Chapter 5 Hudson
HUDSON
Iknow I’ve put this off for long enough, but I’m still anxious as I wait for my parents to answer my video call.
We’ve texted, and I had a brief phone call with my mom when the first news stories broke about the divorce, but I haven’t had the chance to sit down and actually talk about the situation yet.
I’m in my room at Adrian’s place, lounging on the bed and propped up by his seemingly endless supply of pillows with my laptop balanced on even more pillows next to me.
One thing I’ve learned Adrian takes very seriously is comfort, and every pillow, blanket, couch, and bed in his condo are high quality, super soft, and more comfortable than anything else I’ve ever experienced.
Well, I guess I’m assuming his bed is too.
I obviously haven’t been on it. But my bed here is way nicer than any I’ve had in the past. I’ll seriously need him to help me pick out furniture when I get my own place, because after living like this, I don’t think I can go back to my previous scratchy blankets and boring, normal number of pillows.
“Hey, sweetie,” my mom finally greets. It looks like she’s got their computer on the kitchen table, the same one that’s been there since I was a kid.
I’ve tried to buy them a nicer home. I'd love to move them closer to me, but my mom insists it’s better for my dad’s routine if he stays in the same house they’ve lived in for almost forty years.
“Hi, guys.” I attempt a big smile. My mom is huddled close to my dad so they can both be seen on the screen, and although my dad doesn’t say anything, half of his face lights up when he sees me.
It’s still hard to look at the man my father has become sometimes, but I know that we’re really lucky to still have him around at all.
“Sorry I haven’t called sooner, things have been kind of crazy since Shelby filed the papers.”
“Oh, don’t you dare apologize. I feel just awful that you were so blindsided by that girl. Is there any way you can come visit us soon? You know I’d love to see you, but I’m not sure if your dad’s overnight nurses would be able to coordinate me being gone for more than a day or two.”
“Go,” my dad grunts. He isn’t able to enunciate well, and long phrases are really hard for him, especially because it can take so long, but my mom and I can understand him. Speech therapy has definitely helped over the years.
My mom waves him off though. Even though I know my dad’s home healthcare staff is the best of the best—I’ve made sure of it—she still really struggles with being away from him.
“Sorry, Mom, I don’t play in Minnesota until December. Let me know how many tickets you want for the game, though, and we can see each other then.”
“Hockey… game?” my dad grits out slowly, checking if he’ll get to be a part of it.
“Yeah, Dad, I’ll make sure you can come see me play in my last season. I got a wheelchair accessible box again so you guys can come, and hopefully it’ll be a bit quieter, or you can turn off the lights if the arena gets to be too much,” I remind them.
My dad still gets bad headaches sometimes, and the overstimulation of a pro hockey game isn’t great for him.
But my mom has assured me that he’s always so happy when he gets to come to my games, and he talks about it leading up to and after them, even if we both know they’re a lot for him to handle.
So I try to make the experience as painless as I can.
“And don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine,” I assure them with a shrug.
They’ve been through so much worse than what I am dealing with right now, and I really admire how they’ve managed to remain so positive.
I’m doing my best to do the same. “Unless you want me to move you guys out here?” I offer hopefully for the millionth time.
“I know I was promising grandbabies soon, but I would still love to live closer to you both.”
“Oh, Hudson, don’t worry about us either,” she says, taking my dad’s mobile hand in hers.
“I know you were looking forward to that next chapter, but don’t give up hope, sweetie.
I also know you’ve never liked being alone, but you are going to make someone else so happy one day, I have no doubt.
You truly will be such an amazing father when the time comes.
Try not to stress too much about when it’ll happen. ”
My dad is nodding, and it’s hard to know how much he’s following along, but I so appreciate his encouragement.
“Thanks, guys. Yeah, I’m trying not to be too hard on myself. It’s just such a big change.”
“Are you still living with that friend from work? Or did you find your own place yet?”
“I’m still at Adrian’s.”
“And is he another player? I don’t recognize that name.”
“No, he works for the team.”
“Is he there?” she asks, looking around behind me like he might have been waiting to pop out at the first mention of his name. “Can I say hello and thank him for his hospitality?”
I snort a laugh. “No, he’s still at work. We had a morning skate and are traveling early tomorrow, so I just did a light workout, but I have the rest of the day off. He seems to work all the time.”
“Well, make sure you thank him for me then.”
“I’ll get him extra chocolate tonight from you.” She nods, happy with that idea. “Actually, I should probably let you guys go so I can order our dinner.”
“Alright, sweetie, we love you so much, and we’re so proud of you.”
“Love you, too.”
I make sure to add both a piece of chocolate cake and a triple fudge brownie to our usual order.
Adrian said he’ll be back in about an hour, so it should get here just before him, and I have plenty of time to shower and put away the load of dishes I started earlier so everything is ready for him when he gets home.