attending the veteran group meetings. I’ve come a long way from when I was first discharged.
“What can I help you with?” I ask Gray as he starts lining up ingredients on the counter.
“Want to make the green bean casserole?”
“Sure.”
I take my spot next to him at the counter and get to work. The turkey is almost done, so now we need to make the sides. Gray gets to work on the mashed potatoes, occasionally stopping to kiss his wife or hang out with his son.
We’ve been taking turns with holidays for the past few years although usually we come up to Pittsburgh. Gray and Nora have the dogs here, but they also have more family here.
I’ve been working at The Garden Goddess, running the place so that Evangeline can do landscaping jobs and focus on the growing part of the business. We’ve grown the place over the last five years and now we have people from Denver and Colorado Springs coming to buy my wife’s flowers.
“What time is everyone else getting here?” I ask Gray and he checks his phone.
“Should be any minu––”
“The party has arrived!” Rooney calls as he opens the front door and I laugh.
“They’re here,” Gray says straight-faced.
The townhouse fills up fast and I laugh as I dodge kids and everyone else to make it back to my wife and son.
“I grabbed you a roll,” I whisper to her, passing one to Marie and Noah too.
“My hero,” she says as she takes a big bite and I laugh.
She’s right though. I want to be her hero, the love of her life.
Her everything.
“Love you,” I say as my hand goes to her belly, rubbing her baby bump.
“I love you too. So much.”
I steal one more kiss before Ender is calling me over to the kitchen. If you had told me five years ago that I would be happily living in Rosewood, working at my wife’s greenhouse and nursery, and in therapy, I probably would have laughed in your face.
I’m glad that it’s my life though.
Ender passes me a beer and Brooks comes over to join us, his arm around his wife, Rae. It’s been nice to see all of my old military friends happy and settled and I’m glad that we all stayed in touch.
“Time to eat!” Harvey calls and I grab Noah so that Marie and Evangeline can get situated first.
“Happy Thanksgiving,” Ender tells me and I smile, clinking my beer bottle against his as I go to join my family.
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Did you love Always? Please consider leaving a review! You can do so on Amazon, Goodreads, and Bookbub.
Are you curious about Jasper’s brother, Gray? Then check out his book,here.
Gray is part of the Eye Candy Ink series. Did you miss that series? You can check it outhere.
