29. Quinn
CHAPTER 29
QUINN
It's been a long time since I've seen all these people in one room, outside of hockey events , and it’s been even longer since I've actually enjoyed it. But tonight, that’s exactly what I'm doing, and I’m the most relaxed I’ve been in weeks.
My uncle didn’t accept my resignation, so I’ve been back at the arena with the Firebirds. I won’t lie and say I wasn’t bluffing about having a job offer with Seattle, but I had to give him a little scare somehow. When he told me that my position on his staff was always open and he valued my professional training and insights and asked if I would please take my job back, I knew we would be just fine. It might take some time, but we’ll get there.
Between hockey games, officially being with Levi, admitting we loved each other, and throwing in the events with my sister—I’ve just been a tiny bit overstimulated. With everything that's happened lately, it's reminded me how important family truly is. These last few years have sucked with Ally and I at each other's throats—yet somehow, I still didn't realize how much of a hole her absence left in my heart.
Levi could tell though. The first night I came back from hanging out with her, Levi smiled and said I looked more at ease than I had in quite some time. That's when I realized exactly how badly I needed my sister in my corner. That's also when Levi decided to plan a dinner for all of our people, something he said needed to be a routine for everyone, that would force us all into hanging out beyond just work and the arena.
Levi told me about his plan the night I officially moved all my things in with him—well, from the guest room down the hall into the primary suite we now shared. We laid in bed that night talking about everything from our dreams to our goals and our fears, and it all pointed to one thing.
We were both terrified of losing our families.
He talked about his nana and how scared he was that nothing was going to help her and that he was going to lose her for good. I told him about how much I hated the way everything had been with Ally and my uncle, and that's when he decided family dinner needed to happen—with our big, twisted, fucked up friends and family situation, where everyone was included—no matter how loud and crazy it got.
Which is how we ended up with a house full of people spilling out into the backyard with food, drinks and yard games everywhere. It's exactly what my soul needed.
We are already a couple hours into the evening, dinner has all been put away, and we’ve consumed a few too many bottles of wine, and now most of us are relaxing out on the patio.
It's peaceful .
That’s not something I thought I would ever feel having this group of people all together. The strange dynamic between Levi and my family ended up spilling over into his relationship with his coach, and it previously had me feeling like we’d never have a true sense of normal .
“Are you firing me?” Ally squeals, voice raised as her face goes pale. As much as I still hold some resentment towards her, as much as she’s made our lives a living hell these last few years…
She’s still my sister.
“Uncle Ronnie,” I start, looking at all our friends around us who are quietly watching this go down, but he puts his hand up to silence me.
“No, Ally, I’m not firing you. In fact…I’m promoting you.”
“You—You are?” Ally stammers, looking nervous.
For good reason, too, because my uncle has a smirk on his face that tells me this promotion probably isn’t one Ally is going to be thrilled about. Just then the back door opens, and all eyes snap over as Cooper walks out, immediately followed by Lucas, his mini me, running full force towards the back yard in full soccer gear, a soccer ball and his backpack in his arms, and he’s wearing with a huge grin to go with it.
Lucas is adorable, with his sandy brown hair just long enough to be shaggy, but not too long to look unkempt, a lot like Cooper’s, but it's much harder to say no to Lucas than it is to Cooper. Cooper’s story is an interesting one. He’s a tough nut to crack, but I can tell there’s more to him than the cheerful, carefree guy he shows the team. I’ve seen what it looks like when people hide their real emotions—and he may think he's fooling everyone, but he’s not fooling me.
“Speaking of promotion,” my uncle says cheerfully, surprising everyone. “There he is!”
“Who?” Ally asks.
“Lucas. You're going to be his new nanny,” Uncle Ronnie says with a grin, clearly proud of himself and this little idea, but it's obvious this is not what Ally was expecting.
“Uh…what? You're joking, right?” Ally says indignantly, her eyes bouncing between my uncle, and Lucas and Cooper, who are over talking to Jax and Nash as they check out his soccer ball and ask about his game.
“No, Ally. Why would I joke about this?”
“Because you know kids and I…we just don't get along. I wouldn't know the first thing to do as a nanny of a kid. I mean, how old is he? Is he still in diapers?!”
“For fuck’s sake,” Levi chuckles as Ally starts to pale, turning to flip him off before going back to Uncle Ronnie.
“It's a great opportunity, Al. Cooper needs a nanny until the end of the season when his current one returns from time with her family. It’ll give you a chance to try something new. We both know what you’re doing now isn’t what you want for the rest of your life.”
“No, but…a nanny?”
“We’ll go over the specifics later; just meet him today. You and Cooper can spend the week we have off to go over schedules, plans, and spend some time getting to know each other.”
“Uh, okay,” Ally says nervously as Lucas runs over straight to her with a huge grin on his face.
“Hi, I'm Lucas! Are you my new nanny?” He asks with no hesitation or filter, as on par for a five-year-old. Cooper runs up behind him, out of breath as he tries to always keep up with this kid who’s very much three steps ahead of him at all times.
“Bud, you've gotta wait for me,” Cooper says as he catches back up.
“Sorry, Dad,” Lucas shrugs before pointing at Ally, who looks like a fish out of water as her eyes bounce between everyone like she’s waiting for someone to jump out and tell her it’s all a joke.
Lady, Ashton Kutcher isn’t here. Not being PUNK’d today...
“I just wanted to meet my new nanny,” Lucas explains as he looks up at Ally. “She’s pretty.”
I didn’t think it was possible, but Ally smiles at him, her eyes warming as he smiles up at her, but then she must obviously remember her dreaded situation as she looks back over at Uncle Ronnie, who just nods.
“Things are about to get really interesting,” Levi whispers quietly in my ear as we watch this all unfold.
“We'll have fun, I promise,” Lucas says with a huge grin, missing his front two teeth, making it somehow even cuter. “Even if my dad is a butthole and doesn't let me have pancakes for dinner.”
“Lucas,” Cooper growls. “Is that how we talk to people? We don't use words like that.”
“First you tell me I can’t tell lies, now you're telling me I can’t tell the truth. You're confusing, Dad,” Lucas says with a dramatic shake of his head that has Levi and I covering our laughter.
“That's not the point. The point is we don't name call—we've talked about this.”
“I know—sorry, Dad,” Lucas says quietly.
“Besides, we wouldn't want to scare your new nanny off this fast, now would we,” Cooper says with a smirk, and Ally’s eyes widen as she looks between the two of them. “I'm sure the three of us are going to have a lot of fun this next month.”
Fuck this is going to be fun.