Gracious

Chapter 12

A/N - we'll just pretend it hasn't almost been 3 weeks🧍🏾‍♀️

Had to slap the writers block out of me for this one

No TW for once I promised a lighthearted chapter ❤️

~~~

"Woahh, I never get to sit here, it's always Scott", I clamped my mouth shut as I watched Xavier fiddle with every button he could get his hands on in my passenger seat; we hadn't even left the driveway yet.

"I wonder why", I muttered, starting the engine, "you excited?".

"To skate for fun? Is that a question?", his eyes widened and I chuckled, "I love my team, but I like skating up and down even more".

"Who knows, maybe you'll actually fall asleep tonight", I proposed and he grinned, going back to messing around with the buttons.

For the past few days things had been going as smoothly as possible, with a couple bumps in the road here and there. Alexander had almost gotten into a fight at school but managed to hold back and get the school to contact me; I had him back at home within twenty minutes.

Xavier was a ball of energy recently, even more than he usually was; hence me taking him to the local ice rink to see if that burned any of it. If not, that was okay too, spending time with my brothers one on one was something I enjoyed regardless.

"I made a new friend today", he announced and I hummed, urging him to continue, "his name's Parker, he threw a donut at me by accident, so I invited him to sit with me and Xan".

"How does someone throw a donut at you by accident?", I dared to ask, not knowing what the fuck they got up to in school.

"It just happened", he shrugged, "even Xan laughed, he doesn't do that anymore".

"He's trying", I told him, "he'll be okay". He nodded, sinking back into the seat and playing with his fingers.

"And in the meantime, I'll keep trying to make him laugh", he beamed proudly, causing me to smile. Out of all of us, he was definitely the best at making us laugh.

"Your sense of humour is one of your best assets", I told him, watching his face light up out of the corner of my eye.

"Really?", he asked, wide-eyed and smiling.

"Course", I chuckled, "where would we be without your comedic relief?".

~

"This is not funny Xavier", I clung onto the side of the rink like my life depended on it, counting every blessing that I'd privately hired the rink for two hours - if people could see how much I was struggling right now I'd be the laughing stock in here.

"It is!", he leaned over, clutching his stomach, "I'm better than you and you're 9 years older".

"And you also play hockey", I gritted out, my feet sliding yet again, "when do I need to stand on the ice?".

"Right now", he shrugged, "it's easy, just watch me". He completely abandoned me and skated to the other side of the rink at the fastest speed I'd ever seen, his actions precise, concentration on nothing but himself and the ice. Before I could even blink he'd turned back around and headed back in my direction, skidding to a stop a mere few inches away from me and grinning.

"You make it look easier than walking", I muttered, standing up straight yet keeping my grip on the side as firm as ever.

"It is easier than walking", he rolled his eyes, "let's go to the middle".