Chapter 2
COOPER
Dad Joke Of The Day:
Why can’t Dinosaurs clap their hands?
They’re extinct.
“SPIDER!” I hear Lucas scream from his bedroom, and I finish pulling the last of the laundry from the dryer, throwing it in the basket before walking down the hall towards his room.
“It’s smaller than you,” I shout back as I slip into the bathroom to grab some toilet paper to go play the hero.
“I DON’T CARE.”
“I know, bud. But—”
“DADDY, see! It’s a RUNNING SPIDER,” he shrieks.
Chuckling, I head into his room, where I see him standing on the bed, wide-eyed as he stares at the spider on the floor scurrying around on the carpet, not big enough to elicit such a reaction, but he’s a kid so I’ll give him this one.
As I get closer, I remember that I, too, hate spiders, and this one is gross. But that’s not something I’ll ever let him in on. I’ll just do my best to save the day until he’s old enough to start saving the day for himself.
Secretly, I love that he calls me for help, but for his sake, I hope he grows not to hate spiders soon, and then he can grow up to be the hero for someone else.
“You good, bud?” I laugh as I squish the spider and toss it in the trash.
“Now I am. Thanks for saving me from the demon.” Lucas sighs dramatically as he collapses back on his bed where he’s been looking through his favorite dinosaur book for probably the tenth time this morning. “Can we get a new house? I don’t like this one anymore.”
I laugh because I know he’s damn serious—a trait he must’ve inherited from his mother’s DNA because that has Rachel written all over it.
Not that he would know, since she hasn’t seen him since he was a week old when she terminated her rights, leaving me alone with a tiny baby. But she left him with me anyway.
Exactly where he was supposed to be.
A lot of people ask how I feel about Lucas’s mom, and the truth of the matter is, I feel nothing but love for that woman for bringing my favorite person into this world.
Being a dad is the only thing I’ve ever truly been proud of, even if ninety-nine percent of the time I think I’m doing it wrong and am the worst father in the history of ever.
But the second he smiles at me in the morning, or gets excited when I come home from work, running over and jumping up for a hug, I know I must be doing something right.
His mom and I were never a match as a couple, but we damn sure made a perfect kid together.
“It’s not a demon, silly boy,” I say, but he doesn’t seem to care, shaking his head like he doesn’t believe me. “It’s a spider, and a spider is much more afraid of you than you are of him.”
“Not true. He ran…at me!” he says, eyes wide as he practically punches his fist down on his bed, probably trying to make his point, but he knows we don’t do that with our actions, only our words.
I stare at him for a moment, eyebrow raised, and thankfully he reels it in, unclenching his fist as he smiles shyly.
“Sorry, Daddy, they just make me scared. That’s why I jumped up here. I’m so much more scared of him.”
“You drive me crazy sometimes.” I laugh, and he just stares at me with a blank expression.
“How, Daddy? I’m not even old enough to drive.”
“You’re something else!” I laugh as I look around his room. Already messier now that Kenna isn’t around as much.
Kenna has been our saving grace these last few years, and I’ll always be indebted to her for the way she stepped up, being more than just an aunt to Lucas after his mom—her sister—walked away.
She’s been the best nanny, helping out with not just Lucas but with everything else around the house when I’ve been on the road for games.
But now she’s getting ready to leave for a month, and I already feel the loss of her.
Hopefully Ally is able to help. Based on my experience with her, I don’t have very high expectations for how this is going to go, but I trust Coach Sullivan—especially when it comes to my kid. He’s always been there, and I don’t think he’d do anything that wouldn’t be exactly what Lucas needs.
But I guess only time will tell, and we’ll see how Ally and Lucas get on soon enough.
We only have two more days until Ally starts, which happens to be my next day off.
Figured that way we could get to know each other a bit, the three of us, so Lucas hopefully feels more comfortable staying with her.
And I guess I’m hoping to get more comfortable too.
I mean, it’s pretty much been me or Kenna with Lucas for his entire life, besides the grandparents that we see every so often.
But this is someone entirely new, and I can’t help but wonder if this is going to be a little difficult for him to get used to.
The plus side is that he has already shown that he was excited to meet her at the barbeque that Levi and Quinn hosted last week, but I just want to make sure that feeling of excitement carries over and it wasn’t just the idea of her being his nanny that was driving those emotions.
“Hey, Dad, can we make waffles?” Lucas asks as I start picking up clothes from his floor. “It’s been a while since we’ve had them, and Aunt Kenna doesn’t let me have waffles, and that makes me sad.”
“She doesn’t let you have waffles?” I ask, a little confused because I’m not too strict on what Lucas eats. He’s typically a pretty good, well-rounded eater. I know I’m lucky to have a kid who isn’t picky, so I try not to deprive him of a good treat every now and then.
“No, she says it’s not healthy and left them at the store. I usually get yogurt or that mushy oatmeal.”
Weird. I’ve told Kenna I don’t care as long as he’s eating his meals, plus I’ve kept waffles on the list for her weekly shopping, something she was adamant to do during the season.
So why are we not keeping the house stocked with the things I’m asking for?
Things Lucas is asking for? Seems a little pushy on her part to make a decision like that.
Kenna always had strong opinions about me and Rachel, but it got even worse when Rachel got pregnant.
When she saw I needed help, though, she jumped right in, but now I’m wondering if it was a good idea.
Because he’s a kid.
And they’re waffles.
“That’s silly,” I say with a smile. “Let’s go make some waffles.”
“Really?” he shouts. “Waffles, waffles, waffles!”
“Yes, really, and then we can watch a movie if you want.”
“Can we watch Trolls?”
“You got it, dude,” I tell him, and he practically skips his happy self to the kitchen.
The sound of the doorbell wakes me up, and I look around and see that it’s definitely still daytime.
Lucas rolls around, and I realize we both fell asleep while watching the movie.
Which is surprising because Trolls is one of my favorite movies.
It’s not my fault those little fuckers are so damn cute and sing so well.
The doorbell rings again, followed by more knocking, and I finally slip my arm out from under Lucas and get up. Walking towards the door and rubbing my eyes, I pray to every god in existence that it’s not a salesman going door to door who just woke me and my kid up from a nap.
Opening the door, I’m shocked to see Kenna on the other side because I thought she was coming by tomorrow to say goodbye before leaving for her trip.
“Hey,” I say as I take a step back, opening the door for her to come in.
“Hey,” she says quietly as she comes in and makes her way to the kitchen like she owns the place, taking her usual spot at the counter.
I’m honestly shocked she didn’t let herself in, which reminds me that I need to get the key from her before she leaves.
“What’s up? I thought we weren’t going to see you until tomorrow night?”
“That was the plan, but I wanted to come visit today. Figured maybe we could talk?” she says quietly.
“About what?”
“About Lucas. I really think he needs to be coming with me,” Kenna says, and I just stare at her incredulously until her cheeks start to burn with embarrassment, but she keeps going.
“Don’t you think it would be good for him to see his grandparents?
They miss him a lot. Plus, then he would be with me during the day instead of a stranger. ”
The fuck?
She can’t actually think I would let my son go out of state, without me, for four full weeks. That’s absolutely absurd. But based on the way she’s staring up at me, puppy-dog eyes and all, I can see that’s exactly what she thinks is going to happen.
Jokes on her, though, because she’s taking my son on that long of a trip over my dead body.
“No,” I tell her without hesitation, leaning up against the counter as I stare over at her.
“Why?”
“Are you really asking me why I don’t want my son to be away from me for four weeks? You can’t be serious, Kenna.”
“Why not, Cooper? I stay with him almost every day and night as it is.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it,” I shout before quickly lowering my voice when I remember Lucas is asleep on the couch.
Thankfully, that kid could sleep through a marching band going through our living room.
Still doesn’t mean I want to risk it when we’re arguing.
“Lucas is sleeping over there, so we need to be mindful of how loud we are and what we are saying.”
“Okay,” she says quietly, looking back into the living room at Lucas before turning back to me. “Why is this idea bullshit? I think it’s a good idea.”
“It’s not just the idea that’s bullshit—it’s the whole thing.
You don’t spend every day and night with him.
When I’m here, if it’s not a super later game, you’re at your place.
When I’m here during the day, I’m with him.
The fact that you think I’m really interested in letting him be away from me for that long is absolutely moronic, Kenna,” I say, not even willing to sugarcoat my words.
I love Kenna and so does Lucas, but nothing will come between me and my son.
Not family. Not hockey. Not anything. If it became a problem, I’d drop hockey in a heartbeat to be with him.
Thankfully, my coach has already proven to be understanding, especially considering he suggested his niece as our new nanny to make sure I could focus on the Firebirds.
Kenna stares at me for a moment, and I can tell I’ve hurt her, but truthfully, this is a hard no for me, and there’s nothing she could say that would change my mind. But as quickly as it’s there, the hurt is gone, replaced by…anger?
“So you’d prefer to play your silly sport and let a stranger watch him?” She spits her words at me. “That doesn’t sound very responsible.”
I laugh once, no humor to be found, and her eyes widen. She must realize this is not going the way she was hoping as she tries to talk.
“Enough. You’ve made your point, but he’s my son. No one else’s.”
“That’s not fair. I’ve helped—”
“Yeah, you’ve helped. But you are not his parent, and you never will be,” I fume, no longer giving a fuck if I upset her, which I clearly did. “If this is what you came to talk about today, save it—I’m not in the mood while I’m supposed to be spending time with my son.”
“Cooper, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Kenna starts, tears welling in her eyes. “I’m just going to miss you guys, and I hate the thought of Lucas with a stranger.”
“That’s all fine and dandy, but you’re still not bringing my son with you. Now, if there isn’t anything else you’re needing, I’m going to go back to my nap with Lucas, and you can swing by tomorrow if you want to say goodbye.”
“Are you serious? I thought we could hang out or spend the day together before I left.”
“Possibly, but that was before you came at me about taking Lucas and judging my choice to have my coach’s niece, for fuck’s sake, watch my son. Now I just want to go back to my nap. With my kid.”
She stares at me for a minute before finally standing up. “Alright. I guess…” she says quietly. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She comes over and gives me a quick hug before walking to the door.
“Bye, Cooper.”
“Bye, Kenna.”