Page 57 of Slap Shot at a Second Chance

As if that were possible, but I was grateful that she wasn’t pushy about it and allowed me to leave. I wouldn’t be able to spend the weekend at her house, not under her intense gaze; I would break and spill everything.

I spoke to Rita about it, and she told me to give him time.

Nate hadn’t called or texted me yet, nor had I reached out because I was a coward. I didn’t want to know if he had rejected Niel.I don’t blame him for not reaching out. He didn’t know that he had a son for the past four years and now for me to expect such afairytalereaction was absurd.

I also didn’t want to know whether he was thinking of breaking things off between us. Even though we hadn’t put a label on our relationship, things just happened to progress between us that it felt natural for us to be exclusive.

Maybe I was wrong in thinking so too. Perhaps we weren’t as exclusive as I thought and he had been waiting for an excuse to leave me.

No!What the fuck is wrong with me?I was not the victim in this situation. I wasn’t allowed to feel pity for myself, but would my son really grow up without a father for the rest of his life? All because I was ashamed to tell my brother who the father of his nephew was?

Fuck.

“Mommy.” I felt his small fingers poke my cheek and I looked down at him surprised—had he been calling me for a long time? I looked at the movie and it was still playing, he pointed to the door and whispered. “There’s someone at the door.”

I removed my hand from his soft curls and got up from the couch, slipping on my slippers as I walked to the door. Who could it be at this time of night?

I opened the door slightly, as I peeked through the small frame and my eyes widened as I stared at Nate, who stood in front of me with plenty of bags in his hands.

“Hi, An— Avery.” He shook his head as he corrected the name. “I hope I’m not disturbing you, you weren’t sleeping were you?”

Looks like I wasn’t the only one having a hard time sleeping.

I shook my head as I let go of the doorknob and he took a deep breath in.

“I’m so—“ I paused as he interrupted me, rambling his words.

“I’m so sorry for being insensitive that day. My reaction wasn’t the nicest, but I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe in your office and I had a million thoughts running through my mind. Likehowcould I be a father, I wouldneverbe a great father. I don’t even know how to parent, do I need to take some classes to learn how to do that? I didn’t grow up with a male parental figure in my life, it was just my nana and I since childhood, so I don’t know what is the most responsible thing to do as a father, or as a man in a child’s life. It’s not that I didn’t believe you. I just didn’t believe that I could do it. But I want to try. Can I try, Angel? Please?”

His voice softened toward the end and I noticed his eyes had become glossy as he huffed, trying to catch his breath. My eyes widened as I took in all his words, and I could feel the tears spring into my eyes.“I want to try...”

“So, you’re not rejecting him?” I sobbed.

He quickly shook his head as he tried to come close, but his many bags stopped him and he tried to shuffle them around before bringing his hand to my face, wiping underneath my eyes.

“I could never reject him, or you. Or anything that came from you. I want to be in both of your lives Avery, so please allow me to try?”

I sniffled as I brought my hands to my face, nodding.

“Yeah,” I cried and he smiled relieved, still holding my face. “I’m sorry, I’m just so relieved right now,” I sobbed, my heart feeling lighter for the first time in years.

“Can I come in?” he asked, and I nodded, opening the door wider.

“Uncle Nate!” Niel squealed as he ran toward him, and a bigger smile grew on his face as Nate dropped the bags on the floor and picked him up.

“Hey, kid. How are you?” he asked, and I could tell he was hugging him with his heart this time. I felt a fresh batch of tears spring into my eyes as I watched Nate smile happily with Niel in his arms.

Wiping my tears, I carried some of the bags into the living room and noticed that Nate had bought way too many items.Were all these toys for Niel?How much was all of this?

“Are they for me?” Niel exclaimed as I heard his soft thuds run toward me.

“Yeah, I didn’t know what you liked,” Nate said as he shyly scratched the back of his neck, watching as Niel ripped through the bags.

“Cool!” he shrieked as he lifted up the car of his favorite character. “Mommy, look!”

“That’s nice of Nate, did you thank him?” I asked as he gushed over his favorite toy car. The exact same cartoon we were watching. He got up from the ground and ran over to Nate, hugging his legs, and Nate looked up at the ceiling, secretively wiping away his tears.

“Thank you, Uncle Nate!” A smile grew on my face as Niel let go of Nate’s legs and ran back to unboxing his toys.

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