Epilogue Asher
NEXT CHRISMUKKAH
But no.
I’m at a table with Tyler, Lainey, Shaw, and the mother of my child. There are chocolate gold coins scattered around the table, and we’re searching for the missing dreidel.
I’m smiling tightly, as Gracie’s mom stole my child an hour ago to hold non-stop.
I’ll never see my daughter, who is dressed in a freaking reindeer onesie, again for the rest of the day.
My mom has been waiting in the wings to swoop in like a hawk to take over when Talia starts to fuss.
Gracie just affectionately glances at our family, happy that everyone is doting on our baby girl.
“The season is going strong,” Hudson mentions as he peeks over my shoulder.
“Is it? I’ve contemplated spiking the eggnog with a little extra rum about three times in the last hour,” I reply dryly.
“I meant the hockey season, not the holiday season. Your brother joining the team has really improved the power plays. Given Declan a few extra gray hairs, too.”
“No kidding.” I dread it.
Hudson presses his lips together to hide his pleased smile.“The holiday season is already exceptional since you are locking my daughter down with that ring coming her way.”
Rolling my eyes, I don’t want to be reminded of my brother and his reputation that he can’t seem to shake.
Hudson walks away, and my father places his hand on my shoulder.
“I’m kind of happy that we decided to cater this year’s Christmas.
Nobody cooking makes it more relaxed and gives us more time for fun.
” He hands me the missing dreidel. He’s holding a scotch in his other hand because he values sanity.
“Chrismukkah,” I correct him. “Piper and Mom will lose it if they hear anything less, and I’m positive Gracie’s dead great-grandmother will haunt us at some point too.”
“So true.” He winks at me before walking away. My daughter giggles, and I check to see that Piper is bouncing her on her hip while they look at my daughter’s first stocking hanging over the fireplace, with the menorah on the mantel.
Gracie claps her hands together and seems excited. “Let’s get this drinking game going. I’m off mom duty, and I fully intend to take advantage of that.”
I hand Gracie my dreidel, only for my brother to pounce in and steal it from her hand. “I call the blue one. It’s my good luck color, and I need a Gimel to take it all.”
Gracie just smiles, amused.
“No!” My instant panicked response causes everyone at the table to still and swing their attention to me.
Tyler and Lainey hide the smirk they both have. My brother and Gracie are truly puzzled.
I calm for a second. “I just mean, you don’t want all of the chocolate. You have a game tomorrow. Plus, that was really rude. Give it back.”
“What am I? Five? Really rude.” He mocks me.
“Give it to Gracie,” Tyler encourages.
Gracie touches my arm, still with an angelic smile on her face. “Relax, it’s fine. I have no intention to actually play because who really knows the rules. Besides, I’m only here as an excuse to let loose. I don’t care how it happens.”
I scratch the back of my neck and roll my lips in, unsure of what to say or do.
Lainey seems to notice my predicament. “Give it to Gracie. Or I tell everyone how you’ve been eyeing the team owner’s daughter,” she grits out.
“Touchy. What is up with this game? Everyone seems so serious.”
“Just give the dreidel to Gracie,” my dad demands my brother from the sidelines. Great, let’s add in a throwback to being a child to the night.
Gracie raises her hands. “What the hell is going on?
Suddenly it finally hits me what I’m about to do. I’m not nervous, I’m ready.
My brother seems to grasp that we are all imploring him to follow along. He slowly hands Gracie the dreidel, and his face screws up because he is trying to make sense of this situation.
“Spin it, and don’t be gentle,” I quietly implore the mother of our child.
The room is painfully quiet except for our daughter letting out a small coo.
Gracie keeps her eyes set on me and hesitantly accepts the dreidel. She doesn’t even blink once. Maybe she realizes what is about to happen.
Everyone here knows what is about to happen except the woman who a few seconds ago looked perplexed but now seems to grasp the situation. I asked for Hudson’s permission at Thanksgiving, and then my dad helped me pick out the ring a few weeks ago. Call me traditional.
She sets the dreidel on the table and spins it. It feels as though everyone is holding their breath.
It lands on the table, and she studies it, trying to make sense, but then she sees it. A small crack. My cheeks tighten from a warm smile developing on my mouth. Her face blooms with a happiness that I haven’t yet seen on her before.
She reaches down to touch the pieces that are broken and to shovel out the ring that is meant only for her.
She holds it up.
“Ohhh, that’s why she needed the dreidel.” My brother snaps his fingers. “Should have clued me in on this plan.”
I don’t give him even a glare, instead lolling my head to the side for a millisecond.
“Read the room. Shut up,” Tyler mumbles to my brother and swats him.
Silence returns, with all eyes on us. This is my moment.
Sliding off my chair, I get down on one bent knee. “You’ll always be the greatest holiday present. Will you marry me?”
Her face floods with emotion. Her eyes water and glisten, only making her more beautiful in this very moment.
“What the hell.” Her eyes drop to the ring between her fingers.
My heart begins to pound so hard that I almost hear it in my ears, and I feel the room get smaller. Her eyes follow my every move.
“Are you crazy?” she nearly scolds me.
What? Oh shit.
I sweep my eyes across the room and see concerned faces.
“Asking you to marry me in a creative holiday way. How is that crazy?”
“The dreidel might never have broken, and then the ring would be stuck forever! Tell me this isn’t my great-grandmother’s ring that was passed down generations all the way back to when they lived on a Shtetel and the neighbor played a violin.” She is dead serious.
I stare at her blankly. “That’s Fiddler on the Roof, not your fifth-grade family genealogy report,” I comment defensively.
“So full of wisdom, that movie.” Shaw sets his hand on his heart.
Gracie holds my gaze for a second, and I’m reminded of how sharp she is. Because slowly the corner of Gracie’s mouth begins to stretch because she’s playing with me.
“Hmm, maybe I should hear the question again,” she encourages and bites back her wide smile itching to escape.
Phew.
I interlink my fingers with her hand hanging low with the ring. “Gracie Arrows, will you marry me?”
Her eyes pierce through me and darts her love straight into my heart. “Yes. I’ll be your wife.”
Elation fills me, and my grin is wide. I stand to slip the ring on her finger, and the room erupts in noise and a mazel tov. Gracie throws her arms around my neck. “I’m going to be your wife.” She kisses me, and I kiss her back with reverence that is respectable enough for the room.
The next few minutes are a blur. The kisses, the congratulations, the thumbs-up from my future father-in-law, and my brother grinning because he’s happy for me and knows I will forgive him for ruining the scene… on several occasions.
I have a fiancée, the best gift, and I don’t even think I was on Santa’s nice list this year.
A few minutes later, one of the moms was kind enough to return our daughter into Gracie’s arms because heaven forbid you get to hold your own child on a holiday.
I keep my hand on the small of Gracie’s back as we admire the new ornaments on her parents’ tree. She plays with Talia’s hand and pretends to bite it. I look on, soaking in the scene.
She gushes over our daughter. “Our little girl’s first Chrismukkah. A special time for our little cutie. This is a holiday for kids, and now that we have her, it just hits differently, you know?”
Reflecting for a second, I have to agree. “You’re right.”
“And.” She throws me a teasing look. “We have a story to tell her because of her daddy’s romantic skills.”
I’m proud and maybe my face shows that.
Gracie steps closer. “Fiancé, how do you feel about Santa-themed sleeping attire? Light on the coverage front,” she whispers with a sultry voice that only I can hear.
I cover Talia’s ears with my hands. “Truthfully, it would kind of freak me out a bit. Naked works, though.”
She giggles under her breath, her eyes taunting me. “Thank goodness that we think alike because I ditched the Santa idea and opted for the classic winter colors in satin for later.”
“Gosh, you’re meant for me.” I dive in to steal a kiss from her plump and soft lips.
“Nah, really meant for you would be me telling you that I made sure my mom added extra rum to my dad’s favorite yule log.”
“Lucky that I’m marrying my soulmate then.”
She smiles with a shade of agreement on her face before stealing a kiss from me.
In the back of my head, I remember how this all started.
I’m used to the blue lines on the ice deciding the fate of a play.
Two lines on a pregnancy test decided my fate for life.
There were no boundaries, but I knew exactly where I stood.
It was then I looked into Gracie’s eyes, and I knew that a slapshot had just hit my heart.
We were unexpectedly thrown together. And now every holiday season only seems to get better with her.
Lainey & Tyler
Lainey is a single mom with a sharp tongue, a killer glare, and hockey’s #1 hater—her brother’s my biggest rival on the ice, too. She calls me grumpy, which is fair. I’m not exactly the “borrows jars of pumpkin spice for holiday cookie baking” type.
But then her ridiculously adorable kid ropes me into snowman building, Thanksgiving dinner, and—somehow—getting to know the woman behind the eye rolls.
Before I know it, things are heating up. Less arguing, more flirting. Less tension, more tangled up in my sheets…and Christmas lights.
Now we’re navigating Hanukkah chaos thanks to my loud and nosy family. While surviving Chrismukkah madness, I think I might be realizing this isn’t just a fling with the girl across the hall.
Because this year, the best holiday surprise didn’t come wrapped in paper. It came with sass, a smile, and a kid who thinks I’m a superhero.