10. Game Night
Chapter 10
Game Night
Tatum || 16 weeks pregnant, October
“I s it weird to you that your family wants me to attend these things, even though we aren’t together?” Darcy sits in the passenger seat of the Porsche worrying her bottom lip.
“Nope,” I refute, popping the P for emphasis as we approach my family home for our first official Reed family game night.
“Ah, there they are!” Mom squeals, as we approach the front porch where she sits, sipping on her Chamomile tea as she has done almost every evening since I can remember.
“Rose!” Darcy graces my mom with a blinding, genuine smile, pulling her in for a hug.
“How have you been feeling sweetie?” My mom asks Darcy, still holding her close.
“Better, more tired than anything,” Darcy replies.
“Hi, Mom. I’m still here, your son, that you birthed,” I say, butting in.
“Oh, you hush up now. I’ve had almost thirty years of hugging you, and my Darcy hugs have some catching up to do. Now get over here,” teases my mom, as she releases Darcy and pulls me into her arms.
“Let’s get inside. Your sisters are dying to see you both.” Sure enough, Tessa and Tinsley are waiting eagerly for us just inside.
“OMG! Look at your little bump,” Tessa squeals, softly reaching out to Darcy’s stomach with the same awe that I did, despite it being only slightly bigger than it was when we came to tell them she was pregnant.
“Ugh, you are so cute!” Tinsley sings, before also reaching out.
“Girls, maybe let’s show some respect and ask Darcy before we just touch her body.” My mom scolds them and they immediately retract their hands with reddened cheeks.
“Oh, no! It’s okay! Go ahead girls, although there's not much to feel yet.” Darcy steps closer to the twins and they eagerly reach out again.
Dad steps in from the living room, “Ribs are just about ready.”
Darcy looks at me with suspicious eyes and I just shrug. Allegedly, I told Dad that Darcy had mentioned that she would do some naughty things for a rack of ribs—leaving out the part about doing naughty things. I didn’t push further to know what things she would do at the time. I did, however, come in my bed that night, envisioning her doing some very filthy things with me. Without my permission, my cock begins to swell. But now is not the time to relive those thoughts—my family is standing two feet away from us. Grandmas, dead puppies, pimple-popping videos. Yep, that did the trick.
“The blob and I are starving,” Darcy says with a smirk, before my dad gently pushes my sisters to the side and pulls her into a hug.
“Let’s eat, then.” Mom claps her hands and we all disperse to our seats in the dining room.
“Do you know if you’re giving us a niece or nephew yet?” Tinsley asks as we pass around the plate of ribs that smell divine. Sweet but savory scents swirl around us.
“We will find out in a few weeks.” Darcy imparts, beaming at my sister, and moves quickly to scoop potato salad onto hers and my plates.
“Thank you,” I say, passing the bowl over to my dad.
“Seems late? I went at sixteen weeks with the girls and Tate.” My mom asks.
“Tate is out of town for work that week, so we scheduled it during the nineteenth week,” Darcy replies.
“Will you do a gender reveal?” Asks Mom. Surprisingly, we haven’t talked about it, so I turn to Darcy, curious to see what she thinks.
“Um, we haven’t decided yet, but I know my friends will make a huge deal out of planning a baby shower. Maybe for a gender reveal,” offers Darcy, gesturing at her and me, “we can do something just for us. What do you think, Tate?”
“I think that sounds great.” Before my sisters have a chance to complain, I add, ”Don’t worry we will still make sure everyone finds out in a video or something.”
“Oh good, no way do I want to miss your reaction,” Tessa says in my direction, ”I think you’re going to cry.”
I roll my eyes, “Maybe I will, maybe I won’t.”
“Son, I said the same thing, and I cried like a baby when we found out we were having a boy. Then, I cried even harder when we found out we were having two girls… at the same time.” My dad jokes and we all laugh together.
“Who wants pie?” Mom asks, already headed into the kitchen.
“Rose dear, let’s wait a little while on the pie. Maybe play a round of Scrabble while our stomachs settle.” Dad hollers in the direction of the kitchen.
“I’m stuffed,” I groan, leaning back into my chair.
“Me too, but the blob will want some pie in like an hour or two,” Darcy adds.
“Me three.” My sisters say in unison. I swear they share the same brain or can read each other's minds or something. This happens all the time.
“Fine. Let me beat your butts in Scrabble then,” declares Mom.
* * *
“Coagulated. Fourteen points, triple word score. Forty-two points. Read it and weep, bitches!” Darcy yells, immediately covering her mouth, flush with embarrassment. “Oh my god, I am so sorry.”
“And here I thought I was competitive,” I laugh, slightly aroused by her now-untethered competitive spirit.
“Looks like that's a game.” Mom looks frustrated about losing to Darcy by the slimmest of margins. “I’m going to go heat the pie.” My dad follows closely behind her, likely to ensure she doesn’t carry over her frustration into the next game.
“Is she mad?” Darcy asks, furtively looking towards my sisters and me.
“Definitely. Mom is a bit competitive.” Tess says.
“That’s why Tatum was so good at hockey when he played. He got dad's build and mom's combined competitive spirit.” Tinsley adds and my jaw immediately tightens at the revelation I used to play. I can’t be mad at my sisters, they don’t know Darcy is unaware of that part of my past.
“Wait… you played?” Darcy’s eyes are the size of dinner plates.
“Yes, but we can talk about it on the way home. I don’t want to talk about it right now,” I stress, a little too defensively, Darcy’s eyes immediately welling with tears. I didn’t intend to be so harsh, and I regret my tone as soon as the words have left my mouth.
“Excuse me.” Darcy stands, swiftly exiting the room before I can even apologize.
“Cover for us,” I plead quietly, pointing at the twins. I turn, following in Darcy’s footsteps before they can even respond. I find the bathroom door is slightly ajar and the lights are on. Not even bothering to knock, I push into the cramped space to find Darcy sitting on the side of the tub wiping tears away from her eyes.
“Mama.” She doesn’t look at me so I squat down in front of her, cupping her chin with my hand and forcing her to look at me. “Mama,” I repeat, this time the focus of her attention, “I’m sorry for being rude back there. I want to tell you. My personal history with the game is a touchy subject and I don’t want to rehash it in my family’s living room. ”
Her eyes bore into mine for a moment, before she grabs my wrist where it’s captivating her gaze. “You can’t talk to me like that, jerkface.”
“I’m sorry, D. You’re right, and I promise to tell you about it on the drive home, okay?”
“Fine.” That’s all she says before letting go of my hand, standing, and attempting to walk around me.
“Nope, come here.” I’m up before she has time to react, pulling her into my arms, “I’m not letting go until you return the hug.”
“You’re so annoying and I’m still mad at you.” Still, she wraps her arms around me, returning my hug, and I breathe in her vanilla scent.
“That’s on me. Let's go see how many more times we can beat my mom at board games.” This causes a small, poorly stifled laugh to escape her and I let her go, following her into the living room.
“You guys okay?” Dad asks as we enter the room, six slices of untouched pie sitting around a Monopoly board.
“All good.” Darcy gives him a stiff smile and takes a seat, lifting her piece of pie into her mouth.
* * *
“Drive safe, text us when you get home, please. Love you both!” Mom shouts, from her position on the porch, wrapped in my dad's arms. Shutting Darcy’s door behind her, I head to the driver's side.
“You got it! Love you both,” I call back, and slide in to see Darcy blowing them a kiss from her seat. The way she feels comfortable with my family gives me a warmth that radiates from deep within my chest. I hope she feels the love my parents have for her.
“Alright, Reed, get talking.” She says before I’ve even made it out of the driveway.
“Getting right into it then, love,” I tut, in another of my infamous horrible accents attempting to disarm my discomfort, “No tea or casual conversation in the parlor first?”
“Not right now, Tate. I need to know what got you so bent out of shape earlier.” She doesn’t play along with me, which can only mean Darcy is serious about us having this conversation while tonight’s events are still fresh in our memory.
“When I was in high school,” I begin, pausing briefly to clear my throat, “I wanted to play a sport. Basketball never appealed to me, I’ve never been a particularly good swimmer, baseball felt too slow, and football felt too aggressive.”
“And hockey didn’t?” She interrupts me, a shocked laugh leaving her mouth.
“You’d think. Hockey appealed to me because it felt the most competitive, and once I got out on the ice, I was a natural—moving like a rocket according to my coach and my mom. They named me right winger my sophomore year, and by my senior year, I was captain. Wingers tend to only be aggressive if necessary—or if they are Dominic Montez.” I glimpse her smile out of my periphery before I pick up where I left off. “I was offered a full-ride athletic scholarship to Florida U with the condition that I played for the team. My parents and I briefly discussed it before I gladly accepted the offer. The first two years went great, I led the team, aced my classes, and even met a girl.” I leave out that, the only relationship I’ve ever been in, led to me never wanting to commit to another person, sacrificing the life I enjoy for one person.
“You met a girl?” She sounds confused, like the possibility of me dating anyone was otherworldly.
I don’t blame her. I have a reputation for being single and enjoying a comfortable bachelor lifestyle. For a long time, I just enjoyed my time with women, and then we’d mutually agree to head in separate directions. I’ve always set a clear boundary with them.
“We’ll get to that in a moment. Picture this, it’s senior year and I’m being scouted by multiple NHL teams. I've got the girl that I might spend the rest of my life with and we are in the final college championship game. I’m speeding down the ice with the puck towards Missouri’s net when I get checked into the board at full force.” I pause for a moment, talking about this takes me right back to that moment. The screams from the fans, the way my body buckled underneath me, the blinding pain I felt as it happened. “My right kneecap goes straight into the board with the most horrific cracking sound and I’m on the ground immediately. I got rushed to the ER to find out that the way my leg twisted after the check twisted quite a few ligaments in my leg including my ACL.”
“Oh my god, that’s awful.”
“We did a surgery to stabilize my knee cap and an ACL reconstruction surgery. I did physical therapy for six months but was never able to reach my full form back. I missed my chance to be drafted. To top it off, the girl only stuck with me in hopes that I would recover and she would become a WAG, maybe even Mrs. Reed. When I told her I was no longer going to be playing, she broke up with me.”
“I’m so sorry you went through that, Tatum.” Darcy sniffles from her seat beside me, tears falling down her face. I gently place my hand on her thigh, squeezing lightly.
“Don’t cry for me, Mama, I’m happy now.” She places her hand over mine on her leg, not removing my hand or squeezing but just letting it rest there.
“Does it still bother you?”
“Once in a while I get a little stiff, but it’s manageable. It’s part of why I put so much effort into staying in shape.”
“Is this why you wanted to work in the NHL? To stay close to the game?”
“It is. I graduated with a business degree, and it worked out where I was able to get my foot in the door with the Mantas.” We pull into the gated underground garage for our condo building as I answer her.
“Do you miss playing?” Darcy asks in a solemn tone.
“Yeah, I do, but I’m happy where I ended up. Had I kept playing, I may not have stayed in Tampa, or I could have reinjured myself and made it worse. I might not have met Mav, who met Kodi, who then brought you into my life.” With that, I park the car and we head to the elevator that will take us up to our condo.
“I suppose I’m glad, then, that it didn’t work out the way you hoped.” Darcy smiles at me from across the elevator, her hand rubbing circles on her small bump. The sight sends butterflies rampant in my stomach.