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“Mine too.” Liam smirks.
I place a piece of the three-layer chocolate fudge cake on Crew’s plate. I snag a little bit from him.
“Hey,” he says like he doesn’t want to share.
“Crew,” I chide. “You share with your mom.”
“Not chocolate,” he says. Again, when I look up at Liam, he’s eating the same cake as Crew and smiling. Damn him for being so handsome and sweet with my son.
After dinner, everyone gets up from the table. They all help pack up the leftovers. The Sanders clan and the Russells have a Christmas tradition of bringing leftover food to a shelter. The truth is, it doesn’t seem like leftovers because they order a lot of food to feed the people there. They are all about giving back. They are kind and warm, and it feels so good to be in their presence. To see this kind of life does exist where families are together, happy, and good to one another. When I graduated from high school and left the Pattersons, they were more disappointed about losing their check than me. Mary stayed in touch with me a few times a year, and I even got invited to a Thanksgiving meal my freshman year, but when I told her I was pregnant and unwed, she was disgusted and told me never to call her again. In retrospect, I should’ve expected that reaction, but I fooled myself into believing she may be there for me at a time when I felt so alone and terrified.
I help with packing the food in the kitchen while Crew goes to rest on a couch in the living room.
Flynn walks over to me. “My house manager, Christina, is here for the night. If you want, she can watch Crew so you can come with us to the shelter,” she offers. Patty and I planned on sleeping here tonight anyway, but I don’t know this Christina.
“That’s very sweet of you to offer. Thank you, but I think I’ll just stay back here with him,” I reply.
“Christina is amazing. She used to be our live-in house manager when Patty and Kevin were small. She’s really great,” Flynn claims.
“It’s true.” Patty nods.
“We loved Christina,” Kevin agrees.
If Patty vouches for her, then I know I can trust this Christina because Patty adores Crew. It would also be nice to get out of the house, but going to a shelter will bring back memories of darker days. My mind is divided between wanting to do a good deed and worrying about what being in such an environment will make me remember.
“Come on. It’s a special experience. Kev and I have been going since we were kids,” Patty urges.
I have a hard time saying no to her. She knows my mom was an addict and I was removed from that environment and put into foster care, but I never liked to dwell on the small details that were my life.
“Okay.” I nod. “I’ll go.”
I hope Liam isn’t planning to tag along because having him there will be too much.
I take Crew upstairs and change him into his jammies. He climbs onto the large bed, and I tuck him in. Flynn was nice enough to buy a bed rail for his side of the bed so I don’t worry about him falling in the middle of the night.
“If you just rub his back a little, he should fall asleep quickly,” I tell Christina.
“Don’t worry. He’ll be just fine. I’ll sit in the rocking chair and read on my Kindle. He won’t be alone,” she assures.
“Thank you so much,” I say, and I hug the woman. She laughs, caught off guard, and hugs me back. Besides daycare and kindergarten, I’ve only left Crew once before.
“No problem.”
We pull apart, and I go back downstairs. We all get ready to head out to the shelter wearing Christmas sweaters to serve food. When I make my way to the elevator, it is too full to carry everyone in one shot, so I wait behind for the next ride with Patty and Kevin.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t put two and two together,” she mouths, referring to the fact she knew Liam but didn’t realize he was my Liam from high school.
“It’s a popular name. There was no way you could’ve known,” I assure her.
“Thanks, Sky.” She sighs. “How are you holding up?”
I blow out a breath. “Seeing him here. . . talking to him. . . it feels natural on the one hand and hurts on the other.”
“Makes sense.” She nods. “He’s coming to the shelter,” she says it like a warning.
“I figured he would.” I blink. Kevin is nice enough to act like he doesn’t hear our conversation.
“He’s been playing for my dad for a few seasons now. Seems like a nice guy.” She raises her brows.
