top rung of a ladder in the front hall while Luke hands him a replacement bulb for the one burned out in the chandelier.
“How pissed would the Broncos organization be if I accidentally tipped over the ladder while you’re on top?” Luke teases.
“At least I can get on a ladder,” Jack retorts.
“Too soon,” Luke says, laughing as he shakes his head.
I’m still making him do his exercises while we’re here in Michigan. Most of his therapy has transitioned to home care at this point, anyway. He still has a limp, and his knee isn’t strong yet, but he’s getting better and better every day. His next appointment with the doctor is in a week, and I’m interested to hear what the team trainers have to say about Luke’s potential for next season. I’m also interested to hear what Calvin might say.
“What else, Mom?” Jack asks.
“I told you I can hire someone to do that stuff, boys,” she says, her tone one of scolding but her expression one of pride.
“Why hire someone when we’re right here to do it?” Luke asks, and Jack nods.
It’s funny seeing Jack and Luke team up this way. They both want to do little odds and ends around the house. They both want to make life a little easier for their mom. They’re working together after working against each other for so many years.
It feels like it’s been a long time in the making, and if it feels this good for me, I can’t imagine how it feels for Luke and Jack.
The men go through their dad’s closet together. Carol pops in to check on them, but mostly they take care of it both so Carol doesn’t have to and also so they have time together to dig up old memories. They each keep a few items that are meaningful to them, and Kaylee walks away with some mementos as well.
I sort of wonder how Jack feels about that money. Luke indicated that he doesn’t care about it. He said he has his own, and Jack does, too. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m grateful the money will be set aside for our kids. Luke may have plenty, but it’s comforting to know we have insurance should anything go wrong between the two of us. I don’t anticipate it will, but we have no idea what the future may hold—just like we had no idea he’d take a hit that ended his entire season and potentially his career.
Jack takes a call from Michelle later in the evening, and we can all hear her bitching about being pregnant over the phone. He rolls his eyes and heads upstairs to talk privately, and once we all hear the door click shut to Jack’s room, it’s Carol who speaks up first. “There are two types of pregnant women. The miserable ones who hate being pregnant,” she says, glancing upstairs to indicate Michelle, and then her eyes land on me. “And the glowing ones who seem to have it all together.”
Did Carol just...dare I say...compliment me?
Kaylee loses it to a fit of giggles at her mom’s words, and I can’t help my glowing smile.
Later in the evening, we’re all sitting together in the family room when Luke looks at his mother. “What do you need this big old mansion for?”
She lifts a shoulder. “It’s been home for a lot of years.”
“It doesn’t have to be home forever, though,” Luke says. He glances at me, and as much as I still think this is a bad idea, that moment in the hallway earlier today was a breakthrough for Carol and me. I think I’m learning how to deal with her. It seems like I earned her respect when I stood up to her by standing up for her son, and I guess that’s what every parent wants for their child, isn’t it? Someone to love them so much that they’ll stand up to the scariest monsters to defend them.
“Move to Vegas,” Luke says, and Kaylee gasps. “You can get to know your grandchild, and Ellie, and even me. We’d love to have you close by.”
I have to admit, I appreciate that he said close by and not in our house...but love is a little strong.
She glances around. “Oh, Luke,” she says softly. “I don’t know. There are so many happy memories here. And, I guess, not so happy ones as well, but that’s what makes it a home, doesn’t it?”
“Like when Jack jumped over the bannister?” Luke says, nodding