Page 47 of Revived
Chapter 16
Luke
“Grayson! Your cousins are here!”
“What?”
“I said, Brooklyn and Carter are here!”
Grayson jumps up and down in the bounce house a few more times before the information finally registers. “What? Cousins!” He yells, sliding out of the hole in the inflatable structure and running for the sliding glass door off the back of the house.
“What? I don’t get a hug?” Tenley stands beside me with her arms out wide as Grayson races past her.
“Carter! Brooklyn!” He’s gone in a flash as Tenley turns to me and shakes her head.
“Wow. Guess I know where I stand.”
“Don’t worry, he’ll realize you’re here, eventually. But uh, I’ll give you a hug if you’re feeling left out.” I open up my arms to my little sister as she wraps hers around my waist and I squeeze her tight. We haven’t seen each other since Christmas, when her husband and kids travelled up here last, so it’s been almost six months.
“It’s so good to see you, Ten.”
“You too, Luke. And you look like you’ve only gained fifteen pounds.” Tenley loves to tease me about how physically fit I am.
“You sure know how to make me feel good,” I joke back as we break apart and survey the backyard which is quickly filling up with family and friends.
Today is my son’s fifth birthday party and I have so many emotions flowing through me, I’m not sure what to deal with first. His actual birthday was a few days ago, but we decided to throw the party on a Saturday so everyone could come. We—yeah, I said we—because there is no way this party would have turned out so spectacularly without Rachel. And as if right on cue, she emerges from the house with a platter of veggies and dip, looking so gorgeous in a knee-length light pink dress, her hair pulled up off her neck in her signature ponytail, and her smile so real and perfect that I decide right then and there that she’s one of the best decorations at the party.
Speaking of decorations, Rachel went all out making sure that everything fit the theme of the human body—Grayson’s idea, or course. We have scrambled brains pasta salad, mini pizzas in the shape of gingerbread men topped with cheese and pepperoni to look like bones, a veggie tray shaped like a skeleton, and cupcakes that have eyeballs on top of them and red icing to look like the veins in an eye. Skelton pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey is set up on the patio, a skeleton pinata is in my garage ready for later, and red streamers hang from every surface of my house, both inside and outside.
The woman has been working non-stop to make this party fun and full of details that made Grayson so excited that he barely slept last night. Now that the bounce house is here and his cousins and friends are arriving, he couldn't care less about the decorations. But the adults are eating it up, which just solidifies how grateful I am to Rachel for all of her effort.
“The yard looks great, the decorations are phenomenal, and you look super happy, Luke. This wouldn’t have something to do with the gorgeous brunette that’s speaking to that group of women on the patio now, would it?” Tenley directs my attention back to her because obviously I’ve been ogling Rachel for far too long.
“Yeah, she’s definitely making me happy, Ten. But look, Grayson doesn’t know about us, okay? Our friends do, for the most part, but we’re not exactly making it public right now, so I’d appreciate if you would respect that.” Rachel confessed that she told Pfeiffer, Jess, and Clara about us, which didn’t upset me. I understand needing to have her girlfriends to confide in. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say that Cash and Cooper already knew. Our last meet up was a hardcore inquisition on what happened after speed dating, and it lead to where we are now. However, we both agreed to keep things normal for Grayson. So my son is still oblivious… at least I hope.
“I’m offended you think so little of me. Of course, I understand, especially when it comes to Grayson. The last thing you need to do is confuse him.”
“Exactly. I’m giving in to what I feel for her, Ten. Slowly of course. But she’s making me feel things I didn’t think I would ever feel again.”
“I’m so happy for you, Luke. You deserve this. Do you think you could see yourself marrying her?”
“Whoa. Now you’re getting ahead of yourself, sis. I like her, alright? But marriage? That’s a thought I can’t even fathom right now.” It pains me to say the words, but it’s something that I know I’ll have to face eventually. I know we promised to move on if we lost one another, but I don’t know that I’d ever want to get married again. There was one woman I ever saw myself vowing to love forever—and she died. As redundant and cliché as that sounds, that woman was everything to me, and the thought of saying those same vows to someone else just doesn’t sit right with me—at least not yet.
“We haven’t even had sex yet, Ten,” I whisper to her as more people start to arrive. Clara and Cooper came with their new daughter in tow, strapped comfortably to Cooper’s chest as they walk around. Cash and Piper arrived early to help set up, and my parents arrived just shortly after them. A few moms that Rachel has met at the park are walking in now with their similarly aged kids to Grayson, his little friends he’s made over the past few months. And Olivia and Kane should be here soon with their almost one-year-old, Evelyn.
“Really? Are you freaking out about it?”
I stare back at my sister, wondering if I’m really about to have this conversation with her at my son’s birthday party. Yup, I guess I am.
“A little. It’s been almost five years, and obviously the last person I was with was Hannah. I feel weird, a little guilty even, for wanting to go there with another woman. And until I feel one hundred percent ready, I told Rachel I needed to wait.”
“And what did she say to that?” She asks before taking a swig of her water.
“She understands. She’s actually been really great about the entire subject.”
“Then I think that says a lot, Luke. Don’t mess this up. It takes a strong woman to step into a situation like she did—becoming a nanny to a little boy she barely knew, moving into the home of a widower and his son, and now dating said widower while trying desperately not to replace a woman that you obviously have placed on a pedestal. Don’t forget to think about how she feels, what she might be thinking or questioning in this situation. She deserves patience and understanding too.”
Twisting to face my sister, I absorb her words as they rock my resolve. Tenley’s right. I hadn’t really thought about what Rachel might be battling in her own mind—the doubts and insecurities that she could be feeling. Fuck. Now I feel like an ass.