32. KAI #2
"I'll tell you later. I want to drive out and see your mom this weekend. Can you set it up?"
"My mom? Really?"
"I want to meet her properly. And Lucy's there."
"You want to voluntarily spend time with Lucy?"
"I want to meet your family, Ava."
She's quiet for a beat. When she speaks, her voice has that particular crack she gets when something lands deeper than she expected.
"I'll call her right away."
"I'll need your mom's number too. I want to call ahead, introduce myself before I show up at her house."
She laughs. "My mother will lose her mind. Give me a moment, I'll text you her number."
After Ava texts me Joan's number, I call her.
Her voice is warm and careful. "Kai. Ava's told me so much about you."
"All good, I hope."
"Mostly." A soft laugh. "She says you're stubborn."
"She's not wrong."
We talk for a few minutes. Joan asks about the baby, about how Ava's feeling, whether she's eating enough. I answer honestly. Then I tell her there's something I'd like to do while we're visiting, and I'll need Dennis there for it.
Joan goes quiet.
"I know it's a lot to ask, but it matters."
"I'll call him. He'll come."
"Could I get his number? I'd rather call him myself."
Another pause. Then she gives it to me.
I call Dennis next. He picks up on the fourth ring.
"Dennis, it's Kai Donovan. Ava's boyfriend."
"Well." A surprised laugh, easy and warm. "This is unexpected. Is everything all right with my girl?"
"Everything's fine. Ava and I are driving to Joan's this weekend. Are you able to be there by noon on Saturday?"
"Joan's house. Sure, I can swing by." His voice lifts with enthusiasm. "What's the occasion? Is this about the baby or..."
"I'll explain when I see you."
"Now that's the kind of answer that keeps a man up at night. But all right, I'll be there."
The drive Saturday morning takes a few hours.
Ava falls asleep in the passenger seat thirty minutes in, her cheek pressed against the window. Her hand rests on her belly, fingers spread wide, and every few minutes she shifts.
I keep my eyes on the road. My pulse hasn't been fully steady since I woke up this morning.
On the ice, I know exactly who I am. The captaincy came back because I stopped waiting and started acting.
But what I'm about to do at Joan Hartley's kitchen table is different. There's no playbook for asking the family of a woman you love for permission to love her permanently.
No drill to run. No tape to review.
I'm walking in with nothing but my word and the hope that it's enough.
Joan's house sits on a quiet street, flower pots lining the porch steps, curtains open to let the morning sun in. Ava wakes when I cut the engine, blinking, disoriented.
"We're here?"
"We're here."
Joan opens the front door before we reach the porch. She's smaller than I pictured, slender and practical with short brown hair going silver.
But her eyes, grey-green and perceptive, sweep over me with the same quick thoroughness Ava uses when she's sizing up a room. The warmth in her face when she sees Ava makes her look ten years younger.
"Kai." She takes both my hands, squeezes them. Her grip is stronger than her frame suggests. "Come in. Both of you.”
She pulls Ava into a hug that lasts, her hand immediately finding the belly, pressing gently.
"Mom, you saw me three weeks ago."
"And the baby's grown since then. Come inside."
Lucy is on the couch in the living room, legs crossed, hair in a ponytail. She's wearing a sweatshirt and jeans. Her arms are crossed over her chest.
She stands when we walk in. Her eyes go to me first.
"Donovan."
"Lucy."
"I heard about the captaincy," she says. "Congratulations."
"Thank you."
She walks to Ava, hugs her, then sits back down. The corner of Ava’s mouth pulls up.
Dennis is in the kitchen doorway. He steps forward with a broad smile and hazel eyes that are so identical to Ava's it catches me off guard.
"There she is."
He wraps Ava in a hug. She stiffens, then loosens.
"Kai." Dennis extends his hand. His shake is firm, his smile genuine. "Good to finally meet you in person."
"You too."
Joan has set out a spread in the kitchen: roasted chicken, corn salad, sliced tomatoes from someone's garden, fresh rolls. Ava eats three rolls before she catches Lucy counting.
"Don't do that."
"I didn't say anything," Lucy says.
"You were counting my carbs with your eyes."
She rolls her eyes. "I was counting your rolls."
"Lucy."
"I'm happy you're eating."
Joan shakes her head but she's smiling.
The conversation flows in the way family conversation does.
Lucy asks Ava about the studio. Ava lights up describing a client who wants a home library with a rolling ladder.
Dennis asks me about the season opener. I give him more than yes-or-no answers, and it soon turns into a discussion I thoroughly enjoy.
After lunch, Ava and Lucy move to the back porch. I can see them through the window. Ava rocks slowly in the porch chair, both hands on her belly. Lucy is perched on the railing, saying something with her hands that makes Ava throw her head back laughing.
Joan is rinsing plates. I pick up a dish towel.
"You don't have to do that," she says.
"I know, but I'd like to." I dry a plate, set it in the rack. "Joan, there's something I want to talk to you about."
I dry two plates before she turns off the faucet and faces me.
"I want to marry Ava."
Joan's hands grip the edge of the counter. Her grey-green eyes fill slowly, the way a glass fills from the bottom.
"I'm not asking whether I'm good enough for her, because I'll spend the rest of my life working on that answer. But I love your daughter, I love our baby, and I'm going to be there every single day."
My voice holds, though my chest is beating hard enough that I can hear it in my ears. "I'd like your blessing."
Her chin shakes. Tears spill down her cheeks, fast and quiet.
"You stayed," she says. "After everything, you stayed."
"I was never planning to leave."
She crosses the kitchen, takes my face in both her hands, and pulls my forehead down to meet hers. Her palms are warm and damp from the dishes.
"You have my blessing, Kai." Her voice splinters on my name. "Take care of my Ava."
"Yes, ma'am."
She lets go, wipes her face with the back of her hands, then returns to the dishes like nothing happened. But her shoulders are shaking, and she doesn't turn around for a while.
I find Dennis on the front porch. He's sitting on the top step, leaning back on his palms, watching the street.
"Mind if I sit?"
"There’s plenty of room." He scoots over. The porch step creaks.
A sprinkler ticks somewhere. A truck passes on the next street over.
"So," he says. "Are you going to tell me why I'm here?"
"I want to marry your daughter. I'm asking for your blessing."
Dennis doesn't move for a while, his face still turned toward the light. Then he laughs, sounding surprised.
"You're something else, you know that?" He shakes his head, still smiling. "You're out here asking me like my opinion's worth something."
"It is."
"Is it?"
"Ava loves you. She left a door open for you even when it would've been easier to shut it. If she thinks you belong in her life, then I'm going to respect that."
His throat moves. "She gets that from her mother, you know. The hoping. What I’ll tell you is Ava is the best thing I ever had a hand in making. And if she picked you, that tells me you're the real deal."
He puts his hand on my shoulder. "You've got my blessing, Kai."
He squeezes my shoulder once, lets go, and leans back on his palms again.
I stand, brush off my jeans, and walk back inside.
Lucy is in the hallway, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. Her hazel eyes pin me.
I stop. “I want to marry your sister, Lucy.”
"You asked my mom?"
"I did."
"And Da… Dennis?"
"Yes."
She pushes off the wall, steps closer. Her face hardens.
"You break Ava’s heart and you’ll have me to deal with. If you so much as hurt her, I’ll make sure you regret ever knowing me.”
"Understood."
She holds my gaze for two more seconds. Then she uncrosses her arms.
"Welcome to the family, Kai Donovan. I’ve only accepted you because of Ava. Don't make me regret it."
She walks past me toward the kitchen and asks Joan what's for dessert. I go to the back porch.
Ava is in the rocking chair, feet tucked underneath her, her face tipped toward the late-afternoon light. She looks up when the screen door opens and smiles.
"What did you do?" she asks.
"Nothing."
"Liar. You've got a look."
I wink. "Then it’s a surprise look."
I sit down on the porch step at her feet and lean my head back against her knee. Her fingers slide into my hair, scratching gently along my scalp.
I close my eyes in bliss.
This morning I took back my captaincy because I stopped asking for what was already mine. Tonight I'm sitting on Ava’s family home porch with a blessing from both her parents.
Finally, I have all that’s mine.
And this family, the one forming around a baby who kicks when I put my hand on her mother's belly, this family is mine. Not because anyone granted it.
Because I chose it, and I keep choosing it, and I will keep choosing it every single morning.