Chapter Fifty-Eight
Gwen
“I ’m whose? ” I blinked. Daddy’s? Who the fuck was that? No one was ever Daddy.
“Just because he joined the pack later, doesn’t mean Buttons was illegitimate or whatever small-minded detail has you hating her, Maricella. Mom loved him.” Luca turned to Papa and frowned. “You said you were going to tell her yesterday.”
“Daddy is Buttons’ bio-dad. I didn’t even think of that,” Joe said, still holding me. “Yeah, that tracks.”
“Who is Daddy?” I asked again, frowning. There was a dad I didn’t know about? That seemed weird. You’d think there’d be pictures or mentions.
But then my parents let my grown-ass sister hate on a child, who never asked to be born, for over two decades.
Matty sucked in a breath. “I know we never really talked about him, because it made Mom and Papa so sad. But she doesn’t even know he exists? How could you let that happen, Papa? Also, how did you know she’s his, Luca?”
“It’s not that hard to figure out.” Luca looked at me. “Buttons, I tried to tell you, without telling you, by giving you the hockey card and telling you stories about him.”
“Yeah, I’m not as smart as you, Luca.” I still had no idea what was going on.
Papa looked defeated. “I was going to tell her today. We just got interrupted.”
The pension. Oh. But, what?
“There was another dad once,” Papa told me. “My younger half-brother, Mario. He joined the pack well after we mated your mother and started a family. He was a hockey player in Italy and passed before you were born. We all loved him very much and you’re so much like him it hurts.”
“I remember when he joined the pack. It was so sad when he died. He was fun. But he was with Mom, like with her with her? I thought he lived with us for work, and so people stopped hassling him about packing up.” Sof made a face.
I guess the older ones knew him as Uncle Mario first?
He played hockey?
Oh. Mario D’Angelo. Luca’s favorite. Who he’d given me the card of. Fuck. My bio dad played hockey? What?
Maricella blinked. “He was just a beta.”
“ Just a beta? Maricella, I’m ashamed you think that way. There is no such thing, not in this pack, not in any other.” Papa rubbed his temples. “I think you and your family should go.”
“No. Gabby should go. Maricella is your oldest and an omega . She needs to be respected over some beta bitch,” Dario growled.
“Dario, don’t call her that,” Papa snapped.
“Wow, you have a lot of balls to try to tell my dads what to do in their own home. If Maricella wants respect, then maybe she should act like a grown-ass woman, instead of terrorizing a child for no reason,” I growled back, wanting to kick him in the nuts.
Maricella scowled. “You know nothing, Gabby.”
“Okay, I get it. Mom’s cancer came back because she delayed treatment so I could be born. I killed her. Understood. But you said that wasn’t why you hate me. Are you ever going to tell me?” I glared at her. I’d sort of like some answers.
“When did you say that to her?” Papa snapped.
“It’s true, she killed Mom, the Grandparents, and Lucius. Oh, and her soulmate.” Maricella gave me a simpering look.
“She did not.” Papa’s roar was so full of dominance, everyone froze.
Me included.
Papa glared. “That ends now. I missed out on far too much of her life because of your and Chiara’s nonsense. Get therapy and get over it, or you’ll never be welcome again. You should be ashamed of yourself. I can’t believe that you’re teaching your own children it’s okay to bully people. The next person who says Gwen is an affair baby or not part of this family, or makes comments about betas being lesser, or uses the name she doesn’t want to go by on purpose, gets cut off.”
Maricella looked like she’d been slapped.
Shit. He’d just taken her down. I never expected that. About fucking time.
“Even if your mother hadn’t delayed treatment because she was pregnant, the cancer still could have come back. Gwen did not ‘kill’ her and the fact you ever said that is disgusting. Just like thinking that your mom had an affair. How could you? Gwen didn’t kill your grandparents either, Lucius did. Do you even understand what it did to her when Lucius shot Gwen’s soulmate and he died in her arms?
“How it felt to shoot someone in self-defense, to save herself, because you goaded Chiara into telling her stalker where she was? We sent her away to keep her safe from him and you undid everything for petty spite, like a child.” Papa’s anger roiled through the room, making Maricella cower in her mate’s arms.
While I didn’t like everything being paraded out like this, I’d waited a long time for my oldest sister to be called out.
“How dare you talk to my mate like that? You can’t prove anything,” Dario said.
“Yes, I can. Don’t get me started on everything you did to her, Dario. Is losing your job not enough?” Papa snapped. “Do you two, and Chiara, for that matter, understand that some things you said and did, while she was a minor in police protection, are things you could still be prosecuted for?”
The scent of Maricella and Dario’s fear ricocheted through the room.
He turned to me. “Also, it turns out her and Chiara’s packs helped make it hard for us to get to you when you were kidnapped.”
Oh fuck.
“You’re right, we should go. My mistake. Apologies. Dario, get the children.” The head alpha of Maricella’s pack put her arm around Maricella, as Dario went to get the kids from the kitchen.
“You can leave the children if you want and pick them up later, as long as Violet understands what is inappropriate in this house,” Papa added. “You’re right, the children shouldn’t miss out because their parents don’t know how to behave.”
Maricella’s head alpha considered this. “I think it might be better for us to all go.”
“Not so fast. Tell. Me. Why. You. Hate. Me.” It was my equivalent of an alpha bark, fueled by my anger. “Why did mom allow me to take last place to a grown woman? Left behind and excluded from family things. I didn’t ask to be born.”
“What. The. Fuck,” Luca whispered.
“Yeah, Buttons is built weird,” Joe replied with a shrug.
“You were born. I got the worst news of my life and there Mom is, popping out yet another kid at her age. Taunting me with it. She did it on fucking purpose. It was embarrassing.” She made a face.
“What?” Again, what were they talking about?
“Mom said after you were sent to train with Vail that I’d never have to deal with you again, because you’d go off to university and play hockey and live your own life away from us. But then the dads brought you back, then wanted to keep you after she died. Of course I–”
“That is not what Mom said,” Sof snapped.
“Shut up, you always thought you were better than us,” Maricella snarled.
Sof made angry eyes. “Thought?”
“That’s enough,” Maricella’s alpha growled. She force-marched Maricella out the door.
Maricella fought her alpha. “You’ll never be anything, Gabby. You’re just a beta fuckup.”
The door slammed and silence blanketed the living room, except for the sound of music and Babo and Popi singing loudly in the kitchen, probably distracting the children.
“I don’t even know what happened.” My body shook.
Papa wrapped me in his arms. “I’m sorry. I told her not to come. I’m so fucking sorry.”
“Why does she hate me?” I sobbed into his shoulder.
“I don’t know.” Papa held me. “She was struggling while she was at the academy, but I don’t understand what that has to do with you.”
“It’s Tommy. Mom found out she was pregnant right after they took him off life support,” Sof said. “She felt like Mom disrespected her grief process by having a baby, when all she wanted was to have Tommy’s.”
“Oh.” Dad’s face softened. “I remember Tommy.”
I had no idea who that was.
“They were childhood sweethearts. There was an accident,” Matty told me.
“They’d planned on running off together, since Papa didn’t approve,” Sof said.
Papa shook his head. “I approved of Tommy, he was a good boy. But they were teenagers, and I wanted them to wait and experience life apart a little. Not to mention it’s not healthy to be so serious with alphas when you’re that young.”
“Tommy was her soulmate? He died? Were they bonded?” Okay, I could see that. Because broken bonds were a little bitch.
Matty shook his head. “They weren’t scent matches or bonded, just in love.”
“Huh. While I feel bad for her, you still let her and Chiara, and sometimes others, treat me awfully. So did Mom. You left me behind with Nonna, to do family things without me repeatedly. And it wasn’t always my age, since Maricella would bring kids younger than me.” I made a face.
“Mom was just trying to be sensitive at first, but Maricella came to expect it. Then she weaponized her kids, so Mom did everything she could to keep her from cutting them off,” Sof explained. “If you came, Maricella would not only not come, but she’d then keep the kids away from her for a certain length of time as punishment.”
“What? None of this was my fault. Why was she placated and I got abused and punished and none of my responsible adults gave a shit?” I looked at my dads. Of course, seeing their grandkids would be more important.
Dad winced. “It’s complicated. Sometimes you went to your nonna’s for other reasons, than Maricella. Also, the pack Maricella mated into is influential in their own way. Different from Lucius’ family. But…”
“No. No buts,” I snapped. “Also, how could you hide a whole-ass parent from me? I’m completely blindsided. Never in a million years did I even consider my dad was your brother, a hockey playing beta that you hid from me. Knowing about him, that I was his, would have made me feel like I wasn’t defective for not being an omega, because I’d know it came from someplace.
“Instead, you all made me feel like a misfit, because I ruined Mom’s perfect omega girl-alpha boy streak. It’s not okay to treat me like I didn’t matter or that my feelings were less than yours just because you were sad. I didn’t ask to be born. I came here because I was trying to give you a chance. This was clearly a mistake,” I told them.
With tears streaming down my face, I ran up the stairs to my room, and shut and locked the door, ignoring their calls. I went into the closet and pulled down the ladder back into the attic room.
Rainbows shot through the space, through the dormer windows, where the prisms we’d made from pieces of the chandelier danced.
I pulled up the ladder, flopped on the beanbag, and cried and cried, getting it all out. How dare Maricella come? Yes, it was terrible her first love died, but I didn’t cause it.
Also, how could they hide a whole-ass dad from me?
My phone kept buzzing. But I didn’t answer. It was probably Matty and the dads calling me. Or Tenzin sending pictures.
I expected someone to rap on the door, but no one did. Because I wasn’t even worth coming for. Which made me sob harder.
Well, this was why I had a backup plan. I should see when the next ultra-bullet was to Portland.
When I went to check the schedule, I saw that there were a couple of calls from Matty and Isa, but most of the calls were from my agent. Along with a text marked urgent.
Stu
I know you’re with your family, but you need to call me now.
Oops. I called Stu.
“Gwen, thank goodness,” Stu said.
I started to sob.
“Gwen, Sweets, what’s wrong? Tell Stu all about it,” he said.
So I told him. Everything. “I trusted them.”
“I know, Sweets. Sounds like it wasn’t all their fault, though. Doesn’t negate you being hurt. I know this was a stretch for you.” Stu knew all about my family.
“I guess,” I pouted. He was sort of right.
“Your bio-dad was a hockey player? Mia mentioned to me that she thought you were a D’Angelo,” he told me.
Oh. Mia might actually know.
“I think so. Mario D’Angelo.”
“Makes so much sense. Personally, I’d give your dads a chance to finish explaining everything. Hear them out before you split? But that’s only because I’m old and realizing I spent too much time holding grudges and I think your dads are at that point and are now trying to fix things. But first, why don’t I give you the best Christmas present ever?” Stu asked.
Oh, right? Because Stu didn’t call me to be my therapist.
“Dean got traded to Boston and the Knights are signing me?” My chest shook. That was Dean’s dream team.
“The Mexico City Tigres are offering you a contract. Their other goalie, Marsden, well, his contract’s been bought out. Apparently he was the one who concocted the performance-enhancing drug in his basement to begin with and started this whole thing,” Stu told me.
“Fucking shit, what?” I blinked. Though I knew he was smart and studied chemistry. But wow. Not what I expected.
“Also, Nunez is still out with his injuries. They’re borrowing goalies from the national team right now. One has to go back. The other one, Martinez, is a solid backup goalie and they want to keep him, but he’s not a starter yet. But you know who is? You. I know you want to play someplace close, but why be backup when you could start?” Stu told me. “This is your chance to prove yourself. Martinez will be your backup unless they trade for someone better. If Nunez returns, you’ll play in tandem with him.”
“The Tigres are offering me a contract?” I nearly dropped my phone. Honestly, with so few days left before the free agent window closed, I wasn’t expecting it. Me? Start? What the fuck? Shit like this didn’t even happen in movies.
“Yeah. While there are a couple things I’m not fond of in your contract, they’re things specific to signing with a team in Mexico and I can’t change them. I already ran it through legal, while I was waiting for you. Also, I negotiated a better signing bonus, given you’re leaving university mid-year, and some performance bonuses. I’d let my daughter take this contract. They need an answer, quick, though,” he told me.
“Wow. Just wow. Thank you Stu.” I got on my group chat with my guys.
Me
The Tigres offered me a contract. Can we make this work ?
Excitement shot through me. I'd gotten an offer for a contract. Not interest. A contract. I'm sure we could figure it out, but I wanted to check in with them.
“I don’t have an issue starting or playing tandem with Nunez.” I could learn a lot from Nunez. Playing in tandem would also give my body more rest time. It worked for Dean and JP.
Clark
Of course! Go Tigres. We’ll make this work.
Best Christmas present ever. Happy for you.
Tenzin
Absolutely. We’re proud. So exciting. Congrats.
I got a picture of Tens, two babies, a dog, and a stuffed tiger.Clark flooded the chat with cute gifs.
“If you think I should take it, I will,” I told him. “But I’m too short.”
“They love an underdog. Also, you captured the GM’s heart with your pink gear and your answer about playing for your mom. They want you to wear pink gear, make OOC awareness your cause,” he told me. “Possibly wear sparkly suits for games and appearances.”
“Done. I’d wear a mask with tiger ears if they wanted.” Well then.
“Okay, I’m sending the contract over. Read it. Sign it. I need this back in a couple of hours. We’re working on a tight timeframe, because they play the day after Christmas in Vancouver. Since you’re already in Vancouver, you’ll just meet them there,” he told me.
“Well that’s convenient,” I replied as I looked up their schedule. It was also fun, while I didn’t want to play for the Belugas I did follow them. My signed Beluga stuff was in my pile to take back to New York.
“As I see it, you have two choices. Grab your things, march down the stairs, and leave until game night. Or give your family until then to make it up to you. If they don’t, well, you don’t have to ever look back. If they do, you’ll have a cheering section at your game.”
“Oh.” I pondered that for a moment. “You’d stay, wouldn’t you?”
“I’d want my daughter to give me time to un-fuck things. Even if it was only a day or two,” he told me.
“I don’t have my hockey gear. I’ll have to see who is around and can overnight my things. If it’s even possible, given tomorrow is Christmas?” Shit.
“We’ll get your gear figured out. You’ve earned this. Don’t let anyone make you think you don’t deserve this. I’ll be in touch.” He ended the call.
I made some texts to get me my hockey gear with the guys gone. Vickers and Muriel had gone home, so had Castle. Maybe Mercy or Valya? They were both in town still. I hadn’t heard from Carlos. Usually he was texting random shit, but he was probably busy making tamales with his mom, though I texted him anyway.
I also texted Coach Hirata and Coach Kirov, excited to share my news and knowing it would be changes for both of them. They both texted back immediately.
Coach Hirata
Go get ‘em, little tiger. Congratulations. You've worked hard for this.
I’ll send you the info to set things right with the university.
Coach Kirov
Well done, Ladybug. I’m so proud.
That made me so happy.
Then I texted Dean and Verity, hoping what she said at the dinner about leaving university for a contract was true.
Dean
Go for it, Ladybug. You earned it.
Verity
YAY! I'm so happy for you.
I was about to call Tens when I got another text.
Matty
We’re about to have dinner. Please come down?
I’ve been keeping everyone from chasing you. Though Lenny is under your window.
Me
Fine
I crawled down and went into my room, taking a moment to wave at Lenny from my window. Then I dressed for dinner and fixed my hair and face. Phone in hand, I strode into the living room and took my seat. Everyone had started the first course. The room was crowded, with a kids' table set up in the kitchen. Lenny slipped in and took a seat.
Papa looked up, joy on his face. “Buttons, you came down!”
“I’m dropping out of university and moving to Mexico. You have two days to show me I didn’t make a mistake by coming here.” I started eating my seafood stew, grabbing a piece of bread.
“Um, Buttons, you still have a semester. I’m not making a connection,” Dad said softly.
Lenny grinned and grabbed the bread basket. “I knew someone was going to snatch you up. Who?”
“The Mexico City Tigres. I need one of you lawyer-types to help me with this contract. I only have a couple of hours to get it back to my agent. Now, I am signing it, I just want an extra set of eyes, in case my agent missed something.” I took a sip of my glass of wine.
“Tigres.” Babo’s look went curious. “We… we were going to take you to the Belugas versus Tigres game as a surprise. That’s why we wanted you to stay.”
Oh. They were? How sweet. Okay, maybe I wouldn’t regret giving them a chance to un-fuck things. I wanted to learn about this whole-ass dad they hid.
“Yeah, if you play things right, you might get to watch me play.” I looked at my phone. “Sorry, trying to coordinate getting my gear, because I wasn’t planning on getting a pro contract for Christmas.”
Mercy
You're shitting my dick! Best. Christmas. Ever. Ahhh.
Me
Right? You can help me get my shit?
Mercy
OMG, yes. I’ll figure it out. Grace is here with her jet, worse case, I’ll steal it and bring you your shit. I’ll go to your place and pack for you, too, if you want.
Me
You’re the best. Thank you.
Mercy
Told you I'm a good sister. I can't wait to see you play. So fucking excited.
Getting my stuff would be helpful—and Mercy helping pack my shit? Amazing.
“At least you’re set for suits,” Isa told me. “Yay for you. Good job.”
Babo hugged me. “You did it. Congratulations.”
Papa held up his glass. “We’re glad you’re home. We can’t wait to see you play. I hope you know that we’re proud of you.”
“Thank you, I’ve been waiting a long time to hear that.” Now to get that contract signed and delivered.
“I’m so excited you got a contract, Firecracker,” Tenzin said over the video call as I laid on my bed.
I’d told him and Clark everything, including this whole thing with Daddy-Hockey-Man that I still didn’t fully understand. Yeah, that came out of nowhere. Sure, I knew Papa had siblings, I’d met some of them. But… wow.
Matty had vetted the contract, I’d signed and delivered it to Stu. I’d already got onboarding paperwork from the Tigres operations manager.
And lots of congratulations from my friends. My host mom from junior hockey was ecstatic and already bought tickets for when we played in Rockland.
Isa was going to help me gather some of Mom’s accessories to take with me.
“It’s good you gave your dads another chance,” Clark added. “That is wild about your dad playing hockey.”
“I guess it explains why they didn’t like me playing hockey but let me. It’s still weird they hid a whole-ass dad from me. But then my family is barely functional. How do they even run a shipping empire?” I sighed again, as I filled out forms for the Tigres, on my laptop.
There was a lot to do. Not just these, but finding coverage for my shifts at the rink, recommending a replacement EBUG, seeing if I could finish my last semester online…
Fuck. I was a Tigre. Best present ever.
My team group chat was popping off, because I wasn’t the only one at NYIT to get a contract for Christmas. Boondock and Freight Train were going to the Scorpions, Coach Hirata’s old team. I’d be playing both Maze’s team and their team soon.
“I’m so sorry they put you through that. I’m here if you need me.” Tenzin was on the couch with both babies and the dog asleep on him. Pickles was still being born, so he was alone at their house with them.
“Thanks.”
There was a knock on the door. “Buttons?” Papa called.
“Go talk to your dad. We’re happy for you, Gweny,” Clark told me.
“I love you, and I can’t wait to see you play. Yes, I will be there,” Tenzin added.
“Come in.” I sat up.
Papa came in, holding the two boxes he’d put away in the safe earlier. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
He sat down with me on the bed. “I wanted to apologize for everything that happened earlier with Maricella. Not only was all that uncalled for, but that also wasn’t how we wanted to tell you about your bio dad.”
“Thank you.” I could get used to the dads holding themselves accountable.
“The second account is yours, because it was Mario’s. The pension is his from the Italian Hockey Federation, the survivor benefits are from the Italian government. They went to you, because you’re his child–his only child. Mario was an Italian citizen, not Canadian. The other amounts are your share of his assets.”
“Oh.” But I’d gathered as such. “And the visit to Venice?”
“We were finishing cleaning out his place and settling some affairs,” he told me. “Mario’s mother, your Nonna Luci, was a hockey forward in Italy, who eventually became a diplomat. She was an alpha–and the old woman who pinched your cheeks.
“He’s my genetic half-brother, a beta, and we look a lot alike. Our families were close. She wasn’t officially part of my parents' pack, just Zia Luci. She got Mario, because she wanted a child and was too busy to pack up. My mother loved her and was like, here, take your pick of my guys .”
Okay, that was interesting. But sure.
“The D’Angelo’s are quite sporty and there’s a lot of professional athletes among them, including hockey players. Mario and I were very close, despite him being younger. He stayed with us a lot, while his mother was on the road.” Some of Papa’s family were practically Italian royalty. Definitely among the influential and wealthy.
“While he loved hockey, he also was smitten with your mother from the moment he met her. He was mated to his career, so he joined us mostly to keep everyone off his back. But we loved him, too. Him being a beta never mattered to us. It mattered to him for a while–betas of two alpha parents are rare, but he eventually embraced it,” he told me.
Oh. That was good to know. He was a beta who had a very successful career in hockey back when beta hockey players were rare, which was why I thought Luca wanted me to be interested in him.
“Mario brought a sense of adventure and wonder every time he blew into town. We’d suggested several times that he look into the PHL, but he loved playing for Italy. These are his championship rings he won.” Papa gave me the box.
Inside sat two championship rings, not unlike mine, only everything was in Italian.
“This is his silver medal from the Olympics. Mario had a very long career. We were so proud of him.”
The large box held a silver Olympic medal for hockey.
“Your Nonna Luci’s rings and Olympic medals are currently on loan in Italy,” he added.
Wow. Medal s ? I gently picked up the medal. My bio-dad had played hockey and gone to the Olympics, as had his mom. Amazing.
“He got injured, and came back to us, then finally retired. Mario got a coaching job with the Belugas. He continued to play, too.” Papa’s head bowed. “Then he died during a casual game with his friends. Aneurysm. The game that he loved even more than himself took him from us. It was about the same time as your mom’s cancer diagnosis. She was already pregnant. They did a lot of tests on her, because of the cancer, so we knew from the very beginning that you were his.”
“Oh.” I traced the medal with my finger. “So, you didn’t like me playing, not just because I reminded you of him, but because he died while playing? Fair. But you could have communicated with me.”
“We thought we were doing the right thing. And not because we wanted you to follow in the footsteps of your siblings. We always knew you were different and that you’d choose your own path. I was just afraid of you choosing hockey, because of what happened to him. We were going to tell you that Mario was your father at eighteen, like when we told all the others who their bio-dad was. But…”
That never happened. I was in Rockland for my eighteenth birthday.
“It seemed too much to throw on you after the kidnapping,” he added. “We also didn’t mean to keep his existence from you. I thought your Mom or your nonna told you. I’m not sure if your nonna knew that he was your bio-dad, but she knew he was part of the pack and that he played hockey.”
“You all need therapy.” I already had phone appointments set up. After this, I was going to take a hot bubble bath and try to work through some of what had happened.
Though I could really use some time with the puck machine.
“How do you think I realized I did you wrong? I never should have let my feelings prevent me, us, from being good parents to you. A lot of it was guilt. That we got to watch you and he didn’t. And pain, because you're just like him, with a good dose of your nonna on your mom’s side.” A wry smile crossed his face.
Papa went to therapy? Wow.
“Don’t even get me started on Maricella. I knew your mom indulged her, and that your sister threatened to withhold the grandchildren, and because your mom insisted, I let her.” His shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Us. It means so much that you haven’t left.”
“It took a lot to not leave today. That hurt. I won’t tolerate bullshit on Christmas. Tenzin is in Portland and the ultra-bullet is free tomorrow. Wait, Mario worked for the Belugas? Is that how Lenny got half the team to have dinner with me for my birthday?” I played with the rings, which were so big.
“I have no idea how Leonard did that. However, it’s how we got your birthday present. Viper was one of Mario’s big sponsors. We wanted to show you that we love and support you. When I called up his old rep, he got really excited about a baby D’Angelo. He’s retired, but he still has contacts and helped us get these things for you. I guess Viper is part of Bowerman now,” he told me.
“Wow. Bowerman is interested in being my sponsor.” I’d have to tell Stu this. I was also curious if I had any D’Angelo cousins who currently played hockey.
“Hi.” Dad came in. “I found something for you.” He handed me a jersey.
I opened the bundle to see that it was an Italian Olympic team jersey. The back read D’Angelo 0.
“There’s more somewhere. Though your mom wore his Beluga coach jacket until it fell apart,” Dad added. “I think that’s part of why she worked so hard to help you play hockey when you were determined to stay with it. She knew he loved it–and she loved him and you.”
The realization made me suck in a breath. “That makes so much sense.”
“Luca was his favorite?” I asked. Luca had played a little hockey. Joe might have, too.
“He was sort of named after Luci.” Papa shrugged.
Oh. Okay. I suppose it wasn’t so much that I played hockey that they were against. But that I was so serious about it from such a young age. I didn’t just love the game; I knew the moment I went to a Knights game that I wanted to be a professional goalie. Which Mia whole-heartedly encouraged.
I never let that go.
“Yeah.” Dad nodded. “Will you come down? Have hot chocolate with us in front of the fire?”
“Okay.” I stood. I followed them downstairs and crowded onto the couch with them. We had hot chocolate and waited for midnight. Something we’d always done.
I looked around. It was no one, but us. How nice. But Isa was at the hotel. Matty went home. Joe had ducked out not long after dinner. Luca and Sof were with their own families in the rooms they’d taken over on the second floor.
Babo brought us hot chocolate, and I sat between him and Papa.
The clock struck midnight, and Papa gave me a kiss on the forehead. “Happy Christmas, Buttons. I’m really glad you came.”
“Happy Christmas.” Certainly, I wasn’t forgetting this one. Ever.