Sophie giggles, but we all watch Holden. Once he gets to Matthew and suggests drinks, Matthew goes willingly. I notice Bella’s face then. Her cheeks are red and so is the tip of her nose. Her eyes are watery, then she looks up at the ceiling.
Her tells don’t change. I sigh heavily. Sophie rubs my thigh. “You know it too.”
“She’s upset, but she crossed a number of lines, Sophie. She has to fix this herself or she will never learn to fix it in the future.” I insist.
Sophie narrows her eyes for a minute, then puts my hand on her big belly. “If either of our children make mistakes, will you write them off and leave them to fix it?”
“That’s different.”
“You would help them. And if you couldn’t help them, you would hope that their friends would step in and do it, even if none of our childrendeservedhelp.” She lowers her voice and kisses my cheek. “Forgiveness isn’t about what’s deserved.”
I kiss her temple and hug her so I can whisper in her ear. “As long as this doesn’t take away from our time together, I will agree.”
Sophie proves it doesn’t when she walks by Gunner, Holden, and Matthew and asks to collect her husbands. She’s determined to watch us ski and enjoy the snow, make a snowman, and all of the holiday traditions.
Matthew looks her over. “You talked to Bella?”
“I did,” She says.
I step behind her and take her hand, reminding her that we’re right here with her. Matthew glances at the three of us guys and takes note of Nick joining as well before nodding to Sophie. “Thanks. I heard what you said and I appreciate it.”
“I’m glad. Relationships – the ones that matter – they’re worth working for. You married her happily, so try to find some happiness now.” Sophie encourages. “But, for me to getmyhappiness, I do need to steal all my husbands away.”
Matthew puts his hands up but looks Sophie over like she’s brand new, like he’s never seen her before. It’s a look that I don’t appreciate. I rub her shoulder. “Snowmen, skiing, and anything else you’d like, Bambina.”
Sophie rubs my chest. “We need to make a snowman as tall as you, amore.”
We head out to do just that. Gunner and Holden ski as Sophie watches and Nick helps us with the snowman. Once I have the base set up, Nick rubs his chin. Our wife nudges him. “What does your artistic eye see, gorgeous?”
He kisses her red nose for the compliment and motions to the snowman. “He needs a hat and I don’t think we brought a good one.”
Sophie rubs her chin, then puts her own on top. They finish the details while I work on a second snowman – snow woman – since I have a feeling relationships are on Sophie’s mind and not going anywhere.
Once we finish both, we watch Gunner and Holden as they finish up. Holden rubs his leg, but flashes an exhilarated smile. “It’s been so long since we’ve done that.”
“Break neck speeds, plenty of obstacles, and a challenge.” Gunner slaps him a high-five.
Sophie shakes her head lightly, but kisses them both insisting we go inside before her toes freeze. That means cookies, hot chocolate and cider, plenty of conversation, a warm fire, and Christmas music. Gunner nudges me. “Why didn’t you climb on the slopes?”
I glance to our wife as she blows on her hot chocolate again. Nick rolls his eyes. “You should be having fun too, Roman. Let loose a little. Enjoy yourself.”
“Yeah, you can’t make a living out of being a stick in the mud.” Holden chuckles before pouring Bailey’s cream in his hot chocolate. “You can be a fun dad and a fun husband. Be more than the provider.”
I roll my eyes. I like knowing I’m not getting hurt. I like knowing Sophie’s happy. All I want is to be agoodhusband and father. To make sure we’re safe and taken care of. The fun can happen naturally as a part of that.
In reply to Holden, I shrug.
Nick pats my shoulder. “If you want, you can let yourself go tonight. Be wild, get drunk. I’ll stay sober.”
“I appreciate it, but-”
“Roman.” Sophie takes my hands. Hers are so warm, I can’t help but cling to them. “I love you and I love your dedication to me, but you deserve to party as much as anyone else here. You and the guys ... and my dad built the business up from nothing. You should enjoy this last hurrah.”
I exhale slowly. “Why do I feel like I don’t have a choice in this?”
“You don’t have to go crazy.” Gunner snorts. “That’s my job.”
Sophie giggles and smiles at him. She squeezes my hands again. “I just want you to have fun, amore. Don’t worry about me.”