Page 45 of Safe at Home

“That really sucks. Hopefully, soon, you’ll both learn sign language and will be able to talk.”

“Want Mommy!” Nico yelled. “Mommy!”

I saw tears well up in Nico’s eyes and in Mack’s eyes as well. “He keeps asking for Mommy, and it breaks my heart to shake my head. I can’t make him understand that she risked her life for him. That she loved him more than anything.”

“Someday, you’ll be able to tell him,” I said as I wiped my own eyes. I reached in the bag I had brought with me and grabbed the teddy bear that Mack had specifically asked me to find. Luckily, I had been able to find the well-loved brown bear with a red bow tie. The minute Nico saw it, his eyes got wide, and he reached for the stuffed animal. I handed it to him, and he wrapped his small arms tightly around it and cuddled it against his chest.

“Thank goodness you were able to find Bear Bear.” Mack climbed in the hospital bed and pulled Nico and Bear Bear into his arms. Nico immediately cuddled against his side and put his thumb into his mouth. His little eyes closed, and Mack kissed the top of his head.

“I’ll let you guys get some rest. If you need anything for the funeral, let me know. If not, I'll see you in a couple days.”

When I got back to our motel room, I had to laugh that there was a ton of cat stuff on the bed. Litter boxes, cat toys, bowls, scratching posts, and more. My guess is that my wife had found a kitten she liked.

“Molls? Are you here?” I called out.

“In the bathroom,” she hollered back. “Come meet our new baby!”

I opened the bathroom door and saw not one, not two, but three very tiny kittens walking around my wife’s legs. She was seated on the toilet seat while she was petting them and talking to them in baby voices.

“Um, this is not one kitten! Explain.”

My wife actually laughed. “Don’t worry. Only one is ours. I talked to Mack, and he told me to get the sweetest kitten I could find. We decided to let Nico pick one after the funeral.”

“Well, that explains his kitten and our kitten, but who is getting the other one?”

“Pen’s kids want one,” she said with a smile. “They said Nico could pick his kitten first. That’s why we have all of them together.”

“I guess that makes sense. So, we’re going to keep all three kittens with us until we get back from Kentucky?”

“I guess it’s a good time to find out if you’re allergic to cats or not,” Molly said as she lifted a multi-colored kitten into her arms. “Because if you actually are, you can go back to living with Cooper.”

“Ha, ha! I’m not, don’t worry!” I said with a shake of my head. “I told you I was tested when I was younger, and even the doctor was shocked I wasn’t allergic to cats!”

Going to a funeral with my wife and old teammates was not how I wanted to spend our last day together before I had to go back to playing for my own team. We all sat in the third and fourth rows behind Mack and Ashleigh’s family. Ashleigh Marie McAlister’s body had been cremated, and a beautiful urn covered in her favorite flowers, chrysanthemums, sat in the front of the church she had grown up attending. Next to her was a giant photograph of her smiling face.

A lot of media was outside, including Erick and Tanner. Molly couldn’t believe the media had shown up at a funeral, but I told her it was just part of the bigger picture. The public wanted to see Ashleigh put to rest, too.

Nico sat on his grandmother’s lap during the service, and he seemed to enjoy the attention. During the middle of the service, when the officiant was talking about Ashleigh’s love of being a mother and a wife, we all heard Nico’s loud voice. “Mommy! Hi, Mommy!” His voice actually sounded like he was saying ‘Mob-bee’ since he couldn’t hear himself talking. Nico wriggled out of his grandmother’s grasp and went up to Ashleigh’s picture. “I want Mommy!”

I grasped Molly’s hand and wiped away a tear of my own with my other hand. There wasn’t a dry eye in the church. I saw Mack’s hands covering his face as he shook with sobs. It was the first time I had seen him cry, but I was glad he was showing his emotions. I felt horrible for him and Nico.

Mack’s dad put a hand on Mack’s shoulder as he tried to get up. He got up himself, went over to his young grandson, and scooped him up and into his arms. He walked out a side door of the sanctuary, and the officiant took a moment to take a deep breath. He proceeded with his eulogy about Ashleigh and his prayers for the small boy who no longer had a mother and for the husband who had lost his wife.

After the service, we all lined up to pay our final respects and hug the family. By the time we got up to the front, Nico was back and in his dad’s arms. He was enjoying giving everyone high fives and hugs. We shared condolences with Ashleigh’s mom, dad, grandparents, and her younger sisters. Then, we greeted Mack’s parents and his older brother, Connor.

“STONE!” I had to smile as Nico leaped from Mack’s arms into mine.

“Hey, sweetheart!” Molly said and rubbed his back. He smiled down at her, then he squealed with delight when he saw the other guys from the team.

I tried to give Nico back to Mack, but he just shook his head and jumped into Cooper’s arms.

“If you don’t mind holding him, he seems happy with you guys,” Mack said.

“We got him, Coach,” Cooper said and swung the laughing little boy onto his shoulders.

“If he gets to be too much or upset, just bring him back up here.”

We all went into the foyer, and I had to laugh as Cooper and Dominic threw a laughing Nico back and forth between themselves.

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