Their New Beginning (Oh Captain, My Captain 5)

I walk into the kitchen, grab a bottle of water, and go to the TV room. I flip on NHL Network, seeing the scores. Ashton is really battling to be number one, but Jax is beginning to put distance between them. I shake my head, laughing at their friendly rivalry.

Jax’s game is over, so I give him a quick call.

“Hey. What’s going on?”

“Just walked in from Mom’s birthday dinner. You will be happy to know she’s getting married again. Oh, and I think she had her lips done.”

“What number is she on now?”

“Ten. I actually forgot about number nine last year.”

“That’s crazy. Well, did you have a good time?”

“It was nice. Regina, of course, was poking fun at Mom, making me laugh. But, you know how she is. Oh, I see that you got another point to add to the growing list tonight. Congrats. Ashton’s pissed, isn’t he?”

He laughs. “Yeah, he called to tell me that Reed acted a little disappointed in him today because of it. I offered him Hockey 101 lessons, but he turned me down.”

“Oh, Jax,” I giggle at him. “You guys are too funny.” I bite my lip and lower my voice. “What are you doing now?”

“Thinking about going to test out the hot tub in this place. You?”

“I’m laying on the couch.” My voice is still soft. “All alone. Thinking about my gorgeous husband and wishing he was here with me.”

“Oh yeah?” I can tell he’s getting the point. “I’m sure he wishes he was there too. He would probably–” The line goes silent. I look at my phone, making sure it isn’t disconnect.

“What’s wrong, Jax?” I can hear my own sadness in my tone.

“Nothing, Avery. I just…” He sighs, and I know that he doesn’t want to do this.

“Alright.” I sit up on the couch. “I understand. I just wanted to call you like we used to do when you had road games. I miss that. I miss you.” I feel the tears building. I do miss him. I miss everything.

“Thanks for calling, I really mean it.” He’s being sincere.

“You’re welcome. Go enjoy the hot tub.” I quickly hang up, and the tears roll down my cheek.

Chapter Thirteen

Jax

With the day off and being back in town, Avery and I were going to spend the day together. We’ve just slipped on our shoes to go out for lunch when there’s a knock on the door. I glance at Avery, but she shrugs in confusion as to who it could be. Standing on the other side of my door is my entire family.

Oh, boy.

I smile as my mother steps forward to hug me.

“Oh, Jax! I’ve missed you so much.” She kisses each of my cheeks. “Surprise! We haven’t seen you or our favorite daughter-in-law,” she peers around me at Avery, “in so long that we thought we’d make a trip here to see y’all.”

“Well, come on in then.”

Mom rushes over to Avery to hug her and kiss her cheeks. Dad gives me a hug and my older brother does too. Not that I don’t love my family, but a call would have been nice, at least to let me know my brother was coming. We don’t get along that well most of the time.

“Oh, Avery, I can’t get over how beautiful you look. I swear, you just get prettier every day,” Mom gushes.

“You do look great, Avery,” Dad adds.

One thing is for sure, my parents love Avery. They weren’t so sure at first after finding out we had eloped out of the blue so soon after meeting each other, but once they met her, they fell in love with her as well. I can’t help but eye the suitcases my dad and brother carried inside.

“We were just about to go out for lunch. Do y’all want to go or I could go pick something up and bring it back? I’m not sure what’s in the fridge.”