Chapter 62 Mason - Cheerleaders
MASON Cheerleaders
This family dinner table had been the constant in my life.
This table—and the people around it—were proof positive that I was loved unconditionally, that, whether I had just thrown the winning pitch for States or was trailing in hungover after a night of regret and bad decisions, my family had my back.
They might not have always been happy about my choices.
But they were here. Always. No matter what.
I wrapped my arm around Daisy’s waist as we walked through the door. Because she hadn’t always gotten that.
She smiled up at me. But then her face changed. “I wish she was here.”
I nodded. “I miss her too.” I cleared my throat. “But see, I think Maisy was a lesson for us.”
“A lesson?”
“Yeah. Because she taught me that being a father is something I really want. I didn’t know that before her. And I think I’d be pretty good at it.”
“Really good at it,” Daisy said.
I turned and squeezed her arms. “I know this feels impossible. But, Daisy, I swear I think there are only good things coming for us.” I cleared my throat. “It won’t be the same without Maisy, but maybe she was supposed to bring us together, you know? Maybe that was the big purpose of all this.”
Daisy smiled and, for the first time tonight, I felt like it was a real smile. “Maybe it was.”
“Daisy!” Amelia trilled, running through the house toward us. She wrapped her in a hug. “You’re back!”
She shook her head sadly. “No. I’m just here to tell you all goodbye.”
Amelia’s eyes widened as the rest of the family trailed into the dining room.
I shot her a look. “She’s kidding.”
“What woman could resist a declaration of love on a stage like that?” Daisy asked, grinning up at me.
“I sure couldn’t,” Amelia said.
I thought of my family, of Emily and Sarah and Drew and all the kids I was going to be leaving behind.
Something inside began to ache. But I reminded myself, this wasn’t forever.
And I’d have a whole new crop of kids to mold and shape.
It shocked me how much I was going to miss being a part of the high school environment.
Daisy looked at me, and I winked at her. “Is it time?” I asked.
“I think so,” she said.
So, I turned and, facing into the dining room, said, “Family and family-adjacent people, we have an announcement.”
Mom and Elizabeth grasped each other’s hands, and I realized they thought I was going to tell them Daisy and I were getting married. I should have thought this through. “Daisy is going to move to Chapel Hill with me!”
The room erupted in cheers, except from Aunt Tilley, who, when the room quieted down, said, “No. Absolutely not. Daisy is my best friend, and you can’t take her away from me!”
I couldn’t tell if she was kidding, but then George put his arm around her and said, “I thought I was your best friend.”
“It’s a tier,” Tilley said.
Amelia gasped and grabbed Daisy’s hand. “Are you serious? You’re going to move?”
Greer ran over and threw her arms around Daisy’s legs. Daisy picked her up and kissed her cheek. “Aunt Daisy, you’re leaving?” she asked, her lower lip quivering.
“We’re going to be back all the time!” I said cheerfully. “Tons and tons. You won’t even know we’ve left.”
Greer reached her arms out to me, and when I took her, she buried her head in my neck. I could feel her tears, and I felt terrible. “And you’re going to get to wear your Tar Heel cheerleading outfit and come see me coach.”
She pulled her head back quickly, her tears drying in an instant. “I get to wear my cheerleading outfit?”
“Well, I don’t see why not. If Cape Carolina High has baseball cheerleaders, why not UNC?”
She clapped and wriggled down and fled off to her dad, I assume to try to weasel a new costume out of him. He would say yes. And if he did not, I would say yes. Greer had it made.
Amelia clapped and said, “Well, I think this news makes our surprise even better.”
“Surprise?” I asked.
Greer and Little George disappeared behind the swinging door that led to the kitchen, and, when they returned, it took a minute for my eyes to focus on what they were holding.
Daisy gasped. “No! No way!”
Amelia said, “Since you guys aren’t staying up with a baby all night anymore, we didn’t want you to get too much sleep.”
I knelt down, and Little George handed me a tiny yellow mutt with a big white patch of fur.
Daisy knelt down beside me and laughed, as Greer said, “Her name is Dolly!” She was wagging her tail so much her whole body shook as she licked my face.
“Well, hello, Dolly,” I said, the entire room erupting in laughter over the pun I hadn’t even meant to make.
“She came into the shelter yesterday when the kids and I were volunteering,” Amelia explained. “I couldn’t handle a puppy right now, but we love her, and we couldn’t just leave her there.”
“And we wanted to cheer you up!” Greer exclaimed, kissing me.
I handed the puppy to Daisy, and the look on her face said this little bundle was cheering her up too.
“She’ll be perfect for your new place,” Parker said. “She should be somewhere between eighteen and ninety-two pounds.”
Daisy and I looked at each other and laughed.
“Wow, Park. That’s super-helpful information.”
Robbie, Trina, and the boys filed in, immediately surrounding the puppy and taking turns holding her.
I wondered then if one day Daisy and I would have more than just a puppy, but a child of our own who would get to grow up in this dining room too.
If he or she would run through Dogwood and this land with these cousins.
I knew that we had a long way to go; we were just beginning to uncover what we could actually be. But right now, I had to feel like the future was all but written for us.
I thought back to that night with Daisy lying in the grass, the way she smiled, the same way she smiled now as Dolly ran around the dining room table. And I realized that maybe we didn’t need to rearrange the stars. Tonight, it felt like they’d been shining for us all along.