Epilogue Two
SAWYER
“Hey,” Ty’s voice reverberates through my bedroom door. “You coming out to join us or hiding in your room tonight?”
He doesn’t wait to be invited in, Ty opens the door expectantly, grinning. Teammate to neighbor to guy who has an extra key and shows up here almost every night to have dinner with us. Yep, he’s family.
“Dude. I’ve told you to at least let me say ‘come in’ before you do that.”
He shrugs. “Don’t be doing anything I shouldn’t see.”
I hold my phone up. “I’ll be out in a sec, got something I need to do.”
“Take down your dating profile?” he teases.
“He did that already,” Campbell appears over his shoulder. “I think I heard a collective sob around the city of Alexandria when it happened, too.”
“Comedians.” I roll my eyes, turning back to my screen. “Two guys who should think twice about being in hockey because, hey, they’re really funny.”
“Funny or not, dinner’s ready. Your plate is on the stove.” Campbell dips his head in the direction of the living room. “Come on Ty, loverboy is probably changing his status to ‘engaged’ everywhere he can to show off.”
I listen to the two of them cajoling me as they close the door and head back down the hallway, but I don’t care. I keep my focus on the phone, pulling up a text thread I’ve not looked at for a while, and I type.
Got engaged.
I stare at it for a second, before I go on.
She said yes, and Theo was in on it too. You would’ve liked that part.
I hesitate, thumb hovering.
We’re thinking of a spring wedding. Small. She says she doesn’t care about the details. (That means she absolutely cares about the details).
A slow exhale leaves my chest as I type one more line.
I’ve got a family now. It’s my turn, Dad. I’m glad I had you to look up to, because it’s time.
The words settle in my bones. Before I can overthink it, my phone buzzes. This time, I’m alerted to a new text. Not just a text, but a whole new thread that I’ve been pulled into like a wave coming to shore. This one is just as special as the texts with my dad, maybe even more so now.
Theo’s People has 27 unread messages. Oh man, these guys text a lot.
Theo:
Mom said I can wear sneakers to the wedding if they’re clean.
Vivian:
No.
Charlie:
Define clean.
Juliette:
They will not be light-up sneakers. I approve a brand new pair of Converse. You can match Sawyer’s shoes.
Theo:
WOW. This is how democracy dies.
Vivian:
Also reminder that venues book quickly. Someone has to make decisions.
Juliette:
We literally got engaged three days ago.
Vivian:
Exactly. You’re already at least a year behind.
Charlie:
I vote botanical garden. I already have thoughts about florals.
Theo:
Can we have hockey cupcakes?
Juliette:
I’d ask where this is coming from but…
Vivian:
We can discuss hockey cupcakes.
Theo:
YES.
I shake my head, laughing quietly to myself as the phone buzzes again. This time it’s a text only for me. I smile, my heart doing a little pitter-patter as I look at the name of the woman who is going to be my wife. My WIFE.
Juliette:
Ignore them. They think they’re so funny. We can plan forever later.
That one lands softer, and reminds me why I love her so much.
Converse as shoes, approved. Cupcakes under review. Can’t wait to see you later. Love you guys.
Three dots immediately pop up.
Theo:
LOVE YOU TOO! Even if the cupcakes are ‘under review.’
Oops. Looks like I replied in the wrong thread.
Charlie:
Don’t get hit in the face tonight. Wedding photos, darling.
Vivian:
Score one for your fiancée.
Juliette:
He’s not at practice tonight you guys. He’s at his place with the guys.
Theo:
Guys night! Do I get to come when Sawyer’s my bonus Dad?
Juliette:
So many things to discuss…
Vivan:
Keep your teeth, Sawyer. You need them to chew food on your honeymoon.
Theo:
And in life!
Juliette:
OMG…I love you. Now everyone leave him alone.
Her words sit there on the screen, simple and steady. I love you. Glancing over the thread as a whole, all I see is love; love between a small group of people who have come together to create their own little ecosystem. A family. A family that watches each other’s backs, and keeps one another safe.
Huh. Safety. Love…a family and a home. For a long time, those words felt like things other people got. Things I looked past. Things I almost had, or almost ruined, or almost understood.
Now they’re mine. The evidence is right here, in my hand.
No, they’re mine and not in the reckless, highlight-reel kind of way. Not the way a goal horn blasts and fades, but in a steady way. The ‘someone is waiting for you at the end of the night’ way. The ‘there’s a kid who trusts you to show up’ way.
The ‘you don’t get to coast anymore because people are building a life with you’ way.
I used to measure my future in contracts and seasons. By how long I could hold onto the game before it slipped through my fingers. Now?
I measure it in spring weddings. In practice drills with Theo at six a.m. In light-up sneaker negotiations and botanical garden debates. In a woman who tells me to focus and then reminds me I’m loved.
I’m going to be her husband. That word, and its meaning, doesn’t scare me. At all. Sharing my last name with her? I can’t wait. Juliette Stockton. Mr. and Mrs. Stockton. Sign me up.
But the title of Dad, or stepdad in this instance…that one humbles me.
I don’t have it all figured out. I probably never will. But I know how to be me, and be there for the people I love. I know how to protect what matters. I know how to fight for a team.
And this time, the team isn’t only the one on my jersey.
I glance back at Dad’s thread, and I don’t add anything else. I don’t need to. Because I’m not sitting here wondering what comes next anymore.
I know.
I slide my phone into my back pocket and push off the bed.
Out in the living room, Ty and Campbell are arguing about something ridiculous, and it sounds like Liam and Owen have joined them.
Game night. Always loud. Always competitive.
This has been my home, and always will be, but my definition is just growing now.
And for the first time in a long time, when the world gets loud—I won’t be chasing something. I’m not skating away from who I used to be…I’m skating straight toward the life waiting for me. Right toward a kid who loves me as much as he loves hockey.
Toward her, because she makes me better and loves me as much as she also loves plants.
Toward us…because I’ve waited all my life for this very moment and, even though I thought I had it in my hands before, it’s finally here.
And this time?
I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.
Thank you so much for reading The Sunshine Offensive!