One Timers

The sun is barely peaking through the windows when I feel a small lump climbing up onto the bed. Internally groaning, I know there’s only seconds left before my peaceful slumber is interrupted.

And I’m right.

“Mommy! Daddy! Wake up! It’s my birthday!” My now four year old daughter yells, launching herself on top of us.

James groans a little and gives my ass a small squeeze before untangling our limbs from each other. I instantly miss the warmth his body gives off.

“Good morning, princess.” He says, wrapping his large arms around our girl and pulling her in between us. He tickles her a little and she squeals, all three of us laughing. “How is my birthday girl?” He asks.

“Good, daddy.” Her small voice responds.
“Perfect.” I smile, stretching my arms. “Now what would you like to do today? It’s your day, so we’ll do whatever you want.”

James and I agreed on this plan a week ago. Since he’s in the middle of the season right now, we don’t have time to plan and trow a birthday party for her. So we agreed that we’d hold off on the party until the summer and let her pick what she wants to do for the day, since James surprisingly has the whole day off.

Jessie thinks for a second.
“I wanna open presents!” She says, a huge smile on her face.
James laughs at my frustrated face. Last night, as we were wrapping her presents, we made a bet. James said Jessie would want to open presents first. I said she would want to eat. James just won.
“Cuddle up with mommy and I’ll go get them.” He says, pulling himself out of the bed.

Jessie snuggles in next to me and I let my eyes roam my husband’s body as he crosses the room to our closet. The hard planes of his body disappear beneath the soft fabric of his boxers. His newest addition to his extensive body art peaks out of the band on his hip, a small pink heart with “Jessica Joy Neal” inside of it.

He disappears inside the closet and a minute later returns, carrying the pink boxes we wrapped up for her. Her eyes light up and she starts squealing again, clapping her hands. He laughs and his eyes crinkle with his smile. It’s one of James’s true smiles. He puts the boxes down on the bed and she scrambles over to them.

“Which one first?” He asks.
“That one!” She yells, pointing to the biggest.

He chuckles and hands it to her. She tears through all of the boxes, until there’s only the two smallest ones left. My eyebrows pinch together in confusion. I only remember one small box, and we wrapped all of her presents in pink paper. So why is there a second small one in purple paper? James smiles at my confusion.

“Actually, princess. The purple one is for mommy.” He says, handing her the two small boxes. “Will you give it to her?”

My daughter nods and climbs over to my side, handing me the gift. I take it and the two of us open them together. My heart stops and I gasp when I open the box. James and I had bought Jessie a tiny penguin necklace with the number 18 in fake diamonds in it. James had also bought me the same one, except with real diamonds. I take hers out of the box and clasp it around her neck, James doing the same for me.

“Mommy we match!” Jessie says, showing me hers.
“We do!” I respond, holding back my emotions.
“I have one more present for you, princess.” James says, heading back to the closet.

He comes back with the last box, the biggest of them all. It’s wrapped in black paper with a gold bow on it. Jessie’s eyes go wide and she jumps up on the bed. He puts it down and she attacks it, pulling out the tiny ice skates.

“Skates!” She yells. “Like daddy’s!”
“Yeah, princess. Skates like daddy’s.” He smiles.
Her face suddenly falls and her lower lip starts to tremble.
“What’s wrong, baby girl?” I ask.
“I don’t know how.” She whimpers.
“That’s okay, baby. I can teach you.” James says.
Her eyes light up.
“Now?” She asks.
I chuckle.
“Baby, is that what you want to do on your birthday?” I ask.
“Yeah! I wanna skate!” She says.
“Let’s have some breakfast first, okay?” James says. “And then we’ll go skate.”

The three of us have a nice breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, Jessie’s favorite. After that, James packs up Jessie’s new skates and we get her dressed for the ice. We drive over to Consol and park in the players’ lot. Jessie spots Sid’s car (because the guy can’t take a day off), and cheers. She loves her Uncle Sid.

We get into the locker room and all three of us change into our skates. James ties Jessie’s skates tight and picks her up, carrying her out to the ice. I grab his stick for him and follow close behind. When we reach the bench, I hear the sound of Sid shooting on the net.

“Uncle Sid!” Jessie yells out, getting his attention.
“Mind if we join you?” James asks.
“Of course not.” Sid responds with a smile.
“Daddy’s gonna teach me how to skate!” She says as James carries her out onto the ice.
“Really? And why is he doing that?”
“Because it’s my birthday!” She yells.
“Really?” Sid’s eyes go wide. “I thought that was last year!”
“It happens every year, Uncle Sid!” Jessie giggles.
“Oh, I didn’t know that. How old are you now?”
“I’m four!”

Sid smiles wide and holds out his hand for me to step onto the ice with them.

“Okay, baby. You ready to skate?” James asks.
“Mmhm.” She nods.

James puts her down on the ice between his legs and holds her hands as he pushes slowly, only going a couple yards away. He talks in her ear a little and she starts moving her feet with his.

“She’s a natural.” Sid says.
“She sure is.” I say, smiling.
“You know, I never thought he’d be good with a kid of his own.” He admits. “Nealer was always awful with children.”
“Me neither.” I laugh. “He couldn’t even take care of himself a couple years ago. Paul always had to do it.”
“He’s surprised us all with how amazing he is with her. He’s a fantastic father. And I’m about 98 percent sure we have you to thank for how much he’s grown up.”

I blush at his words. He has no idea how much James and I have both changed since we started dating. I watch as James lets go of Jessie’s hand to grab his stick from me. I hand it over and he gives Jessie the toe to hold on to. He starts skating backwards, pulling her with him as she shuffles her tiny feet.

“Now there’s a sight.” I hear behind me.
I turn and smile at the older man who’s done so much for our family.
“It was her one birthday wish.” I respond.
“Well she’s a natural.” Mario Lemieux says.
“That’s exactly what I said.” Sid agrees before taking off to shoot a couple more pucks at the net.
“That’s a beautiful necklace.” Mario points out.
I reach up and grab it, rubbing the diamonds between my fingers.
“Thank you. James and I bought a kid version for Jessie for her birthday. Apparently he also decided to get a real one for me.”
“James is a changed man from when he first came to us from Dallas.” He says, watching my husband skate with our little girl.
“He’s fantastic.” I admit.

Later on, when I’m cleaning up from dinner and James has put Jessie in bed, he pins me against the counter, my back flush with his chest.

“I’ve decided what I want as payment for winning the bet.” He says, kissing my neck.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“Another.” He says.
“Another what?” I ask, turning to face him.
“Another kid.”
My heart stops.
“Another kid?” I ask for clarification.
“Yeah.” His eyes are dead serious. “I love being a father so much. Jessie is my world. And I want to be a father to as many kids as I can. As many as you want.”
“You-you want another kid.” I say, more for myself.
“If you really want to wait, we can. But I just figured since Jessie is four now, we’re stable enough to have another.” He explains.

I think for a second.
“Okay.” I say, smiling.
“Okay?”

Notes

Requested. Enjoy.

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Kings!!!! What an incredible game. Both teams should be proud of themselves.

Four months until October.