Page 48

Nothing could’ve prepared me for seeing that handwriting one more time.

The card was from my mom. Bree placed a thumb drive in my hand, pressed a kiss to my cheek, and left me to join Claudia, but it was to give me privacy.

I opened the message. It was a video, timestamped a few days before she’d passed. My heart started pounding.

You could hear the waves behind her. She was wearing that old cream sweater she’d always said made her feel “put together,” even though it had a stain on the sleeve she never could scrub out.

“Play it,” Bree’s voice said in my head, giving me the reassurance I needed to watch. So I did.

The screen lit up with Ma’s face—so warm, so familiar. Her eyes sparkled the way they always had when she was up to something.

“Hi, baby,” she said, smiling softly. “If you’re seeing this, it means you’ve made it to Christmas. That means I’m not there beside you in person… but you know me, I never go far.”

Tears welled in my eyes locked to the screen.

“I didn’t want to make this too heavy,” Mom continued. “I know how sad I’d be if our roles were reversed, so I want to make this a happy memory. That’s what Christmas should be. That’s what you should be. Light, and laughter, and stubborn hope.”

She chuckled, looking down, her fingers fiddling with the corner of a blanket in her lap. “God, I miss hugging you already.”

My throat tightened.

“But, Baker… if I could give you one gift this Christmas, it’s peace.

Peace in knowing that you’re already everything I ever hoped for.

You were always good, always kind. You took care of me, even when I didn’t need you to.

You are the greatest joy, the greatest accomplishment of my life—and now, sweetheart, it’s your turn to feel that too. ”

“Dammit, Ma,” I whispered, my hand to my mouth.

“I hope, by the time you watch this, you’ve started to recognize that overwhelming feeling of joy and accomplishment with Bree and Benny because there’s not one job in the world more important than being a loving, supportive partner and parent.

Maybe you and Bree will have another child, and maybe you won’t.

Stanley Cups are wonderful but won’t even come close to the feeling you’ll get when Benny looks at you with complete trust in his eyes.

And when you hold the woman you love in your arms, you’ll realize how incredibly lucky you are to have it.

” She paused and grinned, just a little.

“And because you’re smart, you’ll never let go. ”

I found myself gripping the corners of the laptop so tightly, I started to lose circulation.

“I’ve seen how you love, Baker. Full-out. Fierce and gentle. That kind of love is rare. It’ll protect your boy. It’ll carry your relationship with Bree. It’ll carry you when things feel too heavy. Don’t be afraid to lean on it.”

Her smile faltered just a bit, and her eyes glossed.

“I’m not scared, baby. I want you to know that. I’ve had a beautiful life. And you were the very best part of it.”

She glanced off screen at something, and I just knew Bree had been with her that day, helping her record it.

God, hearing my mom say all of that—knowing what she saw when she looked at us—must’ve made it fucking gut-wrenching for Bree to leave.

And me? I felt like a complete asshole for not telling her how I really felt sooner.

For making her carry that weight alone. Finally, my mom turned her gaze back to the camera and looked straight into the lens one last time.

“I’ll always be with you. Just like this. Every Christmas, every game, every time you laugh so hard, you cry. I’ll be there. And I’ll be proud. So, so proud.”

A soft smile. One I could still picture with my eyes closed.

“Merry Christmas, sweetheart. I love you to the moon and back.”

The screen went black.

And for the longest moment, I just sat there. Breathing her in. Letting her voice settle into the cracks of me that still ached.

Bree stood in the archway between the living room and kitchen leaning against the wall, eyes shining. “She knew.”

“Yeah,” I whispered. “She knew everything.”

Outside, the waves crashed against the shore. Inside, Benny stirred and rolled over, crinkling the wrapping paper some more.

And in that moment, even with tears running down my face, I smiled.

Because she’d been right.

I wasn’t alone. I never would be again.

Not with the family she’d left behind… and the one I was building.

After wiping my eyes, I closed the laptop and walked over to where Bree stood.

Mom’s message was unexpected and so, so welcome, but now I needed coffee and laughter, and I got both when I walked into the kitchen to see Claudia fixing breakfast wearing an apron that read “I’m the reason Santa has a naughty list.” She was humming to herself, stirring something on the stove that smelled like cinnamon and love.

“Merry Christmas,” she said, kissing Bree on the cheek and ruffling my hair like I was a damn child. But I didn’t even flinch because I secretly loved it.

The house felt warm. Not just from the fireplace or the heaters humming through the vents.

It felt lived in. Full. Like it had been waiting all this time for the right people to fill it again.

Bree and Claudia had gone all-out decorating.

Garland draped across the fireplace, lights twinkling around the windows, and three mismatched stockings hung beside mine—Bree’s, Benny’s, and Claudia’s.

I’d added the fourth.

It was Ma’s old stocking. Bree helped me hang it last night after Benny went to bed. We never spoke a word. Her silence in that moment felt reverent, giving me the space to feel everything I’d needed to feel.

My mom was here. Not in body, maybe. But in every warm light. Every sugar cookie. Every laugh. In the way Claudia stirred her cocoa and smiled. In the way Bree pressed a hand over her heart when she saw Benny crawl under the tree, face lit up with pure joy.

Watching him tear into those presents like he was on a mission from God—I swear to you, I’ve never been happier.

The kid’s smile blazed from ear to ear over a set of sensory dinosaur toys, he gasped over a new pair of noise-canceling headphones, and he popped his eyes wide with actual glee when he found the remote-operated rideable car in the garage with his name stenciled across it in red.

“ This is the best Christmas ever! ” No, he didn’t actually say it, but I heard it. In my heart, I heard it.

We spent the rest of the day in pajamas, eating cinnamon rolls and watching old claymation movies on the couch. Benny curled up between us, dozing off before dinner. Bree made us all plates, and Claudia brought out a pie laced with pure magic. She refused to share the recipe.

I set an extra plate at the end of the table. Mom’s place. Bree lit a little candle beside it, and I swore I saw Claudia wipe at her eye before sitting down.

But it wasn’t a sad day.

It was peaceful.

It was family.

The next first without Mom came about two months later.

Copperheads’ Family Day. All the parents, wives, girlfriends, children, no matter where they lived, showed up for this event.

The whole weekend was like one big carnival.

Always a Saturday night game where the players’ families got their fifteen seconds of fame on camera.

The owner went all out for this event. His way of saying thank you to a club that earned him a hell of a lot of money .

And the moment I walked into the arena, it hit me like a freight train. Mom’s laugh. Her seat. The way she used to bring ridiculous signs and wave at the jumbotron until the cameraman gave her a shot. I held it together through warmups, pretending I didn’t feel the ache gnawing at my ribs.

Then I looked up into the stands.

There she was. Bree. My girlfriend. My everything.

Benny stood next to her, headphones on and a foam finger so big, it practically swallowed his arm. Claudia beside him with her steady hand on his shoulder. But Bree…

She was holding a framed photo of my mom.

My legs went weak.

I skated full speed to the glass and slammed both palms against it hard enough that not just she noticed, but everyone in the damn arena noticed.

With her attention fixed on me and overwhelmed with emotion, I shouted through the glass, “Bree Michaels, I love you, woman! Marry me!”

Her eyes went huge.

The roar that erupted around me was unreal. The crowd exploded. My teammates mobbed me like a bunch of idiots, screaming, chanting, tackling me with gloves flying.

“Say yes ! Say yes !”

Bree laughed, tears spilling down her cheeks. “ Yes !”

She bolted down the stairs, curls flying, her hand pressed against her heart. She hit the glass and I was already there, kissing her through it, palm to palm.

Coach shouted, but I didn’t care. That moment was ours.

We won that game, naturally. The Copperheads obliterated the other team. I played out of my mind, fueled by something bigger than competition.

The boys gave us hell in the locker room after the game. Bishop poured Gatorade over my head like we’d just won the Cup. Bonner smacked my back so hard, I choked on a beer. Jaycee tackled Bree into a hug in the hallway and shrieked making the arena echo.

Later, after the locker room cleared out and I was toweling off, my phone buzzed.

Unknown number.

I declined it.

It buzzed again. Then again.

I finally answered.

“Mr. Reece? You’ve been served. You’ll be receiving your documents shortly.”

Dane. Lawsuit over the fight. I gripped the phone until my knuckles popped. Although not unexpected, it still pissed me off. The fucker never had the balls to call the cops on me, but with lawyers involved and the promise of money, he leaned in hard.

When I told Bree, she went pale. “He’s not done. He’s going to try something else.”

“He’s not ruining this,” I said firmly. “Not our family.”

When he’d said shortly , he meant it. The process server stood next to his SUV in a business casual suit waiting for us when we got home. I had Claudia take Benny inside while Bree and I talked to the man.

It wasn’t good. He wanted fifty-fifty custody. Not because he gave a damn about Benny, but because he thought he could get child support from Bree. Greedy, bitter bastard.

Bree was a wreck. I held her on the couch while Benny sat between us in his headphones, watching his tablet. She kept whispering, “He doesn’t know Benny. He never wanted him. What if he makes good on his threat to make Benny disappear?”

I cupped her face, made her look me in the eye. “This is my family, Bree. I’m gonna marry you. And I’m gonna adopt Benny. That prick doesn’t get to touch either of you. Not while I’m breathing.”

She nodded, tears sliding silently down her cheeks .

In the locker room the next day, I sat between Bishop and Jones, rubbing a hand over my face.

“I need help,” I told them. “Legal help. Dane’s trying to get custody, maybe even take Benny from Bree. I want to adopt him.”

Bishop didn’t hesitate. “Whatever you need, man. We’ve got you.”

Jones clapped me on the back. “You’re a DILF now. This team protects its own.”

That made me laugh for the first time in hours.

I called my attorney on the drive home. “Hey, I need a family law referral. The best in the damn country. Because no one touches my family. Not now. Not ever.”

We were home again.

Our real home. Me, Bree, Benny, and Claudia. The way it was meant to be.

And nothing—not Dane, not the headlines, not even the ghosts of the past—was going to take that away from us.