Ashamed of my breakdown late last night, I don't say a word as the doctor releases me in the morning. He tells me that as long as I get the proper rest I need, I should be okay to return to the ice in a few weeks, but I knew I needed to be back on the ice in less than a week and a half. But I refrained from saying that, happy to just be able to go home.
My parents had slept in the waiting room, and they stumble in to greet me after I changed into a sweater and yoga pants Mom had brought me. I hand the hospital gown to the nurse as she leads us out to the front desk to sign some insurance forms, and for Mom and Dad to sign my release forms. For a moment, I thought I was going to be wheeled out of the hospital in a wheel chair like in the movies, but I soon realized how pathetic and unrealistic that was. I had a concussion, yes kind of serious, but thank god I could manage to walk. As Mom finishes filling out the forms, Dad leads me to Mom's Range Rover in the hospital parking lot.
I slide into the backseat and lean my head against the window, exhausted from yesterday, and from the lack of sleep I got from sleeping at the hospital because nurses had checked in on me ever thirty minutes making sure I was okay.
Dad and I sit in silence, before he speaks, "Oh, by the way, is it okay if the barbeque still happens today?" he asks, as he catches my eyes through the rearview mirror as he sits in the driver's seat.
I completely forgot about Dad's reunion BBQ, and truthfully, in my current state, the thought of entertaining company revolted me, but despite that I knew how excited Dad will be to see his former teammates, so I only nod in response.
"Okay, good. Of course, we'll skip the scrimmage, but Talon and everyone is already at the house grilling." Dad explains.
Soon Mom opens the passenger side door and climbs in, griping about how many forms she had to sign, and vowing that if I chose to continue to play such a dangerous sport, she refuses to take me back to the hospital. Dad and I chuckle, and Mom flips both of us off appropriately before Dad drives us home.
When we pull into our driveway, I catch a lot more cars parked outside than I would have thought. Maybe my parents actually did have a lot of friends. Dad opens my car door, and offers me a hand down, but I refused. I might have been a little groggy from sleep deprivation and the pain medication they gave me, but I could still walk fine. We walk in through the garage and are met with the sound of music flowing from our back yard. Dad's the first to make it outside to greet everyone.
"Talon!" He exclaims, as I follow behind him to the grill, where Uncle Talon is flipping burgers. I smile watching them give each other a hug. Then a shadow falls over me. I catch Uncle Cole sneak up behind Dad and watch as he pulls my dad into a head lock. Dad laughs, "My back, watch my back!" He playfully shouts as he tugs out of Cole's embrace and they do their old bro handshake.
"Hey, you can't forget about me!" We all look over to see Matt, Dad's best friend from his college hockey team, run up the lawn towards the guys. Dad gives him a hug. They all laugh and talk, rushing to catch up with each other. Behind me I hear a squeal and turn to see Mom rushing towards Aunt Paisley who was severely pregnant.
"You're huge!" She shouts as she gives Aunt Paisley a side hug and places a hand on her belly, "I thought you two were going to stop after your third little boy?"
Aunt Paisley shrugs, "You know us, even old age can't slow us down."
From behind them I see Aunt Georgia walk out with Tyson, Paisley's three-year-old son on her hips, "So, I guess it takes being pregnant with one of these little guys, to receive a warm welcome, huh?" Aunt Georgia teases as she walks over to my Mom and Aunt Paisley.
Mom laughs, and gives Aunt Georgia a hug, "It's been entirely too long since I've seen you guys!"
"Rosie! If you don't get down here right now and give us three hugs, we're leaving!" Uncle Talon shouts as he flips over a couple of the hamburger patties.
"Yeah! And we'll take the meat with us!" Uncle Cole adds.
I watch as Mom steals Tyson from Aunt Georgia and heads down towards us, and as she passes me, Uncle Talon looks to me, and points his tongs, "You too Maxy!"
Smiling, I follow my mom and give everyone hugs as they congratulate me on making Captain this year, and on my season. I'm sure Dad warned them about my head injury, but thankfully all of them knew not to bring it up. I stand with them, listening to them talk about what everyone has missed, how hard it is being married adults, and the struggles of having kids. I try my best not to gag. Don't get me wrong it's nice to see everyone again, but I can't but wonder where my friends are. I hadn't seen anyone at come to the hospital to check on me.
"The party has arrived!"
I hear a voice shout from the patio door. I look back and I see Bash, Theo, Finn, and Bo standing in the doorway next to Talon's husband, Noah, who had his keys and a 24 pack of beer in his hands. I chuckle, leave it to Uncle Noah to take the boys with him on a beer run. All of a sudden, the boys are shoved aside, as Griffin and Bren come running towards me. Bren beats Griffin by a second but they both pummel into me wrapping me up in a group hug, I stumble back but somehow remain standing.
"We're so glad you're okay Max! Your parents and the doctors wouldn't let us come see you!" Bren exclaims, her voice muffled as she talks into my shoulder.
"Seriously!" Griffin adds, "We thought you died!"
"Well as you can see, I'm very much alive, and very much suffocating!" I tease. They both let me go and rush out apologies. The boys make it to us now, and they all give me sheepish grins. None of us hardly ever know how to react if someone gets hurt, when Conner broke his pinky last season, we sent him a vulgar card, but nothing as serious as what happened last night has happened before. But I didn't want people to coddle me. I hit my head, but I'm fine now.
Theo comes over and gives me hug, "We're glad your okay, Max."
"Ditto!" Finn and Bash say together.
I look them over, there's a bruise under Theo's left eye, and a scar above his lip. Next, I examine Bash. His right eyebrow is busted, and his chin is scrapped. Finn shares similar injuries. I think back to some of the last images I remember of the game. The clash of yellow, green, silver and maroon uniforms. They all must have fought after I got hit.
"What happened after I went down?" I ask them all. All of them look around, avoiding my eyes. Whatever did go down, they're ashamed. I look to Bo, who had no bruising on his face. He looks at me, and I feel a jolt. I remember the terror on his face as he ran down the bleachers, would he react that way if it was anyone of his teammates?
Bash finally speaks up, "Let's just say, we all need to invest in boxing lessons."
I roll my eyes and decide to let the subject drop. My head hurts enough already thinking about it.
****
After about thirty minutes, Uncle Talon had all of the food grilled up, and the adults and teenagers split to eat. We let the adults have the patio table as we all sit in a circle in the grass. The afternoon sun is starting to set, but thankfully the temperature remains bearable as long as we all kept our coats on. Dad promises to start a fire in our fire pit once the sun fully sets but for now, we all sit comfortably in the remaining sunlight and ate our burgers.
"So, that's the infamous Talon?" Griffin asks while chewing a bite of her burger.
"Hot, right?" Bren comments, gushing.
"And we're sure he's gay?"
I steal a glance over at Uncle Talon. Uncle Noah sat next to him, and as Uncle Cole was telling some story, he waves his burger in his hands and a dot of ketchup flew off and hits Uncle Talon's cheek. The table erupts into laughter, and Uncle Talon scowls at Uncle Cole. Noah said something and turns Uncle Talon's face, and wipes the ketchup off with his napkin, before placing a kiss on his cheek. Uncle Talon relaxes into his chair and rests a hand on Uncle Noah's lap, as their conversation continues. I smile at the gesture.
"Very sure." I answer.
For as long as I can remember, Uncle Talon has been with Uncle Noah. But when I asked more about it when I was older, Dad told me the story. Apparently, the summer after their senior year, Uncle Talon, had thought he had a huge crush on Mom. It ended up not working out, and it wasn't until a couple of years later when Uncle Talon met Noah at Washington State that Uncle Talon realized he's gay. Uncle Talon had gone for his business degree, but he desperately needed a math tutor, and even though Uncle Noah was an art major, he's brilliant with numbers. They met in the math tutoring lab where Noah had been working, and the rest is history. Dad and the rest of his friends didn't find out about their relationship until a year later, when Uncle Talon finally confessed. Dad accepted his sexuality immediately and encouraged everyone in his friend group to do the same.
I think about the time I saw Luke kissing that guy. When the time comes, I hope to be just like Dad, and lead by example, when Luke confesses that he's gay. If any of the guys give him problems, they will be dropped immediately, no questions asked. I look over my friends as they watch Uncle Talon and Noah interact. I search for any sign of disgust or judgement, but I should've known I wouldn't find any.
Theo's known Uncle Talon for years, and the others have known him for half that. There is no doubt in my mind, that if and when Luke decides to admit to us that he's gay, he'll be welcomed with open arms.
Suddenly, Dad, and his friends, stand up from the table, and Dad disappears into the house. He comes back quickly with a football in his hands, and his old group walks over to us.
"Who's up for a little touch football?" Dad shouts.
I frown, under any other circumstance I would be the first to join, but with my head I stand up and offer to grab everyone's plates.
"Hell yeah, Mr. V, I'm down!" Bash says motioning for Dad to throw the football to him. Dad sends it to him in a perfect spiral and Bash catches and pretends to take off.
"Nope, count me out, I just got my nails redone." Griffin says, standing, and moving out of the way.
Bren tucks a loose black curl behind her ear, "I think it'd be fun, plus, we have to rep for the girls because Max can't."
"She has a point." I say taking their empty paper plates from them before grabbing Finn, Theo's, and Bo's. Everyone's standing now, the boys eager to play some football.
"Griff, c'mon, we'll even take it easy on you." Theo coaxes.
Griffin groans, "Fine, but this isn't just for you Max, it's for women everywhere!"
****
As they split into teams, I join Mom, Aunt Paisley, and Aunt Georgia at the patio table. Aunt Paisley had brought her famous cherry delight pie out, and I grab a piece and munch on it as I watch them begin to play. Mom bounces Tyson around on her knee as they talk about how Bailey, Paisley's second oldest, is over at her friend Jessie's, and about how Paisley's eldest son, Tai, refuses to leave his bedroom. Aunt Paisley claims he's addicted to video games.
"I just hope, that one day, one of them will feel the sports drive. I know it drives Cole crazy. Tai refuses to do anything athletic, but I think with a little more encouragement Bailey might join a sport. She's only thirteen, so she has potential, right?" Aunt Paisley asks.
I shovel a spoonful of pie into my mouth, as Mom shrugs, "I can't give much advice, this one came out of the womb with a hockey stick."
Swallowing my bite, I nod, and flash Aunt Paisley and Georgia a smile.
"It is so badass that you're Captain of Colby Hill's hockey team!" Aunt Georgia exclaims, patting me on the shoulder, I blush and say thank you with another mouthful of pie in my mouth.
Aunt Paisley rubs her belly, "Seriously! I hope any one of my children follow their dreams like you. I hope they stand in the face of adversity and refuse to take no for an answer!"
"It's not as easy as it looks," I admit, laughing, "I'm just trying to do what I love."
I zone out again, as I watch my dad and my uncles play against my friends. Theo places the football on the grass and waits for everyone to get into position before he shouts, "1, 2, 3, Hut!" and passes the ball underneath him to Bo who's playing make shift quarterback. He bounces back, his biceps flexing underneath his black quarter-zip, he lifts his arms up, getting in position to throw the football, and I catch the top of his underwear's waistline, and the bottom of his tanned toned stomach.
He looks over to Bash who is open a couple of feet away. Dad heads towards Bo ready to make the tackle but at the last second Bo releases it and it flies to Bash. Bash catches it and runs it to the makeshift end zone. I watch as he darts around Uncle Talon, and around Noah, as Finn wraps his arms around Bren's waist and spins her out of the way, making her squeal. Griffin tries to take Uncle Cole down, but fails miserably, and just hangs off his back. I watch as Bash crosses the imaginary goal line and does a little celebration dance.
Glancing back to Bo, I see a grin light up his face. I remember how badly Tate reacted to seeing him yesterday before the game. They used to be friends, but clearly, they weren't good ones. I wonder if Bo has ever been on a team like mine. A team that truly accepts you for who you are and supports you no matter what. And I wonder if that's why he was so mean before he moved here. Suddenly Bo looks over to me catching me staring at him. I feel my cheeks flush and look down to my half-eaten piece of pie.
After a few moments I glance back up and see they started playing again, I sigh relieved.
"Uh-oh... I've seen that look before, haven't I Ro?" Aunt Georgia says, leaning over and nudging my mom with her elbow, as she wiggles her eyebrows at me. My face burns from embarrassment.
"Rosie was the master of that look back in high school." Aunt Paisley adds, smiling at me, like I'm supposed to know exactly what they're talking about.
"Wait, what look?" I ask.
Mom stands and shoots me a grin as she sets Tyson down to play before picking up empty pie plates and beer bottles. She comes over and gives me a light kiss on my forehead, "Oh, Honey, you'll know soon enough."
Out of nowhere there's an eruption of screams and laughter from the backyard lawn. I turn my head and see Bash at the bottom of a dog pile with Theo, Bren, Griffin, and Finn on top, as Bo rolls in the grass in laughter. Quickly I find Bren's camera on the edge of the patio table, and I turn it on then rush over to them.
"Everyone, say cheese!" I yell as I snap a picture.