Page 81 of Falling for the Orc All-Star

“Am I trauma dumping too much?”

“No, baby. Go ahead.”

“I just don’t know who all will be there. My mom’s sisters, their husbands, and their kids might be there. My mom and her sisters have a hot-and-cold relationship. They didn’t like her moving around with Dad, and then when she came back, they didn’t like that I didn’t stay nearby. That’s all. Well, no, that's not all. Sometimes people have different goals. Don’t follow the path you expect.” Her fingers drum on the wheel as a light rain starts to fall.

“Is this about not becoming a nurse?”

Ingrid winces. “All that money on a college degree that I don’t use...”

I reach over and rub her back. “You’re happy, and you help people. People love you. I love you. Kevin and Marina love you. Mrs. Y, and Mrs. Felice, and Steve, and Lester... You’re my family.”

Her hand comes back to my knee. “Don’t worry. There’s not going to be any big drama. Just no warm holiday magic. Civil, pleasant stuff. Tomorrow and the weekend should be easy. My mom is going to ask you a thousand questions, but then I’ll distract her by telling her I want to help put up the tree, and we’ll have the ‘one holiday’ at a time argument, eat a walnut-cheddar cheese log, and go shopping.” She looks at me with a tired smile. “Poor you. Left at home with Jonathan and the nature channel.”

“What are you talking about? I’m coming with you. I’ve never had a girlfriend to shop for, and I’ve got a whole truck bed I can fill up.”

“You’re supposed to be saving money!”

“Do I go to Victoria’s Secret, or should I search up Baltimore’s adult novelty stores and get you something naughtier?” I tease.

“You cannot!”

“What about a jewelry store? Hmm? If I were to get you something sparkly...”

“I have you. That’s enough.”

My heart swells up, hard and fast, emotion clouding my eyes and my chest.

Such a mess.

So broken.

Don’t know what happens next with my career, or all the little plans I’m trying to put in motion...

“You love me like this?”

“Like what? Sexy as hell and twice as sweet?” Ingrid laughs.

It takes me a few seconds to find the right words. “I think when you’re in love, you stop seeing all the things that are wrong. You sure about me?”

She nods. “Sure. Are you sure?”

“Incredibly positive.”

Ilove my mother. I even love Jonathan, in a sort of ‘you’re my family, so I must love you’ way, and I love him for being a good, steady (boring) hubby to my mother. I don’t dislike anyone there—but it’s not how I want to spend the holiday. I miss my brother. I miss joking and board games, and I know he and King would bond over hockey and football.

“Dogs, Ingrid... Such big dogs. Did you hear about that two-year-old who lost three fingers? I don’t know why you couldn’t have something smaller since children are going to be present,” Janice tsks and whisks, a bowl under her arm. She trots around the kitchen, shimmering in a champagne silk blouse, a frilly apron, pearls, and heels.

Why am I in jeans? Why am I in a Lumberjacks ringer shirt?

No, why is everyone else in business casual?

“Chip and Daisy are well-trained. They even volunteer at the local senior home. King is taking them into a second-grade classroom next week, too.”

King stands behind me, arms around me. Under his shirt, I can feel a small circle radiating heat—a glamour he got from Madge’s, something that provides extra protection from eyes that might see through the “Mist,” or as I call it, “being totally oblivious.”

He is quick to defend our fur babies. “Chip and Daisy are so sweet. They’re totally going to be our kids’ furry guardian angels.”

“Kids?” Jonathan looks up from the carrots he’s peeling. “You two aren’t even married!”