Page 69 of Coast to Coast

“I was planning to take all the kids after the first game. I can watch them all.”

Mom had watched Lucy and AJ before, and they were already comfortable with her. As much as I wanted the help, I never wanted her to feel like her only role was as a babysitter. She was already going to be watching them after our first pre-season game. Most of the team and any WAG in town would go out afterward; Alex had already booked a reservation. I had mentioned it to Callie, but I don’t think she completely understood how big the night was. She wasn’t just there with our close group; the entire team would be there.

I texted Callie, letting her know we were almost home, and she responded instantly.

Callie: Perfect. Dinner is almost ready. Crew and I made you both a surprise.

I couldn’t hold back my smile; my mom was reading both my text from Callie and my mood.

“Damn,” she said. “I’m happy for you, Tom. You deserve this and so much more.” She wiped her eyes, and it was then that I realized how anxious she’d been this last year. She’d instantly taken to being a grandmother and accepted whatever role Kelsey allowed her to play. Luckily, Kelsey welcomed her with open arms. But everything had happened so fast, from the first call where I found out I might be a father to the news breaking thanks to one of Kelsey’s sisters sharing personal information. What I had with Callie was the first thing I had done for me, the first person who even remotely focused on my happiness. Yes, she was Crew’s Nanny, but we were building something real.

When I opened the door, Crew came running towards us, holding a large piece of poster board that looked like he’d been finger-painting on, with Callie’s writing translating the blobswith all our names. I pulled Callie towards me, squeezing her tight and kissing the top of her head, inhaling the fresh scent I’d come to recognize as her, home,mine.Crew attacked me once he was done crawling all over his Nana.

Callie’s gaze darted toward my mother nervously before she settled and accepted my affection. We probably should be more careful around Crew, but I wanted my mom to see what we had and not hide.

I quickly introduced Callie and my mother while snuggling with Crew. Callie made small talk with Mom, asking about her flight and talking about Vancouver. Callie had been skiing before but mainly had stayed in the resort areas.

“What’s for dinner? It smells great.”

“It’s chicken, and I found an older cookbook at the library today with kid-friendly recipes where I can bury vegetables in the food for Crew. Let’s see if he eats what I made before discussing what’s in it.”

Mom caught my eye, and she gave a slight nod. She approved.

“Callie, tell me about your music. Is it something you’d want to use to make a living?”

“Not as a performer. I love singing, but it would be as a songwriter if I could do anything in the music industry.”

I met Callie’s eyes, slightly surprised by her being so much more confident in where she saw her future. It seemed that the time away from her internship had given her time to consider another option for her future, one she chose with herself in mind. Not her parents, legacy, or something she thought was the right thing to do.

“Here,” I said, scrolling through my phone, finding the most recent TikTok she had posted and showing it to my mother. This is one of her original songs.”

“Huh,” she said, blushing. “I didn’t realize you were watching what I posted.”

I met her gaze and saw her surprise at my interest in her music. I’d already heard enough about her ex to determine that he was a jackass, but here she was, an absolute fucking powerhouse, and she was surprised that I cared enough to watch a TikTok. Not only had I watched it, but I’d been an annoying fuck with the rest of the team. She didn’t know it yet, but a built-in fan club would be supporting her tonight.

“I watch everything you post,” I answered truthfully. On the nights we were apart, I listened and watched her for hours. I loved her voice and loved listening to her, but her original music was always my favorite.

We ate our meal, and Crew miraculously cleaned his plate. “I’m not sure what you put in there, but he liked it,” Mom said to Callie.

“I took notes, just in case. His smoothie this morning was also packed with nutrients. I think he will be fine if the veggies don’t look like veggies.”

“Tom ate anything I put in front of him. Veggies and meat, and he didn’t care if it was over-cooked or under-seasoned; he just wanted food. Right before he started hockey, his doctor had pulled me aside and warned me that we’d have to watch his weight. But once he started playing, he used every single calorie he took in.”

I cleaned up dinner with Crew as my sidekick while Mom and Callie chatted. At some point, the baby photos came out, and I caught Callie cooing over a picture of me around Crew’s age.

“It’s not fair that you have access to my baby photos, and I haven’t seen any of yours,” I said, loading the last dish into the dishwasher.

“Don’t worry,” Callie said, “My parents have naked baby bums hung prominently on the family room wall. You won’t even need to ask, and you’ll see them.”

“Hey, I’ve got to start getting ready for tonight,” Callie says, excusing herself from the table before heading to her room.

“I’ll go run a bath for Crew,” Mom says as I pull out some blankets and sheets from the hallway closet to make the pull-out couch for the night.

“Really?” She asked. “You don’t need to sleep on the couch for my benefit.”

“Eh, okay?” I asked. Neither Callie nor I had discussed this, but we hadn’t spent a night apart since she got to town. One of us would be up early to get Crew, while neither of us thought he would think anything of it, but we didn’t want him slipping to Sam or Kelsey before we were ready to say anything. My mother encouraged us to share a bed, bringing us closer to feeling like a real relationship.

CALLIOPE

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