Page 3 of Nodus Tollens
“Better yet, I get us in, on a good team… you get my face on your ass.”
“I got a nice ass Decker.” I joke. “I don’t need the image of your face ruining it.”
“Hey now, I got a nice face. If anything, it’ll make your ass more appealing.” He teased as my face scrunched.
“Don’t tell me you’ve been checkin’ out my ass…” I groan amusingly.
“No offence, bro, but you aren’t my type.”
Sitting up, I grab the pillow from behind my head and toss it like a missile in his direction.
“Fucker.” I chuckle and hear a “oomph” from the top of his bed. He falls back, causing a small thump, and our laughter slowly dies down. For a moment, there was just silence. It wasn’t an uncomfortable quietness. More of an acknowledging type of stillness that needed recognition. Everything was about to change. Though we were still young and naïve to the world around us, we both knew that in order to succeed in this life, we had to work our asses off.
“Have you ever thought about the future?” Hayes questioned. His voice soft, like he was uncertain of the question himself.
“Constantly.” I admit.
Coughing, he speaks again. “I mean like the future, future.”
Confused, I shift my head in his direction. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, like a wife, kids, the whole shebang?”
I could honestly say I’ve not once thought about the possibility of one day having my own kids. The idea made my stomach twist uncomfortably. I enjoyed kids, but were they for me? Not it a world like this, where cruel people existed. The idea of having my kids go through just a sliver of what I did, made me murderous.
But a wife.
Absolutely not.
“I’m guessing you have?” I answered instead. A pause in his response gave me what I already knew. Hayes was always destined to be a family man, whether he knew it or not. I could already see him skating around the ice with a miniature version of himself high up on his shoulders. He had too much love and patience not to share it with anyone else.
“I guess, one day, I wouldn’t mind coming home to some kids and a wife.” I watched in almost darkness as his shoulders shrugged. “It might be fun teaching them about hockey one day.”
“Yah, I could see that.”
“What? Me being a dad?” He laughed lightly, but I knew his question was serious. Especially in his eyes.
“Yeah, I could.”
I knew he was processing my words, because if I got the same answer, I would be too. The idea of having a smaller version of yourself was terrifying, but being a good dad was even more so.
His silence lasted for only a few more minutes until he finally broke it.
“As much as you’ll probably hate what I’m about to say, I can see you holding a little baby girl one day.”
A baby girl. My god, even just hearing it made me want to viciously vomit.
“A girl? Why the fuck a girl?”
Probably another way of God punishing me. A boy would be different, way different. At least then, I could relate to him on some level. But a girl… I don’t think I’d ever be prepared for the whirlwind of emotions a dark-haired little girl would give me.
Fuck.
“Because maybe then you’ll soften up a bit.”
I scoff immediately.
Soften up? Why the hell would I need to soften up?
