Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
JP was getting better every day. Less pain, more mobility. He was surprised by what a difference the chair lift on the stairs made. He’d thought it would make him feel weak, not good enough, like an invalid.
Instead it gave him freedom.
He could spend the nights upstairs with everyone else and the days on the main floor, again with everyone.
Sitting on the couch with his leg up, being useful even if he couldn’t do everything.
Hell if he needed a nap he could zip – okay not zip, the chair was not exactly fast, but still – upstairs and take that nap in bed.
It gave him freedom.
Now the speed of his recovery was annoyingly slow. He wanted to be able to do anything he wanted. Even if that wasn’t skating there were so many other things he couldn’t do yet, and that chafed. He knew he needed to look on the bright side; he knew it. Because there was so much good.
He was even coming to terms with not being able to play professionally anymore; there was so much he was gaining by being home.
And they were that close to a settlement with the team.
If they paid him out the last three years of his contract, that would be just over ten million dollars, and between that and what there was in savings, they could live well with neither of them working.
His agent was just ironing out the last kinks in the contract. He’d promised he’d have an offer soon.
“Dad.” Tori stood before him, her hands on her hips. “It’s raining outside. Make it stop.”
Well, he appreciated her faith in his ability to do anything, but that one wasn’t going to happen. “Can’t do that. The farmers need the rain for their crops.”
“What’s crops?”
She was so intense.
“You know all the fruits and vegetables that you eat? Where they grow those – that’s called crops.
And the grains that make flour and everything good that we eat.
It all needs rain and sunshine to grow.” He was going to need to get good with google as she got older to make sure he was giving her correct information.
She frowned. “Those are not farms? Daddy says veggies grow on farms.”
“Yes, farmers grow crops on their farms. Well, some farmers do. Other farmers have cows and pigs and sheep and goats.” Oh, God, did they know where meat came from yet? Had he just put his foot in it?
“Cows go moo and pigs go oink, and sheeps go baa, right?” She started dancing and singing loud.
“That’s right. Like on Old MacDonald’s Farm. Hey, Petey, you know this one, don’t you? Sing along with us.”
Peter glanced up at him from where he’d been playing with his little ‘workbench’. “E-I-E-I-O!”
Ian came in from the dining room where he’d been supervising the removal of the hospital bed. “Are we all okay?”
“We’re singing about cows and pigs and sheep.”
“E-I-E-I-O,” both kids shouted at the top of their lungs.
“Ah. Yes.” Ian shook his head and chuckled. “We’re almost done in here, and then we’ll make lunch, okay?”
“What is lunch?”
“I was thinking grilled cheese.”
“I haven’t had grilled cheese since I was a kid.” And it sounded delicious.
“I’ll make some in a few.” Ian smiled at him, eyes dragging over him in a very adult way. “Are you okay with these two?”
He just stared for a moment, trying to parse the question. “Uh… yeah. Yeah, we’re good.”
“Cool. Be back soon.”
The kids stared at Ian, then Peter glanced back at him. “Why do they take your bed?”
He watched Ian disappear with a hint of panic. Ian was leaving the house? With just him to look after the kids? He took a deep breath. Okay, he was a grown man, well on his way to being fit. He could do this, right? Right.
He cleared his throat. “Because now that we have the chair lift for the stairs, I can sleep upstairs with the rest of you instead of down here all by myself.”
“That’s nice. You had to be brave by youself.” Tori patted his hand.
He chuckled. “I did, did I? It was lonely down here without the rest of you.”
“Poor, poor dad. That’s why we played wif you.”
“Well, I really appreciate it, thank you sweetie.” He kissed the back of her hand.
“You are welcome. I’m going to do my puzzle. You can watch me.”
Petey frowned over. “I want a puzzle.”
Tori shrugged one shoulder. “Go get one of you own.”
“Have you got one you want to show me, Peter?” he asked to divert his son from his sister’s dismissal.
“Oh. The balloon one?”
Tori nodded. “I gotten the hockey one.”
“You got the hockey one.” He’d noticed Ian casually correcting the twins when they said something incorrectly and figured he should do it, too. “And sure, the balloon one sounds like fun. Show me?”
“Uh-huh. Wait for me, sister?”
Tori nodded like a queen. “I will wait.”
JP wanted to chuckle. She was such a character. They both were.
“What’s funny, Dad? Did you tell your heart a joke?”
What an interesting expression. “I did, sweetie.”
Peter came back with a box. The picture on the front had balloons over a field.
“Look at this. It looks hard. You want to show me how you do it?”
“Uh-huh. I will sit here. Tori can sit next to me.”
Tori nodded. “Okay. Let’s win the puzzle!”
Ian came in through the garage. “That’s done and dusted. I’ll make sandwiches.”
JP felt himself relaxing immediately. And he gave Ian a warm smile. “Oh, welcome back. You didn’t go far.”
“Huh? Nope, just out to the end of the driveway to sign off on the return.” Ian smiled at them. “Are we doing puzzles?”
“Uh-huh. I will win.”
Ian chuckled at Tori. “Sweetheart. You don’t win at solving puzzles.”
“Uh-huh. I do.”
“I was wondering about that.” JP grinned. “Tori seems to believe you can win at everything in life. It’s not a bad attitude to have.”
“She is her father’s daughter. I’m going to make sandwiches. Do you want tomato soup? The kids won’t want any.”
“Only if you want some.” He wasn’t making extra work for Ian.
“I want soups too, Daddy. To dip my sandwich.”
Ian blinked at Peter. “Since when do you know about dipping sandwiches?”
“Aunt Allison.”
“So maybe the kids want some after all.” JP gave him a grin. “What about you, Tori, do you want to dip your sandwich, too?”
“Do you dippin’ yours?”
He nodded. “I do.”
“Then, yes. I do like my dad.”
Ian chuckled. “Fair enough. Grilled cheese and tomato soup for dipping.”
“Thanks, Chou.” He was smiling. He had to admit, it felt great, the kids wanting to do things because he did.
They worked on their puzzles, he could hear Ian whistling in the kitchen, and the rain kept coming down, making things cool and cozy.
He just sat there, smiling. Enjoying the day even though all he was doing was sitting, watching the kids.
“I’m done, Dad!” Tori called out.
“Me too,” Peter said.
“Lunch, guys. Come to the table.”
“Come on, Dad! It’s lunch time!” Tori grabbed one of his hands and once he stood up, Peter took the other.
“I still need my walker, guys.”
“Oh. I get it. Hold his hand, Petey.” Tori went to grab his walker and drag it over.
He squeezed Petey’s hand. “Thanks, buddy.” Then he grabbed the walker. “And thank you, Tori. Let’s go eat.”
“Sammiches! Sammiches!” Tori sang.
“Dunk it in da SOUP!” Petey added.
He cackled. “Latest on the billboard charts, Chou. The dunk your sammich song.”
“Right? It’s got a great beat, and you can dance to it.”
The table held two large and two small mugs of soup, two milks, two waters with lemon, and then a pile of grilled cheese sandwiches, cut into dipping sized pieces.
“Wow. It’s like we’re at a restaurant.” He grabbed hold of Ian’s hand and kissed the back of it. “Thank you, Chou.”
Ian blinked at him, then blushed dark. “You’re welcome, love. Come on and eat.”
Someone still had it for him. Bad. He grinned and grabbed a triangle of grilled cheese and very deliberately dunked it, giving Ian a wink.
The kids watched him like a pair of hawks, then in sequence, they dunked too.
That was the most adorable thing he’d ever seen. He chewed and swallowed his mouthful, then dunked again. “Reminds me of being a kid,” he told Ian, keeping an eye to see if the kids would dunk again or if they actually didn’t like it. “I guess that’s why they say it’s a comfort food, eh?”
“It is. Perfect for a rainy day.”
The kids devoured pieces of sandwiches, dunking, jabbering as they ate.
“They like having you around for meals, JP.”
“Yeah? I don’t know if it’s because I’m me or because I’m new,” he admitted.
“It’s a little because you’re new, but it’s mostly because you’re their dad.” Ian shrugged and smiled. “I mean, you belong here with us.”
He smiled back at Ian and nodded. “Yeah. I think I do.” He felt settled and right here in a way he never had in Florida.
Peter stared at him for a second. “You’re our dad. This is your house, too.”
Tori nodded. “Hims lived in hockey, brother, and then when he got hurt, he had to come home.”
“Do you want to hockey?” Peter’s little face was so worried.
She nodded.
“But sister, you can’t move to hockey. You can’t leave to hockey. You can’t leave me!”
“It’ll be a long time before Tori has to make that kind of decision, Peter. Lots and lots of years from now. And who knows, maybe you’ll be her agent and travel with her.” He wasn’t going to say Peter would be in hockey too, because he knew it was going to be work just to get Peter to skate at all.
“I will always be with you.” Tori rolled her eyes. “We are twins.”
Ian’s expression was bittersweet, a hint of smile and tears. “You guys have so many adventures before you have to stress this. You have school and vacations and puzzles. Learning to read. Learning everything.”
“Everyone’s going to be fine. Great. And your Daddy is right. It’s ages before either of you even considers going your own way.” He had another bite of his sandwich. It was really good.
That was obviously good enough for his daughter, who set right to eating against.
Peter needed a little jollying along from Ian.
He kept eating, munching on the delicious sandwiches, dipping them into the soup. Tori seemed to be trying to keep up with him, quarter sandwich after quarter sandwich. He was part impressed, part worried she was going to explode.
“Tori, slow down, baby girl. You’re going to have a tummy ache.” Ian shot him a ‘slow down’ glare.
He put down the grilled cheese triangle he’d just picked up. How was this his fault? He hadn’t asked her to copy him that closely.
Tori sighed softly and put her piece down too.
Damn. Okay, so now he knew, and he could adjust how much he ate a single sitting. Snacks were totally a thing.
“Someone is a little competitive. We’re working on it, but it’s hard.”
“Even with me?” He didn’t mind the competitiveness – that would do her well in hockey, and in life – but she couldn’t keep up with him in a lot of areas.
“Sometimes with me. It’s just her personality.” Ian shrugged and winked. “Sometimes, though, it’s not a race. We all have our own needs.”
“Sometimes our needs meet…” he gave Ian a wink.
“I—” Ian blinked, then went bright red. “They do. So much.”
He just grinned, grabbed his glass of water, and took a sip.
“Daddy?” Peter whispered. “Sister is sleeping.”
“She’s very full.” Ian stood to take her upstairs. “Finish your lunch, son.”
Oh lord, she’d eaten herself into a food coma. JP shook his head and grabbed that grilled cheese triangle he’d put down. He dipped it and took a bite.
“You’re almost done that piece. How many have you had?” he asked Peter.
“So many.”
He thought maybe two.
“Did you like it dunked in the soup?”
“Uh-huh. It’s yummy. I like it out too.” Peter smiled at him. “I like you, Dad.”
“And I like you too, Petey. In fact, I love you.”
“You do?” His son’s eyes lit up. “I love you too!”
He opened his arms, and Petey flew into them. He hugged his son tight, holding him close.
Peter snuggled right in, arms around his neck. “I’m so glad you remembered where home was.”
“I’m glad too, Petey. I really am.” Like incredibly so.
This silver lining was getting so it was hard to see the clouds at all.