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Seeing him up there, closing out this chapter of his life is…fuck. It’s almost too overwhelming to cope with.

The pride I feel is indescribable. I’m pretty sure I’m going to burst. It can’t be healthy to contain this many emotions at once.

The second my first tear breaks free, Garrett gently nudges his shoulder against mine.

“We did good,” he rasps, his own voice broken with emotion.

“Fuck. Yeah, we did.”

There’s another little sniffle, and I look beside Garrett to where Ryker sits. The sight of tears filling his eyes as he looks at his older brother up there makes me want to sob like a baby.

He still has a year before he gets to do this, and there’s a huge part of me that’s dreading what this next year will be like for him without Huxley here.

The two of them are as inseparable now as they’ve always been.

Ryker is more than capable of being on his own. He’s grown and healed so much over the past few years, and he’s growing into his confidence. I’d be lying if I said all his work is done. Honestly, I think it’s something he’s always going to have to work on. But seeing him excel at school, watching him make friends, and hearing him speak more words than ever—even if they are still few and well chosen—has been everything to me. If all goes well, they’ll only have a year apart, because Ryker has his heart set on following the others to Dartford U next fall. I just really fucking hope it works out for him. Despite our advice, he doesn’t have a plan B. Knowing that my college career was my plan B makes me nervous. Where would I have ended up if I didn’t have my backup plan? Ryker needs one just in case. We just need to make him see that.

Time passes quickly as we listen to speeches from both staff and students, and before we know it, names are starting to be called, and we watch as the kids we’ve seen grow for the last eight years take to the stage to receive their diplomas.

Around us, everyone shouts and cheers for those they love, but when Brooks hits the stage, the noise from the crowd erupts.

Oh yeah, at the back of this hall is almost a full roster of LA Vipers players. Some are now retired like me, Kodie and Fletch, while others are still living out their dreams on the ice.

But it doesn’t matter if we’ve hung up our jerseys or not; once you become a Viper, you’re a part of the family for life.

The cheers are just as loud when Huxley walks across the stage. Beside me, Garrett’s entire body trembles with his sobs, and I watch as our boy takes his diploma through blurry eyes.

“Love you, Hux,” I bellow, just to remind him of how important he is to me. “So proud of you.”

Every single day since they moved into our house, I’ve made sure to tell them how proud I am of them. We celebrate their wins as a family, and we commiserate the losses together as well. This is life; we all fail at some point. It’s how we deal with it, and how those around us support us, that gets us through it. There hasn’t been a single time where we’ve blamed either of them for anything; we’ve always ensured they feel respected and listened to, too, and I really hope that as they continue to grow, they can look back and see how much we care, how much we love them, and how taking them on all those years ago was the best thing we ever did.

By the time we get to Sutton, there isn’t a dry eye in the house. Kodie, Casey, and Coach—or James, as I’m meant to call him now—are on their feet, screaming for their girl.

Sutton glances over, a smirk playing on her lips as she shakes her head at them.

“You did it, peanut,” Kodie bellows, and her real smile finally breaks free, a laugh erupting out of her.

She’s still laughing as she walks off with her diploma in her hand while Kodie and Casey take a million pictures. And her expression doesn’t change until the next name is called.

Adrian Scott.

I can’t help but laugh when her top lip peels back in disgust as she glances back over her shoulder at him.

I guess it’s true what they say. Some things never change.

I glance over at Kodie, his eyes on his girl as she retakes her seat.

Sensing my attention, he looks my way, quickly wiping his eyes as he does so.

“Proud of you, man.”

“You, too. Who’d have thought we’d get to sit through another graduation ceremony together, huh?”

A laugh bursts out of me. “I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.”

“This is officially the coolest grad party there’s ever been,” Garrett announces as we all walk into the arena later that day to find banners and balloons everywhere.

“Well, there have got to be some perks to have NHL legends for parents and grandparents.”