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“Okay.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
He helps me back into position, skis and poles in place before he gets himself situated. “Take it slow. If you get going too fast and can’t stop, sit down.” He chin-nods down the hill. “I’m right here, the whole way.”
Slowly, and I mean sloth-slow, I start down the slope, snowploughing for the first minute or so. Then, gradually, I start to traverse from side to side. I don’t take my eyes off my destination, but Landry is right beside me the whole way, talking to me, telling me, “You’re doing great.”
I am. I’m doing it. My leg doesn’t hurt. My fear diminishes the closer we get to the bottom. What feels like hours is, in fact, only a handful of minutes till we reach the base. Not giving me time to second-guess myself, I head straight to the chairlift to do it again, Landry at my side.
On my second run, I relax and actually look around, taking in my surroundings. “What?!” I’m shocked to see Cap and Rowdy behind Landry, then Gabriel and Frankie behind them.
Landry laughs at my surprise.
“We wanted to be sure you were okay.” Cap’s smile is full of pride—for me.
“You can pass me. I don’t mind.” I don’t want to hold them back.
“Nah, we’re good.” Cam turns backwards, making wider turns to slow his pace.
I blink away pending tears. I can’t believe them.
At the bottom again, Landry kisses my cheek. “They love you, Songbird. They believe in you even when you doubt yourself.”
“True, but we’re also hungry.” Cam nudges my shoulder. “One more run, then lunch?”
Already?I must have taken longer to build up my courage than I thought. “Yes, please.”
This time we take the lift a little farther up the hill. Still not black diamond like Cap and Cam-worthy, but it’s black diamond enough for me.
They all stick with me, all the way down.
I feel lighter, like a weight I didn’t know I was carrying has been lifted.
This is my husband and my family.
They carry me when I am too heavy.
They glide with me when I fly.
My family by blood.
My family by choice.
CHAPTER5
FRANKIE
It’s been three days of trying to keep up with Gabriel on the slopes and falling asleep at night while nursing Maddyn. He’s carried me to bed every night, me barely able to keep my eyes open, insisting we make love because I need it, and sleep—I’m just not sure which to prioritize. He simply chuckles indulgently, kisses my nose and tucks me in with a commanding, “Sleep, Angel,” before leaving to hang out with the guys or getting the rest of the kids to bed.
Three. Days.
We came on this trip hoping to get alone time.
If you call skiing side by side, surrounded by hundreds of strangers, alone time, then, yes, we’ve hit the mark.
I, on the other hand, believe drastic measures are in order, which don’t include weaning my little girl off the tit while on vacation. Or getting railed against a tree on a foray down the slopes as my sweet hubby tried yesterday. Thankfully, we were only kissing before the ski patrol stopped to be sure everything was okay. Then they strongly encouraged us to be on our way after determining we were short of breath from making out, not injury or illness.
