Page 44

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Marissa

I brace myself for the worst when we get inside, but Mom greets us warmly at the door, giving Dozer a hug and a kiss on the cheek like he’s been my boyfriend for ages and not just a couple weeks and she only learned about it last night.

“I’m so glad y’all could make it. I’ve had a hard time controlling this rowdy bunch, making them wait for you to get here for our Christmas morning traditions. We have a kiddo here now!”

Lance, standing behind her with Nathaniel in his arms, shakes his head, and mouths, “No, she hasn’t.” Stepping forward, he gives me a one-armed hug. “Merry Christmas, sis.”

“Merry Christmas, little bro.” I poke him in the side, and he flinches, laughing as he pats me on the head. He might always be my younger brother, but he’s been taller than me since he was sixteen.

“Good morning, Nate,” I say holding out a hand to my nephew. He reaches for me, and I take him from my brother, bouncing him on my hip while Dozer says hello to my dad who’s doing his usual attempt at crushing his hand. Dozer just grins and I’m guessing is giving as good as he gets.

Dad’s eyebrows jump up his forehead. When he finally releases Dozer’s hand, I turn away to hide my smile. Maybe Dozer’s right. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all. At the very least, it’s clear that Dozer can hold his own. Whether that has any affect on Dad’s opinion of him or not remains to be seen, but what Dad thinks doesn’t really matter to me. He thought Peter was great, after all, and look how that turned out. He gave Jonathan endless shit for a long time, and Gabby’s living her best life.

Maybe I haven’t had shit taste in men. Maybe my dad has had shit taste in men, and I adopted his checklist instead of following my own, and that’s what led me down a path of heartache and disappointed expectations.

But now that I’m finally listening to my own wants and needs, I’ve found Dozer. And he couldn’t be more perfect if I’d designed him on a build-a-boyfriend website and had him shipped to me.

Dozer grins at me, then gets swept up in greeting everyone else, and we all head into the living room where he sets down the bag of gifts he brought—since I brought mine with me from Spokane, I put them under the tree the night I got here.

Mom gets coffee and hot chocolate for everyone, and I head to the kitchen to help her prepare and distribute everything. “I’m glad you came home for Christmas,” she says quietly as I hand her the mugs. “Even if it’s not actually Christmas yet.” She rolls her eyes, and I grin.

“I’m sure Gabby and Jonathan appreciate you being willing to accommodate their schedule,” I say diplomatically, even though accommodate might be a bit of a stretch considering how she’s acted about their schedule.

“I do try,” she says, and I have to roll my lips between my teeth to fight back my smile, and I manage to not laugh outright, keeping my back turned as I pull down a few more mugs.

Composing myself, I turn and hand her the next one to fill. “It is nice to be together like this.”

She smiles. “And it was so sweet of your boyfriend to join us. I wish you would’ve said something, though. I feel terrible that he’s staying at a hotel.” She says the word hotel like it’s something filthy and awful, and I once again have to contain my laughter.

“Honestly, Mom, I had no idea he’d be here until he showed up last night.”

She gives me a narrow-eyed look. “That seems a little odd, don’t you think?”

Eyebrows raised, I shake my head. “It was sweet. He knew how hard going to Peter’s engagement party would be for me, and he wanted to be there to support me.”

She sniffs, and I know I’ve touched a nerve. She knows that forcing me to go was hard for me too, and she doesn’t want to admit that she was in the wrong. “Well, I’m glad you have a boyfriend who genuinely cares about you and your happiness,” she says after a moment.

“Me too.” I let out my smile this time, since it’s not at her expense. “He really is great.”

She returns my smile and steps close to give me a hug. “I’ve only ever wanted the best for you, you know,” she says, cupping my cheeks and looking me in the eyes.

“I know, Momma,” I say softly. It’s the truth, even if she’s sometimes misguided in how she goes about trying to make sure I have what’s best. “Moving to Seattle has been the best thing for me,” I continue. “I needed to have more space to be able to grow into myself, and even though my relationship with Dozer started as a friendship, that was what I needed, too.”

Still smiling, she releases me and turns on the oven, popping in the egg casserole that’s been in the fridge overnight so it’ll be ready to eat when we’re done opening presents. “Friendship is a great basis for a relationship.” Turning to face me, she meets my eyes. “I’m glad you’re happy.”

“Thank you.”

“Are we gettin’ coffee soon?” Gabby asks from the door. “Or should we start opening presents without you?”

Mom scowls at her. “Come help carry the coffee, then, if you’re that impatient.”

Grinning, Gabby comes in and scoops up two mugs. Lance pops his head in after her and gets two more. He kisses Mom on the cheek. “Thanks, Mom.”

“You’re welcome,” she says, beaming at him.

Mom and I head into the living room with the rest of the mugs, and I settle next to Dozer as I hand him one. He leans over and kisses my cheek. “Everything okay?” he whispers, and I nod, smiling.

“It’s perfect.”

The day passes better than I expected, and having Dozer here makes it a thousand times better than I was planning for. I’m so glad he came, and I’m even more glad I get to introduce him to my siblings and their spouses, and when Nathan toddles over to him and he scoops him into his lap, I melt completely. Abby meets my eyes and gives me a discreet thumbs up that makes me grin.

At one point he disappears with Dad for a while under some pretense, and Gabby, Lance, and I all exchange looks. “I’ll go rescue him if they’re not back in ten minutes,” Lance mutters, and Jonathan grins.

“I’ll help.”

“You guys,” Abby protests. “He’s not that bad.”

Lance wraps an arm around her and pulls her close. “Not to you, he’s not,” he agrees mildly.

But Dad and Dozer return just as Lance and Jonathan are about to go on their rescue mission, and wonder of wonders, they’re laughing .

I have to wait a bit before I can quiz Dozer, but when I do, he just grins and says, “I told you, your dad doesn’t scare me. I’ve dealt with way worse from teammates over the years.” He shrugs, pulling me in for a hug. “He loves you, and he wants to look out for you,” he says quietly. “I know he doesn’t always go about showing his love for you in the way that you need, and I know that hurts. I told him that I also want to make sure you have the best of everything, and as long as you think that’s me, I’ll do my best to prove you right.” He gives me a lopsided smile. “I think that was the right answer. He still has reservations, of course. He doesn’t know me, but he’s at least at the point where he’s willing to give me the chance to prove myself.”

“Or give you enough rope to hang yourself,” I mutter, and he laughs.

“Or that. But since I’m not going to do that, I don’t think we need to worry.”

He kisses me again, and I wrap my arms around his torso, resting my head on his chest. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

“Me too. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”