“I’m just saying,” he continued, “we ate inside and had, like, a normal dinner over there, but here we are having a fun one. Maybe I’ll even go find the fake snake again.”
“You will not find the fake snake, or I’ll take away all this food and bring out fake food instead,” I threatened.
“Uncle Perry is here!” Dayna shouted from the living room.
I’d been awaiting his arrival all day. I’d never cooked a Thanksgiving turkey on my own before, and when I’d volunteered to do it this year, Perry had sounded doubtful. Luke was just as lost, but he helped me out all day, looking up dozens of online articles and videos about how to perfectly cook a turkey.
We’d done it together. And now the turkey was out and resting with a perfect golden-brown exterior, and I was genuinely proud of what we’d accomplished.
“Hello, loves,” Perry said as he walked in, Rock not far behind him carrying multiple trays of side dishes.
The kids all ran in to hug the two of them. Luke looked at me from across the deck, smiling. “Starting to feel like a real holiday,” he said. “Liz texted a couple of minutes ago saying she’ll be here in five.”
“Awesome,” I said. “Mom should be here soon, but she likes arriving fashionably late, anyway.”
Luke took a deep breath, nodding.
It was going to be his first time meeting my mom. It was weird to think about. Luke already felt like he was part of the family in so many ways, but we had still taken things slow over the past four months.
It had been a massive thing when I’d told Mom about him at all. I’d expected some sort of hysterical crying fit over the phone a couple months ago, some sort of long protest about how she wished I would just get back with Rachel.
But Mom hadn’t been like that at all.
In fact, she’d been happy. There were a few tears, which I heard even though she tried to cover it up over the phone, but she had been as supportive as possible.
And now that Luke was finally meeting her, he was nervous as all hell.
“Hey,” I said, walking over and pressing a small kiss to his lips. “You’re going to do great.”
“I’ll be fine, Cam,” he said softly.
“I know you will.”
Two nights ago, we’d had a talk about it. Luke had opened up to me. He was getting good at it, these days. He’d told me that he hadn’t spent a Thanksgiving with anybody but Liz in a long, long time, and that even as a kid, it was never a big event for his family. This was going to be his first proper, traditional Thanksgiving, with family and friends and so many loved ones under the same roof.
And I felt wildly privileged to be able to have the experience with him.
“Cam, I did something last night,” he said.
I lifted an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah?”
He reached down, pulling up the hem of his shirt slightly.
“Goodness, Luke, I know they’re busy inside, but we certainly can’t do anything sexy out here—”
“Look,” he said.
He pointed out a small tattoo on his ribcage that looked fresh, the black lines still thick and raised.
I recognized it immediately.
“It’s phlox,” I said. The tiny flowers were shaded pink. The tattoo looked right at home among his other ones.
He put the shirt back down, nodding. “It’s still healing.”
“I absolutely love it,” I said.
“I needed something to remind me of you on my body,” he said. “Not your name or your picture or anything, but something that felt like us.”
My head was spinning. A part of me, of us, was permanently on his body now.
It was an even bigger sign of commitment than anything he’d done before. Over the last few months, there had never been a time when we’d started calling each other “boyfriend,” but it seemed to naturally happen, both from us and from my kids.
“It’s so beautiful, Luke,” I said.
“I hear there’s a picture-perfect turkey out here,” Perry’s voice came from inside the house. In another moment he stepped out onto the deck, smiling and hugging us both.
“I think I did you proud,” I told him.
He went and peeked under the tin foil covering, letting out a happy whoop. “You sure did,” he said. “This looks amazing, Cam.”
“And I am so ready,” I said.
We went back into the kitchen. In another few minutes, Mom and Liz arrived at the same time. Mom had already intercepted Liz in the driveway, asking her questions about her hair and where she’d gotten her scarf.
And when I introduced Mom and Luke, she went straight in for a hug.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” she said. “I hear you are a green thumb. I remember how incredible the Golden Goose gardens are.”
“They’re my pride and joy.”
Mom gasped when she looked out the back windows to the yard. “Good God, Cam, you weren’t kidding when you said he worked magic out there.”