Page 16 of No Pucks Given
Sometimes I swore Natalie thought on a different plane than the rest of us mortals. Always multitasking and doing so much. Sometimes she said things that made no sense until she explained her train of thought.
“I’ll go get Annie, and we’ll have a proper girls’ night. You’ll be okay, right?” Natalie was already grabbing her purse from the counter. As she fished out her keys, she paused and nodded. Iwasn’t sure I wanted to be left alone but I didn’t want to look like a chicken either. “While I’m sure Carter already offered, and you would rather be there. But if you don’t want to be here tonight, you could come to my place.”
Before I could even respond, she was out the door.
For the first time since bringing Stephanie home from school, I was left alone with my thoughts. I didn’t like it, and I was so close to calling Carter, but he would be pissed if he knew that Natalie left me alone. I didn’t want to call my parents since they wouldn’t understand, so I worked on putting together a charcuterie board. If I was going to drink all night, I’d need something in my stomach. All of us would.
Then, I sent a quick text to her nan saying.
I’ll pick up Stephanie late tonight.
Don’t worry about it. Just pick her up in the morning. That way, she can sleep.
Thank you. Send her my love.
Chapter 16
Carter
Opening my house to Siobhan was easy, even if she hadn’t formally accepted the proposal. I loved her, and I needed her to be safe. The only thing I didn’t think through was the fact that I was also opening my house to her daughter. A daughter I hadn’t even met.
While Siobhan was hanging out with Natalie, I made a trip to the shops. I needed to make my guest room a bit more appropriate for a little girl.
Well, I was going to try. This was a job I would normally pawn off on Natalie. But she was doing me a favor by brightening up Siobhan’s mood, and she kept telling me that I needed to grow up and do some of this on my own.
Before leaving for the mall, I texted Siobhan.
Ping me when you’re done. I’m doing some shopping.
For what?
Some things to make my guest room better for your daughter.
Aww.
Enjoy your girls’ night.
The first store I tried to go into basically threw up glitter and rainbows. I didn’t care if little girls liked it—I couldn’t buy any of that crap. I couldn’t deal with the eyesore.
Thankfully, the next store I saw was a toy store. Sure, there was still lots of color, but it wasn’t too much. In fact, the first thing I spotted when I walked in was a mountain of pillowlike creatures called Squishmallows. They were perfect since there were so many to choose from and a few different sizes. I grabbed a giant Narwhal and Pikachu, a few medium-sized ones, including Stitch and a blue dog that was from some kids’ show, and then a small turtle, a Charmander, and a deer. I could see anyone loving those, and she got a little bit of my own personality with the Pokémon ones.
Right when I was checking out with them, I saw a fuzzy notebook that had a narwhal on it that matched the stuffed animal, so I added it to my pile.
After paying for everything, I walked by a sports store. I really wanted to get her my jersey so she could match her mom, but I didn’t know her size. Besides, I could always get one or two from the team.
Not wanting to stay out too late, I prioritized my shopping list. Mostly, it would be bedding and some other knick-knacks. My guest room was so boring with the navy blue comforter, and Stephanie deserved something fun.
Natalie had been the one doing my shopping for so long that I really had to think of places that might knock out my list. Mom always liked going to TJ Maxx, so I checked my phone for the closest store, which was just around the corner in one of those buildings that surrounded the mall. I stuffed the toys in my trunk and drove to the store.
Entering the brightly lit store, I found the bedding area. There were a couple of choices that I thought a young girl might like. There was a Paris-themed one, a rainbow tie-dyed one, and a light purple one with some sequins. I didn’t know what the hell to choose, and Natalie could always do a return for me, so I went to the front of the store to grab a cart and chucked in the three bed sets.
I looked for some other things that could make the guest room feel a little bit better. In the next aisle, there was a fun light—the perfect match for the Parisian bedding. The base of the light was shaped like the Eiffel Tower, and there was a simple white shade on top. That went into the cart.
In the next aisle, it was all bath stuff. For the most part, I ignored everything that littered the shelves. That was until I saw a soap bottle that looked like a unicorn, with pink, shimmery soap inside. I tossed that in too.
Next to the soap was a small set of bathroom essentials in the same Paris theme. I grabbed that as well.
That was everything I needed and more, so I checked out before I did any more damage to my credit card.
