Nir stood there solemnly, mulling things as he always did, but Lan broke into a grin and, reaching out, threw his arms around Tam's neck. The thinness of his small body contrasted with Tam's muscular physique, and Quinn was struck by the tenderness and power of the moment, by life's fragility and love's endurance.
And by the realization that at last he was where he was always meant to be, with the people to whom he belonged and who belonged to him, his family. He had come full circle. He was truly home.
Quinn stood there weeping quietly as Nir nodded and leaned in to embrace Tam, who closed his arms about the boys and sobbed.
After a while, though, he laughed and said, "Well, what do you think? Shall we let the big kid in? Altogether now, group hug."
Quinn crouched down then, and the four linked arms, heads touching.
"OK," Tam said. "This is a kind of huddle. I'll tell you what." He rose and rummaged through a bag of gifts for the kids to find a junior-size football.
"Oh, please, Tam," Quinn said, wiping his eyes and smiling.
"No, no, just a version of flag football, nice and gentle." Tam tossed the ball lightly to Lan, who ran with it in circles as Nir chased him.
"OK, good offense, I think," Tam said. He made the T sign for "time-out."
"Flag on the play, boys. Stop for a minute and let us show you how it's done. Nir, you go left and Lan, you go right. That's it, spread out."
For a moment, a tiny white butterfly alighted on the ball, then flew past Quinn before vanishing.
Hello, Aunt Lena, he thought, and goodbye.
As he prepared to throw, Tam twirled the ball, laughing.
"Hey, Quinnie," he said, "go deep."
FIN
About the Author
Georgette Gouveia is the editor-in-chief of WAG, a luxury lifestyles magazine, and a former Associated Press Award-winning cultural writer with Gannett Inc. "The Penalty for Holding" is the second novel in her series "The Games Men Play," which is the name of her sports/culture/sex blog. The first novel, "Water Music" (Greenleaf Book Group), was published in 2014. Gouveia is also the author of "The Essential Mary Cassatt" (Harry N. Abrams/Wonderland Press). For more, visit thegamesmenplay.com.
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