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“Go ahead, celebrate. You know you want to,” Luc said. “I never deny anyone a celly.”
Kassie raised her fist in the air and pumped it up and down, hockey style. Maybe she was mocking them, but he didn’t care; he liked watching it all the same. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her, and without Kaden around, Luc wasn’t overly concerned how it looked.
Sam’s voice interrupted Kassie’s celebration. “We’re heading to the go-carts. Anyone else want to join us?”
“Luc? Kass? Dare to race us at go-carts? My little sunshine is a mean rally-car driver,” Sam joked.
Luc nodded and shrugged his shoulders. “Sure.”
“Um, yeah. Why not?” Kassie accepted.
Leaving Hailee and Dom behind at the Dance Revolution machine, the rest of them made their way out to the go-cart course. It was outdoor, and Luc was wishing he had his sweatshirt right now. Fall was trying to set over Pittsburgh. The days were sunny and warm, but the nights were chilly.
Willow ran to the entrance gate, while Trina chased after with her little jacket. “Honey, you need to wear this.”
Luc stood behind Sam at the pay window.
“She’s too small to ride alone,” the teenager taking the money said, in a monotone voice. “And is she pregnant? Yeah, if she is, she can’t ride. Sorry.”
Sam looked over at his wife, and she waved him off. “It’s fine. I’ll take a video.”
“Okay, and the little one is with me.”
“Well, I’ll need you to sign this waiver then. Since she’s so young.”
“There’s no crashing into one another like bumper cars, right?” Sam asked, putting on his concerned parent look.
“No, sir.”
“Okay, then I’m okay with her riding with me.” With that, Sam signed the waiver and paid. Taking Willow by the hand, they walked onto the track. “All right, sunshine! Let’s pick a car.”
Luc was next in line, and Kassie was right behind him.
The gate locked, and Luc raised an eyebrow at the teenager in the Fun for All vest.
“Sorry, sir. This race is full. You two will be in the next one.”
“But there are still four empty cars,” Kassie complained from behind him.
“We group the riders by age. There’s the tiny girl out there, as well as a few other kiddos. This race will have a max speed set that the carts can go. You two will go the next race, no max speed,” the teen explained, uninterested in whether they agreed with the answer or not.
Luc turned to say something to Kassie, not looking forward to making small talk while they waited for their turn. But to his surprise, Trina was standing there, already talking quietly with Kassie.
“Excuse me?” Kassie called to the young worker. “Can I pay now and go stand at the gate with my friend?”
The kid nodded. With a smile, Kassie gently nudged her way in front of him and paid before standing beside Trina to watch Sam and Willow race.
The racing light on the track went from red to yellow to green, and the racers were off. Cars were filled with young kids and parents. Some started out slow and got the hang of it; others were stuck, apparently not knowing where the gas pedal was, and one was driving in a circle.
Another young worker had to help the ones who were stuck until they were racing with the others.
Trina took videos while waving at her daughter, as the two of them sped around the track. Willow giggled uncontrollably the whole time, loving the race. Sam was beaming with pride. He was all daddy mode when he was with his little girl. But to be fair, he was a great dad. Willow was his everything, next to Trina. And the baby they had on the way was another lucky kid.
Luc watched them, mesmerized, until their eight-minute race was over. This was one reason he enjoyed doing the family nights with the guys. Mostly it was because Sam and Trina were like family to him. But he also enjoyed watching Sam go from hockey-bro mode to daddy mode. The smile that little girl put on his face was unlike anything Luc had ever seen. Well, maybe it came close to the smile that Trina put on Sam’s face.
Those two had a love of a lifetime, and as cliché as it may be, it fit them. They were the couple that all other couples modeled themselves after or measured themselves against. They’d recently been through hell and come out stronger than ever, as well as expecting again. Luc was lucky to call them both his friends.
The workers unloaded all of the cars while Luc and Kassie waited to get on.
