“Nothing.” She shakes her head, still watching me closely.

“What?” I repeat, curious now.

“You,” she whispers.

“What about me?”

“You’re an amazing dad. Those boys are lucky.”

My throat gets tight, but I swallow through it. “I learned from the best.”

“I might have had a hand in you becoming the type of parent you are, but the hardworking, loyal, loving, and protective man you’ve grown into is all you. You’re stronger and more determined than anyone I know. Hell, most people given the hand you were dealt as a kid then as an adult would have given up, but not you. You keep going, keep fighting to have better and do better, for you and your boys.”

The tightness in my throat grows and my chest constricts, which means I wheeze out, holding her stare. “You’re the best mom a kid could ask for, and regardless of what you think, I’m the man I am today because you showed me how to be everything that is good.”

“Oh, God, I’m gonna cry.” She starts to sniffle and I laugh. “It’s not funny.” She swipes her cheeks, glaring at me.

I move off the stool I’m sitting on and go around the edge of the counter. “Come here, Mom.” I hold open my arms and she gives me one last annoyed look before wrapping her arms around me. “I love you.”

“To the moon and beyond, baby boy,” she whispers before tightening her hold. We stay like that until we hear one of the boys’ doors open and shut then she looks up at me, giving me a shaky smile and letting me go. “I’m just gonna fix my mascara.”

I lift my chin and she smiles then disappears right as Mitchell comes around the corner.

“Dad, I can’t find my backpack.”

“Did you check your room?”

“Yeah it’s not there.”

“You sure? I know you think you know where everything is in that mess, but I guarantee you don’t.”

He smiles crookedly. “I looked through everything.”

“Did you leave it in the truck?”

“Maybe.” He shrugs.

“You know where the keys are. Go on out and check.”

Without a word, he takes off. I hear the rattling of my keys then the sound of the door opening and closing. Not even two minutes later, he comes back in, shouting, “Found it.”

“Good,” I reply, and then I listen to him go into his room and close the door.

Mom comes back when I’m already at the stove cooking the ground beef for the sauce, and I look at her when she gets close.

“I’m just going to say one more thing.”

I let out a frustrated breath. “Mom—”

“No, you need to hear this.” I watch her head jerk from side to side. “If you think for one minute you’re not good enough for that girl, you’re wrong. You deserve everything, honey, everything good in life. And if this girl doesn’t see the amazing man you are, she’s not worth your time.” She looks away then continues. “Now, I’m gonna go check on the boys to make sure they don’t need help.”

She knows they don’t need help; if they did, they’d ask for it. She just wants to leave me to think about what she said. And it works, because once again December is at the forefront of my thoughts as I make dinner for my mom and boys, and still long after I get to bed.

Which means I don’t fall asleep until I lose myself with my hand wrapped around my cock, thinking of December.

_______________

“I don’t know why we have to go to some fancy dinner. It’s not like Aunt Selma or Sejla even care if we’re there,” Max grumbles from the back seat as I pull into one of the empty parking spaces at the restaurant.

“You think they don’t care, but they do. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have asked us to come,” Mitchell snaps from the passenger seat at his brother in the back, sounding annoyed. It’s something that’s becoming more frequent whenever he deals with his little brother.

“I know they care about us, but they never care about these events. They don’t even wanna go most of the time, so I don’t see why we have to.”

He’s not wrong. My twin sisters, who are both in banking, couldn’t care less about these events, but each and every time they’re given something in their honor, they invite us. They are considered rock stars in the banking world, and the company they work for appreciates the amount of clients they’re able to secure, and also the big names attached to them and only them, from country singers to corporate clients. People trust them, because they are trustworthy and honest. They never let their clients make financial decisions without knowing exactly what they will be getting into, even if that means they have to hold off on a loan until they’re more financially secure.

“Hold on, you two,” I say, hearing both boys’ seat belts unlatch as I’m shutting down the engine. Once I have my belt unhooked, I turn in my seat to look at Max in the back. “How would you feel if we didn’t show up to one of the dinners the baseball team holds for you, your teammates, and their parents every year?” At my question, his lips press together and his eyes fill with understanding. “You’d be disappointed, even if you didn’t really want to be there. Am I right?”

“Yeah,” he mutters then looks at his brother, and his eyes narrow.

I glance to Mitchell and see he’s smirking. His eyes come to me, and the smirk slowly slides away as I shake my head. “Your brother is younger than you. He’s still learning. If I remember correctly, when you were his age, you had the same outlook on life that he does now. It’s your job as his big brother to show patience and to lead him down the right path. What you don’t do is act smug when you’re right about something.”

His eyes drop from mine as he says, “Sorry.”

“You don’t gotta be sorry.” I wrap my hand around the back of his neck and wait for him to look at me, and when he does, I continue gently, “This is just one more lesson you’ll learn in life, kid. A man never pretends he knows everything, and even if he happens to know something someone else doesn’t, he never acts smug about it. Instead, he appreciates the fact he’s able to help them learn something new.” When he nods, I tighten my fingers affectionately then let him go and look between both my boys. “I don’t like getting dressed up or going to these events any more than either of you do, but this is what family does. We show up when someone we love is celebrating, or even when they just need a shoulder to cry on.”

“You’re right,” Mitchell says, and I see Max nod out the corner of my eye.

“Now let’s go inside and help your aunts celebrate, with hopefully really great food. And if the food sucks, let’s pretend like we enjoy it while looking forward to the pizza we’ll pick up on the way home,” I tell them, getting two smiles before I open my door and get out.

I meet the boys near the trunk and we go inside. Once we tell the hostess who we’re meeting, she begins to usher us toward a private room in the back. Halfway across the crowded restaurant, I almost come to a complete stop when I recognize December, looking as beautiful as always, sitting at a table with a man I don’t recognize, along with her cousin Sage and his wife Kim.