Page 25 of Penalty Kill

I still wasn’t sure how I managed to meet him without figuring it out. I guess that turned out to be a blessing. But now, my eyes were open to his fame. I knew how far his influence reached. His fans cared about him as a person as much as they cared about him as a player. They were devastated for him when he broke the news of his separation then divorce. They wanted him to be happy. They wanted him to move on.

Then for them to see me. With the boys. Wearing his jersey. Sitting with the wives and girlfriends of the players.

Of course people would jump to the first conclusion.

Maybe it wasn’t that big of a deal. Only the people around us noticed. Right? It wasn’t like this would even leave the building. Give it ten minutes and someone else would score and they’d forget all about this mortifying moment.

Maybe I should get a jersey made that said “nanny.” I almost smiled. Now that wouldn’t get people talking.

“Sydney, look!” Finn pointed to the corner of the ice across from us. “Olli has the puck!”

I watched the goalie take the puck from the corner while all of the other players were on the opposite side of the ice from him. He looked back and forth before hitting it to one of his teammates. I couldn’t read the jersey to see who it was.

“Noah’s gonna hit it,” Milo said with confidence. I wasn’t sure if Noah was even on the ice, but these boys had been right so far, so I didn’t question them. They were pretty good with the rules and following the game. Better than I expected for four-year-olds, but I guess when your dad was a player it was in your blood.

“That’s awesome,” I said, wanting to be encouraging but not quite knowing what was going on. I needed to focus on them and making sure they were having fun, not worrying about what other people might be thinking.

9

Brandon

The boys were usually good about letting me sleep in the morning after a game. And by sleep in, I mean they left me alone for an extra thirty minutes, so when I opened my eyes to a dark room, I had to think about where I was.

Hotel room? No, last night was at home. Where were the cartoons? The boys’ laughter?

I rolled over and checked my clock. It was nearly nine already. I couldn’t remember the last time they stayed in bed that long, not without being sick.

Oh no. I jumped out of bed and pulled on a pair of pants as I hurried out of my room and down the hall. Their door was open, and their room quiet.

“Boys?” I stepped in, looking at their beds. “Milo? Finn?”

I went to the playroom, but it was empty, too. Where were they?

I started down the stairs and nearly jumped to the bottom when I heard their voices. I rushed into the kitchen and froze. Sydney stood at the stove, wearing a pair of boxers and an oversized shirt. Her hair was piled on top of her head, and she was smiling as she listened to Milo’s story.

I committed this moment to memory. It was perfection. A beautiful woman smiling, makeup-free, not worried about anything other than my boys. They were sitting on the edge of the counter on the island so they could watch her while she moved around the kitchen. She listened as the boys told her about a dinosaur show they watched last week.

“So the Brontosaurus is the big one with the long neck?”

Milo nodded. “They eat plants.”

“How do they get that big eating plants?” she asked.

Finn shrugged. “Dad tells us we have to eat vegetables to grow big. They do it.”

She smiled. “That’s right. But that’s not your favorite, right?”

“No! Mine’s a Stegosaurus!” Finn formed a horn with his hands on his head and started imitating what I assumed was the noise they made.

She clapped. “That was so good. I thought one was in the house!”

Finn’s chest puffed up. “We practice a lot at school.”

I could tell she was holding back laughter. “That’s amazing. Milo, can you do your favorite?”

He nodded and held his arms up close to his body. “I’m a Velociraptor.”

His squeal-growls were louder than necessary, but she didn’t seem to mind.