Chapter 2

Sebastian

I grin as I climb out of my car and make my way towards my parents’ house. It’s Sunday, and I don’t have a game today. So that means Sunday brunch. My parents have a standing invitation every Sunday for my siblings and me and their families. Sunday brunch is the best part of my week. I don’t make it often during the season, but I’m here as often as I can.

I don’t bother knocking as I open the door and step inside. I”m instantly met with the chaos of a loud family, and I love it. My nieces and nephews come barreling into me. “Uncle Sebastian!”

I bend down and try to pull as many of them into my arms as possible. Besides Max and Kayla, I’ve got two more nieces and one nephew. These three are Tina”s and Andrew’s. Brittany is seven, Eliza is five, and baby Sammy is almost one. I give a round of tickles, and they all run from me shrieking. I grin and make my way into the large kitchen. My mom is busy at the stove, and my dad is cutting bread. Keith is currently making a pot of coffee, and Kristin is holding baby Sammy for Tina. Andrew has his hand on Tina’s back. I look down at my older sister, who currently has her head down on the serving counter. “Hey everybody,” I call out.

“Sebastian,” my mother responds, and I kiss her on the cheek and simultaneously snag a piece of sausage out of her skillet.

“What’s with her?” I ask Andrew, nodding at my sister.

“She’s sleep-deprived,” he says, matter of fact.

“Why?” I ask.

“Because Sammy never sleeps,” my sister says without lifting her head. I turn to my sister-in-law, Kristin and snatch Sammy out of her hands.

“Sammy, my man. Are you not letting your mommy sleep?” I tickle his belly, and he giggles. “How is he still not sleeping? I thought that was just a newborn thing.”

It gets quiet in the kitchen, and I look over at Tina, who is no longer laying her head on the table. “You’ve never had a baby, have you?” she asks and gives me a look that would terrify me if I hadn’t been on the receiving end of that look a million times growing up.

I pat my flat stomach. “Nope. Can”t say that I have.” I grin, and she drops her head again. I make my way over to her and rub her back. “I’m sorry you’re not getting sleep, though.”

“Thanks, Sebastian,” she mumbles, and her voice is a lot gentler now.

“Want me to tire him out so he sleeps good tonight?” I ask, throwing little Sammy in the air. He squeals with the best laugh.

“Don’t get him all riled up; he has to take a nap soon,” she tells me.

I frown. “I thought you wanted him to sleep good tonight.”

“I do.”

I look around the room in confusion. “Then why is he taking a nap?” I feel like it’s an obvious question.

“Would somebody else please educate him?” Tina asks.

“You don’t want him to get overtired,” Kristin says softly, coming to my rescue.

“Because if he’s overtired...” I start, still trying to figure this out.

“Then he won’t sleep well tonight,” Kristin says.

“So, he has to take a nap, so he will sleep tonight?” I repeat. It sounds just as dumb out loud as it did in my head, but Kristin nods as she takes Sammy back.

“Yes, but not too long or he won’t sleep tonight,” Kristin adds, rubbing Sammy’s chubby cheeks.

I shake my head. “I am never having kids.” That causes Kristin to smile.

“Good. You wouldn’t be able to handle them,” Keith says, knocking my hat off my head. I elbow him in the thigh as I bend to pick up my hat. He grabs my arm and tries to pin it behind my back, but I’m too fast. I know what to expect from him after all his years of torment.

“No fighting in my kitchen,” our mom reminds us. That”s been her rule for as long as I can remember.

“Fine. I’ll go see who wants to play with me.” I turn my cap around backward on my head and make my way out of the kitchen to find my nieces and nephews.

“Don’t rile them up before we eat,” my sister calls out after me. I grin. Does she even know me?

“Who wants to play bucking bronco?” I call out. I hear Andrew chuckling behind me, but I brace myself for my nieces and nephews who come running at me. We spend the next thirty minutes trying to see who can ride the bucking bronco the longest. It”s always Kayla; that girl can hold on like nobody’s business. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have bruises on my ribs from where she dug her heels in to hang on.

“Everybody wash up,” my mom calls out. “Time to eat.” There’s a lot of pandemonium while everyone washes hands and then makes their way to the table. My dad says grace, and then we pass serving dishes around the table.

“Man, this looks good,” I say as I pass a bowl of sausage gravy to Max, who’s sitting on my left. “I’m starving.”

“You always say that Uncle Sebastian,” Max says as he takes the gravy.

“Well, it’s true,” I tell him. I try to help him put gravy on his biscuit, but he doesn’t let me. I forget that he’s becoming independent.

“So where’s your fiancé?” Tina asks. “Sort of thought she’d be with you.” There’s laughter around the table, and I grin. It doesn’t bother me.

“She couldn’t make it.”

“Oh.” Tina nods. “Right.”

“Next time,” I say with a face-splitting grin.

“Seriously, who is she?” Kristin asks.

“Her name is Stephanie,” I tell her after I take a drink of my water.

Kayla’s head turns to me. “My teacher?”

It gets quiet. “Her teacher?” Kristin asks.

I’d kind of forgotten about her being Kayla’s teacher for a moment, actually. “Yeah, Squirt. It’s your teacher, but let’s keep it between us, yeah?”

Keith snorts but doesn’t say anything, and Kristin stares at me. “Which teacher is it, Kayla?” she asks without ever taking her eyes off me.

“Miss Winston, my history teacher,” Kayla says quietly.

Kristin looks at me with wide eyes. “Really? She’s terrifying.”

I laugh; I can’t help it. “You’re not wrong about that; she is completely terrifying.”

Kristin cocks her head to the side, studying me as if she can’t quite figure me out. “And yet, you’re still interested?”

At her serious tone, I shrug. “I don’t know her that well. Yet.” I tack on the yet as an afterthought.

“But you want to,” Kristin says; it’s not a question. She puts her fork down and stares at me.

I nod. “Yes.”

“Why?” she asks.

I glance between her and Keith. “Uh, because she’s a very attractive woman; and she’s single. Wait.” I turn to Kayla. “She is single, right?” I scanned her left hand briefly when she came over to talk to me, but I might have missed it.

Kayla nods. “Yes.”

“Not for long,” I add and turn my attention to the delicious-looking omelet my mom made.

“You’re serious about this,” Tina says, looking over at me. She’s not eating now, either.

“Why are you all acting like this? Am I not allowed to be interested in a woman?” I ask.

It”s Tina who answers. “Yes, you just never have been.”

I shrug. “I haven’t met the right one yet.”

“Yes, because all those beautiful women you take to events don’t qualify, right?” Tina asks me dryly.

I frown because I do always take a date to events that I have to attend for our team, but I’m never serious about them. “Those women don’t mean anything,” I say in between bites of egg. Kristin doesn’t say anything, but Tina raises her eyebrows.

“What?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “I just think this is going to be harder than you think it is.”

“To win her over?” I ask. “Nah.”

Keith snorts again, and I throw a napkin at him. “Blow your nose already, Old Man.”

I look around the table. “What?”

“Please tell me you didn’t say something like that to her,” my mom says, horror in her gaze.

“Relax, Mom. You guys know I do know how to handle women right?”

“And that, right there, is the problem, little Brother,” Tina says.

“What?” I ask.

“You’re going to push her away before she even gives you a chance,” Tina says.

I laugh out loud. “No, I’m not. I’m not dumb. Besides, when I want something, I know how to go after it and get it.”

“That’s true, Son, but don’t forget that this is a person, not a hockey puck.” My father’s words give me pause.

“I will,” I tell him seriously. I’m kind of bummed that my family isn’t taking me seriously and doesn’t think I know how to handle a woman. I”ll just have to show them. “How about this? I’ll bring Stephanie to the next Sunday brunch I’m available for.”

Keith scoffs, and Andrew laughs out loud. I look at both of them, a challenging look in my eye. “Want to make it interesting?”

“Sebastian! We do not gamble in this house,” my mother says.

Keith reaches into his pocket and pulls out a fifty and puts it on the table. He meets my eyes. “Fifty bucks says you can’t get her here for the next brunch.”

“A hundred,” Andrew says, adding another fifty to the pile.

“A hundred fifty,” my father says, throwing another fifty in.

“Lou!” my mother gasps, but he just smiles.

“Fine.” I pull out my wallet and throw another fifty in. “Two hundred bucks, and I will claim all of that when I bring Stephanie to the next family brunch I’m able to be here for.”

“Deal,” the guys around the table all say.

I turn to Kayla. “Not a word to your teacher, okay?”

She mimes locking her lips. “Not a word, Uncle Sebastian.” She frowns. “I don’t think she likes you, though.”

I frown. “Why?”

“Because she was cranky right after you left, and she kind of looked mad.”

I grin slowly. “That’s because I’m irresistible; she couldn”t stop thinking about me.”

“Oh, no, she got right into our history class. I’m pretty sure she didn’t think about you again,” Kayla says. Everybody around the table laughs, and I just shake my head.

“Out of the mouth of babes,” Tina says, grinning.

“You can all laugh it up, but I know I’m right. She will be here for the next brunch. You can count on it.”

“We’ll see,” Andrew says.

“We’ll see,” I repeat. I’m still grinning when I feel my phone buzz. I pull it out and see a text from Aiden.

Aiden- be at my house at 7 tomorrow for wedding planning

I grin and text back.

Sebastian- who is this?

Aiden- tomorrow night at 7

Sebastian- I”ll be there with bells on

Aiden- what does that even mean and who says that?

“Who are you grinning at like that?” Tina demands from across the table. “Is that her?”

“I wish,” I say without looking up.

Sebastian- I”ll be there

I pocket my phone. “That was Aiden; I’ve got a wedding planning meeting to be at tomorrow.” I sit up tall. “I’m going to be the best man in Aiden and Brielle’s wedding.”

“Poor guy; he really must not have friends,” Keith says from his end of the table.

I look for something to throw at him but don’t find anything. I reach for the roll on Max’s plate, but my mom stops me. “Sebastian.”

Keith smirks, and I shake my head, vowing to get him later. “All right, who’s ready for games?” I ask, rubbing my hands together. It’s our tradition. After brunch, we play games until a sports game comes on TV that we can watch. The game can be hockey, football, basketball...it doesn’t matter. We’ll watch it, whatever it is. What can I say? We’re a sports family.