Page 77 of Off the Stick
Lenni tears through the wrapping paper, gleefully exclaiming when she sees the gift hidden by it.
“Oh!I love it!Look, Mama.”She holds up box to show Halle, who has wandered into the room and sits down on the edge of the sofa.
“Wow, that is so cool.What do you say to Ax?”
With the speed of a professional hockey player, Lenni spins around, throws her arms around my neck, and gives me the biggest, hardest hug of my life.
“Thank you, Ax.I love you.”
* * *
I’m still floatingon cloud nine from my daughter’s declaration of love a few hours ago when Cale, Nils, and I step out in the backyard where a cooler of beer sits on the porch.
With the cramped living space inside and the number of birthday party attendees, including Halle’s dad and one of her brothers, we decided we needed some breathing room after Lenni got a new bike from her Papa.
I’m not sure if Lenni was more excited about the present or to be reunited with her Uncle Drew and Papa.
The back patio has no furniture to accommodate the three of us, so we stand around and pop open our light and NA beers.Since tomorrow we start a travel week, we are following our usual rule of no drinking.
“Cute kid,” Costa finally says with beer in hand, nodding his head toward the house before taking a swig.He was a little stunned to have been invited to attend a kid’s birthday party, but Halle was adamant that we invite Cale and Sommer over to celebrate since they had us over to their place.
Unfortunately, Costa came alone because Sommer wasn’t feeling well enough to travel up here after her latest infusion earlier in the week.Costa’s understandably worried and frustrated that he can’t be with her, wherever it is she lives.I haven’t outright asked, but I think she’s in the US, somewhere on the West Coast.
The sounds of little-girl giggles coming from inside drifts out the door, and I glance back through the window to see Lennon and Elise being chased around the house by Drew.He’s got his arms raised above his head, and he lumbers around pretending to be some kind of monster.
A smile forms at the corners of my mouth, and when I turn around, Cale gives me a strange look.I shrug, quickly washing down my secret with a swig of beer.
“What exactly is going on here, Ax?Are you playing house with Halle and her kid?”
My head snaps back at his judgment.“What?No.It’s not like that.”
Nils coughs, and I glare at him.
“It does seem oddly suspicious,” Nils adds, rolling a thumb over the top of his beer bottle.“You do spend a lot of time with them for being just friends.Just saying.”
“Not you, too, Lundy.Fuck you both.”My words aren’t bitter, but I’m feeling protective and defensive about my relationship at the moment.
There are legitimate questions that under normal circumstances, I could answer easily.Except this is not whatever would be considered normal, and I can’t tell them the entire truth.Halle isn’t just any woman, and Lennon not only owns a piece of my heart but also shares my DNA.
Costa leans against the house and crosses an ankle over his foot.
“Maybe it’s just my imagination, but Lennon sure looks a lot like you, Ax.”He cocks his head.“Do my eyes deceive, or is she your kid?”
Oh, shit.
There it is.
The observation that leads to a question that I’m not supposed to answer.
But fuck me.These two are my good friends, and I know they won’t gossip or tell anyone else on the team.If they promise not to say a word to anyone and the secret remains in our cone of silence, I don’t see how it can hurt if I reveal the truth.
“Yeah, about that…” I take a deep breath and blow it out.“Halle and I kind of dated when we were teens.It was my last season in juniors before I was drafted.”
“What does ‘kind of dated’ mean?”Lundy asks, that always skeptical brow of his lifting even further to the sky.
“It means, we didn’t date for very long.But long enough for me to get her pregnant.”
“Mm-hmm,” Costa says, nodding as if it all makes perfect sense now.“So you broke up with her when she found out she was pregnant?That’s a douchebag move.”
