EPILOGUE
Casey
Christmas Day
I’m already awake when I hear the first soft footsteps coming our way.
I haven’t been this excited about Christmas since I was a little kid myself.
It was never the same once I grew up, and then it was even worse after Mom died, when Dad and I were too busy trying to survive than celebrate.
Mom loved the holidays. She decorated a week before Thanksgiving, and every week, there was an addition to her beloved collection. A collection that has been gathering dust in the garage ever since.
Well, not this year.
This year, all of her decorations are out on display to be enjoyed as they should have been. Only, they’re in a different house.
In the days that followed the first Vipers game with us as officially a couple, Kodie asked me to spend the holidayswith him and Sutton. Of course, I agreed, but only if Dad could come as well.
What I didn’t know was that Kodie had already spoken to my dad about it, and that they’d been scheming up how to make this Christmas the best one yet.
The last thing I expected when I walked through Kodie’s front door after work one day was to find boxes and boxes of familiar decorations filling his living room.
My heart stuttered when I saw them, because I knew exactly what they were.
Kodie stepped up behind me and told me that he understood if I wasn’t ready, or didn’t want to, but that my dad had given him the boxes because he felt like it was time to celebrate Christmas properly, as a family.
I broke down right there and then in front of all my mom’s decorations.
But they weren’t sad tears. Okay, not all of them were sad tears. Mostly, I was just so overwhelmed and grateful, and so fucking in love with the man doing this for me, I couldn’t contain it.
Together, along with Sutton, we spent the next two days decorating the entire downstairs of Kodie’s house.
They both listened dutifully as I explained the story behind almost every piece—where Mom had bought it, why, and where it had lived in our home over the holiday season.
Tears streamed down my cheeks as we carefully unpacked each box, but as much as my heart hurt, I could also feel it being put back together at the same time.
What I used to know as family hasn’t existed for a long time, and there will be a part of me that will forever mourn that. But times are changing, and family to me now includes the incredible people who live under this roof.
Kodie’s bedroom door creaks a little as it’s pushed open. The little footsteps are getting closer.
I crack my eye open to check the time, and I fight a smile when I see that it’s one minute past five.
Of course it is.
Kodie gave a strict no-earlier-than-five-AM wake-up time. I’ll bet anything that Sutton has been sitting in there, staring at the clock and begging for it to move faster.
Kodie’s arm tightens around my waist, silently letting me know that he wasn’t sleeping either.
I bet he’s just as excited as I am.
Gift shopping with him for Sutton was so much fun. He put so much thought into each of her presents, and I know he’s going to enjoy watching her reactions to them just as much.
Excitement flutters in my stomach as a very soft, “Daddy,” fills the room.
Kodie groans as if she’s waking him up.
“Daddy, he’s been. Santa’s been.”
