Page 31

Chapter 30

Rina

T he sounds of my dad's planeras are growing louder and louder in the living room as the guys get more comfortable with them.

Aunt Ginny pours me a glass of wine.

"I swear the hand drums sound better after they all learn the songs. Sometimes it just takes some time," I say, bouncing Stella on my hip as I take a sip.

"And a lot of wine," my mom adds.

Izzy grabs her glass and raises it. "To loud Christmases, full of lots of love, laughs and good food."

"Amen to that," Aunt Ginny says, clinking her glass to all of ours.

My parents, my dad specifically, decided a cruise to the Mediterranean could wait until after Christmas if it meant meeting all the people that would be our new family.

Stella keeps trying to get a peek at what the guys are doing in the living room.

"You trying to see your dad, Stella?" I ask her. Mom takes my glass.

"Go, they're never too young to learn," she says with a big smile.

I look at Izzy. "You good with that?"

She gives me a nod, "Let my girl hit some drums. Who knows, maybe she'll be the musician of the family. Get us out of the sports world for once."

"Here, here," I say over my shoulder as I walk with the baby to the living room.

The guys are finally getting in sync with my dad acting as the conductor. Each one has a drum with its own rhythm.

And once they have it down, my dad starts belting out a Christmas folk song straight from the island.

The guys all keep up their beats, and the women come in behind me. I hold Stella to me and dance with her to the beats of the drums.

When the song is done, the boys all give their drums one final bang. And the women all burst into applause.

"Ey! You guys did it!" I say to Keelan, dropping into his lap with Stella still in my arms. He sets his hand drum to the side.

"It only took four hours and a new callous, which I am very proud of, by the way." He holds his hand out for me to see, and I pick it up and give it a gentle kiss.

"A hard-earned prize," I say.

"I'd like to think so." He wraps his arms around my waist and nuzzles my neck, holding his niece’s hand as she grips his finger in a death grip.

"Ok," my dad says. "Are we going to do presents?"

"We usually don't do presents until the morning," Izzy says. "But we can do maybe one each? Save the rest for after breakfast."

She looks around the room for a consensus, and it's met with a unanimous agreement.

"I'll go first if you don't mind." That's from Scott.

Or Great Scott , if you're Keelan Landry and trolling your aunt's new boyfriend.

Scott reaches into the tree overflowing with gifts and produces a small box topped with a bow.

"Oh, boy," Ginny says. Izzy takes the wine glass from her so she can open the little box. "I wonder what could be in such a tiny box."

We all hold our breaths, and as she pops the top off, she gasps.

"Scott, you didn't."

"What?" Keelan tries to get a good look.

Izzy too. "It's a key. For what?"

Ginny holds the key up. "It's a Winnebago," she cries.

My parents both gasp. "It's a motorhome! Woah, way to go, Scott." Scott takes a bow and kisses my aunt on the cheek.

"That way, we can go visit these kids out in Texas whenever you get the bug. And we won't have to bother them."

"You guys are no bother!' Izzy assures them. "And you're welcome anytime."

"Anytime," Keelan says.

Izzy nudges Ryker. "Of course,” he says, “we love company."

I laugh. Izzy and Keelan love company, Ryker… not so much. But he's a good host even when he's not trying.

"Ok. It'll be hard to beat that, but who's next?" Mom says.

"I'll go." Keelan squeezes my thigh, and I take that as a sign that I need to get up.

I pass Stella back to Ryker and sit down, waiting for the present Keelan picks out. It’s not wrapped and looks like a document holder, but it has a bow on it because it's Christmas Eve, after all.

He sits next to me and slides the folder onto my lap. "I hope you like it."

I look at him with narrowed eyes. "What did you do?"

"Consider it the beginning of a dream," he whispers.

Ok, now I'm really curious. I slide the bow off of it and open the holder. Inside is a form with the words, Texas Adoption Registration in big bold letters.

I shut the holder and look at Keelan. He's smiling with that charming side grin. "Well… what do you say?"

"Are you ready for this?" I ask him.

"I'm ready, Rina."

My heart flutters at the thought of us taking this leap. Somehow, it's even bigger than us getting married and moving in together in what feels like a flash.

This is him telling me that he's ready for life to change—drastically.

My mom leans in and says from the side of her mouth, "Are you going to tell us what the this is or are we going to have to guess?"

Keelan laughs.

I open the holder again and pull out the forms. "Keelan and I… are going to adopt a child."

"Or two or three," Keelan adds.

The entire room falls silent, and then, as if a giant sign above our heads lights up saying 'Applause,' they all jump up in cheers and a flurry of hugs.

"That's… amazing," my dad says, taking me into a giant hug. He squeezes me hard, and I feel all the years of his pain of watching Mom suffer melt away.

Keelan and I have talked long and hard about what the future holds for us.

We could try to have kids of our own. But as we both know, there are so many ways to build a family. Looking at the faces in the room around us is the perfect example.

Keelan lost his parents but gained a mom in Ginny, a brother in Ryker, and an entire family with the Heatwave. And now, another set of parents with mine.

And I never got a sibling, but I have a sister in Izzy and a brother in Ryker and all the boys of the Heatwave.

Life is funny like that.

We try so hard to make the story make sense on our terms when, all along, there's a thin thread weaving us all together in a giant tapestry of color and textures.

I never would've planned for this to be our story. But that's the great thing about taking leaps of faith. Sometimes, people you never expected are there to not only keep you from drowning but show you how to truly live.

"Ok, my turn," I say, reaching under the tree.

I pull out a box that is much heavier than I expected it to be. I slide it onto Keelan's lap.

He shakes it, and it thumps inside.

"What the heck is it?" He says, ripping open the wrapping paper and opening the box.

Inside is a giant red lollipop, large enough to make all other red lollipops pale in comparison.

"I saw it in New York and had it mailed back home," I tell him.

He looks up from the box with tears in his eyes. "It's my favorite," he says, pulling me to him and kissing me.

"You're my favorite," I whisper, holding the box he gave me with our future inside to my chest.

He wraps an arm around me, and I rest my head on his chest as we watch our family exchange gifts under the twinkling lights of Aunt Ginny's tree.