Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Leif
I had made a promise while on the Eiffel Tower, like any young man who fell in love and lust with a young woman that he couldn’t have.
The fact that we had broken our promises left a bittersweet taste on my tongue, but in the end, we had grown into the people that we needed to be.
I was Leif Montgomery, son, brother, cousin, friend, and, one day husband and father.
All of those words wrapped up into an enigma of who I was, a complicated man who was trying to find his way. At least, that’s what Brooke told me. And I always listen to what she said, with a yes ma’am, a gleam in my eye, and a kiss on her lips.
“Are you ready for this?” I asked as I looked over at Brooke, with Luke standing between us, holding each of our hands.
“It’s not going to be that bad,” she said and I laughed. Luke joined me, and then the door opened, the noise chaotic and brilliant.
It was my mother’s birthday, and while it would’ve been fun to get all of the family together, not everybody could make it. They had decided to hold the festivities with just the family in this part of the branch rather than everyone in the area. It got a little insane if you went past those numbers and we wouldn’t fit in the house.
“You’re here!” Colin grinned, and my brother came forward and picked Luke up. He spun the kid around and then ran into the house with him, leaving us behind.
Brooke blinked. “Well, nice to see you, too, Colin.”
“Look how I feel. I’m related to the kid,” I said with a laugh, before I gripped my mother’s present firmly in one hand, took Brooke’s hand with my other, and made my way inside.
My aunts and uncles and most of their teenage and adult children were in the house, laughing, talking about cheese boards, presents, and an upcoming football game.
My dad stood near the front window, laughing at something my uncle Alex said. Sebastian stood between them, weariness in his gaze. I knew he told his parents and other members of the family about the pregnancy. I didn’t know what would happen next or how he would handle it, but he would. Because my cousin was intelligent, responsible, and strong, and so was his girlfriend. They would figure it out.
And we would be there if they needed us.
“There you are,” my dad said as he came forward, a smile on his face. “We were afraid you got lost.”
“That was my fault,” Brooke said as she hugged my dad back. “I had a last-minute meeting with one of my students. She has her huge presentation next week and had a slight panic attack.”
Austin nodded, his eyes full of understanding. “I know how that feels. Not that I went to college or grad school, but presentations were never my thing.”
“I find that hilarious considering all you do is talk and tell us what to do,” Uncle Alex said with a wink.
Even as my dad scowled, I laughed, and Brooke wrapped her arm around my waist.
In the week since the attack and break-in, we had been dealing. Trying to figure out our path and how to heal. We stayed at my house more than hers because of the cleanup and memories. But we had yet to spend the night apart, and Luke was okay with it, and we were finding our routine.
Soon we would have to decide where to live, because I wasn’t letting my new family out of my sight.
My lips twisted into a grin at the word family, and Brooke gave me a look.
“What?” she asked.
“Just thinking that I love you.”
“Well, isn’t that nauseating,” Noah, another one of my cousins, said as he came up and hugged Brooke. “I can’t believe he found you first. I’m sad.”
Brooke snorted. “I’m nearly a decade older than you, darling. I don’t think you could handle this.”
Everybody whistled, and Noah just took it in stride. “Oh, I’m going to have fun finding a woman like you when my time comes. I’m going to take my time though. I’m not like Sebastian here, jumping the gun.”
Sebastian flipped him off as everyone laughed. “I can’t help it. I found the love of my life early.”
I looked down at Brooke. “So did I. It just took me a little bit longer to find her again.”
Brooke blushed and my dad cleared his throat. “Is that a present for your mom? We have the table over there. That way, you don’t have to hold it this whole time.”
“I want to hand this to her. Is that okay?” I asked.
“You don’t have to ask me, son.” My dad squeezed my shoulder and went back into conversation with the others. I took Brooke’s hand and led her towards the back, where my mother held court with a few of my aunts. Aunt Maya grinned at me and waved at Brooke before I leaned down and kissed the top of my mom’s head.
“Happy birthday, Mom.”
“We’re not going to mention what year it is. While I am grateful for growing into this age of not giving a fuck, I don’t need the number.”
I chuckled as Brooke and my mother fist-bumped.
“That sounds like a plan. Here you go. I wanted to give this to you rather than wait for you to open it later.” I knew nerves were apparent in my voice. Brooke squeezed my hand.
My mom seemed to sense it because she quickly set down her drink and opened up the bag.
Maya leaned forward, wanting a look, and my mom waved her off, laughing.
“Oh, Leif,” she whispered, opening the sketchbook.
“I have been working on it for the past couple of years, not quite sure what I would do with it when I was done. You can work out a few pages if you want to frame them, throw them away, or do whatever you want. But I don’t know, it just felt right.”
Tears were streaming down my mother’s face as she turned the pages of the hand-drawn sketches I had made over the past year. Sketches of my parents, my brothers, sister, Brooke, and Luke. Nick laughing, Lake going over the books with that brilliant smile of hers. Sebastian and Marley dancing. It was the people in my life who had brought me here.
I was a tattooist, an artist, son, brother, cousin—all of those labels I had been given before, and they were all encompassed in that sketchbook.
My mom stood up and cupped my face. I leaned down so she could kiss my cheek. “You are a brilliant, wonderful, talented man. Thank you for letting me be your mother.”
I swallowed the hard lump in my throat. “Thank you for being my mother. Thank you for taking me in.”
Others around us were sniffling now as Mom held me close. “I love you, Montgomery. All of you.”
“And that’s it for me,” Brooke said as she pulled a tissue out of her purse, handing one to Maya before wiping her face.
“You’re stuck with us now, girl,” Maya said with a laugh, and she held Brooke close.
As I looked over my mother’s head at Brooke, at how my family had taken to her, as I heard Luke’s laughter in the back, I knew that these were the promises I had made. The promises I would keep.
I was a Montgomery. And that pretty much said everything.