Bonus Epilogue
Six Years Later
Jax
“Ouch!” My three-year-old tugs away from me while I try to braid her blonde hair. She scrunches her nose at me, and it’s crazy how much she looks just like her mother.
“You’re the one who asked for French braids.” I shrug. “I’m still learning how to do them. I could’ve done a flawless normal braid.”
She crosses her arms, looking displeased as she climbs off the stool she’s sitting on. “I want Mommy to do it.”
Lauren walks into the bathroom, a smile on her face while our eighteen-month-old clings on to her leg. “You want Mommy to do what?”
“Braid my hair, please,” Addie says.
“Will you take Bennett?” Lauren hands me our little boy. He’s got my blue eyes and Lauren’s soft blonde hair sprouting from his head.
I take the brand-new toy he hands me and tell him what a perfect gentleman he is for sharing while Lauren undoes all my hard work. “Hey, I spent twenty minutes on that!”
She looks down at Addie. “Did he?”
“No, he took years!” Addie insists, throwing her hands up in exclamation.
“I need more practice.”
“You’ll get it, but maybe not five minutes before everyone is supposed to come over. There are going to be pictures today. We need our little girl to look like a princess, right?” Lauren asks Addie as she finishes the left braid already. Show off.
The doorbell rings, and I get up from the ledge of the tub, taking Bennett with me. “I’ll get it.”
I dash down the hallway, chasing Bennett toward the door. His laughter is a welcome distraction from my nerves over who may or may not be at the door right now.
I swing it open and find Mrs. Rhodes. Nana Rhodes is trailing behind, trying to push Mr. Rhodes away from her, insisting she can carry her “own damn presents.”
“Merry Christmas!” Mrs. Rhodes smiles as she hands me a casserole dish and shrugs off her coat. “Has your house been as chaotic as ours was this morning?”
“Oh, yes. Between our two little rascals being excited about their toys and trying to get everything ready for brunch, we’ve had our share of chaos.”
“She knows we weren’t expecting her to still host when she’s seven months pregnant, right?”
“Yes, but she loves it, and she asked for help when she needed it,” I say over my shoulder as I put the casserole down on the kitchen counter.
Addie, with two perfect French braids, darts down the hallway, plowing into her grandma’s legs and wrapping her arms around them. “Nana!”
“Hi, sweetie.”
“Did you bring presents?”
“Addie!” Lauren scolds in disbelief as she joins us at the front door.
“I brought you loads of presents,” Mrs. Rhodes says as Mr. Rhodes and his mother walk into the door, both of their hands full.
“Yay!” Addie spins around, showing off her new dress.
Before I can close the door, another car pulls into the driveway. Mom and Aunt Carol step out, excited smiles on their faces as Mom calls out, “Merry Christmas! We’re going to need some help with all these presents for the kids.”
“Presents!” Addie screeches as she dashes out the front door to help carry the gifts in.
Bennett watches from the doorway with shy curiosity, which he definitely gets from his mother.
“Thank goodness you’re not as crazy as your sister,” I say to him, ruffling his hair.
“If he’s anything like his father, he’ll grow into his wildness,” Mom says as she kisses my cheek.
“Great.” I frown at Bennett, and he bursts into laughter. I turn to Lauren. “Did I make a face?”
“No, Grinchie. Your face is just always that funny.” She laughs at her own joke then places a consoling kiss on my cheek, followed by one on the top of Bennett’s head.
“Have you heard from Rick?” Lauren asks Mom as she takes some gifts from her hands.
“Not yet, but he was excited for this. He’ll be here.”
I’ve been trying not to let myself get worked up over the possibility of Dad showing up for his first Christmas with our family.
He hasn’t given me any reason to doubt him in the six years since he showed up at my doorstep to apologize.
He’s been sober. He hasn’t gambled or gotten into trouble with the law.
He even has a new wife, who is lovely, but there’s still a part of me that recognizes how much is at stake now if I let him in again.
Lauren must be a mind reader because she wraps her arms around me, whispering, “He’s going to be here, and it’s going to be great. Don’t let his mistakes make you doubt his victories over the past several years. Remember how great it is to let all that go?”
I nod. She’s right. Moving on felt amazing. It has allowed me to start building a relationship back with my dad, one more like what we used to have when he took me to OSU football games, but it’s hard not to let the doubt creep in every once in a while.
More people flood into our home while Lauren and her mom set the table for brunch. Charlie pulls me into a bro hug while his two-year-old shoves himself in front of me, trying to grab my attention. “Uncle Jax, look what I got today!”
He holds up a toy firetruck, his green eyes aglow.
It’s his toothy grin and childlike innocence that ground me again, ridding me of the doubts I’ve had.
Even if my dad doesn’t show up today, I’m still incredibly blessed.
Never in a million years would I have expected to have such a beautiful life with an amazing wife and the sweetest children, surrounded by loads of family who love us.
“Wow, look at that!” I crouch to his level. “Where’s your mama and sister?”
“Mama’s at the café finishing up the dessert with Isa.”
“Is she making something good?”
He crosses his arms. “Mama always makes good desserts.”
“Of course.”
As the table fills with delicious food, Lauren attempts to wrap her arms around me, which is made difficult by her growing belly.
“This one is going to be a boy. I just know it.” I rub her belly gently.
We learned the sex of the baby for our first two kids, but with the third, we decided we wanted to wait. It’s been torturous not knowing and a constant point of playful banter between the two of us.
“I still think it’s going to be a girl. Bella has been following me around again just like she did when we had Addie.” Lauren gestures to the chocolate mutt at her feet.
“Bella hasn’t stopped following you around since before we got her. That dog fell in love with you at puppy yoga. You have all the pictures and videos in the world to prove it.”
She laughs. “Maybe, but I still have a feeling it’s a girl.”
The ring of the doorbell interrupts us, and I zip toward the door.
It has to be Dad. Everyone else is here.
My heart is pounding in my chest, and as soon as I open the door, seeing him with his arms full of presents and a smile on his face, I feel it grow three sizes more.
My dad is celebrating Christmas with us again.
He’s sober, and he came through on his word.
It’s amazing how many things have fallen into place for us.
“I’m so sorry I’m late. I know you told me not to bring presents, and I really tried to, but I couldn’t show up empty handed.
It was a scramble to wrap these up last minute.
” He leans in toward me, whispering, “I found a homemade birdhouse kit that Addie will love. We can build it together and look at the birds whenever I come to visit. And you know I had to get Bennett a very soft”—he emphasizes the word knowing that Lauren will freak out if she overhears—“football. He’s not too young to get him started on his rise to stardom. ”
“He might not want to play football.” Lauren holds out a hand. “Maybe he’ll be into something safer, like no sports at all.”
I chuckle, kissing her on the forehead before turning back to Dad. “They’re going to love them. Thank you. I’m happy you’re here.”
“Me too.”
I help Dad and his wife set their gifts under the tree and then we join everyone at the table, saying a quick prayer before digging into the delicious food in front of us.
“Hey, Bennett, has your mama showed you how we used to make Santa pancakes?” Mr. Rhodes asks his grandson.
Bennett shakes his head, and Mr. Rhodes quickly takes it as his sign to show the kid how to tear the pancakes apart, decorating them with fruit and syrup.
“Dad, we’re trying to teach him good table manners, not how to pull apart his food at the table,” Lauren chides.
“Come on! He loves it. Bennett has plenty of manners. Right, kiddo?”
“Right!”
“I want Santa pancakes too,” Addie insists.
“Papa.” Mom addresses Mr. Rhodes by the nickname we’ve been using to keep him separate from our son.
I love that we decided to name our little boy after Mr. Rhodes.
He’s a wonderful man who has played a role in raising both Lauren and me, but it got confusing real quick to have two Bennetts running around Copper Hill.
“Please tell me you’re participating in the bake-off later. I want your creativity on my team.”
“No way, I want Dad!” Charlie insists.
The table erupts into chaos as everyone argues over who gets to be on a team with whom, and amidst the raised voices and laughter, Lauren and I meet each other’s gaze. I can already tell she’s thinking the exact same thing as me. We made it.
We have everything we had ever dreamed of: the big family breakfasts, her dad here to teach our children bad habits, and a family we love who wants to carry on holiday traditions with one another. We have it all.