“About time you got here. If you're going to be playing with the NHL, we need to get you in shape,” Todd says with a slap on the back.
“I am in shape,” I laugh.
Todd rolls his eyes and skates away. “Let's get this started boys,” he yells, getting into position. The guys fall in line and soon a game is underway. The guys push me to my limits and try new things on me. We play for a long time before we finally take a break.
Sitting on a bench, Todd plops down beside me.
“I'm sorry about your dad.”
“Thanks
.” I take a swig of water.
“How are things with you and Emily?”
“Alright. Could be better, could be worse.”
“You finally asked her, huh.” Todd looks over at me, a grin on his face.
“Yeah, I did,” I smile.
“What's bugging you then?”
“Life, man. Life.” I stand up and return to the ice. “Let's play.”
Hours later, I return home to find Emily and Drake watching TV. I grabbed dinner on the way home, burgers, and we watch TV and eat. Things are awfully quiet around here, but I don't comment on it. All eyes are on the TV but mine are on Emily. She's leaning away from me, twirling her hair, watching TV. Her mouth a thin line.
Instead of asking what's wrong, I lean over and kiss the side of her neck. Momentarily, she smiles at me then turns her attention to the TV. Once this episode ends, I tell Drake that it's time for him to head to bed. He gives us both a tight hug, running upstairs afterwards. Leaning forward, Emily grabs the remote from the coffee table and powers off the television.
“Bedtime for us too?” she grins at me.
Chuckling, I nod. Sweetness heads upstairs while I lock the front door and turn off all the lights on my way up. The stairs creak with every other step and reminds me that it's just us now. Soon, it'll be time to clear out dad's things and figure out other details, like what's going to happen to the house. My shoulders become heavy with the responsibility I face. Each step is achingly dragging behind me, begging for things to return to normal.
The door to Drake's room opens silently as I peek in to check on him. His covers are hiding half of his face as he sleeps. I swear, sometimes it only takes five seconds for that kid to fall asleep. Satisfied that my little brother is safe and sound, I cross the hall to my room. Sweetness is in the bathroom brushing her teeth, only wearing a long t-shirt of mine. As I watch her, I undress and toss my clothes into the hamper. The shirt hitches as she leans over to spit and rinse her mouth. I trudge over to my bathroom just as she wipes her lips.
“Scoot,” I quietly command.
She moves over and opens one of my drawers as I start the process of brushing my own teeth. Through the mirror, I watch. Her eyes are focused on the drawer and her hands are rummaging through it as quickly as possible. Finding what she's looking for, she turns away and closes the drawer with her hip before bending over. It's quite a feat to ignore the urge to come up behind her, grab her hips, and pull her to me. Gathering her hair, Sweetness puts her hair up in a bun.
Standing upright, Emily looks in the mirror, turns her head left and right. Satisfied, she slips behind me and back into my room. My eyes land on my image in the mirror and there I am. Not even brushing my teeth. I've just had the toothbrush in my mouth. Shaking my head, I get busy and finish the job, so I can crawl into bed my with my girl.
“Gah, I love your bed,” Emily says as she pulls the covers up to her nose.
“You are so weird,” I laugh, laying down beside her where she rests her head on my shoulder and intertwines our legs. Her warmth seeps into my skin and all I want to do is cherish this moment. I don't want to think about the past few months or the future. The here and now is where I want to be.
My peace ends too soon.
“I'm going to see my mom tomorrow,” Sweetness delicately whispers, her breath teasing the skin on my chest. Before I can say anything, she continues. “She put me down as her emergency contact and the nurses called to basically say that she's going to die at any time.”
At this point, my head just feels numb. I still can't believe that Mom is gone sometimes, much less my dad. Now, Emily's about to lose her mom. No wonder she was a bit distant this afternoon. While I'm not in the mood, it seems that now is the time we are going to discuss this. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath to clear my head. Emily takes my silence that she needs to continue talking.
“I think that this is my chance to finally talk to her and get it all out. To find my closure, so I can move on. If I don't do it now, I probably won't ever get passed it enough to enjoy everything that I have now. Don't you think so?”
Ignoring her question while I stare at the blank ceiling, I ask, “What are you going to say to her?”
“I don't know. I'm just going to let her have it. Pretend that she isn't about to die and that I have courage and I'm going to tell her how purely evil she is. How I hope she rots in hell and that her final days are as miserable as I was. Something along those lines.” She takes my hand in hers and rests them on my stomach.
“Okay. All that I ask is that you don't say anything for her. Make sure you say what you need to for your benefit. Do you want me to drive you?”