Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
“Daddy.” Michael’s jumping up and down, and then I see him, the blue eyes I dreamed of, the blue eyes I could honestly get lost in.
“Daddy,” Jack says and jumps up and down, slapping the glass. He puts his glove on the glass over his face and then looks up. When he sees me smiling at him, he puts up his hand to wave hi to me. Max pushes him on his shoulder and tells him to stop looking at his sister.
He just shakes his head and skates off, and the boys watch them warm up. After everything is done, Matthew comes over to the glass and tosses two pucks over. The boys grab them and shoot their hands up in the air cheering. “Okay how about we get some pizza?” I ask them, and we walk up the steps to the lodge. Once inside, I make a plate for each of them and have them sit down with their pizzas on their lap.
I sit behind them as they make fun of the different things on the boards. “Thank you for taking him down to the glass,” Sarah says as she takes the seat next to me.
“It was my pleasure. They had so much fun,” I tell her, and she just looks ahead. I hear squeals coming from inside the lodge and turn to see that Allison’s parents have arrived.
Her mother, Parker, grabs Alex and cuddles her to her chest. “It shows that her f-a-t-h-e-r isn’t here.” She spells out his name; otherwise, Alex might start again. While Allison just laughs, Parker looks at the seats and shakes her hand at me. “Hello, Denise. You look so beautiful with your hair down.”
“Thank you,” I tell her and then lean down. “Michael, Grandma is here.”
He turns around and yells at her, “Grandma, I’m sitting with Jack and we’re eating pizza.”
She laughs at him. “Okay, love.”
Cooper, who is Allison’s father in all sense of the word, comes to us and leans down to kiss my cheek. “Hello, Denise,” he says and then walks around to sit next to Michael. “Is that my boy?” he asks and then looks past him at Jack. “And who are you?”
“I’m Jack,” he says proudly. “My daddy is a defenseman, and he’s strong,” he says, and Cooper laughs.
“Well, Jack, I’m Cooper. Michael’s grandpop.” He puts his hand out, and Jack does the same thing, shaking it.
The teams now skate onto the ice, and everyone gets to their feet and starts cheering. The JumboTron shows Max on the screen, and it’s enough for Alex who is standing up on Parker’s lap while she claps to call, “Dada.”
“That’s my dad,” Michael says to Jack, who’s just watching the big JumboTron, and then Zack’s picture appears, and he jumps up.
“That’s my dad,” he tells everyone, and you have no choice but to fall in love with him.
The puck drops, and it’s a slow game during the first period, but then when the second starts, it’s like Toronto is ready to win. They score first, a slip of a tip in making Mark smack his hockey stick on the ice.
It takes twenty-five seconds for us to come back and score, tying it. With Matthew slipping it past the goalie after a pass from Max. Sometime during the second period, Michael comes to sit on Parker’s lap next to me and puts his head on her shoulder. Jack comes also, looking at him. I open my arms, and he walks to me and jumps in my lap. He puts his head on my chest, and I lean my cheek down on the top of his head.
“Tired?” I ask him, and he tries to say no but yawns instead. He reaches out and grabs a curl around his finger, twirling it between his fingers. Sarah comes over and asks me if I want her to take him, but I look down at him, his legs draped over mine, my arms over him, cocooning him into me. His fingers never stop twirling my hair. I watch the game, and I have to say it’s the most content I’ve been in forever.
Chapter Eight
Zack
I put on my elbow pad and then my jersey, pulling it up at the sleeves. “You nervous?” Matthew asks me as he grabs his gloves.
“Nah,” I say, and I’m really not. There are no butterflies in my stomach, no big nerves about stepping on my new home ice. It feels like I’ve always been here, like it’s always meant to be here.
“Is Jack out there?” Max asks, and I just nod my head.
“Yeah, I got tickets for him and Sarah,” I tell him, grabbing my own gloves and following them out to the ice. Matthew skates on first and then Max. I skate on, and some of the fans bang on the glass, shouting my name, but I don’t really pay attention to them. Instead, I pay attention to Jack, who is standing by the glass banging on it. He’s never come down to the glass before. He always stayed away from the fans because Chantal hated it. I skate to the glass and see he’s with Michael who’s also banging on the glass, trying to get Max’s attention. Then I look up and standing right behind them is Denise, who beams with pride behind the boys. Her eyes find mine, and I suddenly get the butterflies that shouldn’t be there. The butterflies that I thought were gone are now back. Nerves also come as my palms get sweaty in my gloves.