“I shouldn’t have to remind you. Hell, if you don’t know how smart I am by now, you’ll never learn. ”
“Probably true,” I admitted with a smile.
“Let’s go get that husband of yours,” she said as she tugged me out of my seat and led the way to the tunnels.
The seven of us walked down into the corridor and waited for Jack to come out of the locker room. I worried that it might be a long night since it was his last. His teammates would want to tell him good-bye, and I knew that there were reporters waiting to interview him as well.
I stood in the corridor, holding my son’s little hand. At five years old, he still let me hold his hand in public, and I loved that
. I dreaded the day he’d pull his hand away from mine and tell me he wasn’t a baby anymore.
“Think he’ll be long?” Dean asked, carrying his two-and-a-half-year-old son in his arms.
I nodded. “Probably. It’s the last time he’ll be in there, so we might be waiting all night. ”
Chance tugged at Dean’s shirt. “Uncle Dean. Uncle Dean. ”
Dean glanced down at his nephew. “Yeah, little guy?”
“Put Coby down. I wanna play with my cousin,” he demanded and Dean leaned over to do exactly that.
“Be careful, he’s wobbly,” Dean warned.
“What does wobbly mean?” Chance asked with a frown.
Melissa leaned down so she was eye to eye with him. “It just means that sometimes when he runs, he’ll fall down. So don’t chase him too fast, okay?”
“Okay, Aunt Lissa. ”
Chance and Coby ran around in circles between the other players’ wives and relatives. The other families gave us sad smiles, each probably convinced that Jack didn’t get any offers worth taking and that was why he was leaving. I smiled back, a huge, happy smile, which seemed to puzzle them. They didn’t get it. But they didn’t need to. This wasn’t about them. It wasn’t about anyone other than Jack and our family.
When the door swung open, I found myself shocked to see Jack waltzing through it, carrying a large duffel bag.
“Daddy!” Chance pulled his hand from mine and ran toward Jack.
“Hey, you. ” He planted a big kiss on Chance’s cheek. “Did you like the game? We won. ”
“No. It was too loud and it hurt my ears. And Mommy cried. ”
Jack’s eyes were instantly on mine. “Why’d you cry?”
“I was moved, Jack. The way the crowd reacted to you. It was really emotional for me to watch. ”
He leaned in and kissed my cheek. “It was emotional for me to watch too. ”
“Did you cry?” I asked a little too loud and he looked around.
“No. Who do you think I am, Dean?”
“I heard that,” Dean called out as he chased his son around. Melissa snuck up behind Coby and grabbed him as he screamed.
“I got you!” She held on to the wiggly toddler as Dean bent down to kiss her. She reached for his hand and leaned into him, which made me smile. I loved seeing them so happy.
Gran and Gramps sidled up next to me, tears in their eyes. I nodded their way, saying, “See, I’m not the only one who was moved to tears tonight,” doing my best to divert the attention away from me.
“We’re just so proud of you, Jack,” Gran said as she allowed the tears to fall. Jack pulled her in for a hug.
“Thank you for being here. It means a lot to me. ”