Page 124 of Bleacher Report
I smooth a hand along the edges, touched in a way I didn’t expect. “This is incredible. Thank you. I’m definitely bringing it to the next home game.”
How she could have made it so quickly with the little notice that Hunter had given her about me coming along this year, I have no idea—but I love it.
Hunter leans close and mutters under his breath, “It’s also the exact shade of that sparkly toy in your nightstand.”
My eyes widen, and I elbow him sharply. “Do you have a death wish?”
Carly doesn’t seem to notice. She’s already unwrapping the gift that Hunter picked up under the tree from me and handed to her—a sleek, digital photo frame. As soon as the screen lights up and begins rotating through candid snapshots of Hunter over the last few months, she goes still.
“These are beautiful,” she whispers. “Are these from the recent games?”
“I have a folder on my phone where I can keep adding more,” I say, trying not to sound too emotional. “I just thought…maybe it would feel like you were there. At the games. Behind the scenes. I’ll take them while I’m there and upload them so you feel like you’re there with us.”
She presses a hand to her chest. “Oh, Peyton…”
Hunter looks away, blinking hard, like it’s a lot for him, too.
She gets up off the couch and heads straight for me, wrapping her arms around my neck. “I knew he picked a good one. I’m so relieved he finally found you,” she whispers against my hair.
“Okay, my turn,” Hunter says next to me, handing his mom an envelope.
She takes it in her hand and looks at it for a second, then glances back at him. “You didn’t have to get me anything. You two being here is what I really wanted for Christmas.”
“I know but I think you’ll like this one,” he says, reaching her arm over the back of the couch behind me. “Merry Christmas.”
The second she sees the paperwork inside, her eyes widen and her face almost goes white. My stomach drops. What the heck did he give her?
“You paid off the deed to the house?”
I glance at him in shock but he’s staring at her, his expression calm. He hadn’t said anything about this to me. I had no idea. Not that it was my place to know any of this.
Hunter’s taking care of her, the way my father made sure that my mother was taken care of if anything ever happened to him. Emotions flood and my eyes begin to well.
“I meant to do it back when I signed with New Jersey,” he says softly. “But...life got in the way. I can now. So I did.”
He stands and she throws her arms around him, and I swallow the sudden lump in my throat.
“You didn’t have to do this,” she muffles against his shoulder.
He’s so much taller than her, and the height difference makes me smile.
“I didn’t have to…I get to, and that’s the best part. You took out a second mortgage to put me through hockey camp, then again to help me through college, and again for your first round of chemo. It’s my turn to take care of you. Now you can do anything you want to do.”
She nods, “Thank you,” she says, sliding the paperwork back into the envelope and wipes a tear from her eye.
Hunter reaches for the gift I got him and opens it.
It’s a ridiculously oversized weighted blanket that I had to pay an overweight fee to fly here, but it was worth it.
“For movie nights,” I grin. “The one we have now doesn’t even cover your legs. You let out all the heat.”
“Because you're a blanket hog,” he shoots back.
He digs deeper into the box and pauses. “Is this…a stroller?”
“For Sproutacus,” I say. “Now that mom and dad are staying together, he deserves to see the world. I thought we could take him on nightly walks around the neighborhood.”
Carly laughs so hard she nearly spills her tea.
