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My mom answers the house phone. “Adam, honey, are you home already?”
I can picture my mom standing next to the kitchen counter, her perfectly curled light-brown hair and the same green eyes as me sparkling with the usual mischief.
“No, I’m stuck at DFW for the night. My flight got canceled because of Hurricane Ingrid. It’s screwing up all the flights to the Southeast right now.”
“Yes, I heard about that on NPR this morning. Well, I hope they get you out here nice and early tomorrow. I went by to see the girls a few days ago and they are just going bananas without you there.”
“Yeah, Lindsay mentioned that,” I reply, trying not to sound annoyed that I’m getting guilt-tripped from multiple people now. “Is Dad around? I need to talk to him about the project.”
“Is everything all right?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I want to talk to him.”
“No, honey, I’m not talking about the project. I’m asking if everything is all right with you and the girls. You sure changed the subject awful quick there.”
I heave a deep sigh as I lie back on the hotel bed. “Lindsay wants me to retire. This might be my final WSL tour.”
“Oh, I see,” she says, her sweet southern accent turning a bit sour. “Is that what you want?”
“I have twins on the way and Kaia’s in private school now. The girls can’t travel with me anymore. They need me there.”
“Adam David Parker, you didn’t answer my question. Do you want to retire or not?”
I shake my head as I stare at the plain colorless ceiling from where I lie on the plain colorless bed thinking about my plain colorless post-surfing life. “I don’t know. I mean… No, I don’t want to retire. I want to ride this wave for as long as I can.”
“Then that’s what you should do. You won’t be a good father, or a good example, to your daughters if you’re miserable.”
“It’s not that simple. Lindsay needs me around. You said it yourself, the girls go crazy when I’m not there. And I didn’t marry Lindsay just to turn her into a single mother to four kids. What kind of man would I be if I did that?”
She huffs at this question. “I think she’s expecting too much of you at a time in your life when you need more from her. This is your dream, Adam. You’ve worked your entire life for this. She should support you. That’s part of being an equal partner in a marriage.”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Is Dad there?”
“Think about it,” she says before she hands the phone to my dad.
“What are you on about now, Margaret?” my father says, still addressing my mom as he brings the phone to his ear.
I smile as I hear her in the background telling him to mind his own business. “Hey, Dad. How’s it going?”
My dad groans. “Oh, you know, just trying to keep the world from falling apart one day at a time. We had to take Ernesto and John off your project and put them on the VA hospital reno. Some problems with the nurse call system got them behind and now they need to double up on labor to get back on track. But I’ll have Jen call the union and see if they can reactivate a few guys. We’ll get them back to work at your place soon. Is everything okay in Mila’s room? I don’t want my girl in that room until it’s 100 percent up to code.”
“I’m actually not home yet. I’m stuck at DFW. Just calling to check in and see how everything’s going.”
“Ah, I see. Well, don’t you worry ’bout a thing, son. We’ll get this project completed by the time those babies take their first breath of sweet Carolina air.”
“Thanks, Dad. I’ll see you when I get back.”
I end the call and sit up. It’s amazing how I once thought my refusal to work for my father would be the end of our relationship. In a way, I think not working for him strengthened our bond. We understand each other better now. We’re both providers for our families and we’re both passionate about what we do. That wasn’t the case when I worked for Parker Construction.
But if I retire, my only choice will be to teach surfing, like Yuri, or start a company that sells some type of surf product. Or go back to work for my dad.
Fuck that. My mom is right. I can’t give up on something I’ve worked toward my entire life. But I can’t tell Lindsay until after Pipeline in December. If she doesn’t take it well and, God forbid, she kicks me out of the house, that would ruin my mental focus. It’s selfish, I know, but I have to keep my eye on the prize until the end of Pipeline. After that, I’ll come clean to Lindsay. I’ll tell her I’m not retiring.
Nine
The first thought that crosses my mind as I open my eyes is that I’m fucked. I slept through the alarm! I leap out of bed, feeling slightly disoriented as I stand near the bedroom window, realizing it’s pitch black in here. I sigh as I realize I didn’t sleep through the alarm. I just woke up in the middle of the night. But why was I so sure it was time to wake up?
The moment I turn around to get back in bed, I get the answer to this question.
“You came home early?”
“I bullied my way onto a red-eye flight. I couldn’t sleep in that damn hotel room without you.”
I don’t know if it’s the pregnancy hormones or the two-week absence, but I’m suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. The tears begin to fall the moment I climb onto the bed next to him.
“I’m so happy you’re back,” I whisper, my voice choked by the tears.
He opens his arms, welcoming me into his nook. “I hate leaving you,” he says, kissing my forehead as his hand lands on my belly. “Especially like this… Wow. You weren’t kidding when you said you gained six pounds in two weeks.”
“Is that an insult? ’Cause I’ve been getting enough of those lately from Kaia. She accused me of having too many hormones yesterday.”
He chuckles at this. “You should have responded by asking her if she knows how to make a hormone.”
“Very funny, but she’d probably know the answer to that joke.” I slide my hand under his T-shirt, smiling when I feel his skin prickle as I skim my fingertips over his abs. “Both Kaia and Mila said the F-word yesterday. They’re getting really testy with me lately. I don’t think I’m handling it well.”
“You never give yourself enough credit. You’re a good mother.” He grabs my chin roughly and tilts my face up. “You’re the best mother. And that’s no bullshit.”
I know it’s not anywhere in the realm of possibility for me to be the best mother, so I decide to change the subject. “Surfline magazine sent you an email saying they tried to catch you after the event, but you disappeared pretty quickly. They want to do an interview before Pipeline and a follow-up interview afterward. I think they want you to win.”
“They’re interviewing the top five seeds,” he replies. “It has nothing to do with who they’re backing.”
I shake my head at his modesty. “Adam, why don’t you want to believe they’re supporting you? How are you supposed to win when you’re out there if you think you’re not better than those other guys? ’Cause you are. You’re the best. And that’s no bullshit.”
He laughs as he squeezes my shoulder and plants another kiss on my forehead. “I love the fuck out of you. You know that?”
I shrug, though my stomach flutters as if it’s the first, and not the billionth, time he’s said those words. “I may have a tiny bit of a suspicion that you kinda like me.”
He slides his arm out from under my neck and lays his hand on my cheek. “Well¸ this is how much I love you. I want you to go back to sleep. I’m gonna take a shower and get the girls up. I’ll take Kaia to school today so you can rest.”
“Have you even slept?”
He smooths the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip as he stares at my mouth. “Doesn’t matter. I want you to go back to sleep. That’s an order.”
He kisses me tenderly and I wrap my arms around his waist, lightly tracing my fingernails over his back. His kiss becomes hungrier and I moan softly into his mouth.
r /> He chuckles as he pulls away. “Go to sleep, you horndog.” He kisses the tip of my nose before he gets up. “I’ll see you when you wake up.”
* * *
It takes me at least an hour to fall asleep after Adam gets my heart racing, the way he always does. But I manage to fall asleep shortly after he’s done with his shower, and when I finally open my eyes, the alarm clock on the bedside table says it’s past ten a.m. I haven’t slept past eight a.m. since before Mila was born. I guess I didn’t realize how tired I was.
