Page 94 of Rematch
The delayed flight had given him a lot of time to think this afternoon, as the question that had kept him awake for hours last night still hovered in the background.
It wasn’t until he’d walked into this condo and saw Chelsea singing and dancing to that silly children’s song that he realized there was no question after all.
He knew exactly what he wanted his future to look like.
Chelsea bent forward, intent on grabbing the remote from the coffee table, but Preston grasped her wrist, pulling it back.
“I need to talk to you about something,” he said, aware his tone sounded too serious when alarm flashed in Chelsea’s pretty brown eyes.
“Is everything okay? Is it us living here? If it’s not working?—”
“Jesus, Chels. It’s working great. As far as I’m concerned, this is no longer a trial run. I love having you and Lennon here, and this is our home. Ours,” he stressed.
Her shoulders relaxed. “Thank God. Because I love being here too. Plus, I think moving out has really helped things with me and my mom. She stopped by today.”
Usually after a visit with her mother, Chelsea was tense or upset, which didn’t jive with her current good mood at all. “And everything went okay?”
“Better than okay.” She leaned closer as if revealing some deep dark secret. “You passed the test. In record time too.”
Preston tilted his head, slightly confused. Because while he hoped Ellen was starting to thaw toward him, he hadn’t gotten the sense she was anywhere close to accepting him yet. “Seriously?”
“She said you’re a good man and a good father. Said I was lucky.”
Preston didn’t even realize exactly how much he wanted her parents’ blessing until that moment. He’d tried to console himself with the knowledge that her dad liked him, and it wasn’t unusual for guys—husbands—to have issues with their mothers-in-law.
Now that he’d made the decision regarding his future, he went ahead and embraced all his hopes and dreams.
Because in addition to being a stay-at-home dad, he also wanted to be Chelsea’s husband.
“Told you that I had a way with mothers,” he said with a wink, loving the way she giggled. So Chelsea’s good mood was driven by her mother’s visit. Obviously she’d wanted the approval as well, because even though Chelsea and her mother butted heads a lot, he could also see there was genuine love between them.
“Oh my God. I totally shanghaied the conversation. You had something you wanted to talk to me about,” Chelsea said, guiding them back to his original statement.
She twisted to face him, waiting expectantly for him to continue.
“I’ve been thinking about my future,” he started, then he amended his words. “Our future.”
“Our future?” she asked, with equal parts hope and hesitance.
“I’m retiring from hockey at the end of this season.”
“What?”
“It’s time for my next big adventure.”
She blinked a few times, shaking her head as if fighting to get his words to sink in. Then she asked, “What’s the next adventure?”
Preston drew in a deep breath. Then said, “I want to be a stay-at-home dad.”
Chelsea’s eyes widened, but before she could reply, he forged on.
“I’ve lived my childhood dream. For fifteen years. I’ve loved every second I’ve spent on the ice, but now, I want to live my adult dream. The one I didn’t even know existed until that first moment when you put Lennon in my arms.”
Tears gathered on Chelsea’s lashes, but she didn’t speak, so he continued.
“It’s your turn to live your dream, Chelsea. To open the best damn bakery in Baltimore. Hell, the whole country. And you deserve the chance and time to do it right without worrying about Lennon in the care of strangers. I mean, I think—hope—you’d be more comfortable if he was with me, right?”
“Of course, I would,” she said so loudly, there wasn’t room for doubt. “He loves you and you’re amazing with him. It’s just…are you sure? I would hate for you to make this decision, then somewhere down the road regret?—”
