I’m bringing P down to see Tristan.
I think about answering her but the elevator doors open, so I don’t bother. I walk out and turn left, walking toward the corner suite the family has. It sits right next to the owner’s suite, usually they just have the wall between them taken down to give everyone more space. There is also a security guard outside of the two big brown doors. “Hi there,” I say as one of them opens the door for me. “Thank you,” I add, stepping in and I see the array of people.
The whole room has couches against two walls. Against the side wall is a counter with two fridges under them, one stocked with soda and the other with beer. The top of the counter has baskets of chips and snacks. There is a long bar at the front of the room that gives you a view of the ice. There are stools to sit down at the bar as well as four rows of chairs that lead out of the suite.
I look around the room and see there is a server who is walking around asking if anyone needs anything.
My uncle Max is the one who turns his head toward the door. “There she is.” He smiles at me, and my uncle Matthew, who is sitting next to him, looks up and smiles at me also. These two started off as enemies and then Uncle Max and Auntie Allison eloped. From what the story is, it caused some drama, but then the two of them became thick as thieves. Now if one isn’t with the other one, it’s like they are missing a limb.
“Here I am.” I dump my bag on the couch next to a couple other bags. “You know what they say, better late than never.” I walk over to them and kiss their cheeks.
“Abigail was asking about you,” Aunt Allison says from behind me. I turn to see her holding Franny’s little girl, Stella. I bend and kiss her cheek and then squish my nose up when I see Stella, who just smiles at me. “You look great,” my aunt compliments me, smiling as she takes in my outfit of blue jeans, frayed at the knees, that I paired with a white knitted sweater I tucked in on one side. The sleeves are pulled up showing off the silver Rolex watch my parents gave me when I graduated from the university.
“Thank you,” I reply to her. “Do you want me to take her down there?” I motion with my head. Allison just looks at Stella. "Do you want to go see your dad?” I ask, holding out my arms and she flies into them. “Well then,” I say, kissing her soft hair, “let’s go see your dad.” I turn and walk out of the suite to the door that slides open so we can walk down the stairs toward the ice.
“Daddy,” Stella says, pointing at the ice where the Dallas players are in their green jerseys. I spot Abigail with Penelope at the glass right next to Erika, who is there with Emma, Mia, and Parker, who all jump when Dylan throws a couple of pucks over the glass. Michael comes over and shoves him, making Bailey and Bianca, his twin girls, jump up and call his name.
“Hello, ladies,” I say when I get close enough to the glass and then knock on the glass so Michael looks over at me. “Get her father over here.” I motion with my head. Michael yells for Wilson, who looks at him, and then turns to look where I am, his entire face fills with a smile when he sees Stella. He skates over as I stand her on the edge of the rink. She squeals and claps her hands as she sees Wilson in front of her. She moves her head to kiss the glass, and I see a couple of people taking the picture. “Is that your dad?” I point at the glass, and she just repeats dada over and over again.
The horn blares as the guys now skate back over to their bench. “Say bye to Daddy,” I urge, and she waves at him. I wait for the kids to walk up before I head back up, giving a second glance over my shoulder to make sure we didn’t forget anyone. There has been a time or two that one has escaped, but luckily, they all wear their dad’s jersey.
“There she is,” Franny says when I walk back into the suite with Stella, who flies out of my arms to go to her mother. Franny laughs as she grabs her and kisses her neck. “Did you see Daddy?” she asks, and it’s my turn to leave and walk over to the bar.
Grabbing a glass, I’m filling it with white wine when the door opens, and I look over to see Vivi is walking in with my aunts, Zara and Zoe. “Well, well, look what the cat dragged in,” my aunt Karrie teases, getting up and walking to them.
I take a sip of my wine as I walk over to them. “Look who it is,” I say, bending and kissing Zara and then Zoe. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you two here before.” They laugh at the same time as they look at each other. The OG twins, everyone calls them, both live in New York. Zara is in charge of Zara’s Closet, which is world renowned. Everyone wants my aunt to style them and dress them. If it’s on the red carpet, chances are she’s made it happen.
“I’m here to take everyone’s measurements for the gala,” Zara declares, “since no one can ever answer my emails.”
“I answer all emails,” Abigail defends when she waddles to us, “but I don’t know if I have anything that can stretch as big as I am.” She points down at her stomach. “So…”
“You look amazing,” my aunt Zoe coos, putting her hands on Abigail’s stomach. “Hello, baby.”
“Are you here with Matty?” I ask, looking around and she nods. “He’s in the other suite, I think.” She points at Nico’s suite. “With Uncle Viktor.”
“Oh, shit,” I say while Auntie Zara reaches for my wineglass and smiles. “It’s literally the gang is all here.”
“The gang is all here.” I look around. “Now, I’ll get another drink before the game starts.” I walk to the bar, grabbing myself another glass of wine before turning and making my way out toward the seats. My uncles Max and Matthew sit on their stools, the both of them with their elbows on the table in front of them.
The aunts have all the babies while I spot Erika, Franny, Vivi, Abigail, Jillian, Julia, and Alex all sitting down chatting with each other instead of watching the game. I sit down in front of Abigail. “You know what we should do.” I look over at Abigail.
“What should we do?” She leans back in her chair, putting her hands on her stomach.
“We should go on vacation,” I suggest, my eyes going big as I take another sip of my wine.
“On vacation,” she repeats while Franny just laughs. “You want to go on vacation with me?”
“Yes, I need to get away and you need to be my wing woman.” I look over at her. “It’s a twin thing.”
“I’m ninety weeks pregnant,” she huffs. “Why don’t you go on vacation with Chris and Matty?”
I roll my eyes at her. “How am I supposed to pick up men on vacation with two guys?” I ask.
“So you think you have a better chance picking up a guy with a woman who is pregnant?” she questions me, and I can’t help but laugh at that.
“You’d have better luck with Matty and Chris,” Vivi advises, taking a sip of her own wine. “Reverse harem is all the rage these days.”
“Hey, Uncle Matthew.” I turn my head and look over at him. “Viv just told me that reverse harem is all the rage. Did you know?” His eyebrows pinch together. “It’s when one girl has more than one lover.” I try my hardest not to laugh out loud.