Chapter 28 #2
Sheepishly, I look down and grab my own necklace. “Yeah. It is.”
Niko’s eyes hold me in place for a moment, before he looks back down at the chain hanging around his neck. “I’m definitely wearing it under my gear tonight.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that.”
Niko takes a step forward, closing the distance between us. “I want to.” He reaches out and gives my upper arm a light squeeze. “Thank you, Sadie.”
“You’re welcome.”
My words come out barely above a whisper. Niko hesitates for a moment but then drops his hand from my arm.
“See you tonight.” He gives me a small smile and then turns to leave the house.
I watch him through the front window for the entire walk to his car. My head and heart can’t seem to decide what’s best for me.
It has been complete chaos since Niko left an hour ago. First, Sophia accidentally dropped one of her Hot Wheels down the toilet. She was afraid I’d be mad and flushed it down to try to hide it. The toilet is now clogged and there’s water all over the floor of the bathroom.
After I reassured her she wasn’t in trouble, I finally got her settled down for a nap after two stories. But as soon as I started singing a lullaby to her, she freaked out and threw one of her books across the room. She just got done telling me I’m the “worst nanny ever.”
I have no idea what brought on such big emotions, maybe it was the whole toilet debacle, I’m not sure. But I’m sitting on the bed with her as she cries into her pillow. She’s crying so hard, she has to try and catch her breath in between sobs.
I’m afraid to agitate her any further, but I hate seeing her like this.
I move my hand to her back and start rubbing small circles with my fingertips.
After a few seconds, she finally starts to calm down, but is still quite upset.
I try to wrack my brain for some child mindfulness techniques I learned back when I got my certification.
There are some fun breathing techniques that she might like so I decide to go for it.
“Sophia, you know those dragons in your book that love to eat tacos?”
She turns her head to look at me and nods.
“Remind me again, do dragons like spicy tacos?”
Sophia sits up, still crying softly, but whispers, “no.”
“Right. It makes them breathe fire! Sometimes I like to breathe like a dragon. It helps me calm down and feel better. Can I show you?”
Sophia nods, so I sit up straight, ready to demonstrate.
“First thing I do is sit up straight so I’m nice and tall like a dragon. Then I breathe in with just my nose and count to four.”
“Hey, I’m four!” Sophia hiccups in between words, still trying to find her breath.
I smile at her. “That’s right, you are. Then I breathe out hard, like I’m shooting fire everywhere! Watch.” I demonstrate the breathing technique, making a whooshing sound when I exhale the “fire,” causing Sophia to giggle.
“Want to try?”
Sophia nods excitedly and we spend the next few minutes, breathing like dragons at each other. As soon as she’s calmed down, she leaps into my arms and apologizes to me over and over.
“I’m so sorry, Miss Sadie. I didn’t mean it. You’re the best nanny ever.”
“I know, sweetheart. I’m not mad. What do you say we get some rest now and start fresh after we wake up?”
She squeezes me tight and then hops out of my lap and under her covers. I stay with her until she falls asleep and quietly exit her room once I know she’s down for good.
I walk into the guest room Niko told me I could use and turn on the monitor. Sophia is still sound asleep. Looking at the time on my phone, I see it’s a little after one and I send up a prayer that Hunter isn’t at the arena yet for the game. I hit his number and hope like hell he answers.
“Hello?”
“Oh, praise be. You answered.”
I hear Gordie barking in the background and Hunter moves the phone away from his mouth for a second to shush him. “You okay, Sadie? You sound out of breath.”
I’m not sure if I’m about to break out in tears or laughter. I lean against the headboard and throw my head back, heaving a sigh.
“Yes. No. I don’t know. Sophia had a rough afternoon and the toilet is clogged.
She dropped a toy down there and now there’s water all over the bathroom.
Niko is meeting with the team doctor so I don’t want to disturb him because it’s only kind of an emergency, but also isn’t important enough to get in the way of his appointment. ”
“Sadie. Slow down. Take a breath.” Hunter’s voice is calm and reassuring. I do as he says and after a few more deep breaths, I’m able to think a bit more clearly.
“Okay. I’m good now.”
Hunter says goodbye to his mom and Gordie, then I hear the door shut in the background. I didn’t know his mom was in town. I’m about to ask him about that but he speaks first.
“I’m on my way over.”
Relief washes over me but then I panic, remembering the most important hockey game of his life tonight. “No. You have game seven tonight. Game seven is more exciting than Christmas morning. You need to go to the rink to prepare.”
I hear Hunter laugh before he cuts out for a second, his phone flipping over to Bluetooth in his car.
“I’ve been at the rink all morning. I just stopped at home to check on things.” He doesn’t bring up his mom, but I can tell by the change of his voice that something is bothering him. Now is not the time, though, so I table it for later.
“Are you sure you have time? I can call a plumber.”
“See you in fifteen.”
He hangs up before I can argue again. I’m so grateful for him. Knowing that he’ll be here soon eases some of the anxiety I’m feeling.
I close my eyes and attempt to get myself on track with a few on-the-go meditation techniques that usually work for me.
I focus on my breathing and notice different areas of my body that feel tension.
My heart is pounding and my shoulders feel tense, so I do my best to focus my attention there.
Picturing my breath as a shade of blue, almost identical to Niko’s eyes, I picture it shifting in shade as it works its way through my body.
After a few minutes, I’m feeling lighter and more focused on the task at hand.
Hunter should be here any minute. I hop off the bed and head downstairs.
I grab some towels from the linen closet and attempt to clean up the water before he gets here.
I have no idea how he’s going to fix the toilet, but I figure a dry floor is a good first step.
I’m wiping up the last of the water when my phone buzzes in my pocket.
Hunter
I’m here
Throwing the towels in the tub to deal with later, I sprint on my tiptoes to the front door hoping I can get there before he knocks or rings the doorbell.
When I throw the door open, Hunter’s fist is raised, ready to knock.
“Sophia’s sleeping.”
“Got it.”
Hunter follows me into Niko’s house, closing the door quietly behind him.
When I turn to look at him, he’s attempting to take off his shoes with one hand.
In his other hand is a long, metal, thingy-majiggy that kind of looks like a snake.
I know just as much about plumbing as I do about the Finnish language.
“What the heck is that?”
We walk together toward the bathroom near the kitchen and Hunter holds up the weird tool. “It’s a snake.”
Okay, so maybe I know more than I thought.
Hunter laughs at what must be a very confused look on my face. “Here, let me show you.”
He spends the next ten minutes trying to explain to me how the medieval contraption works. When he asks me to give it a try, I refuse, just wanting to fix this problem as quickly as possible so I can put it behind me.
A sharp tug and a wet thunk later, Hunter holds up the culprit: a shiny blue Corvette convertible.
“Victory!” he announces, like we just won some treacherous battle. Huh. I guess in some ways we did.
I laugh, relief flooding me as I flush the toilet. “You’re a lifesaver,” I tell him, feeling extremely lucky to have a friend like him.
We take turns washing our hands and when I go to hand Hunter a towel to dry his off, he nods at the bracelets on my wrist.
“A big fan of number eight, eh?”
Instead of handing him the towel, I throw it at his face. “Don’t you need to get to the rink?”
He wipes his hands and sets it next to the sink. Ignoring my question, he grabs my arm to get a closer look at the bracelets.
“It’s cute. Next thing you know, you’ll be wearing his jersey to the game.”
The thought of wearing Niko’s name and number on my back sends a thrill through me. It’s ridiculous how just the image of wearing his jersey makes my pulse spike. I shake my head before I let the thought consume me.
I pull my arm away from him, quicker than I did earlier with Niko, and exit the bathroom. I walk to the front door, hoping he’ll get the hint.
“Sophia and I made matching bracelets earlier. It’s nothing.”
Hunter eyes me for a second, clearly seeing through my bullshit.
“Keep telling yourself that.”
I shove Hunter out of the house, feeling a little less grateful for him than I did ten minutes ago, and close the door.
Leaning my back against the door, I do just what Hunter told me to do. I tell myself that over and over, hoping I start to believe it.
It’s nothing. It’s nothing. It’s nothing.