A grin spreads over Ronnie’s lips. “No, I’m not. But my implant is going nowhere. I’m not ready for a baby, and they know it.”
“We’re still working on convincing her.” Gabe winks with a blinding smile, to which Ronnie rolls her eyes.
The boys return shortly after carrying an ungodly amount of ice cream for half past eleven in the morning.I guess we’re having dessert before lunch.Trinity and Theo are both asleep in two identical baby swings, while Maddox and Parker have just been put down in two baby rockers.
“Here, Angel.” Shane brings me my sundae and brownies. “I got you two extra ones when you’re ready for them. I’ll put the sundaes in the freezer for now.” He kisses my cheek.
“You’re perfect,” I say as he walks away with a smirk.
When he returns, Dante comes running up to him just as he’s about to sit down beside me now that Emma has vacated the spot.
“Coach! Coach! Play hockey wit me?” He holds up a spare plastic hockey stick to Shane.
Shane crouches down in front of Dante and takes the stick from him. “You want me to play hockey with you, little man?”
“He was watching reruns with his dad last week and it was one of your games. He recognized you and got all excited. We toldhim he could ask you to play the next time we saw you,” Cecilia clarifies.
The look on Shane’s face shows just how touched he is by her statement. “Yeah, I’ll play with you, little buddy.” He stands and looks over his shoulder at me. “Is it okay?”
“Of course, go have fun.” I smile. “But be careful, I heard little Dante here is a really good player. He might kick you in the butt.”
Dante gets all excited when he hears my praise. “Yeah! Kick butt!” he exclaims, and for good measure, hits Shane in the butt with the small hockey stick.
I snort as Shane’s eyes widen. Cecilia shakes her head and sighs with a smile. “He learned that from his father.”
“Damn right, he did.” Silas stands proudly, puffing his chest. “A slap on the butt means good luck, right, buddy?”
“Mhm!” Dante nods enthusiastically. “An when Daddy play notty wit Mommy.”
Silas’s eyes widen as Cecilia gasps. The rest of us just start laughing at the little boy’s honesty.
“Silas! What have you been telling our son!?”
“Nothing! He asked me the other day why I kept hitting your butt. I told him I wanted to play naughty with you,” Silas rushes out. “I didn’t think he would repeat that!”
“He repeatseverything! Next thing you know, he’ll be smacking Gracie on the butt and saying he wants to play naughty with her!” Cecilia hisses at him.
“Hey! Keep your boy away from my daughter!” Greyson points a finger at Silas.
“Word to the wise, don’t tell your kids anything,” Cecilia says to us as she shakes her head in exasperation. “Unbelievable, this man.”
Twenty minutes later, after I’ve downed all three of my sundaes and six brownies—yes, I’ve become a pig—I make myway to the entertainment room where Shane is currently still playing hockey with Dante to tell them lunch is ready.
When I arrive at the room, I stop at the entrance and watch from the open door. Shane has used couch cushions to make up a hockey goal at one end of the room, and is currently hunched over Dante, showing him how to properly hold his stick.
He then demonstrates a few moves and watches as Dante replicates them, correcting him when his stance isn’t good or when he’s doing the move wrong. Most toddlers would probably get annoyed being told they’re doing something wrong, but not Dante. He stands proudly and listens attentively to every word leaving Shane’s mouth. Dante does the same move over and over again, until finally he gets it right and exclaims with joy as Shane cheers him on. That little boy has determination, and it shows.
“He takes so much after his father,” Cecilia whispers at my side while watching her son.
“He’s determined and resilient and so motivated. He started getting up early in the morning to work out with Sy. Jesus, he’s only two and a half, and he’s already self-disciplining himself. He refuses to eat anything that isn’t healthy for him, he’ll work himself to the bone until he’s sore and sweaty.”
She smiles at me before returning her focus to Dante, her voice holding so much pride toward her son. “Every night, instead of watching cartoons like most kids would, he watches hockey clips with Silas. And when the boys have games, he makes me record them so that he can watch them in the morning while eating breakfast. Hell, he even catches on when a player makes a wrong step and gets all excited that he spotted it.”
She wipes at her eye as she gets emotional talking about him. “He’s going to be a great hockey player one day, maybe even greater than his father.”
“I have no doubt about that,” I tell her as she smiles and walks into the room.
“Come on, baby. Time to eat and then we’re going swimming after.” She brushes his chestnut curls out of his face. “And I give you permission to push Daddy in the water.”
