Jessie and Bambi clapped.
Dominique laughed.
Joshua held up his tiny little hand.
And Gavin smiled. It was blinding.
WE WERE HAPPY.
We weren’t fooling ourselves. We knew what was to come.
But we allowed ourselves to have this moment, this one day where we could pretend all was well and we were just like every other family celebrating the holiday.
We stayed in our pajamas for most of the day.
We ate until we could eat no more. And then we did anyway.
We told stories. So many stories.
There were tears, but they were happy. They came from a good place.
Joe and Ox stayed close together. Mark and Gordo did too. They knew time was short, that they’d soon be apart.
Gifts were exchanged. No one seemed to care that I hadn’t gotten anyone anything. I hadn’t had time. I’d been distracted. They told me being here was more than any gift I could have ever gotten them.
That didn’t stop them from showering Gavin with presents.
He looked shocked as he received gift after gift. Clothes from the guys at the shop. There was a lot of pink. Jessie and Dominique gave him books. Bambi gave him a voucher she’d made by hand that promised him he could drink whatever he wanted for free at the Lighthouse. Rico and Tanner and Chris were outraged until they remembered that none of them—Gavin included—could get drunk.
Gavin was weirdly shy when he shoved a package in my lap. He glowered at me when I thanked him. “Open it first,” he muttered. “Stupid Carter.”
I did. Everyone pretended to be distracted by something else, giving us the illusion of privacy. I opened the box carefully, wondering what the hell he could have found to give me. I should have known.
Inside the box was a book.
The title read 1001 Ways to Cook Rabbit: The Complete Domestic Rabbit Cook Book.
I looked up at him, almost annoyed with how touched I was.
He puffed out his chest. “So you can be better at it.”
My voice was hoarse when I said, “You ate it just fine. You dick. Thank you.”
He grinned at me.
One gift remained. Gordo handed Gavin a terribly wrapped present. There was too much tape. The wrapping paper had clowns on it. He thrust it at Gavin, muttering that it wasn’t much, and he didn’t have to accept it if he didn’t want to.
We all stopped to watch him open it. I didn’t know what it was.
I should have.
Gavin tore through the paper, and the moment he saw what was inside, he froze.
Gordo said, “You’ll have a lot to learn. But Chris and Rico and Tanner can show you how. And then forget everything they tell you and listen to Ox and me. Whatever you do, never, ever ask Robbie about anything. My insurance rates are already high enough as it is because of him.”
Gavin jerked his head up and down before pulling the gift out of the wrapping paper.
It was a work shirt. Like the ones the guys wore at the garage. Except it was pink because of course it was. Across the back, in stylized letters, it said GORDO’S.