Page 2 of Puck the Halls
The other two reasons are exactly why we are here.
Isabel and Oliver.
Our daughter and son.
The most perfect creations to ever grace this planet. The pieces of my heart that I didn’t even know were missing.
Oh, I knew I had holes in my heart and that I was a grumpy, sad, boring asshole before Danielle came along. She filled so many of those gaps with her sweet, loving, acceptance of who I am and in wanting me anyway.
Then she helped heal even more of those wounds by making me willing to bring Crew and Michael into my personal life.
But it wasn’t until those babies were born that I felt truly, fully whole.
Thank God Danielle finds my absolute weakness over our children incredibly sexy. Once she knows that we stopped by Decatur on our way to Aspen to see the kids one last time before we leave them for three days, she’ll be more forgiving of the fact that we are going to be late.
I look out the window of the airport. The snow is swirling so fast, so thick and heavy, that I can barely see the airplanes parked outside at the gates.
No planes are taking off for the rest of the night.
We’re going to beverylate.
“Hey, Cookie,” I hear Crew say.
I turn and take in the way his expression softens with love even just hearing our wife’s voice across the phone line.
“No, I’m calling with some news. We’re both fine, but we’re going to be late getting there.”
He pauses.
“Well, we’re in…Decatur.”
His eyes meet mine as his eyebrows lift.
I think I’m glad I can’t hear Danielle’s response.
“No, we’re still at the airport.”
Yes, we flew from Chicago to Decatur just so I could kiss our kids and tell them goodnight before we took off for Aspen for three days. Yes, it's a little ridiculous. Yes, I know that without a private plane and gobs of money I wouldn’t be able to do things like this.
But I do have a private plane and gobs of money. So why shouldn’t I see my kids one more time?
We haven’t left the kids for this long, all four of us, since Oliver was born.
Which is the whole point of the trip.
The four of us need to get away. We need some time just the four of us. Alone.
I agree. We do need this time together.
It’s still killing me a little bit.
“Yes, of course it was Nathan’s idea.”
My eyes slide shut as I groan.
“Sure, I can put the call on speaker,” Crew's tone is filled with amusement.
I brace myself as he hits the button to turn the call into a conference call with our wife.
