“Well, I like Mommy more.”
Sydney laughs. “I bet you do.”
Savannah refused to be by herself, so Sydney and I were always next to her. She even slept in our bed. She’s feeling better today. I couldn’t be happier because it killed me to see her so miserable. She is definitely pitiful when she’s sick. She mopes and is grouchy if you bother her, but you never know what’s going to annoy her. I have to say, though, I did enjoy all the attention she gave me. It felt pretty damn good that she wanted me instead of Sydney. It felt good to be taking care of her too.
But there is one drawback. Guess who’s throwing up?
Sydney, thankfully.
I have to leave tomorrow morning for a game, and Savannah’s skating lessons start today. Sydney obviously isn’t taking her, so I am. As I walk Savannah over to her instructor, I keep chuckling to myself. She’s clutching my hand because she already has the skates on. However, her balance is just fine.
Her instructor’s name is Paula, thank goodness for her name tag because I had forgotten. She’s looking down at a clipboard when we walk up, but she lifts her head, her eyes widening. “You’re Ian Rhett!”
“Ah, yeah. I’m here with my daughter, Savannah, for the class.”
Paula frowns. “You have a daughter? I mean, not that it’s impossible, but I’ve been a fan of the Rebels for a while and usually we know which players have kids. God, I’m rambling; sorry.” She starts to stare at her clipboard. “I have a Savannah Jarvis, but not a Savannah Rhett.”
“That’s her,” I confirm.
Paula is either confused or intrigued or both by that, and I choose to ignore it all. “Okay. Thanks. You can wait with the other parents over there if you’d like.” She crouches to look at Savannah. “Are you excited for your first lesson?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Why don’t you come with me?” She holds out her hand, but Savannah looks up at me.
“Go ahead. I’ll wait right here.”
It takes her a second to decide to let go of my hand and follow Paula to join the rest of the kids. They try to keep things really simple, short, and fun at this point while they both get the kids comfortable on the skates and teach them how to move around on the ice with them. My phone rings, a call from Sydney, so I answer.
“You should be resting,” I say in lieu of hello.
“I am. How is it so far?”
“Babe, it’s literally just starting.” I laugh. “Nothing to report. You’ll be able to see it when you bring her next. Hang up and take a nap.”
“I just did. I don’t know how those kids survived this because I feel like death.” There’s a short pause. “Tell me what’s happening.”
“You’ll get to see things when you bring her,” I repeat.
“Ian,” she sighs. “You like having my firsts, right? I’ve had all of her firsts. I’ve been there for everything. I’m not there today and I swear, if I thought I could get into the car without throwing up the entire time, I’d be down there in a heartbeat. So, tell me what’s going on. Please?”
That nearly breaks my heart. “Hold on a second, gorgeous. I’m going to hang up, but just trust me.” I hang up before she can say anything and call her back, but this time, it’s through FaceTime. I fix the screen so she can see for herself what Savannah is doing.
“Thank you,” she whispers. “She’s so cute!”
They both are. Sydney’s eyes are glued to the phone and mine alternate between watching her and Savannah. Halfway through, Sydney has to put the phone down to throw up. Aside from that, she’s able to watch all of Savannah’s first lesson. We hang up once she’s done and Savannah runs over to me.
“Daddy, that was fun!” she squeals. “Do it again.”
I laugh. “You will. Let’s get these skates off and go home to check on Mommy.”
At that, Savannah sobers. “Mommy still sick?”
“Yeah, but she’ll feel better soon, just like you did. Are you going to take care of her while Daddy is gone tomorrow?”
Savannah nods her head. “Where you go, Daddy?” she asks.
“On a trip to New Jersey, but it’s a short one.” Now that her shoes are on, I take her hand for us to leave.