Page 115 of Rebound
Everything is finally starting to slow down since Tamara’s on maternity leave. It took some wrangling and getting Dr. Gopalan to have a serious conversation with her before she accepted it was time. Knowing she’s left her unfinished projects in the right hands is the only reason she’s not kicking up a fuss every single day. However, she’s now working on the nursery in the guest bedroom of our flat.
After our conversation about finding a house together, her contact took us to a few places. They weren’t bad, but Tamara walked out of every single one shaking her head. I don’t need to know her reasons for why they won’t work; she knows best. All I need is Tamara, our baby, a bed and a roof over my head. I was okay living in her flat a little longer, but we both know it’s time to move. New memories and everything.
What she doesn’t realise is I already know where we’re going to live.
Obviously Vera found out about our plans to look for a house and called me up one day with an idea. All she said was she had the perfect place for us to live. I’ve learned pretty quickly not to ask too many questions of the women in my life, to trust and let them lead the way. Even if everything in my body was telling me going to see the house without Tamara was a bad idea.
Except it wasn’t some random place in the middle of nowhere. It was the house. As in the place where Tamara was born and raised until her parents died. Vera’s parents put their furniture into storage and rented it out for the past thirty something years. Their last tenants moved out and now it’s mine. If I want it.
Despite my assumptions, it didn’t take a whole lot of effort to convince Tessa and Jacob to give me the house. I was ready to pay market value for the place, but they handed me the keys and ignored all my other attempts to give them money. Tessa cried for a long time while telling me all the amazing things about Tamara’s parents. Then made me promise that whatever we did to the house, Tamara would be in charge. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind she would redesign it however she wanted. All I planned to do was strip everything the tenants put in, freshen up the walls and clean the space.
Even though I got all of the work done pretty fast and was ready to show her the house in time for Christmas, the League of Hockey Tournament schedule got in the way. When I agreed to coach the Tamil Nadu Thunder, they hadn’t released the schedule. All I knew was it would end sometime in February and planned it so I would be home for the birth of our baby.
Nothing could have prepared me for the number of games we have to play. It’s a standard round-robin format with eight teams. And each team has twelve chances to prove their mettle and make it to the finals. I’ve done my best not to put too much pressure on the guys, because I want them to also enjoy it. I want them to know what it’s like to play with folks they’ve never worked with before.
I’ve already been gone for too long and while I’m in Chennai for New Year’s Eve and a day, I’ll be back on the road again. It would be fantastic to win the trophy, but it’s hard being away from home.
Which led me to making a final decision about my hockey career. I spoke to Tamara about it at length and even though it scares me to walk away, I know it’s the right thing. I had a serious conversation with my family and they were surprised, they were also incredibly supportive. The hard part was talking to Parth and Nihal; we’ve been on this journey together for more than a decade.
At the end of the day, this is the right thing for me—I’ll play all the tournaments next year and retire. Waiting for another medal in Los Angeles is a long shot and I don’t want to miss out on my child’s life while I’m busy training towards that. Instead, I’ll be part of the team for two big competitions and hang up my jersey. It’s been a good run and I have no regrets. I gave the sport and the team fifteen years of my life and they gave me medals, achievements and trophies I can be proud of forever. My kid will grow up knowing their dad did something good with his life and got out on his own terms.
And that’s enough.
Tamara looped every single medal I own around her neck and asked if I was sure. It was cute, seeing her like that. She insisted she wasn’t crying out of sadness, but blamed the hormones. Obviously.
It’s also why she snaps at me when I make her food perfectly. And why she’s horny all the fucking time. When we met with Dr. Gopalan for a routine check-up, I was assured this is totally normal. We’ve gone through multiple moods, the cravings are weird as fuck and horniness is at a twelve out of ten. I’m not complaining, but my dick is definitely exhausted. We never deny her anything. Even when he’s tired, the minute she flashes us that smile, we’re up and ready for her.
And it’s worse now since she’s finally on maternity leave and whenever I’m home, we’re either stripping each other naked or she’s dropping to her knees. Oh yeah, she doesn’t necessarily want to be fucked every time. She’s taken a serious liking to sucking me off. Again, not complaining. But it’s a lot.
“All right, here,” I say and hand her one of my bandanas. “Blindfold.”
“If this is a sex party, I’m not dressed for it.”
“A sex party in Chennai? In the middle of the day?”
She smirks and I shake my head, waiting until she’s tied it around her eyes. I had to buy a whole new pack of them to wear when I’m on my motorcycle, since Tamara’s kept the others in the drawer with her vibrators and toys. I really do love being tied up. I like discovering the new and filthy ways she’s going to make me lose my mind. I haven’t used them on her yet, but I’ve got all kinds of fantastic ideas for after the baby’s born.
Once I’m sure she can’t see anything, I drive the last ten minutes to our destination. I park in front of the house while Vera and Elias close the gates. I help Tamara out of the car and with our hands linked, I guide her up the stairs and into the house. I made sure I didn’t have to unlock anything or give her any hints of where we might be. Standing in the main room of the house, I stop behind her, my hands on her hips as I kiss her neck.
“You ready for your surprise?”
“Dying with anticipation, Daddy,” she says softly.
“Keep your eyes closed, okay?” She nods and I untie the bandana, then stuff it into my pocket and take a step back. “All right, baby. Open.”
Standing to the side, I get to watch her beautiful eyes open and narrow as she slowly turns in place to take the whole room in. I also get to see the moment when it registers where we are. Her hand flies to her mouth and she gasps, eyes widening as she spins around to face me. Her eyes are watery and mine well up at the sight.
“You…this…oh my god. How?”
I smile. “Your family helped make this happen.”
“I haven’t been here in….years!”
“Now it’s for our family, Lo.”
Her hands rest on her stomach as tears slide down her cheeks. “You bought…my childhood home.”
I nod, swallowing hard as I step towards her. “I hope I’m not overstepping, but I wan?—”
