p; "Don't get excited yet, Swink," I warn. "Wait until it's official."
"Does anyone need a drink?" my mother asks, standing. These things still make her nervous, even though she’s been through her fair share over the course of her life. It’s not whether I win or lose that makes her anxious, it’s how it’ll affect me. It’s what makes her the best mom I could imagine.
"You probably don't have any green juice, do you?" Lincoln asks.
"What the hell is green juice?" Ford snorts. "Have I been gone that long?"
"It's pureed spinach and shit, asshole," Lincoln says. "It's what makes me the best center fielder in baseball."
The news comes off a commercial break and we all hold our breath. Instead of an election update, they head into the weather.
"You'd think they could spare us the warm weather forecast," Graham mutters, not losing a step.
I laugh, pulling Ali closer to me. "They'll get to it."
"How can you be so calm?" Ali whispers. "Aren't you dying to know?"
"Usually I am. But you know what?" I pull her onto my lap and lock my hands around her waist. "I'm not. Because either way, I'm going to be fine."
"Shut up," Sienna says over the chatter. She points a manicured finger at the screen. "Look!"
The music plays that denotes an election decision has been made. A red, white, and blue banner rolls across the screen before the commentator comes on. "Ladies and gentleman, I'm being told that we are ready to call the gubernatorial race. The next governor of the state of Georgia will be . . . Barrett Landry."
The room erupts into a fit of cheers, everyone jumping to their feet. Everyone but me.
I pull Alison into me and hug her as tightly as I can as my family goes wild. She tries to talk, but I pull her so far into me that she can't.
“Just sit here with me,” I whisper, breathing her in.
This is what I’ve risked everything for. Not the win in the election, though that’s nice too. I’ve worked for this moment with her. For a life. For a future that’s for me and not everyone around me. And I have it. I have her.
My eyes are closed when Huxley jumps on us, his arms wrapping around his mother and I. “You did it!” he exclaims as I pull him down between us.
“We did it,” I correct him, watching his face beam.
"Congrats, son!" my father says, patting me on the shoulder. My brothers come and shake me, and Ali too, since I'm still holding on to her. She giggles, her face still in my shirt.
"Way to go, man!" Lincoln says, picking up Hux with his good arm.
I peer through the throngs of people until I see Graham. He's leaning against the wall, a look of relief on his face. We exchange that look, the one that says more than words could ever say.
"I have champagne in the kitchen!" my mother says. "Let's celebrate!"
Everyone follows her to the kitchen but me. Instead, I allow Ali to pull back. When she does, I press the deepest kiss I can onto her lips. She melts into me, her arms draping over my shoulders.
"Congratulations," she whispers. There’s hesitation in her voice, and I’d wondered if that would come.
I look her directly in the eye and capture her attention. "I'll walk away from it."
"What?" she asks, puzzled.
"I'll walk away from the seat."
"You can't do that!"
"I can. And I will."
"Why would you do that? Barrett, have you lost your damn mind?"