Old Fashioned - Becker Brothers

“That right?”

Noah shook his head from beside her. “You’re going to be president one day.”

“Nuh-uh,” she said, looking at him matter-of-factly before she smiled up at me. “I’m going to be a football player.”

It wasn’t long after that that the girls announced that dinner was ready. We called Mom and Sydney in from the garden, tore my brothers and Paige from the television, and all gathered around a feast that could feed at least three times the amount of people in attendance.

When we were all seated, Mom held out her hands, and I took her left while Noah took her right. Sydney was next to me, Paige across from us, and we all linked hands, connecting to each other around the meal that brought us together.

“I’d like to say grace, if that’s alright,” Noah said.

Mom smiled and squeezed his hand, and we all bowed our heads.

“Heavenly Father, thank you for the blessings you have bestowed upon this family. We are so blessed to be able to be here together in this way, to share a meal and spend time together when life can so easily slip away from us.”

I swallowed, my throat tightening with emotion.

“I know I speak for everyone when I say we’re missing a big piece of our puzzle today, but we know Dad is up there with you, probably watching the games and yelling at the big HD screens they got up there.”

We all chuckled.

“So, give him a big hug for us, and tell him we love him and we miss him. And Lord, I want to thank you for our amazing mother, who has filled this home with love and wrangled us rowdy boys for our entire lives, and for my brothers — who I can always count on.”

That emotion I’d felt before surged through me again, and I cleared my throat to ease the swell.

“I want to thank you for Kylie,” Noah continued. “Who has put up with us for years and still manages to like us.”

Kylie giggled.

“And for Mallory, who put up with us all being jerks to her because of her last name, and somehow still manages to love us and forgive us, anyway.”

“And for y’all seeing past that last name, seeing me for who I really am, and loving me, too,” she added.

“We pray you will keep her and Logan’s baby safe and healthy inside that little oven of hers,” Noah said. “And deliver him or her safely to us.”

“Her,” Logan whispered, and at that, all of our eyes popped open and locked on him, though he was looking at Mallory, who smiled and squeezed his hand.

“Her?” Mom cried out, her eyes flooding with tears.

Logan nodded, and the whole table buzzed with a mixture of congratulations and excitement.

“Shhh,” Noah said, calming us. “Still praying here.”

We laughed, closing our eyes and bowing our heads again.

“I want to thank you for Betty Collins, and for bringing her into our family when we needed her most.”

“You’re welcome,” she chimed in, and we all chuckled again.

“And for our new guests, Sydney and Paige, who fit in like they’ve always been here, and already bring us joy, and make our oldest brother smile — which is honestly really weird and kind of unsettling, but we’ll get used to it.”

“I told you to stop being so grumpy all the time,” Paige said to the tune of another flurry of laughter, but my throat was so tight I could no longer swallow, and I blinked my eyes open, looking at the place where my fingers intertwined with Sydney’s.

“And Lord, I want to thank you for my incredible fiancée, who will be my wife in less than forty-eight hours from now. I have waited my entire life to find a woman like her, and you delivered her just like I always knew you would. Thank you for making me a patient man, for helping me see why it never worked out with anyone before, and comforting me in those dark times to know that the light was on its way. It wasn’t easy,” he said, and there was a murmur of agreement, but my eyes were floating up to Sydney’s.

And hers were open, too — staring back at me.

“But it was so, so worth it. If there’s anything this family has taught me, it’s that love is the most important thing, and it’s worth fighting for — no matter the risk.”

Sydney’s eyes were wide and glossed, a little pinch between her brows as she watched me and I watched her, nothing being said, but everything spoken just the same.

“Thank you for our blessings, Lord. And thank you for this meal. Amen.”

“Amen,” we all echoed, and while my mom instantly went into how great Noah’s grace was and then began peppering Mallory with baby questions now that we knew the gender, Sydney and I continued watching each other, and I wondered if she felt what I felt in that moment, too.