Lilies

by Addyson Thompson

  He cleared his throat a few times before he continued.“Look, Son, I know you’ve looked long and hard for Hayden and I’m glad you found her. Cody told me originally you asked him to help you get in contact with her but he wouldn’t because he thought you guys needed to come together on your own, if that’s the way it was supposed to work, and I agree. He needed to do what was best for his daughter and you have to respect him for that.”I nod knowing he is right but still confused where he’s going with this. I hear my dad mutter to himself,“I’ve commanded men in battle, come on.”I know he’s struggling with what he wants to say to me but frankly I don’t know what to say right now. This is new territory with my dad. So I continue to sit and wait.

  “What I’m trying to say is I’m proud of the man you’ve become. You are a great doctor and a fine son. I lost a lot of years with your mother and you guys. You and Hayden finally found your way back to one another. Grab on to her, Son. Don’t let her go. Show her each day how special she is and how you feel about her. And for God’s sake, Son, marry the girl. When you find a girl like her you don’t let go. I have many regrets in my life but my family is not one of them.”

  Shit, this is so not what I expected from my dad. We don’t talk about feelings but he’s managed to choke us both up a little. I nod my head and say,“I will”which is all I’m able to get out. I don’t blame my dad for the time he was gone. He is a good dad and put us first. He did the job he did because he believed it was the way he could protect and provide for us. When he stands I stand and hold my hand out to shake his. Instead he grabs my hand and pulls me into a hug. He claps me on the back,“You’re a good man, Son. I’m proud of you.”His voice is gruff. I hug him back before we break apart and both quickly swipe at our eyes with the back of our hands, not looking each other in the eye. Turning to head up the stairs he sternly says,“You make sure you ask Cody’s permission first. That’s still his little girl.”

  “Yes, sir. I planned on it.”

  When we get upstairs my dad heads to the dining room as Hayden walks up and snakes her arms around my waist.“Everything ok, babe?”Concern etched on her face.

  I have to clear my throat before I can reply.“Yeah, Dad just needed to talk to me for a minute. Everything is great.”Still standing out of view from everyone I give her a long chaste kiss on her lips. Resting my forehead against hers I whisper,“I love you, Hayden Sanders.”

  “I love you, too, Gavin Hudson.”We stand like that with our arms wrapped around the other for a moment before heading to the dining room.

  Once everyone has their food Cody stands.“Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I’m glad we have the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving like we have in years past. I know it was difficult to continue traditions as our children headed off to college and followed different life paths. I’m thankful we are all able to come back together today and wish for many more to come. I’d like to take this opportunity to continue on the tradition of going around the table and tell what we are thankful for this year. I’d like to start if that’s ok?”Everyone nods in agreement.“I’m thankful for my 70”LED SMART TV.”Everyone erupts into laughter. Cody waves his hand,“No, no I’m just kidding. Seriously, I’m thankful for my family. The ones God blessed me with by blood and the rest he blessed me with by choice. You are all my family.”

  Dad stood next,“I’m thankful to have a family to come home to and a loving wife who stood by me throughout my years of military service.”

  Mom said she is thankful for her husband’s retirement. Sarah, Reese, Wyatt, Rachel and Alex tell what they are thankful for before it is Hayden’s turn.“I’m thankful Gavin had faith in us even when I didn’t. He never lost hope.”She places her hand in mine and looks at me as she says the words.

  It’s my turn now. After talking to my dad downstairs, this is difficult to say without bawling like a baby.“I’m thankful this beautiful woman came back into my life and gave me the privilege of calling her mine.”Hayden’s eyes never left mine.

  Jeff and Amy stand together.“I know we are supposed to say what we are thankful for separately but Amy and I would like to break the rules this one time. We are thankful for the new life my beautiful wife is bringing in to our lives.”He leans over and kisses her cheek as everyone gasps.

  Mom asks,“Are you pregnant?”in disbelief. Amy’s eyes are filled with tears as she nods her head yes. Everyone erupts into cheers and stand up to congratulate the happy parents-to-be. Before Amy is passed around she slips her oversized hoodie off to show off her already small baby belly.“How far are you?”our mom asks as she stares shocked.

  Amy laughs and wipes at her eyes.“Four months. We only found out a month and half ago and decided to wait until today to announce it until everyone is together.”

  As Amy is passed around I stand and hug Jeff.“Congratulations, man! Maybe it was you everyone should have been blocking.”

  Jeff throws his head back and lets out a full belly laugh.“Nah, I can’t wait. Isn’t she beautiful?”He asks staring at his wife. I am so happy for these two. I know I give them grief about hurrying up and having babies but they’ve actually tried a couple of times without success. About a year and a half ago she miscarried when she was only a few weeks along. I was the only one that knew about the miscarriage. They were pretty torn up when it happened so they decided to take a break from trying. This is a great blessing for them.

  “Yes, she is. Everything is good, right?”

  “Amy is doing well and the baby is absolutely, healthy. She’s so happy.”Jeff is beaming from ear to ear.

  “Wait if you found out a month and half ago that was before we came back here at Halloween. She was drinking beer with us all weekend?”I’m confused and suddenly aggravated.

  Jeff laughs and pats me on the shoulder,“Relax, she wasn’t drinking. She only held the bottles. She was afraid the secret would come out if she avoided drinking all weekend. So she would switch her full bottle with my half empty or empty bottle. No one was the wiser.”

  “Dude, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

  “I know. With everything that had happened before, we decided we needed to keep it close this time, you know?”

  “Yeah, I get that. Congrats, man!”I clap him on the back. Today has been one helluva day.

  Amy makes her way over toward us. I scoop her up in my arms and hug her.“Congratulations, baby sister. I’m so happy for you!”

  “Thanks, big brother.”She giggles as I set her back down. Jeff wraps his arms around her placing his hands on her belly. Their eyes light up as they look at each other and soak in the love they are being showered with. They’re going to be great parents.

  “Well, there is no besting that wonderful news. Please raise your glass and join me in toasting the parents-to-be. Congratulations, Jeff and Amy. May you have a wonderful life with your child as each of us, parents, have had with ours.”Cody says.

  After dinner everyone helped clear the table and clean up. The girls broke out the Black Friday ads. Jeff and I protested Hayden and Amy going Black Friday shopping.“No, Hayden, you can’t go.”Is she kidding me?“You have been run down and exhausted. I don’t want you going out and making yourself worse.”I’m looking at her like she’s lost her mind. Didn’t we just agree she was resting this weekend?

  Jeff looks at Amy at the same time I’m talking to Hayden.“No, no way! You are pregnant. My pregnant wife is not going out in crowds. Someone could run into you or worse. You and the baby could be hurt. Do you both realize its flu season?”

  All at once the women bust up laughing at us. I don’t understand what is so funny.“This isn’t funny. We’re serious. You two have no business out Black Friday shopping. Are you two even thinking at all?”

  “You’re really funny, guys. You can go downstairs now.”Hayden said turning her back to us. She looks pissed. Well, tough shit. I’m not backing down.

  “Hayden-“

  “Look Gavin,”Hayden spun in her chair to face us fuming,“you two a
re nuts if you think we are skipping Black Friday. I’m not sick. I. WAS. TIRED. I’M. FINE. And Jeff, pregnant women go shopping and Black Friday shopping all the time. It really isn’t the madness the media makes it out to be. We will be fine.”Hayden bites out at us.

  “Fine, then we’ll go with you so we can watch over you.”Jeff offered.

  Apparently that was an asinine idea. Our mothers gave us a look that said we were walking on thin ice, as only a mom can. They don’t like it? Tough. I don’t like it. I don’t want her making herself worse. Our dads laughed at us as they headed downstairs and Hayden and Amy told us they didn’t have time to bail us out of jail. Apparently, the consensus is we are territorial Neanderthals and they don’t have time for us to get mad if someone steps on their toes. Whatever these women are seriously pissing me off. I don’t know what they are thinking.

  Jeff and I give up the battle because we aren’t getting anywhere except pissed off and head to the basement. Cody and Dad are getting a poker game setup while Alex and Wyatt play a game of pool.“So how’d it go, Son?”A smirking Wyatt asked Jeff.

  “Yeah, thanks for the back up there, guys. She’s pregnant she can’t go out in big crowds like that. She could get hurt. Not to mention it is flu season. Is she thinking at all?”

  Wyatt drops his head down shaking it.“Please Son, tell me you did not ask her that?”

  “Yes! Deni and Amy called us territorial Neanderthals and said they didn’t have time to deal with our overacting doctor phobias or bail us out. Those women are impossible.”

  They all start laughing at us. Shit, at least Jeff and I have each other’s backs. These asses leave us on our own and then laugh at us. I turn my look onto Alex.“What the hell are you laughing at? You were the first to turn tail and hide down here.”

  The asshole starts laughing harder.“Dude, Gavin, have you met Rach? She’d have my balls for dinner if I tried to stop her from shopping. The girl is an addict when it comes to sales. This is her freaking Super Bowl.”

  “C’mon gentlemen the game is setup.”Dad gestured to the poker table. Wyatt follows us over with a round of beers.

  “We’ll give you the advantage of our years of wisdom dealing with women.”Cody says dealing the cards.

  “First, never tell them what they can/can’t, should/shouldn’t be doing. Women are stubborn and you boys ended up with three of the most stubborn.”Cody said speaking to Alex, Jeff and I.

  “Though, I think Jeff got off the easiest. Amy at least appears to placate you.”Dad adds.

  “I think you’re right, my damn girls just cross their arms, plant themselves wherever they are and stare. Which is the treatment, I’m guessing, you two received.”Cody looks up waiting for confirmation.

  We huff out an agreement.“Yeah, you know what it’s like to have three Sanders women arms folded across their chest staring at you?”I say.

  “Fuck man, that’s scary shit.”Jeff added.

  “Yes, it is. Been there done that.”Cody shakes his head before continuing.“C’mon, you two have been dealing with these girls since they were young. How many times have you two teamed up on Deni to get your way? Did it ever once involve telling her what to do?”Cody is staring at us like we’ve each grown an extra head for not figuring this out before. Damn, those women drive us nuts.“You guys are stuck with them going tomorrow. You showed your hand too early. There’s no recovering. Play smarter next time.”

  “Look guys, women turn men stupid. They can make us overreact and turn Neanderthal. They can turn the toughest guys into pussies. They drive us nuts and complicate everything. The trick is to be prepared. If you want them to do something then tell them not to. If you don’t want them to do something, tell them to do it. It’s simple reverse psychology.”Wyatt says.

  “You guys are all headed to the same place; marriage and kids, well except Jeff who is already married. You guys could choose to fight about every detail or figure out how to work them to your advantage. Just like in war; never pick a battle you can’t win and create a plan to gain you the end result.”Dad says.

  “Never under any circumstances confront your woman and boss her around in front of other women. You are only throwing down the gauntlet. And boys, this is the most important piece of advice I can give you so listen closely…when picking out furniture…buy the most comfortable couch you can find no matter how ugly it is.‘Pretty’couches are hell on your back!”Cody says laughing. Dad, Wyatt and Cody start laughing and high-fiving each other. Good advice to take, but shit, I wish I had this earlier. Damn, that woman makes me lose my mind. Good advice from good men.

  We continued playing poker for a few more hours before calling it a night. Hayden was already in bed and asleep by the time we were done. The women woke up at three in the morning to get ready and head out for a long day of shopping. I ended up apologizing for my“Neanderthal”ways but still tried to convince her to stay home, to no avail.

  About seven o’clock this morning they showed up and woke up the entire house laughing and banging around. Brooklyn apparently met up with them this morning to take part in their‘Super-Shop-Bowl’as Alex named it last night. Did I mention this is their first trip back to her parent’s house to unload the car?

  So at seven o’clock I wake up to a headache from a couple too many beers last night. I wasn’t drunk last night but I definitely drank my fair share of beer. Ice cold hands caused me to flip over and jackknife up in bed just as I started to fall back to sleep. I start yelling,“AH…SHIT…FUCK…WHAT IS THAT…FUCK…GET OFF ME!”as I slap the two sets of ice cold hands on my bare back. It took me a minute to realize its Hayden and Brooklyn in the room messing with me. They’re laughing hysterically.“You’re fucking lucky I found my pants last night in the dark, H!”I snap as I try my damnedest to make sense of what the hell just happened. It was more a whisper yell so I don’t make my headache worse.“Otherwise, B would be getting an eye full right now. Shit, what the hell is wrong with you two.”The last part is met with humor now that I’ve figured out what’s happening. Brooklyn and Hayden are so going to get a payback for this one.

  Brooklyn and Hayden smile at each other and start speaking in childlike voices mocking me as they climb on the bed and sandwich me in between them. Their coats are still cold and so are their hands. Brooklyn sticks her hands on my back again and Hayden sticks hers down my pants. I quickly throw them off me and run for the bathroom door. I slammed the door shut before the demon twins could get to me again. Their laugher followed them out of the room.

  Ok, so two hot girls in bed with me putting their hands on me sounds like a good night, right? Wrong. Let me remind you, their hands were ICE cold and Brooklyn is like Amy so that kills that one, too. Finding the Motrin, I pop a couple pills for my headache and head back to bed. A few minutes later, Hayden walks back in the bedroom pouting out her bottom lip.“Oh, really? You think that’s going to save you from payback?”I question as I narrow my eyes at her.

  “Awe, baby, don’t be mad at me. It was too irresistible after the ass you were last night. You still love me.”She added batting her eyelashes to the pout face she’s making.

  “Debatable,”I grumbled but she just laughed. I’m full of shit and she knows it. “I’ll call a truce for now, but only because you finally look like you’re feeling better. I may not have handled it right, Deni, but I’ve been worried about you.”I tell her as I wrap my arms around her and pull her down onto the bed with me. She lets out that giggle that makes my dick instantly hard.“Are you ladies done shopping?”I thrust my hips up to her so she feels the hard on I’ve had since we didn’t get to finish what we started two nights ago.

  “Down boy,”she slapped my arm and started to crawl off of me,“Nope we only came home to drop off our bags and make room for more. I just came up to tell you we were leaving again.”

  Instead of letting her go I grabbed her and pulled her back down, rolling on top of her this time causing her to giggle again. Damn, her giggle is sexy. Slowly, I lower my lip
s to hers and kiss her senseless. When I finally release her lips we are both panting for our breath.“I love you. Take it easy and be careful.”I tell her before giving her another couple quick kisses then rolling off her. She gets up, albeit not as fast as she did last time, and heads out the door. A minute later Trix comes in and jumps on the bed lying at my feet.“Well at least I have you to keep my feet warm, girl.”Trix huffs out a breath and shuts her eyes. I couldn’t agree more, so I do the same.

  They didn’t return home until two o’clock in the afternoon. How the hell they can shop for 12 hours straight I will never understand but they definitely shopped. We all had to go out and help them carry in their bags they bought so much stuff. They were pretty wiped out and decided to go take a nap. I was all happy to follow her to the room we’re staying in. I wish it was for some quality time with her body but holding her while she sleeps works too. I just want her healthy.

  The rest of the weekend was peaceful. We mostly hung out at her parent’s house with everyone. Saturday night we met Toad, Jill and Caleb at a local bar. This time was much less eventful than the last time we went out here. By the time we headed home Hayden was definitely acting more like herself.

  CHAPTER 23

  Hayden

  It feels like time has flown by. Gavin and I have been together since February of last year. We are only a few weeks away from our one year anniversary. It’s really crazy to even think that this time last year I only saw Gavin in my dreams or the briefest of moments I allowed myself to remember him. Now, I cannot imagine my life without him. I feel like there is so much more life in my life. I feel like the whole person I once was so many years ago.

  I’m lying in my favorite spot reading on the couch curled up to Gavin as he watches some shoot’em-up-destroy-everything movie. My legs are stretched out in front of me as I lean back against his side. His arm is wrapped around me while his legs are stretched out resting on the oversized ottoman. We didn’t bother to get dressed this morning so we are both still in our lounge pants and me in a tank top. He is shirtless as I prefer him to be. The overprotective guy he is insisted I have a blanket over me and we stay home today. While we are normally really active people, rarely lounging around on the couch, I still haven’t been feeling well lately. The end of Fall Semester and end of the year requirements left me exhausted. I ended up catching a virus over the Christmas break because of it. I’ve been trying to fight it off and on for the last month. There are some really nasty viruses running rampant. Once they get a hold of you they don’t let go. I am finally starting to feel better but still pretty worn out. Nonetheless, Dr. Hudson insists I go see my doctor or he’s threatening to draw blood and run the test himself. He said I’ve said the same thing about feeling better and then get sick again. So I’ve agreed and will see her Tuesday of this coming week.