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“I—”
But then she was dropping her hand away, stepping back. “Yeah, honey.” A nod. “Want to go wrangle your family and I’ll finish up here?”
“I’ll help you—”
“Come into the living room,” my mom said when Eva glanced over at her, and for the first time I realized that she must have been in on whatever this was, but then she was grabbing my arm, drawing me back out of the kitchen. “Present time!” she declared.
Which was enough to send my sisters into motion, dragging Eva’s siblings along with them.
Walker and the hockey-playing boyfriend—I narrowed my eyes at the floofy-haired fucker who was all too handsy with my sister—followed them into the family room gathering around the tree with its carefully placed ornaments and perfectly draped twinkly lights, taking up the couch and armchairs and generally filling the room with people we cared about.
Except that floofy-haired fucker.
Dommie cuddled up next to Rose, the two of them looking at something on Rose’s cell phone. Lana sat in Levi’s lap (something that had both Walker and I narrowing our eyes—my teammate might be a pain in the ass in the locker room, but he had my back). My mom released my arm and went over to Roger, curling her legs beneath her, practically radiating joy when Gabe and Jer joined her, the two having latched onto my mom.
Because my mom was a mom.
Because they hadn’t ever had that—not with anyone who wasn’t Eva, who wasn’t their sister bending over backward and slowly killing herself to help her family survive when her parents checked out.
Because Eva had made it that way.
Made space for my family to embrace hers—no jealousy, no roadblocks.
Just love and togetherness and—
“Ready?”
A rustling came from behind me, and I spin around, see Eva carrying in a huge basket filled with blankets.
Blankets that color coordinate with the throw pillows on the couch.
It was chilly outside, snow falling, the air biting in the strictly Baltimore way, and my sisters and mom all have thin blood—hello California weather. I smiled, knowing that my thoughtful woman had brought them out so my family would be cozy and comfortable while they opened their presents.
I started toward her, intending to help her pass them out.
Only…
The blankets were moving.
No.
That wasn’t right.
There was something movinginthe blankets.
Eva moved toward me, setting the basket down in front of the coffee table. Rose leaned in and I watched her freeze. Something that Lana immediately picked up on, head jerking up to mine, eyes going wide, mouth dropping open.
The air in the room changed, going taut and still and…
Every single eye in the room came to me.
“What?” I asked.
“Bark!”
I blinked.
That sounded like—
