Page 17 of A Stag Family Christmas

I grin at the receptionist who calls up to the senator’s office to see if he will take an unannounced visit from his not-quite-son-in-law. The guy at reception is young and clean cut, looking much more comfortable in his suit than I do. He frowns, noticing the ink peeking out the edges of my cuffs, staring at my long hair. Fuck him. He finally hangs up the phone and sighs. “The senator says you should come on up, and grab yourself a complimentary coffee if you wish.”

“Did he tell you that or did he ask you to get the coffee for me,” I ask. The guy rolls his eyes at me. “I like it black,” I shout after him, making my way into Emma’s dad’s office.

“Stag,” he says, rising and walking around the desk to shake my hand. We have a civil relationship, if not friendly. He leans back on the desk and crosses his arms. “I wasn’t expecting to see you until Christmas Day.”

“Nice to see you, too, Ed,” I say, sitting down. And then I sigh. I didn’t come here to be snarky with him. “I’ll cut right to the chase.”

“I’m listening,” he says, arms folded, still leaning on the desk, now towering over me. This fucking sucks.

“I’d like to marry your daughter, sir.” I sigh.

He looks at me confused, and says, “I was under the impression you were already planning to do that.”

I chew on the inside of my lip and lean back in my chair. “It’s true. But I didn’t speak to you about it, and I don’t like that,” I tell him. He opens his mouth to talk and I hold up my hand. “I don’t think I need your permission. That’s not why I’m here. Emma’s a strong willed woman and she’ll do whatever the hell she feels like regardless.”

He smiles at that. “She sure will, won’t she.” He walks around to his side of the desk and sits. “Well. So. You’ve been taking your time about marrying her, I’d say.”

I nod. I exhale through my nose and lean forward. “I’m worried I missed my window.”

He rubs a hand over his chin and frowns deeper. “I’ll admit that I don’t talk to her much about these sorts of things,” he says. “But I’ve seen how she looks at you, Stag. And I’ve seen how you look at her. I don’t think that look is going anywhere.”

I tap my fingers on the edge of his desk before responding. “Things have been…complicated with us lately. My brothers are all—you know my sister-in-law is a judge now.” He nods. “They’re having a baby. My other brother hired a new strategy director or something.”

“Well,” Ed says, pointing toward the lobby, where one of my larger installations is displayed. “I think you’re doing alright for yourself, too, Stag. You know I don’t really know anything about art, per se, but your name shows up all over this damn city.” He laughs. “I’ve promised your work more than once as an incentive. Your work is a hot commodity, it would seem.”

This is probably the closest Emma’s father will come to telling me he approves of me, so I decide to run with it. “I need Emma to know I’m serious about us. About her. About family. All of it. I thought maybe if I came to you, she’d see that.”

The admin comes in with my coffee and plunks it on the desk so it sloshes a bit. “Jared,” Ed barks. “The next time my son-in-law shows up, you get him his coffee faster. And you knock before you come in this office, young man.” The kid turns red and shuffles out. I want to feel bad for him, but I’m clinging now to the hope that Emma’s family can help me win back her heart.

“So tell me what’s really going on,” Ed says. “Emma’s been thriving since she’s been with you, much as it pains me to admit. She’s healthy. She’s working hard. I know she won that prize. And I also know something else is up, because she hasn’t come to see her mother in a month.”

I sip my coffee and think about how to proceed. I decide to tell him about the seizure, that it rattled her, and how I tried to drag her to the courthouse. This makes him straight up laugh out loud. “But, Ed, what do I do now? What comes next?”

He keeps on laughing and leans back in his chair. “Her mother proposed to me, you know. Not even a proposal, really. She told me it’d been long enough and we should get married already.” Ed looks out the window. “I’m afraid I can’t be much help to you figuring out how to untangle this mess, Stag.” He meets my eye then and says, “But I will say I’m rooting for you to figure it out.”

18

TY

“Damn, babe, did you see that? Did you see my game?” I greet Juniper with a kiss in the hall outside the players’ lounge after my shower and media interviews. I was on fire this afternoon in our game against Toronto. “I slammed that Canuk into the boards. He barely knew what hit him.”

“Yes, husband,” she soothes, playfully. “You’re strong as an ox. I’m going to need you to take your pregnant wife out for some food now, though.”

We head over to Tim’s place for Sunday dinner, only a few hours late. “I hope Alice saved us something,” I mutter as we walk to the car. Used to be, my whole family would come to watch my games in person. That was back when Tim and Alice were secretly screwing in the executive lounge and Thatcher was sleeping around with…well he wasn’t too particular now that I think about it.

Juniper squeezes my arm. “They come to plenty of your games, Tyrion. Don’t be a pouter.” Today was my last game before our break for Christmas. I was relieved to see we get four days off in a row. Juniper was able to shift around her midwife appointments so I can go with her tomorrow. We’re probably going to get to hear the heartbeat, and I’m a lying fool if I pretend that’s not the most exciting thing to ever happen to me.

When we roll into Tim’s block, I see how the house looks all lit up in the early darkness of December afternoons. “Oh, Ty, it’s like a storybook,” Juniper says. I have to admit, Tim did a bang-up job hanging those twinkly lights. We didn’t really get a good look at Thanksgiving when it was light outside. It takes me back to when we were young kids, and we used to always decorate. I catch a whiff of the pine boughs Alice hung from the windows and remember my mother, laughing, leaning out the window and asking me if I thought the greens looked okay. The force of the memory washes over me and I pull Juniper in close, spreading my hand across her stomach. I want my baby to know joy like that.

There’s so much love and warmth in the house again I almost forget how grey it felt to live there in my teens. It was absolutely dreary here for a long ass time. No fucking wonder I joined the NHL and didn’t come back home for years.

I lean in and kiss Juniper, inhaling the scent of her. Sometimes I remember that she’s mine to keep, and I get excited all over again. I feel pretty damn lucky as I walk in with her, arm around her shoulders.

Everyone else is done eating and spread throughout the downstairs. I notice Emma isn’t here, and one look at Thatcher tells me not to bring it up. “Is he drunk,” Juniper asks, settling into a bar stool while Alice hands us plates of food she set aside.

“His eyes are glassy and he’s staring into the fire silently, so I’d guess yes,” I tell her, nodding hello at Tim while he and Petey assemble an electric train under their Christmas tree. “Holy shit, Timber! Is that ours from before?”

“Watch your mouth, Tyrion Stag,” Gram yells from her rocker by the fire. She’s taking pictures of Tim and Petey while they assemble the tracks. “And of course it’s your train from before. I kept all that old stuff.”

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