All Chapters of Frozen Submission (M*M)Romance: Chapter 211 - Chapter 217

**Chapter 214: Family Pride**BrooksEllie’s coming out became a family project.Not because we needed to manage her, but because we refused to let her carry it alone. The weekend she came home, we sat together for hours—Callan and I sharing our own experiences with public scrutiny, Sophie asking a thousand innocent questions, Liam offering quiet big-brother support.“I’m scared,” Ellie admitted at one point, curled up on the couch between us. “What if people twist it? What if they bring up your past to attack me?”“Then they’ll have to go through us,” Callan said firmly, his arm around her shoulders. Even with his arthritis flaring, his protective instincts were as strong as ever. “You are our daughter. We’ve faced worse than internet trolls.”I added, “And if you want to speak at the event, we’ll be there. Front row. Proud.”The decision was made. Ellie would speak. We would stand with her.The next few weeks were a whirlwind of preparation. Callan and I cleared our schedules. We he

**Chapter 216: Wedding**BrooksLiam’s wedding day arrived on a perfect Chicago afternoon in early June.The venue was a beautiful lakeside pavilion—not too grand, not too small. Just right for our family. White flowers and soft blue accents decorated everything, echoing the Thunder colors Liam loved so much. Maya, his bride, had chosen simple elegance, and our son had only one request: both his dads would walk him down the aisle.I stood in front of the mirror in our hotel suite adjusting my tie for the third time. My hands were steadier than they had been in years, but nerves still fluttered in my chest. Callan stepped up behind me, his reflection joining mine. His arthritis made tying his own tie difficult some days, so I turned and did it for him.“You look handsome,” I said softly, smoothing his lapels.He caught my hands and kissed my knuckles. “We made it here. Our boy is getting married.”The emotion hit me hard. Fifteen years ago, we were fighting for survival in this same ci

**Chapter 218: Final Health Scare**BrooksThe hospital room smelled of antiseptic and fear.I had been here for nine days since the stroke. Nine days of beeping monitors, physical therapy sessions that left me exhausted and frustrated, and the constant, hovering presence of the man I loved watching me like I might disappear if he blinked.My right side was still weak. My speech occasionally slurred when I was tired. The doctors kept saying “mild stroke” and “excellent prognosis,” but when your body betrays you after everything you’ve already survived, the word “mild” feels like a cruel joke.Callan sat in the chair beside my bed, his bad shoulder braced against the backrest, hands resting on his cane. The arthritis had flared badly during the stress of my hospitalization. We were quite the pair—two battered warriors still refusing to leave the battlefield.“You’re staring again,” I said, my words only slightly thick.“Can’t help it.” His voice was rough. “I keep seeing you on the kit

**Chapter 220: Frozen Submission**BrooksTen years after our vow renewal, the backyard rink in Chicago was still the heart of our world.The boards had been repainted twice. The lights upgraded. The ice bore the marks of countless skates — our children’s, our grandchildren’s, and the occasional visiting player who needed a quiet place to breathe. But the feeling remained the same: this was sacred ground. The place where pain had been transformed, over and over again, into something beautiful.I sat on the heated bench we’d installed years ago, a thick blanket over my lap. My right side still carried a slight tremor from the stroke, especially when the weather turned cold, but I had learned to live with it. To see it not as weakness, but as proof I was still here.Callan sat beside me, his cane resting against the bench. His arthritis had progressed, as the doctors warned it would, but he still came out here every chance he got. Silver hair now fully white, deeper lines on his face, b