Skater (Seattle Sharks 6)

“Hey, they came with the house!” No, seriously, they had.

“Sure they did.” Rory winked. “And they’ll be great for making sure you keep the right...form in all manners of exercise.”

“Stop teasing him,” Bailey ordered, wagging her finger.

“Oh, come on. He’s like the little brother I never had...or wanted,” Rory finished with a grin. “What’s up next?”

Paige ran her finger down the list she’d made this morning. “Hmm. I think we have everything covered. Once we’re done here, and Gage finishes installing the media stuff we’re ready to head out. We’ll even have you guys in bed nice and early so you’re refreshed for practice in the morning.”

“In that case, Warren, let’s help Gage. I like the whole early-to-bed proposal.” He winked at his wife and headed over to the living room where Gage was neck-deep in tech.

“I can’t thank you guys enough for this. I never imagined you’d get us moved in and set up this quickly.” They’d worked miracles. I figured we’d still be in boxes through playoffs, but they’d somehow gotten it all done, down to Hannah’s backpack hanging in the mudroom, all set up with her rain gear to head to that new preschool I’d enrolled her in. She’d just missed the kindergarten cut off for this year, but she’d start in the fall.

“It’s what family is for,” Bailey stated like it was assumed.

Maybe for someone who’d grown up with a dependable family, it was, but to me, it was a miracle. They were all miracles, every single person who had shown up today to help us.

“Absolutely. Oh, and I already put a few meals into your freezer,” Jeanine added. “You might want to consider getting a secondary freezer so it’s not so hectic during the season, or even hiring a cook to prep for you.”

Mental note: buy freezer.

“Right! And you definitely want to stock snacks. With girls at Hannah’s age there’s always some kind of impromptu playdate or something you signed up to bring for some soccer game that you will inevitably forget,” Bailey added as she slipped a stack of plates into the cabinet.

“Uh, those plates?” I’d never seen them before.

“A little housewarming present from Gage and I. Trust me, you’ll want these. Kids can drop them forty-billion times and they don’t shatter.”

“Thank you.” Shatter-proof plates. Gotcha.

“Oh, and meds!” Paige suggested. “You definitely need to keep a ready supply of kids meds for fevers and coughs, that kind of thing. You never know when they’ll pop up with some allergy for something random and then you’re dealing with an itchy rash at two a.m.”

“And fever medication will help that?” I asked, my head starting to spin in an exorcist kind of way.

“No, silly! That’s Benadryl. You’ll want to grab that, too.”

“Snacks. Meals. Meds. Shatterproof plates. Got it.”

But did I? Did I, really? I mean, sure, it had been a crazy month adjusting to be a full-time parent, but nothing crazy like that had happened. Was that stuff an inevitability? Was I as ill-prepared as these women saw me? Was I giving Hannah what she needed? Sure, I’d gotten her into preschool, but soccer?

Was she supposed to play soccer?

Couldn’t I just order out if we were running late?

How many snacks were enough snacks?

Holy shit, I was going to fail at this before I’d even gotten a chance to try.

“You know what? How about I make you a list? We’ll all make you a list,” Paige said softly as if she’d seen the panic in my eyes.

“It’s a lot,” I admitted, running a hand over my hair, and grabbing the nearest box.

Wine glasses. Was I allowed to have wine in the house anymore? Maybe I needed a wine frig with a lock on it or something. Maybe that’s where I was supposed to keep all of those medications, too.

“It is.” Bailey took the box from my hands and put it on the island. “And we’re happy to tell you everything we’ve learned as moms, but you have to know that there’s no right or wrong way to do the parenthood thing. We all do just our best, and honestly, Paige, Nine and I don’t even agree on everything.”

“We don’t,” Jeanine echoed. “Really. I only believe in organics, and Paige likes to expose Daphne to exotic, weird foods. Bailey likes to knock out vaccinations, and I like the delayed schedule.”

“True.” Paige stopped scribbling on the list. “Point is, you kind of listen to advice and then decide if you want to follow it. As long as she’s not dealing drugs or on the stripper pole by five-years old, I think you’re doing just fine. And trust me, she’s great. You’re doing great.”

But I didn’t have snacks other than the gogurts Hannah was obsessed with, or meds on reserve, and what the fuck did I know about a vaccination schedule?

“Oh, is that a parenthood list?” Gage asked, looking over Paige’s shoulder as he came into the kitchen.

“Yeah, it’s a little comprehensive,” Bailey answered, sending her husband a look that I couldn’t decipher.

“Ahh. Ok. Well, why don’t you add the number of our pediatrician and call it a day?”

“I can do that.” Bailey smiled at him and then turned back to me. “Connor, let us finish this up. If we can’t reach something, we’ll get one of the guys.”

“You shouldn’t have to put my whole kitchen together,” I protested.

Jeanine shot me a look. “So help me God, if you finish that with ‘because a woman isn’t responsible for the kitchen,’ thing, I’m coming over this counter at you. Trust me, I’m not in here because I have a vagina, I’m in here because you have zero fucking clue what to do in this arena, and I do. If I was assembling a hockey rink at my house, I assume you’d show up and do it. Got it?”

“Run,” Warren suggested. “Quickly.”

Gage nodded toward the stairs, and I followed him. I liked these steps at the back of the kitchen. They weren’t for show, but function. For family. For midnight snacks and early-morning rushes. Not that I didn’t like the front set of steps that swept down to the foyer. They were nice to look at if you came in the front door. But these felt like barefoot afternoons and calling out for dinner.

“Ok, here’s the deal,” he said about halfway up the steps, not pausing as I followed him up. “You’re going to fuck up. She’s going to fall and break a bone. She’s going to get a fever. You’ll forget the T-ball snacks. You’ll be up at three a.m. walking the floor and wondering if you should call the pediatrician, and then you’ll google symptoms until the internet has convinced you that she has cancer and is dying.”

We reached the top of the steps and walked into the hallway. To our right, Ivy made up the guest bedroom with Faith and Pepper as Eric swore at something in the closet.

“And then you’ll feel stupid. Because girls don’t just always go for pants and shirts. There are skirts and dresses, and then there’s the fucking tights and boots and mary janes, and capris—because apparently the world needed a length between shorts and pants. Because I’m pretty sure girls are more emotionally mature at five-years old than most men are at twenty-five.”

“True story,” I agreed as we made our way down the hall past an empty bedroom and toward Hannah’s.

“Right. But, at the end of the day, if she’s fed, and loved, and cared for, and knows that you’ll protect her no matter what comes her way, then the rest of the shit on that list is just sprinkles. You’ve already got the cupcake right there.”

We paused in Hannah’s doorway, watching her instruct Porter on the exact spots she wanted her butterfly wall lamps to hang. My heart thrummed, watching her give orders and then inspect the work being done by a multi-million-a-year NHL player. At her confidence and self-assurance when her life had literally been pulled out from under her.

“Is that what you do?” I asked Gage quietly. “Protect Scarlett from everything?”

“All the things she can’t do herself,” he admitted. “And I’m not going to lie. It was tough on my own until Bailey came

back, and thank God she loves Lettie like she’s her own. But you’re not alone in this, Connor, and looking back, neither was I. This team will stand behind you—behind her.”

“Even if her mother is an addict?”

“Have you ever met my ex?” Gage asked, cringing.

“No, but I’ve heard enough stories about the origins of our rivalry with Ontario,” I admitted.

“Then you see. You mess with one Shark, and the others come out with teeth bared. And that little girl right there?” he motioned toward where Hannah stood, telling Porter that the lamp needed to be an inch higher. “She’s a Shark, not just by blood, but by choice, which from watching Bailey and Lettie, I’ve learned can be even stronger.”

I nodded, unable to form words. Gage had done it on his own for years, raising Lettie, and then Ethan when he came, handling the NHL, balancing both of his lives in a way that made him one of the top players in the NHL but pretty much the best dad in the world.

I could do this because I wouldn’t let anything happen to crack Hannah’s world ever again. Even if Jess walked in right now and swore she’d never leave—never use again. I was going to fight her, and win. But what would the cost be to Hannah?

“How do you tell the difference between the things she needs protection from and the things she doesn’t?” I asked.

“Shit, that’s the question dads have been asking since the dawn of time. You use your best judgment, pray you’re right, and when all else fails, you ask her. She’ll know her own strength—especially with you raising her.”

“And when she tells you she can handle it?”

Gage grinned and slapped me on the back. “You get the hell out of her way and watch her shine.”

“Uncle Connor!” Hannah exclaimed, seeing us for the first time. “You have to see this!”

“Show me what you’ve got!” I called back.