The house is dark when I step through the door. Beer in hand, I call out for Hetch, only to hear nothing in return.
“Hetch, what’s going on?” I drop my handbag on the hall table and kick my heels off. “Seriously, you better freaking be here, because I swear to God if you were called in, I’m gonna lose it,” I continue to rant as I walk toward the darkened kitchen and flick the light switch on.
“SURPRISE!” The screaming and hollering from over thirty people startles me enough to drop the six pack of bottled beer on my feet, and my own scream to escape my mouth.
“Oh, God!” I jump back in pain and shock as a sea of faces stand before me with bright grins and outstretched hands.
“Shit, sweetheart. Are you okay?” Hetch is there in front of me, pushing everyone back and crowding my space. The tears come right away as pain shoots up my foot in a dull ache.
“I don’t know?” I look down at the mess of beer and broken glass, to find my foot swelling and bruising. Hetch assesses the situation and then picks me up in one fluid movement, planting me on the counter.
“Someone get some ice,” he calls out while checking out the damage.
“What? What’s going on?” Confusion, pain, and embarrassment fill me as I look down at him squatting in front of me.
“I’m sorry, baby. This was a bad idea.” I wince as he clears glass from my foot. I’m mildly aware of the blood, but I'm more focused on the faces I see crowding me. Mom, Dad. Payton. Family I haven’t seen in ages. Even Sue and the boys are here to celebrate with me.
“This is why none of you called me today?” I cry harder, my tears falling freely as I put it all together.
How did I not pick up on this?
“Hey, don’t cry.” Hetch stands and wipes at my face, just as my mom comes forward with an ice pack.
“Don’t cry? Do you know what I’ve been thinking all day?” The sobs prevent me from being able to talk clearly, but I don’t stop.
“I thought you all forgot about me.” A low lull in conversation tells me everyone is witnessing my freak-out. “How crazy is that?” A bubble of laughter fills the air as I realize how stupid it was of me to think that.
“Aww, Bertie.” Mom looks almost as stricken as I feel. “I’m sorry, sweetie. We just wanted it to be perfect.” Her eyes flick to Hetch before coming back to mine.
“This is…. You did all this?”
“With the help of Payton.” He shrugs like it’s not a big deal. But this is a big deal.
“I don’t know what to say,” I whisper so only Hetch can hear me.
“You can say thank you and not be pissed at me.”
“Oh, I’m still pissed at you.” I level my best you-are-in-big-trouble stare at him. “You made me stop for beer.” The beer I just dropped on my foot.
“For the record, he thought of that dumb move on his own,” Payton shouts from the back of the crowd. Her confession pulls out a surge of laughter from everyone around us.
“Yeah, that was mean. But I’m gonna make it up to you.” He kisses me deeply before I can tell him it’s not needed.
Yeah, I had a shitty day, followed by the start of a shitty night, but none of that matters. Not when I have everything I want here.
Family, friends, my boys from Haven, and him.
Hetch.
The man who risks his life to save others. The man I almost lost.
He's a survivor and a fighter, but most of all, he's my glasses.
HETCH
Four hours later
“How’s the foot feeling?” I ask when the last of our guests have left for the night, and she’s sneaking a second slice of cake.
“It’s okay. The alcohol helped.” She looks down at her now bandaged foot and shrugs. After icing it for an hour, one of her aunts, who happens to be a nurse, patched her up and gave her the all clear to move about. Me, concerned more than I probably should have been, never left her side, carrying her around whenever she let me.
“You have no idea how terrible I feel about that.” I step in close. My eyes lock onto her mouth as she wraps her red lips around the fork.
“You can make it up to me now.” Her tongue comes out, licking at a dab of icing on her bottom lip. I don’t know if she’s doing it on purpose or if she has no fucking clue how sexy she is.
“Whatever you need, baby.” My cock hardens, and my balls tighten.
“You, I just need you, Hetch.” Her words shift something inside of me. Her acceptance warming me. Her simple need calling me.
This woman, she’s given me grace when I didn’t deserve it, peace when I didn’t know I wanted it, and love when no one else could.
Because of her, I've been given a life I never knew I was missing.
“Ask me what I know,” I whisper, knowing not what I want to do, but what I need to do. Her eyes close briefly before she opens them at my words. They fall on the faint scars on my neck. She does that sometimes, just stares at them as though she needs it to anchor herself.