Page 113 of My Wife
I smile stiffly and deliberately avoid Hendrix’s piercing stare. I’m going to get a lot of flack from him and while I deserve every bit of it and probably more, that doesn’t mean I’ll like it.
He marches toward the kid, who still holds Jessica’s hand. They’re both wearing my jersey. Sweat beads at my temples when Hendrix’s greeting goes unanswered.
Jessica signs to the kid. I recognizeUncle. The kid waves and signs his name with adorably chubby fingers.
The silence that follows seems like it’ll never end as everything happens in slow motion. My mother’s fingers press to her mouth and my father’s eyebrows nearly disappear into his hairline. The tension in the room is thick enough to cut with a knife.
It’s not because KJ is Deaf. It’s because he’s mine.
The meaning sinks in even slower now.
Hendrix says, “The little dude has moves. Okay, what’s the sign for awesome?”
I swallow thickly because he understood a lot more quickly than I allowed myself to, which makes guilt claw at my insides.
Jessica shows him the sign and Hendrix repeats it flawlessly, indicating to everyone that he’s awesome.
In a low voice, so only I can hear, Dad says, “Liam, I see there have been ... developments.”
His emphasis on the word makes me wince.
“We met Jess and KJ briefly in the VIP suite, but there was so much going on.” Dad is practically a celebrity around here so it’s no surprise that he’d be occupied with people chatting along with watching the game, but this is certainly a surprise for them.
I grunt, aware that everyone’s eyes are burning holes into me.
Mom, who of course hears everything, steps forward with wide yet soft eyes. “Congratulations!” She means every syllable in the word but likely hurt that I didn’t tell her. That I kept this from our family.
“When exactly were you planning to tell us?” Hendrix asks, his voice tight with disbelief.
I don’t know. This is one of those moments when I realize that despite my size and age, I can be immature and that brings with it shame.
Ever the one to cut the tension, Hendrix says, “Are you going to introduce us to your fiancée?”
Of course, that’s what they’d assume.
Hendrix continues, “I need to know who I’m talking to before I issue a hazmat warning.” There’s a quirk on his lips, but his eyes remain stunned circles.
“This is Jessica,” I mumble, feeling my face burn.
She steps forward gracefully, seemingly unfazed by the family tension crackling around us. “Jess and KJ—short for King Liam Junior. I’m so glad we’re getting to spend some time together. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“You have?” All adult Ellises present ask in synchronized shock, voices overlapping with varying degrees of disbelief.
Jessica smiles and shakes her head. “No. Liam doesn’t say much, but I’m working on that.”
They chorus laughter, of course, charmed by her despite their obvious surprise at the news, and I feel my shoulders start to relax just slightly.
My father catches my eye over Jessica’s shoulder, mouthing silently, “We will talk later.”
I nod, knowing I have a lot of explaining to do.
But the thing about my family, despite their history on the ice, is that they’re the warmest people on the planet and maybe I knew that even if I avoided coming forth with the truth, they’d accept KJ no matter what.
And maybe their meeting him is the final piece to the puzzle that makes this real.
After an uneventful night in a hotel—where Jessica and I stay in separate rooms—the next day, they offer for us to ride with them to Brookking Sound, but I rent an SUV and we load in for the three-hour trip north.
Having been doing my own thing for a while, I forgot how all-pervasive my family can be. It’s not like being smothered with a damp blanket, but navigating this situation—not the roads, I know them well—feels like a trick shot.
