Page 86 of Surprise Mother Pucker

“Is that a baby hockey jersey?” I asked excitedly. It was the same maroon and gray color as the jerseys I had seen Storm wearing.

“It is!” Charlie nodded. “I thought little Charlotte should show off some team pride!”

I took the jersey off him and marveled at it. “Thank you!” I knew instantly she was going to look painfully adorable wearing it.

Gently pulling off her coat and ear defenders, I grabbed the jersey and popped it over her head, feeding her arms through the little holes. She was an angel and let me move her until the jersey was straightened out. It was a little big for her, but that just meant she had plenty of room to grow into it.

“Look at you!” I cooed as I put her ear defenders back on.

“She looks so good!” Micha exclaimed with a grin. “You’re the prettiest tiny terror here!” he said, leaning forward and blowing a raspberry on her cloth-covered belly.

I opened my mouth to say she seemed to like it when the loudspeakers roared to life.

“Please welcome the Avalon Knights!”the booming voice declared as a stream of hockey players descended onto the ice for the start of the game. They all lined up, facing each other, as the starting players were announced.

“Where’s Dada?” I asked Charlotte, pointing to the ice. She was starting to attempt to form words, so I had taken every opportunity to say Mama. Every now and again, I threw in a Dada for Storm and the guys.

“He’s there,” Eli said, leaning in close and pointing to number twenty-three. I couldn’t see his face, as it was covered by a helmet, but as soon as my eyes landed on him, I recognized the dark hair spilling out.

Storm looked over toward us, and his face broke out into a gigantic grin as he waved in our direction. I was pretty sure the wave was intended for me and his pack mates…but the girls on our row seemed to have other ideas.

“Did you see him? He waved at me! I told you I caught his eye at that party,” one of the girls chirped, dancing in her seat.

My stomach soured, and I turned away, doing my best to ignore them. When had Storm been at a party? It hadn’t been recently, had it? I knew he had a past—I was part of that past. Still, something about it didn’t sit right with me.

Doing my best to ignore them, I looked down at my daughter, whose rapt attention was on the ice, and back to the game. Once the puck was dropped, the players started moving at breakneck speeds. It was hard to keep track of them.

“Damn, they’re fast,” I muttered.

“This is nothing. You should see an NHL game, those guys are speed demons,” Micha said.

I would believe that when I saw it.

Every few minutes, the whistle would be blown, and they would reposition themselves. I did my best to watch the puck, but I was developing whiplash after a mere few minutes. So instead, I did my best to keep an eye out for Storm.

He wasn’t always on the ice; sometimes he was back on the bench. The players on the ice changed at a dizzying rate. I couldn’t understand how the commentators kept up with it.

Storm had come on and off the ice a few times in the first twenty minutes and was still on the ice when the whistle was blown, indicating the first twenty-minute break.

Instead of skating toward the bench and off the ice, like the rest of his teammates, number twenty-three made a beeline for our little group, pulling off his helmet. His hair was damp and sticking to his forehead as he beamed at us.

Holding Charlotte under her armpits, I lifted her until her feet were just touching my legs, so she could see Storm better as he came right up to the glass and waved at her.

“Say hi to Dada!” I cooed as she waved frantically at him, as if she managed to recognize him.

He pointed to her little jersey before giving me a thumbs-up gesture, gently tapping the glass to keep Charlotte’s attention. He had people literally screaming for his attention, but all he could see was our daughter.

His head turned back to the bench, and he looked back at us, pouting. He needed to go but made sure to blow Charlotte and me a kiss before skating away.

“Daddy likes your pretty shirt,” I told her as she snuggled back into my lap.

“I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t get her the Hawking Hawks jersey.” Charlie snickered. “I was tempted, honestly.”

The Hawking Hawks were the team from the other university nearby. They were pseudo rivals with the Avalon Knights, but it wasn’t that serious.

“He wouldn’t have been happy with that,” I said, giving Charlie a stern but playful look.

He raised his hands. “Hey, if he had complained, I would have said I was simply supporting his teammate Seb—he played for the Hawks until recently.”

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