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As soon as he walked in the door, he was running to Maya, hugging her tightly.
"I missed you, Mommy!" he exclaimed.
Maya hugged him back, tears in her eyes. "I missed you too, baby."
I said goodbye to Eli and waved awkwardly to Maya before leaving the house.
Despite the hurt and anger, I hoped that Maya would see that I was here to stay with Eli. I had done something right this week and I could feel it in my bones.
Hope blossomed cautiously when Maya called me the next day.
“Eli had a lot of fun with you, Jack.” I could sense the jealousy behind her words. “Anyway, I’m calling because Eli said he has just one single Christmas wish.”
I could also sense the eye roll on Maya’s end. I couldn’t stop myself either. Eli had a flair for the dramatics sometimes.
“He understands that we won’t spend Christmas together, but he wants us to all spend New Year’s Eve together,” she continued, her words rushed and hesitant. “He said it would be a great way to start the next year. With us all together as a family.”
Family.
What was that feeling in my heart when Maya said that word?
Did the idea of us being afamilymake me happy?
Was that excitement?
I had always wanted a family. But I’d assumed it was going to be with Ava. We were going to build a family.
I thought that hope was lost when she died.
But did I have another chance?
Did I want another chance?
Did I want another chance withMaya?
I cleared my throat when I realized I’d been silent for too long.
“I know you probably already have some sort of exciting rich person’s party to go to,” she rushed, filling in my silence. “It’ll be quiet. Just me and Eli. And Eli never makes it to midnight. If we’re lucky, we celebrate East Coast New Year’s around here at ten.”
“No, I don’t have plans. Even if I did have plans, I’d still cancel them because I’d love to come,” I heard myself saying.
“Okay, great.” Maya’s voice was too bright. Forced. This was going to be awkward. “We’ll see you on New Year’s Eve, then. Come over for dinner? Our tradition in lasagna because, well, there’s no great reason except that we love it.”
“That sounds wonderful. I’ll bring dessert. But you can assure Eli that I won’t make it myself.”
“Sure.” Maya sounded confused and maybe a little sad that Eli and I had our inside jokes already. “Have a Merry Christmas, Jack.”
“Merry Christmas, Maya.”
As I set my phone down, I let out the breath I had been holding. Something that felt suspiciously like hope wound itself through my heart.
But what was I hoping for?
Chapter 17
Maya
“Ow,shit,”Isworeas I ran my thumb under cold water.
