A Celebration Christmas

There were no words that would talk him out of that state of mind. Now that he was away from the guys on the team and the sting of what happened had set in, Cullen decided it was probably best just to let the boy cry it out.

Unsure if it was the right thing to do, but not having any other ideas, Cullen eased one arm around the boy and clumsily patted his right shoulder.

Less than two minutes later they approached Polar Bear Ice Cream, but before Cullen could turn in the drive, he noticed some of the boys from George’s team were there.

Nope. Not a good idea. Thank God George hadn’t seen them because he had his face buried in Cullen’s armpit, crying at a steady convulsive sob.

Cullen drove right past the place and before he knew it he was on the open road headed toward Dallas.

Sometimes it was just better to get out of town where nobody knew you until you could get yourself together.

They got to Dallas about twenty minutes later and drove around with no particular destination in mind for another half hour. Finally George lifted his head and scooted back over. Cullen returned his right hand to the steering wheel and turned the car in the direction of Celebration.

Before they made it to the main highway, Cullen spied a fast-food restaurant ahead. Without a word, he steered the car into the restaurant’s drive-through.

“What flavor shake do you want?” he asked the boy.

“Chocolate.”

He ordered two large chocolate shakes. When they were ready he handed one to the boy, fixed one for himself and they nursed them all the way home.

Neither one said a word, but by the time they were home George’s eyes were no longer red. He’d blown his nose on one of the napkins that they’d gotten at the restaurant. No one would be the wiser about his emotions.

His secret was safe with Cullen. Except that he would tell Lily. He had to tell Lily—in case he was somehow damaging the boy by not encouraging him to talk about his emotions.

God, this parenthood gig wasn’t for amateurs.

Milk-shake cups in hand, the two got out of the car and started toward the front door. Halfway up the walk, George stopped. Cullen thought maybe the kid had left something in the car. He was ready to toss him the keys when George threw his arms around Cullen’s waist and hugged him hard. It nearly knocked Cullen off balance, it was so unexpected.

* * *

“That’s all we said the entire time we were out,” Cullen said to Lily once the children were in bed and they had a chance to talk about the day’s turn of events over a glass of wine. “I don’t know why he hugged me. I didn’t do anything to help him. The only words we exchanged the entire time we were out were What flavor shake do you want? And Chocolate.

“What should I have said or done to help him? I should’ve done something.”

Lily reached out and took his hand. He laced his fingers through hers and held on tight.

“But you did do something,” she said. “Sometimes less is more. Sometimes showing up is all you need to do.”

She instantly regretted the words as soon as they’d slipped from her lips. Maybe talking about showing up hit too close to home after he’d shared the bad situation with his father. He’d been so bent on DNA and his father’s bad traits being in his genes. Maybe she shouldn’t have brought it up when emotions were so raw like right now.

“Unfortunately kids don’t come with an instruction manual. You just have to go with your gut. See, you have good instincts.”

He shook his head. She couldn’t tell if he was traumatized or maybe a little shocked and in awe of himself.

“I couldn’t do this on a regular basis,” he said.

Lily squinted at him. “Are you serious? You really don’t want kids?”

Rather than answer, Cullen picked up his wineglass and took a long pull.

“I have to be honest with you. That’s a…a deal breaker for me. Not only do I want kids, I want a bunch of them. You were an only child, too. Don’t you regret not having siblings?”

He whistled through his teeth and shook his head. “As hard as my mother had to work to put food on the table and keep a roof over our heads? And she only had one. There’s no way. No way I could do this with a whole brood.”