It's Our Time (Carolina Rebels 3)

Yeah. Sounds like. “Zane will be there too, babe,” I remind her. “So, she calls Chris Papa. What does she call your dad and what is she going to call my dad?”

“Chris is Papa. Dad is Gramps. Your dad can be…” Her voice trails off. “We have too many grandparents in the mix. There’s Pops. Grandad? Grandpa? Tell him to pick one of those and we’ll introduce him like that.”

“Okay.” I’m finally in the hotel and almost to my room.

“I have to go, Ian. Savannah’s new sheets are done drying, she wants to bake cookies, and she wants Logan to come over. He’s been here nearly every night this week. I think since you aren’t here, he’s the next best thing, so she wants him here. Because when you’re home, she never wants him to come over.”

“So, you’re saying she misses me so much that she wants to see Logan?” That’s some twisted logic. But it is true that she doesn’t ask to see Logan all that often if I’m home. “Let me talk to her while you put the sheets on the bed.”

“Savannah, guess who’s on the phone?”

“Who?” I hear her ask as I enter my room and lie down on the bed.

“Guess, buttercup. It’s your favorite person.” Great. Is she trying to get her to say Lo-Lo?

There’s a scratching noise, Sydney laughs, and then, I hear Savannah say, “Daddy?”

“Hey, little Miss. What are you doing?”

“Nothing.” A pause. “Miss you.”

“I miss you, too. I’ll be home tomorrow night. Are you being good for Mommy?”

“Yep!”

“Good. Mommy said you guys were going to bake cookies. What kind? Are you going to save one for me?”

“Sugar cookies. I save one.” There’s a long pause. “Where you are?”

“I’m in Minnesota. Mommy can show you later on the map if you want.” Since she knows I’m on a trip, she sometimes asks where I am, so I tell her and let her know that Sydney will show her. The map is just on the computer. I’ve started looking it up myself to tell her about how many miles away from home I am and some fun facts about the state. I don’t know if she really cares or remembers, but she’s started asking me what I was telling her before I can get to it.

“How far?”

“About one thousand two hundred thirteen miles away.”

“Woah.”

“Yeah. That’s a lot, isn’t it?”

“Yep. What’s state bird?” She really loves knowing this. It’s always her first question after how far away.

“It’s called the common loon. It lives in the water. It has red eyes.” At this, she gasps. “And it likes to eat fish.” Yeah, I have to do my research. I learned my lesson after I first started this and I had no information to give her. “I’ll send Mommy a pic later, so she can show you what it looks like.” I settle in and start telling her more of these facts about Minnesota until she hangs up to make cookies.

“All I want to do is go home and fuck my woman all day and instead, I’m going to a birthday party for a three-year-old? What the hell, Bruiser?” Noah briefly glares at me as we play a little game of soccer. The game is really easy. The ball can’t touch the ground. It’s like when you were a kid, playing with a balloon, only now it’s a soccer ball you’re passing around.

“It’s not my fault, Rams. I didn’t even know you guys were coming until yesterday.” I take a step and lift my knee to bounce the ball in the air and toward Brayden. “If you don’t want to go, don’t. Besides, you’ll have tonight and into tomorrow.”

He scoffs. “Trust me, I’ll be doing my damnedest to talk her into doing other things.”

Honestly, I’m not particularly looking forward to my first day back being so crazy, but it’ll be worth it for Savannah. I called her earlier today and sang her happy birthday. She seemed tickled by that. She told me I didn’t sing very well, but that it was okay because I tried my best. Yeah. That’s what she told me. It took everything I had not to laugh because she was dead serious.

The game today is early, starting at one, so once it’s over, we’re flying home. At least tonight will be semi-quiet before the hectic activities of tomorrow. For now, I focus on my pregame rituals and then the game itself. The regular season ends in a month, but we’re hoping to clinch a playoff spot. Every game is really important at this point. This road trip has been pretty good. We’ve won three of the four games so far. I don’t especially want to lose today—not on Savannah’s birthday.

In the third period, we’re tied at three. It’s been nicely paced with lots of action up and down the ice. All we’ve been doing every time we have possession is setting up the shot and shooting. We want to score. You score by shooting the puck. If you shoot enough times, it’ll go in eventually. So far, we’re halfway through the third and haven’t had any luck.

The puck rings off the crossbar or dances in front of the net as it passes between the goalie’s back and the net. The goalie does his damn job. Shots go wide. Lots of things work to prevent us from scoring. The good thing is, the Wild aren’t scoring either. Savage, aka Liam Irving, is being a beast in the net right now.

We’re in their zone and I’m near the blue line while Donny shoots the puck. The clock is winding down. The goalie gloves his shot and stops play for a face-off. Kellan Hellsberg wins that, sending the puck toward Gus Zito, who we call Quickie G. He passes it to me as he quickly skates behind the net. I pass the puck to Zane and Z sends it back to Quickie G who makes one last try to score. The puck is deflected by the goalie’s blocker as the horn sounds to end the period.