Page 328 of Seasons of Love
“We asked our dads for a baby brother or sister for Christmas,” Gigi says.
“Oh really? And what did they say?”
Both kids shrug, and then Megan says, “Daddy looked really scared. Like his eyes opened reeeally wide, and Fletcher laughed.” She chuckles. “Maybe my mommy and Dr. Mike can have babies soon.”
“Would they still be my brother or sister?” Gigi asks.
“Duh,” Megan replies.
I ruffle the beanies on their heads. “You two might be the most adorable people I’ve ever met. Fact.”
They both smile wide, and then Gigi whispers something in Megan’s ear. Megan’s eyes go wide as she turns to me. “Does that mean we get what we want for Christmas?”
I shrug. “I don’t have the right clearance with Santa to know that information. But I’ll tell him you’ve been really good and so helpful teaching me how to build my very first snowman.”
They seem happy with my answer and go back to picking the accessories for the snowman.
I stare at them. I’ve never thought much about having children before, but these two kids make me want to be a dad.
What would a couple of little Bubbles be like? I chuckle to myself. They’d be a handful, that’s for sure.
I turn to Riley once more, and my heart skips a beat.
Be still. Be still.
21
COACH
I sip from the huge mug filled with steamy cocoa and marshmallows that Harrison gave me. “God, this is too good to be good for my health.”
“Don’t look at me. Fletch says at Christmas, all calories are free.”
I laugh. “If only that were true.”
“How are things going with you and Bubble? We really feel awful about the situation we put you both in.”
I wave him off. “You had no way to know, just like Bubble couldn’t have known. Things are working out okay.”
He raises a brow. “Just okay? Was that a kiss I just saw before I went inside for the cocoa? Correct me if I’m wrong, but my impression when we arrived was that you weren’t that close before.” He takes a sip of his drink and sighs. “Christ, I’m spending too much time with Fletcher. I’m sorry. It’s none of my business. You can ignore anything I say, and we can just supervise the kids to make sure they don’t turn into icicles.”
I chuckle. “It’s okay. You read the situation right. We weren’t that close. I’d go as far as saying we weren’t even friends. When you arrived yesterday, I was here to apologize to Bubble for being an ass to him the day before.”
Harrison laughs.
“What’s funny?”
He clears snow off the porch rail and sets his mug down.
“I met Fletcher at a charity bachelor auction. He won me and was so forward about his intentions that I took an instant dislike to him, even though he was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. A few months later, I moved to Stillwater with my ex and daughter.” He takes another sip of his cocoa. “Guess who also lived in Stillwater? Guess whose kid was in my daughter’s class? Let’s just say we had a rocky start, but we found our way to each other in the end.”
“What he means is that he was mine from the moment I bought him. He just took the longest time to figure out it was nonnegotiable. He’s mine forever,” Fletcher says, coming out of the cabin with his own drink and settling against Harrison’s side.
They really look like they’re in love. The kind of in love that you’d give up anything for.
The kind I’m not sure I ever had with Mel, no matter how much I loved her.
I look out at Curtis and the kids. They’ve rolled three giant balls of snow that Curtis stacked to make the snowman. Megan is sticking in the twigs to make the arms, and George is holding up a scarf and tie to Curtis, who looks like he’s pondering the most important decision of his life.
