Page 61 of Balance

Avery and Nessa notice me first and jump off of their stools before wrapping around my legs. “How was your day?” I ask as I kneel down and pull them into my arms.

Nessa starts babbling on about how much fun she had today with Lily and Tilly, while Avery tells me everything about her STEM project her group is working on.

It all flies over my head but I still smile and nod, corralling them back to the island so that I can eat. It smells amazing.

Mackenzie smiles at me and stands, pushing her barely eaten plate away. “I’m going to go lay down. Thank you for dinner, Lil.” She waves at me and disappears around the corner, the clacking of her heels disappears, too. I can’t stand the noise ever since Brittany stained my soul for eleven years.

Lillian sends me a small smile and turns to open up the oven. “I made pasta and grilled vegetables for dinner.”

I groan and settle down beside the girls and dig in as soon as it’s in front of me. I feel like my eyes are about to roll into the back of my head. I wish I could cook like this.

I can figure out how to make canned soup and macaroni and cheese. I can microwave chicken nuggets. Firing up a grill and cooking up steak, chicken, burgers, and hotdogs, but I burn corn.

Lillian is a fucking angel, that’s for sure.

She chuckles as she finally sits down to eat and she starts talking to Avery about everything they need to order or buy for the projects. I pull out my wallet and toss her one of my credit cards. She frowns at me and tilts her head.

“I don’t want you spending your money on this. Take the card, for anything any of you need.”

Avery squeals and tries to grab for it, but Lillian swipes it off the counter first. She smirks at my daughter before slipping the black card in her pocket. “Not so fast, little ninja. Who knows what trouble you would get into with this plastic card in your grubby fingers.”

Avery sticks her tongue out at Lillian and chugs her glass of water. “My hands arenotgrubby!” She slides down off of the stool and sets her dishes in the sink. “I’m going to go finish up my homework. Can we watch a movie tonight, dad?” I nod and she smiles before skipping out of the room, her hair billowing behind her.

Lillian helps Tilly finish up her dinner before she wipes the little ones off and sends them to the playroom while she cleans up. I stand up with a groan after finishing off my grilled broccoli and zucchini and help her dry while she washes the dinner dishes.

“How was your day?” Her angelic voice graces my ears and makes me shiver.

I shrug and set another plate in the cabinet behind me. “Same old. Practiced on the ice for what felt like years before showering and coming home. How about you, beautiful?”

She hums and glances over at me before staring back down at her hands. “Ah, same old stuff, honestly. Do you think you’ll miss it? When you retire?”

I nod and lean up against the counter, crossing my arms over my chest. “Yes and no. I’ll probably find a league to play in every now and then, but will I miss playing and practicing for months on end? All of the traveling, being away from my family? No. But I’ll miss the money.”

She snorts and shuts off the water before drying her hands. “I’ll bet.”

I bite down on my lip and guide her down the hall before we check on the girls. “Do you like it here?”

She nods and leans her head against my shoulder before yawning. “I do. I didn’t think I’d love it here in Minnesota, but I do. Why?”

“I meant here in this house. I was thinking about finding something new, something untainted.”

She turns and glances in between my eyes. “Doyouwant to move? Or is it just to benefit anyone else?”

“I think it would be good for me and the girls if we moved, somewhere we can make better memories. Maybe somewhere that has thicker trees for a treehouse, better parks, and more kids. Somewhere without a lake in the backyard so that I don’t have a heart attack every time they go outside.”

She frowns and nods, “Well, whenever you have another free weekend, I wouldn’t mind helping you search.”

I wink at her and we spend the rest of the night playing in the playroom before we watch a movie in the living room.

I never imagined I would be so damn happy and content in this lifetime.

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The rest of the week flashed before my eyes. We played two home games and lost both. It isn’t looking too good for our team. I wanted to head off to the playoffs again for my last year.

But it seems like all of us have other shit on our minds. James and Landon with their drama with Drea/Alex. Nolan’s beef with James and him being in love with Marie.

Logan is obsessed with his wife and the others are just hazing the poor rookies. Who knows what they’re going through. Alexi never complains about his wife and kids.

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