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Sean and Trig had met a few tiht away in the fae and handed them each one before I headed upstairs to check in with pops He was propped up in his bed with a breakfast tray on his lap and the remote in his hand when I walked in

"Heyyyyyy, there he is," he said,a little space on the side of the bed so I could sit by hi, and then propped?" I said, sitting up and knocking a little on his cast

"This cast crap is for the birds, Reed It’s so da around to find a comfortable position There clearly wasn’t one, because he just sighed heavily and then leaned back into his pillows, defeated I chuckled a bit at my stubborn independent cuss of a father

I lay there next to hi I kept trying to start ht words inhe would pick up on et off the pot, would ya?" he finally kicked in Subtle, Buck Johnson was not

Sighing, I sat up again, pulled Grand box fro a little at it, and curling the corner of my mouth up a little pathetically Dad just stared at it for a few seconds, trying to figure out what it meant Finally, he nodded a little and closed his eyes, shaking his head so box, and flipped it open to look at it silently before closing it once again Staring at the closed antique box for a few moments more, he finally looked up to make eye contact with me, and then held it out forto happen," I said, ive it to Jason or so, okay?"

I stood up and turnedhi to shoeakness But I was so weak Nolan could bring me to my knees In fact, she had I snapped back when I heard h kick in I turned to see hi the box over and over in his hand, the corner of his mouth raised in a smirk

"Reed, life is hard I know you know this…or think you know this…but let ly sometimes, and it throws shit at you, just like a 300-pound line to flatten your ass," he said, his eyes still focused on the small box in his hand

"And soht in the eyes "Sometimes, that lineman knocks the shit out of you And it hurts It hurts like fking hell, the breath punched froone from your muscles But you don’t just sit there, roll your ass off the field and lick your wounds, right?"

I was staring at the box now, too, those dah , our kids…our life God, I wanted it But between those flashes of us inGavin, the look on his face when he left her rooer in his step, the kind that said he knew her intihtsmy lip, I finally looked back up at Pops, and shook my head "Dad, I will never love anyone like I love Nolan, and you know it But…fuck Dad, I can’t talk about it, but it’s just not going to happen And that ring is killingdown rabbed ers around it tightly, and then patting them shut with his other hand I reached up withto escape, sniffling a little to get a hold ofwith him to understand, to let hter

"Life is hard, Reed But we get up," he said, sliding from the bed now to reach for his crutches and force hi to Jason, yeah, sure But you and I both know that Jason--God love hirandirl who deserves it"

My dad carried hi ain I wished he’d never given it to ive it back It was mine to work out, or live with, and carry