Maybe Matt's Miracle (The Reed Brothers 4)

“If she’s worth f**king, she’s worth bringing home to meet your family, dumbass,” I bite out. That shit pisses me off. But I can remember having this same talk with Sam and Pete, too. And Logan for that matter. Logan was a bigger man whore than either of the twins. “But that’s not what I wanted to talk about.”

He looks up. “What did you want?”

This time, it’s my turn to fidget. I don’t know why I feel so out of place asking Seth about this. “I want to marry Sky,” I say.

“Okay…” he says.

“That okay with you?”

He nods slowly and then with more speed. “It’s okay with me.”

“So, I was thinking, while we wait for a wedding, that I might move in here.” I wait and watch his face. “How would you feel about that?”

“You already asked her to marry you, right?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re not going to change your mind?”

“She couldn’t chase me off with a really big stick.”

He chuckles. “It’s fine if you want to move in, Uncle Matt,” he says. My heart stalls. He just called me Uncle Matt. I’m one step closer to being part of his family.

“I like that,” I say softly.

“Me, too,” he says back. “We had better go.”

Sky has already changed clothes, and she’s getting the girls into their coats. This will be an all-day event, so she’s packed snacks and toys, too.

We all go out together, going to our first event as a family. Her dad isn’t going with us today, though. He’s going to visit Sky’s mom.

Seth wins in back-to-back matches, and he advances to the final round.

Every time Seth wins, he stops after the match and raises his hand toward the sky, like he’s reaching for heaven. It brings a tear to my eye.

His last match isn’t like the others. He’s up against a boy who’s really good. Seth comes up in the stands to talk to me. “Uncle Matt,” he says. “I don’t know what to do.”

I go and retrieve Joey from the bottom of the bleachers because she is getting a little too close to the wrestling mat. One fling of a fully grown boy in her direction, and she’ll get hurt. I go to get her and bring her back up. I blow on her belly and then toss her over my shoulder. She laughs and hangs there, giggling. “About what?” I ask.

He nods toward the bottom of the bleachers. “You see that guy in the wheelchair?” he asks.

I do. I saw him when we first came in.

“He’s my next opponent’s dad.”

“Oh,” I breathe. “Is he sick?” He’s wearing a stocking cap over his bald head, so I can guess what’s wrong with him.

“Final stages of cancer,” Seth says quietly.

“And you’re worried about whether or not you should let his son win?” I weigh it in my mind. I can see why Seth is conflicted. And to be honest, I’m conflicted, too.

“Yeah.”

“Do you think it would make his dad happy for this match to be handed to him?”

Seth shakes his head and gnaws on his lower lip. “Probably not.”

“Seth, if I were his dad, I would want him to do his best, and may the best man win.”

Seth nods.

“Just be prepared.” I squeeze his shoulder. “He might be in it to win it.” He’s a few pounds heavier than Seth, too.

“Okay,” he says. And he goes down to the clock to sign in when it’s his turn.

“What’s wrong?” Sky asks when I sit down beside her. She takes Joey from over my shoulder and sets her beside Mellie, and then puts a crayon in her hand and gives her a piece of paper.

I point with my chin and tell her what’s up. She looks sympathetic. “This one has to be hard for him after what happened with his mom.”

I nod. It f**king hurts me, and it’s not even my match.

“Do you think he’ll throw it?” she asks.

I shake my head. “I doubt it.”

He doesn’t.

He goes at it just like he goes at everything else. He kicks ass. The boy is strong, and he has Seth almost pinned once, but the clock has ten seconds to go. The referee swipes his hand beneath Seth’s lifted shoulder to show the other boy that Seth isn’t pinned yet. It’s close, and I hold my breath. Sky is squealing beside me, and the whole auditorium starts to count down with the clock. It goes off and Seth rolls over, and they move on to round two. Seth holds his own, and he gets some back points when he lays the boy out flat. It’s almost the third round, and he’s up by one point. Just one point. Seth looks over at his opponent’s dad, and the man gives him a thumbs-up. Seth smiles at him and goes back to it.

Seth makes a crazy move, one that I have never even seen, one that might just be dumb luck, and he gets the boy on his back. His opponent can’t wiggle free, no matter what he does. All Seth has to do is hold it.

Suddenly, the ref calls a pin. Seth reaches down and helps the boy to his feet, and they share a back-thwacking hug. The ref raises Seth’s fist, and Sky hoops and yells beside me. Seth stops at the edge of the mat and raises his hand to the sky. He closes his eyes and says something under his breath that I can’t quite make out. But then he turns and goes to his opponent’s dad. He squats down in front of him and says something to him. Seth’s eyes fill with tears, and he’s so f**king emotional all of a sudden that I have to blink mine back, too. Sky doesn’t even try. She just wipes her face.