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Her cell begins to ring.She reaches for it, anxiety tightening her features.“It’s Ben.”
“You’ve got this.”I say, nodding in support.
She takes a breath and answers.“Hey, what’s up?”She listens, nodding for a beat, a smile creeping across her face.“Yeah, thanks.Me, too.That’s all I want.For all of us to get along and love Chase and be happy.”Her smile widens.“Yeah, I’d love to talk to him.Put him on.”She waits a beat and then I hear an excited little voice on the other end of the line.“Hey, buddy!Yeah, I miss you, too.I can’t wait to see you on Tuesday.Nutty is excited, too.He’s here eating walnuts, hanging out with me and Aaron.”
Her focus shifts my way as Chase responds, her gaze warming.“Yeah, Aaron’s still here.You’ll see him soon.Yeah, me, too.Really glad.”
Glad doesn’t begin to cut it.I don’t know what the best word is to describe how I’m feeling right now—joy, bliss, euphoria—but I know it’s laced with a heavy dose of gratitude.I’m so grateful for this chance, this woman.
Hell, I’m even grateful for Kriecheque the cheesehead.If he hadn’t smashed me into the boards, it might have taken even longer for us to find our way to each other.
But we would have gotten here eventually, I just know it.
Some things are meant to be.
Things like me and Mel and the family we’re going to make together.
A family I’m going to treasure all the more for how hard we’ll have to work for it.Anything worth having is worth fighting for, and Melly and Chase are the biggest prizes in the world.
At least for me.
Chapter 31
Melissa
Eleven Months Later…
“Hold me up, Mama!”Chase bounces beside me all the way down the steps to our seats at the front.“Hold me up, I want to see Awin skate fast!”
My three-year-old is now a raging hockey fan and getting much better at saying his “r” sounds.Except when it comes to “Awin.”But I kind of love that he still says Aaron’s name that way.And when he calls him “Daddy Awin” when he’s feeling especially love-y toward his bonus parent?
Well, that makes my heart feel like it’s about to explode with happiness.
He calls Radcliffe “Daddy Raddy,” too, but as much as he adores Ben’s husband, it isn’t the same.What he and Aaron have is special.They’re thick as thieves and I already know they’ll be best friends when Chase grows up.
And they’ll probably spend most of their time talking about hockey.
“Don’t worry, Mama, I’ll ‘splain the rules,” Chase says, as we arrive at our seats, and I hoist him into my arms to watch the teams warming up on the ice.When Chase spots Aaron he thrusts a pudgy arm in the air and shouts, “Awin!Daddy Awin!We’re here!We’re going to watch you win.”
Somehow, Aaron manages to hear Chase over the din in the arena and skates over, waving at us through the glass.
“Kick booty and take names,” I say with a grin.“And stay away from cheeseheads.”
“Cheeseheads better stay away from me,” he shouts, bumping Chase’s fist lightly through the glass.“Can’t wait to take you guys to pizza after the game.”
Chase cheers.“Pizza!Mama, pizza!”
“I heard,” I say, laughing as Aaron skates away.“But didn’t you have pizza last night at Daddy’s house?”
Chase puts a finger to my lips.“Shush, Mama.It’s okay.Pizza is okay all the time.”
I grin, my lips moving against his warm skin.“I agree, but we’ll have salad too, okay?We have to eat our veggies if we’re going to get big and strong.”
“Big enough to play hockey,” Chase says, his eyes gleaming.“Daddy Awin said I could start when I’m four.I’m almost four soon!”
“Not too long,” I agree, unable to believe my little guy is growing up so fast.I’ll miss his baby years, but I’m nottoosad about it.
After all, I’ll get to start the baby years all over again soon…
