Chapter 17
Seventeen
Hannah
“I don’t know what I’m walking into, but I’m coming in anyway,” I call out, my keys clattering as I toss them down on the entryway table and saunter through Aiden’s foyer. “I swear nobody around here knows how to answer a damn phone.”
I’ve texted both of them all afternoon, and what did I get in return? Crickets. Way to leave me hanging, assholes.
Is that a little girl giggling? I stop walking, tilting my head to listen closer.
Another giggle echoes out as I start to cross the living room. Okay, that is definitely a little girl.
“No, Seany. That’s a elephant. See his trunk?”
“I thought that was a giraffe.” He laughs.
“You’re so silly. I’m only five, and even I can tell the difference between a elephant and a giraffe.”
“Because you’re so smart,” Sean replies back.
“Yep,” she agrees.
I follow the sound of their voices and round the corner into the dining room. All the blood rushes to my head. Stunned, tingles shoot through me. Sean sits at the table, smiling down at a little girl, and my heart beats out of my damn chest.
Pretty brown eyes, lined with long, thick lashes, flick up to mine. “Who’s that?”
“That, princess Jade, is my girlfriend, Hannah.”
I’m mute, unable to open my mouth or form the words to dispute the label he’s slapped on us. My eyes are held hostage by a beautiful, miniature, female version of Aiden holding a marker to Sean’s arm and staring back at me.
“She’s pretty,” she says, glancing up at Sean before shifting her focus back to his forearm, and the way she looks at him makes my breath hitch.
“She is, isn’t she?”
With a marker gripped tight in her fist, she drags the tip from his forearm all the way up to his shoulder and asks, “Does she talk?”
“She does, but I think she might be in shock. She’s never seen a real princess before.”
Snapping out of the trance, I take in the room. A set of unfamiliar old eyes studies me curiously while my best friend shoves his hands into his pockets and rocks back on his heels.
“So, um . . . this is my daughter, Jaiden, but she goes by Jade.” Aiden nods his head in the little girl’s direction.
Well, no shit.
“She’s living with me now,” he adds.
As silence settles over the room and an ugly feeling of how unfair this situation is surges in like a riptide, dragging me under.
Last night, he told everyone that he never wanted children, and now he has a child?
What the fucking fuck? Why does it seem like the people who don’t want kids are always the ones to get them, and the ones who do want kids have to fight tooth and nail with God, or the universe .
. . or whatever fucking higher power there is and, even then, they still can’t have one.
Biting my lip, I try like hell to fight off the cruel little comparisons. Jealousy is a thief. It slips in quietly and steals your ability to look at someone else’s blessings without wondering, why not me? I hate it! I hate this feeling.
Jade’s hand stills on Sean’s arm—her big brown eyes lifting back up to mine—and something passes between us.
And just like that, a deep ache climbs its way into my chest and squeezes.
Right there on the spot, the jealousy dissolves, and it’s replaced by an overwhelming emotion I can’t even begin to name.
It cracks me open. My eyes start to burn.
Then . . . a silent tear falls from my lash and drips down along the side of my nose.
Get your shit together, Hannah.
This little girl is sitting here waiting for me to speak to her.
I don’t want her to think that my silence means I don’t like her.
I close my eyes and take a slow breath, using the moment to pull myself back together.
My eyes flutter open, and a smile slowly spreads across my face.
I bow my head and place one foot behind the other, bending at the knee in a graceful curtsy.
“How rude of me Princess Jade. My sincerest apologies. It’s just that I’m truly speechless. Sean’s right. I’ve never met a real princess before.”
Jade giggles, and I’m pretty sure her laughter is the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard in my life. I stand to my full height, my attention drifting to the old woman watching me. What role does she play in all of this?
I glance between her, Jade, and Aiden. “Um . . . how . . . what . . . I’m confused.”
“He never told ya ‘bout me?” the old woman asks.
My brows pull together in confusion. I don’t recall him ever telling me anything about her.
“Um . . . no?”
“That was a wild time, wasn’t it Stud? We were bangin’ against every surface of that bedroom.
Threw my back out and damn near broke a hip.
Pretty sure his stamina is what landed me in this walker here.
The look on his face when he rolled over that mornin’ and saw me?
Oh, I’ll never forget it. He jumped outta bed, snatchin’ his clothes up off the floor and throwin’ ‘em over his shoulder—his wiener just a danglin’ and swinging back and forth, back and forth, with each hop, skip, and jump he took.
I gave him a good chasin’ before he ran out the house naked—”
“I was not naked . . .”
“Oh really? Is that why you fell down the porch tryin’ get a foot into the hole of your unders? I always wondered if ya skinned your little python on the damn concrete. Anyway, the asshole left me high and dry, if you know what I mean.”
“Don’t say asshole; it’s a naughty word.” Jade scolds her, then says, “She cusses a lot.”
“And I ain’t sorry ‘bout it either. I didn’t live damn near a hunerd years just to start filterin’ my mouth for the likes of you. But don’t ya go a repeatin’ everythin’ I say now, ya hear?”
I blink . . . repeatedly . . . then my head whips in Aiden’s direction and my jaw drops. “What the—”
“That’s how I was left with Jade,” she adds.
My eyes widen. No way. That’s not biologically possible, is it? She’s so . . . old.
A low wheeze hisses from Sean’s direction, and I glance his way.
He lowers his head, shoulders shaking, then a loud, rumbling laugh flies out of his mouth.
Aiden doubles over, holding his side. Jade begins to giggle, too.
I look back at the little old lady, and when she winks at me, I lose it right along with them.
The entire dining room fills with uncontrollable laughter.
Wiping the tears from my eyes, I sigh. “Oh god. You had me there for a second. That’s such an Aiden thing to do, I didn’t know if you were kidding or not.”
“Oh, I’m not kiddin’. That’s exactly what happened, ain’t that right, Stud?” She combs down the back of her short, white hair with her fingers.
I stand there with my eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets and my mouth hanging wide open like a fish out of water.
Aiden’s laugh grows louder. “Y-you should see your . . . your face right now, Han-Han . . . Oh, God . . . I c-can't . . . I can’t breathe. . .”
He trails off into a coughing fit, choking on air.
A few minutes pass before he collects himself and amends, “What she failed to mention is that she found me in Jade’s mother’s bed.
Jeez, Granny, you made it sound like I was railing you.
It was her bat smashing every surface of the room, Hannah, not me . . . you know . . . smashing her.”
My sides and my stomach hurt from laughing so hard, but it feels so good to release my pent-up emotions this way. So much better than crying.
“This is Jade’s great-great grandma.”
The little old woman braces one hand on the polished wood surface of the table, and the other on her metal walker, then gives a good push to stand. She shuffles to face me and opens her arms as I approach her.
“I’ll take a hug if ya don’t mind.”
Her arms wind around my waist, and she speaks low into my ear, “Hi, I’m Maggie, but you can call me Granny.”
“Hi, Granny. I’m Aiden’s best friend, Hannah.”
“Sorry to mislead ya and make your heart stop like that, hun, but ya looked like ya needed a laugh.”
“I really did. Thank you,” I say, releasing her and taking a step back when Aiden slides between us to help her into her seat. “You’re definitely a great storyteller. I was totally falling for it hook, line, and sinker.”
I move to the other side of Jade and sit down. My fingertips brush along the top of Sean’s arm as I admire the abstract looking art. “How pretty. You’re so artistic.”
“Thank you. Seany doesn’t know his aminals. He thought this was a giraffe,” she says pointing at his forearm. “Can you believe that?”
“Well, it’s clearly an elephant, isn’t it?”
It does kind of look like a giraffe, but I would never tell her that.
“See, Seany? Even she knows what aminal this is.”
Sean glances up at me, and winks, a smile spreading on his beautiful face. Then he shifts his attention back to Jade, and holy hell . . . Could he get any freaking hotter?
“Where you going, Granny?” Aiden asks when she stands from her chair and shuffles toward the kitchen with her walker.
“I’m just goin’ to my room to grab somethin’.”
“If you need something, one of us can get it for you,” Sean argues.
“Oh, now, stop it. I don’t need you kids a-fussin’ all over me.”
“Hey, Jade, mind if we take a quick break?” Seans asks, and as she caps her marker, he jumps out of his seat to help Granny.
He slides in beside her, shuffling his long legs to keep in stride with her short ones and asks, “Where does Aiden have you sleeping?”
“In the same bed as you, if you’re stayin’.”
“Take him, Granny. Maybe then he’ll leave me the hell alone.”
He glances back over his shoulder at me and smirks. “No en esta vida, Rebel. Ni en ninguna otra vida tampoco.”
“What did you just say to me?”
He knows I can’t understand a damn word in Spanish, but does he answer me? No. I need those translating earbuds you see advertised on social media. Now, there’s a thought.
“Let’s go. I’ll show you my new room,” Jade says, sliding off the chair.
She runs through the kitchen, her little ponytail swaying.
Something about her reminds me of a younger version of myself.
I don’t know anything about her mom or why she's not here, but the fact that Aiden’s just now finding out that he has a daughter, and her grandma is with her, is enough to tell me, for whatever reason, her mother's not in the picture.
I can see her childhood being spent much like mine, because if I know anything about Aiden, it's that he’s not going to let her leave his sight.
Dad was like that with me. Sure, I had nannies and private tutors, but he refused to leave me at home with them.
Planes and hotels became my classroom. Game nights were spent sitting on a bench next to him while he threw his clipboard at bullshit calls and barked orders at his players.
Hockey has always been my life and the arena my home; it’s where I feel most like myself.
The smell of ice, tape, and sweat. The sound of pucks ricochetting off the boards and skates cutting the ice.
Yeah, I’ll take all that over a homecooked meal and baked cookies any day.
Jade’s giggles carry to the dining room table, breaking me out of the nostalgia.
I stand to follow her and sneak a quick glance at Aiden.
He watches her with a look of uncertainty on his face.
God, I just know he’s questioning whether he’s capable of this new role he’s been thrown into.
Everyone knows that man doesn't take many things seriously, but despite that and what he or anyone else might think, I know that he’s going to be a damn good dad.
“Yeah, this ain’t gonna work,” Aiden says, as Granny slowly shuffles her feet against the tile. “Sean and I are gonna move you into this room right here. It’s closer to the bathroom and the kitchen.”
“Why didn't you put her in there to begin with?”
“Because I thought she’d want some privacy, Mac.”
Okay, so maybe Aiden’s a little slow on the take, but eventually he figures things out.
“I told y’all not to fuss over me. The back bedroom’s fine.”
“Like hell it is, Maggie,” Sean argues.
I take over helping her to her new room. “Granny, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from Sean, it’s that there’s really no use in arguing with the man because he’s gonna do what he’s gonna do.”
“Well, if you’re gonna be so hardheaded, then grab me that box sitting on the bed back there,” she calls out to Sean as we walk through the bedroom door.
Holding her hand, I help her sit down on the edge of the bed.
“He’s a little bossy, but he’s good lookin.’ Can’t say as I blame ya for goin’ after that one.”
“Oh, I didn’t . . . We’re not . . . I mean, I’m not—”
“Well, if you’re not, mind if I do?”
“Granny!” I laugh.
Sean comes in, carrying a decorative box, and looks between the both of us. Granny reaches for the box, and he places it into her hands, then leaves us to go collect the rest of her things out of the other room.
“That boy is a keeper. I’m old . . . and wise . . . I know a thing or two,” she says, flipping the lid off the box and setting it beside her.
She sifts through the contents inside, then pulls out a picture of a woman with her arms wrapped around a toddler-aged Jade, their faces smushed together.
“Aww. That’s such a sweet picture.”
“This is my Janelle, Jade’s mother.” She hands over the picture, and I stare down at it, surprised how much she and I resemble each other. “May I ask . . .”
“She died in a car wreck a couple of years ago.”
Oh, God.
My heart breaks for the little girl who will never know her mother. Maybe the loss of our moms is what I felt connecting us.
“Oh, lookie here.” She passes a picture of Janelle and Aiden, making a silly face into the camera.
I slide it on top of the one with Jade and her mother. “Were they high school sweethearts?”
“Oh, they’d date for a while, then break up, date for a while, then break up again.
They always kept coming back to each other .
. . until they didn’t. Janelle was a grade below Aiden.
Too young to be havin’ kids, those two. They were just babies themselves.
Janelle’s momma had her young too, and just like Janelle’s momma left me with her, Janelle left me with Jade.
Broke my heart to pieces . . . but I don’t believe in coincidences.
Lived too long and seen enough shit to know there are none.
Everythin' happens for a reason. They changed my world, ya know? Their time on this earth gave me a purpose. I don’t know what my life would’ve been like without any of them girls. ”
“Friend. Friend,” Jade interrupts, patting my arm.
“Her name is Hannah,” Granny corrects her.
Jade slaps the palm of her hand to her forehead. “Oh, yeah. I forgot.”
She grabs my hand and pulls. “Hannah, come see my big room.”
Why do I get the feeling this little girl is going to change my entire world?