Page 201 of Make Us Yours
“We just missed you so much,” Morgan says with a sob.Jesus, these two are really emotional with these pregnancy hormones.
“Ladies, you all saw me two days ago,” I remind them with a smirk. They all came by to see me at the hospital, and I was really grateful for that. It was a nice change in scenery compared to the usual staff.
“Yeah, but that’s not the same. You were in the hospital, now you’re home for good,” Cecilia says, coming in slowly for a hug as she sniffles.
Once she lets go, Aubrey steps up next. “Hi, beautiful,” I say with a grin as she flushes her usual blush.
“Hi,” she says softly as she lays her head against my chest.
When the girls finally back off, the boys come in next, starting with Silas. “Hey man, it’s good to see you standing.” He hugs me a bit tighter than necessary, but when I groan, he quickly lets go. “Shit, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.” I wave him off and go to Greyson next.
“We’ve missed you on the ice, man. It’s not the same without you.”
“Yeah, well, it’s going to be a while before I can get back on it.” I give him a tight smile, hating the feeling in my stomach at the thought of not playing.
“Just take all the time you need and come back to us when you’re even better than before,” Clay says, hugging me delicately compared to the other two.
“That’s the plan. And thanks for letting us crash out back.”
“No need to thank me. You guys are welcome here as long as you’d like.” He steps to the side, making way for the last one of my friends, the most important one that I’ve been dying to see most.
Gabe stands back, looking uncertain and emotional. So, I take the few steps toward him and wrap my arms around him as he drops his head against my shoulder. “I’ve missed you, brother.”
“Fuck, man,” he croaks out. “I thought… I thought we were gonna lose you.”
“Never.” I rub my hand up and down his back. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He pulls back, wiping the evidence of his tears away. “You better fucking not, because I’m not ready for another funeral. That shit’s depressing as fuck.” Everyone chuckles at his comment, and the mood is instantly lightened.
We all wander over to the living room, and I take one of the armchairs, using the armrests to lower myself slowly into it. Everyone watches me carefully, and I hate the pitiful look in their eyes, but I get it. They’re worried about me, and I love them for that.
Morgan comes up to me, rubbing her belly. I swear she’s getting bigger by the day. “Can I get you anything? Water? Juice? Soda? Beer?”
“No soda or beer,” Veronica answers before I can, and I narrow my eyes at her. “What? You can’t.”
I chuckle and turn back to Morgan. “I’m good.”
“Okay, are you hungry? I can make you something.”
“Not at the moment, thank you.” I smile as she nods and goes to settle at her husband’s side while I look around the room, searching for the two toddlers. “Where are the kids?”
“Sam kept them at our place. We were afraid they might try to jump on you or something like that, and we didn’t want to cause you any more pain,” Cecilia says as she sits down on the couch beside Silas.
“It would have been okay. I miss the little buggers.” I shrug with a smile.
“They miss their Uncle Noah too.” Em smiles back. “We’ll do something next week with them. Give you some time to adjust being back home.” I nod in response.
“Hey, Morg. How come you guys didn’t decorate for Halloween this year? I was told it was the thing to see every year. And it just hit me that Halloween is in a few days, and I don’t see any decorations,” Veronica asks, as she stands beside my armchair, her hand on my shoulder.
She’s right; Morgan is the queen of holidays. She always goes all out and decorates her house from top to bottom on the first of October. Same with Christmas. Then we usually have a huge Halloween party with the whole team and whoever else has been invited.
And for Christmas, we always have a team Christmas dinner before everyone heads off to spend the holiday with their families. Although I’m guessing with Greyson and Emma’s wedding being the twenty-third, we won’t be doing that either this year.
“Oh, honestly, my mind was so busy focusing on the babies that I didn’t even see the time go by. When my brain finally caught on at the beginning of the month, I was still pretty nauseated, and Clay didn’t think it was a good idea to put myself through that kind of stress,” she answers her with a sad shrug.
“So, there won’t be any celebration at all?” Gabe asks while frowning.
