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I’m one lucky girl and I know it.
As the house comes into sight, I see Ben on the front step with the boys. He’s blowing bubbles and the boys are chasing them and laughing like crazy. My heart swells at the scene before me. Ben spots me first and waves then tells the boys to look behind them. Their little faces light up and they run to me while I get off my bike and put the kickstand down.
“Mom!” Josh shouts. “You’re home!”
“You bet I am, buddy. How was your morning?”
“Fun. Dad made pancakes.” He wraps his arms around my neck. “But I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.” I plant a big, sloppy kiss on his cheek and watch as he wipes it off. Sean squirms his way in between us and Josh breaks away to run back to Ben. I pick up our little boy and bury my nose in his neck, making him squeal with laughter as I take in the musty scent of a boy who's been playing outside for hours.
Ben strides over to us and walks my bike back to the house for me, but not before giving me a kiss. “How was work?”
“Great. How was your morning?” I ask as Sean wiggles out of my arms to go chase a butterfly.
“Tiring, but good. These two have a lot of energy.” He grins. “I’ll have to go into work for a rest.”
“I know, right? There’s never a dull moment around here.”
“No, there isn’t.” He parks my bike and takes me in his arms. “I say we get them some lunch so we can get on with naptime.”
“Oh, I like the sound of that.” I smile, thinking about what the afternoon holds.
As we corral the boys into the house, I can’t help but grin at what my life has become. It’s busy and full and wonderfully happy. And I know with Ben by my side, it always will be.
Slow, Hard Puck Sneak Peek
One
Danika
“I’ll be fine, Mom.” Fighting a big sigh, I try to hold my patience. I’m on a shuttle bus with the rest of the figure skating team and I speak quietly so the other teammates won’t hear. “See you in two weeks.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come? I could change my flights and meet you there in a day or two. I’m sure my boss will give me the extra time off if you need me.”
“I need to do this on my own. It’ll be all right, I promise. The whole team will be with me. Besides, I’m not a teenager anymore.”
“But you’ll always be my baby, no matter how old you get.” Her voice goes up two octaves and I know her bottom lip is quivering. “I’m just so proud of you, Dani. I don’t want to miss a minute of your time in Korea.”
I roll my eyes at my best friend and fellow figure skater, Tasha, who just got off a similar call with her mother. We’re on our way from the rink to the airport. Even though all of our parents dropped us off less than half an hour ago, we’re all getting the same call from panicky parents who want to change their plans and come now. Our coach, Pierre Rondeau made it very clear that no family members are to come until the start of the Winter Games. He needs us to concentrate on nutrition, discipline, and perfection for the next fourteen days. He needs us to get away from the tiger moms and the doting dads who think they know better than the coach himself. In my case, I hope that this will be the difference I need to finally achieve my life’s goal of being the best figure skater in the world. Every competition I come so close, but never make it onto the podium which is hugely frustrating. I have all the parts needed to make it, but somehow, I never quite manage to pull it all together to win the gold.
My dad’s voice comes on the line. “Pumpkin, it’s me. Your mom and I just want you to know that if you need us, we’ll be there in a heartbeat.”
“Thanks, Dad. I appreciate it, but I’ll be okay.”
“All right. Now, you remember what we told you about Athlete’s Village. It’s full of young men with bad intentions.”
Oh, God. Not this again. “Relax, okay? I’m not going to end up in some orgy or something. I’m there to win gold, not let some idiot jock distract me.”
“Good, because we’ve all worked so hard to get to this moment. I’d hate to see you waste this opportunity.”
My shoulders drop under the weight of his words. We’ve all worked so hard. My parents aren’t like the other skating families. We don’t pull into the parking lot of the rink in a shiny new Lexus, my mom hasn’t had a nip and tuck, my dad didn’t retire early so he could play more golf. Instead, he’s still pulling double shifts at the water treatment plant to pay for my extra ice time, coaching, physiot
herapy, massage therapy, sport psychologists, skates, and costumes. “I won’t let you down, Dad. I promise.”
“I know, Pumpkin. It’s just that everything’s going to be completely new to you and there will be about a million distractions to throw you off your game.”
“I’ll stay focused. I know what to do.”
