Chapter 23 #2
“We’re out!” The producer behind the camera called out. The same rush of people came forward, unclipping the mic and moving lights out of the way. Sharon hovered by the door, tapping away on her tablet, an unreadable expression on her face.
Jamie was still in a bit of a daze as Harrison pulled him to the corner of the room and handed him a bottle of water. “You alright?”
Jamie took the water gratefully, unscrewing the cap and guzzling half of it. “Fine. Might have given the team another headache to deal with, but I needed to say something.”
Harrison nodded. “It was great. From where I’m standing, I think you did the right thing.”
“Thanks.” Jamie looked over at Sharon again. “I probably need to go face the music.”
Laughing, Harrison shook Jamie’s hand. “Good luck out there, Sully.”
Jamie returned the handshake, and walked over to Sharon. She gestured to the door. They walked silently down the hallway side by side, back in the direction of the Muskies locker room.
At least thirty seconds passed, and Jamie was about to crawl out of his skin. “Well?”
Beside him, Sharon snorted, obviously amused.
“Aren’t you going to say something? About what I said back there?”
“No.”
Jamie threw his hands up. “No?”
Sharon stopped short of the locker room door, and turned to face him.
“No, Jamie. There’s nothing more to say.
You defended a single parent back there.
You stood up for him and for his son. It was a beautiful display of your character and integrity.
Myself and the team will stand by you, and your partner. ”
“I…” Jamie began. He let out a breath. “Thank you.”
She nodded. “Now get in there and do your captain thing. The show is just getting started.”
“Listen up, boys! Sully’s got something to say!” Mitchy shouted. Around them, players fell quiet. Someone turned off the music.
Jamie stood up in front of his stall. He was already in his pads and skates, ready to go out on the ice for a short practice before their families joined them.
“I just want to thank all of you guys for showing up and working your bags off this year,” Jamie said, raising his voice to fill the room.
“And I want to thank you for trusting me. I know I’ve sucked this year–” He waved away the loud protests, shaking his head.
“No, really, boys, I’ve been brutal out there.
” The room broke out into chuckles at that.
“I was trying to do more than my job. Trying to play like someone I’m not.
But now, I’m back, and I’m fucking ready.
We’ve got a great chance here to show our fans and the league what we’re about.
Minnesota is coming into this game thinking they’re going to catch us on our heels. But fuck that!”
“Fuck that!” The guys echoed.
“Finish getting geared up and let’s go enjoy this moment.
When you’re out there, take a second and breathe it in.
You’ve all earned your place out on that ice.
And after practice, when the families join us, make sure to thank them for all that they do for us.
Never forget about the people off the ice. We play for them, too.”
The room erupted with cheers and hollers. Jamie was jostled from both sides with claps on his shoulder pads, and in that moment, he’d never felt more a part of them–a part of his team.
Jamie let Matty smear eyeblack across his cheeks, and laughed when Ollie managed to get the dark paint on his own nose.
Jamie was walking back from the bathroom when he noticed Carter handing out little slips of paper to all the guys.
“What’s that?” Jamie asked.
“Some of the guys and I were talking,” he started, and there was no sign of the cocky glint in his eyes that Jamie was used to seeing.
“And we’re going to put on a coat drive tomorrow at the game.
Ask people to bring in any extra gear, and then after we’ll donate them to kids who need them.
” Carter looked around the room at the team.
“Things were rough for me growing up. It was just me and my ma and I’ll never forget all the ways she supported us.
I just…I know I’m new, but I wanted to do something good. ”
“That’s amazing, Carts,” Jamie said, and pulled the taller man into a hug.
Carter’s cheeks were pink when Jamie pulled away.
“Is your mom going to make it to the game?”
Carter grinned, revealing his missing tooth. “Yeah. Can’t wait to see her out there.”
“That’s awesome, man. Introduce me, will ya?”
Matty catcalled from the other side of the room. “Sully, you trying to make a move on Carts’ mom?”
“I’m happily taken, asshole,” Jamie shouted back. “Happy, and gay!”
Five minutes later, he and Mitch stood side by side in front of the long bank of mirrors above the sinks.
“We look fucking good,” Mitch said, grinning at their reflections.
Their practice uniforms were a handsome dark green with orange and cream accents. The C was right where it always was, embroidered on his chest, Mitch’s A placed in the same spot. They both wore the beanies they’d been given, striped in the team colors with an orange pom on the top.
“We really do,” Jamie agreed. He combed his fingers through his mustache.
“Leave it alone.” Mitch slapped his hand away. “It looks good.”
Jamie grumbled, but dropped his hand. Their shoulders brushed, Jamie just a bit taller than his best friend.
His thoughts suddenly turned to his messy-haired and beautiful boyfriend and his son.
Just imagining them out there on the ice was enough to make his breath catch in his chest. Dammit, he wanted them there. “Do you think they’re going to come?”
Mitch nodded. “They’ll be here.”
After they’d finished their light practice, everyone’s attention turned to the people who had gathered just beyond the rink.
Guys sped over to grab their kids and partners and ushered them out onto the ice.
It was tradition for the WAGs to make some sort of matching jacket for them all to wear for the family skate.
Jamie knew Layla had helped design them.
This year they were puffy down jackets with the player names stitched on the breast and the Muskie logo on the back.
They looked fucking amazing.
Henri was, to no one’s surprise, the first of the Muskies kids to hit the ice. In her cream colored jacket with Jackson stitched on the back and box braids streaming behind her, she whipped circles around the outdoor rink, hollering at the top of her lungs.
Jamie watched as Mitch tried to catch up with her, laughing as he skated over to the bench to grab a drink from his water bottle.
What if Tyler had decided to sit this one out? What if it was all too much?
He wouldn’t blame him–no, Jamie couldn’t blame a man who didn’t want to put himself in front of a crowd after all of the articles, after everything people had said online. He’d understand if Tyler kept Rowan home.
But Jamie hoped. He really fucking hoped.
“Jamie!”
Maybe, sometimes, hoping was enough. Because there, hovering at the edge of the rink, were the two people Jamie wanted to see most in the world. A little blue-eyed boy with a stuffed sloth in tow and his beautiful father, both smiling and waving at him.
Jamie skated over to them as fast as he could, his cheeks aching because he couldn’t stop fucking smiling. By the time he’d dodged and weaved through everyone on the ice, Tyler was already skating slowly toward him with Rowan in his arms.
They looked perfect with their matching mullets and their jackets with Jamie’s last name stitched on the breast. Right here, with me, just where they’re supposed to be.
“You’re here,” Jamie said, relief making his voice waver. He was about to fucking cry, right there, and he didn’t fucking care, because they had come. They were fucking there. “I’m so, so happy you came.”
Tyler skated right into his arms. Jamie inhaled, letting everything around him fade but the cold plastic of Rowan’s helmet against his shoulder and the soft tickle of Tyler’s hair against his chin. He tightened his grip on them, and then pressed a kiss to Rowan’s helmet.
“What do you think of all this, buddy?”
Rowan’s grin was huge behind the cage. “It’s big like you!” He squinted his eyes, his nose scrunching up. “You have something on your face, Jamie.”
Jamie laughed. “We put special paint on our faces to help with the glare on the ice.”
“I want some.”
Tyler looked up from where his face had been tucked against Jamie’s chest. “Hey, big guy,” he said, an almost-sleepy, rumpled smile on his face. “I heard what you said. In the interview.”
“Yeah?” Jamie cleared his throat, suddenly self-conscious. “Did I overstep?”
“No,” Tyler said, shaking his head. “What you said was–” he sniffed, looking over Jamie’s shoulder, and Jamie saw tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. “What you said was perfect, Jamie. I’m so proud to be here, with you, wearing your name.”
“Baby,” Jamie breathed, doing his best to gently brush a finger over Tyler’s cheek with his bulky gloves. “If you start crying I swear I’m going to fu–forking go down with you.”
Tyler let out a wet laugh. “I just want to say thank you. For saying something when you didn’t have to.” He ran his tongue over his bottom lip hesitantly “You, Jamie, are worth all of it.”
Jamie leaned down, pressing a kiss to the wet trail on Tyler’s cold cheek. “Number three, remember?” He looked over at Rowan, who was watching them with a pleased grin on his face. “What are you smiling at?” Jamie asked him.
Rowan giggled, and reached for him. Jamie scooped him from Tyler’s arms, holding him on his hip. Rowan squirmed, and then held Bunny up in front of his face. “Bunny says you and papa should love each other and kiss noses.”
Jamie vaguely registered Tyler’s sputtering reaction, but he looked right at Rowan when he responded. “That’s the plan, kiddo. Come on, I want to see if you remember those mushy banana knees.”
It took a moment for Jamie to get Rowan back and settled on the ice, and there were giggles and laughter as he skated with the young boy between his legs. Tyler skated beside them, cheering Rowan on.
Rowan wasn’t Jamie’s. Not really. Not yet.
But it really did feel like Rowan and Tyler belonged right there beside him on the ice, wearing his name on their jackets. They were Muskies now. They were part of the team. They were family.
And maybe, someday, at the end of a roadtrip, rather than driving to the apartment above his moms’ house or swinging by The Daily Grind, he’d open the door of his too-large home and hear laughter and the whistling of the tea pot.
Maybe there would be a yellow coat with duct tape across the bottom and a lavender beanie hanging by the front door.
Maybe there would be blocks spread across the living room floor.
Maybe someday, they would be his family.
Jamie was all in.
Day by day, making time.