Page 10 of Holly Jolly Rebel

“Nope, thought it was all behind me. The twins will be out of the house soon. All the kids at college! Empty nest. The dream, Vi! Now look at me.”

Jordan winced. “There’s still hope. Maybe for one more minute …Fuck.”

Hope died in the heartbeat between two pink lines. All these years and the tech wasn’t much different. The feeling was largely the same, too.

Absolute panic.

“Have a seat. Now.” Jordan brought me to the bench again and placed me down, firmly. “Do you want me to go get another test?”

“I know my body and while it’s been seventeen years since I felt like this, you don’t forget.” I peered up into the concerned faces of my friends.

“Superglutes has knocked me up. Again!”

Six

Theo

The problemwith attending a holiday party with hockey players is that these guys were tall, so tall I was having a hard time finding my wife.

Or my kids.

Or anyone else’s wife or kids.

Man, there were a lot of Rebels here, even more alums than current.

That was the thing about being part of this org: once touched by Rebel fever, everyone wanted to stay connected. A lot of players had ties to the area, especially while raising their kids here, so were usually available for reunions.

The older I got, the more I saw the value of these threads. The guys I’d bonded most closely with back in the day—Hunt, Bond, Foreman, even that cranky bastard, Reid Durand—had all retired but still lived in the neighborhood.

I raised a hand to our former tender, Erik, one of my favorite people and still blond as ever (had to be from a bottle). Hepointed at the kitchen, which meant he’d brought some crazy unpronounceable herring dish I’d be expected to partake in later.Never change, Jorgenson, never change.

Maybe I was getting sentimental in my old age, but I figured we’d stay in Chicago after my retirement. My gran, Aurora, had finally moved in with us when she got her breast cancer diagnosis five years ago—and kicked its ass, of course. The apartment we’d built for her on our property gave her independence, though she joined the fam for meals and was the perfect—and loud—sounding board for the kids’ problems.

Yeah, we’d probably stick around. Besides, I’d hate to miss any Rebel shenanigans, such as when the team’s power forward, Ren Forsyth, got a glass of champagne thrown in his face by a girl he’d dumped. Or that time Tate Kazminski re-proposed to his ex-wife at the Empty Net for the third time, and finally got a yes. Or how about every time a Rebel groveled to a woman who didn’t deserve him.

Thatnevergot old.

Still no sign of Elle. I was just about to shoot her a text when Gunnar Bond shoved a cocktail, complete with candy cane and holly sprig in my face.

“No beer?”

Double-Oh (Bond, Gunnar Bond) grimaced. “There is, but I promised Kyla we’d try this. She wants to be a mixologist.”

Kyla was Gunnar and Sadie’s eldest daughter and was currently manning a cocktail bar in the corner of Chase Manor’s great room. I took the glass filled with something pink and glitter-green and sipped, gamely avoiding facial injury courtesy of a spiky holly leaf.

“Tastes like … Christmas?”

Gunnar smirked. “Yep. Now raise your glass to my kid.”

I sought out Kyla and did as I was told. She sent me a heart-hands gesture back. Such a cool kid even if her cocktails left acoating of Pine-sol in my mouth. Beside the bar stood her aunt Lauren talking to my brother Jason. Thick as thieves, those two, so involved in their conversation my brother didn’t even wave my way. Not sure I approved of his presence at a competing team’s holiday event.

“Speaking of daughters, have you seen mine anywhere? Or my wife? Or …” I looked around again. “Your wife?”

“Nope on all counts. This is why you need to retire. You can see your family members 24-7 that way.”

“Is that your not-so-subtle way of saying I should pull the trigger?”

“Fuck no.” Dex O’Malley had entered the chat just as Nat King Cole started crooning about his chestnuts. “I have at least five more years in me and I refuse to spend it with these man-children. Stay the course, Kershaw. Don’t leave me behind to assume the task of elder statesman.”

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