Page 16 of Pucking Fate

It was a sweet kind of torture I will happily endure again tonight because, while it makes me angry to see the time I lost with my son, seeing all the images helps me feel like I’m becoming a part of his life.

All I know is that I want to be in the photos and videos from now on.

At the park the next day, the three of us eat some pizza, then I push Finley on the swings. His laughter fills the air as he soars higher and higher while Maya sits on a bench and watches from afar, giving us some space. For a while, it’s just us — no tension, no awkwardness, just father and son. It feels good; right.

“Christian, can we play hockey in the backyard later?” Finley asks as I slow the swing down and he hops off.

“Sure thing. As long as your mom doesn’t mind,” I add, steering him back toward Maya. I want to stay on that woman’s good side by deferring to her on everything Finley related.

“I wish I had an ice rink out there instead of just grass,” he says with a heavy sigh when we’re almost at Maya’s bench.

“Me too, buddy. But the ice would melt in the summer.”

“Oh yeah,” he says.

“I have an idea, though,” I tell him, since I’m having ice withdrawals myself. “Let me make a quick call, okay?”

“Okay,” he says while Maya gets to her feet and arches an eyebrow in question.

I stay close enough for her to overhear the conversation since I don’t want her to think I’m calling some other woman.

“Christian?” her brother’s deep voice answers, sounding surprised to see my name appearing on his phone’s screen.

“Hey, Preston. Sorry to bother you, but I was hoping you could call in a favor for us.”

“Us?” he asks.

“Me, Finley, and Maya.”

“So, things are going well with the visits?”

“Yeah, so far so good,” I tell him. “Finley and I have been playing hockey in the backyard, but he misses the ice. I do too. Do you think you could pull some strings to get us into the Warhawks arena for an hour or two one day this week?”

“I’ll see what I can do and call you back,” he says.

“Okay, thanks.”

As soon as I end the call, Maya says, “You called my brother for a favor?”

“Yeah. Why?”

She shakes her head, making her long raven strands dance in the wind. “It’s still odd that you two aren’t constantly at each other’s throats.”

“We’ve worked things out. Preston’s forgiven me for being an idiot and I’ve forgiven him for hitting me and shit in the past. And stuff, I mean, in the past.”

“That’s good. I’m glad,” she replies. “I know you were his best friend during the minor leagues, when you were roommates.”

“Yeah, I actually missed the big oaf over the years,” I tell her. “It’ll be nice to get to play on the same team with Preston again without him trying to murder me.”

Maya’s smile makes me weak in the knees.

Clearing my throat, I glance back to Finley going down the slide. “You don’t mind if we go to the arena to skate, do you?”

“Not at all. Finley loves the ice,” she says. “In fact, I bet he would love to have his birthday party there this year.”

“When’s his birthday?”

“July twenty-second.”

---