The Memories
Six
Patrice walked up to the massive house, and rang the doorbell. It was a little past midnight, but he knew Ashlyn would be awake.
"Hey! Come on in!" She said, welcoming him into the entrance and shutting the door behind him.
He smiled and thanked her, admiring the way her dark brown eyes matched the dress she was wearing.
"What's the occasion?" He asked, gesturing to her outfit.
"Nothing special." She replied. "We're just watching a movie."
"We? Who's we?" Patrice asked, confused.
"Troy." She said, tilting her head to one side as if he was expected to know that.
"He's still up? Ashlyn, it's midnight! He's got school tomorrow." Patrice said incredulously.
"No, he's homeschooled." Ashlyn smiled. "I'm his teacher. That way we can go to late night hockey games, and stay up late, and sleep in, and still get his school done."
"That's amazing." Patrice laughed. "But how do you get time for work?"
"I'm a writer." She said, a puzzled look creeping onto her face. "I thought you knew that."
"No, I had no idea." Patrice replied honestly. "But that's super cool. You just do it on your own time?"
She nodded, and led him into the living room. It was luxurious, with beautiful couches and a colorful carpet. Huddled under a pile of blankets watching Spider Man on the flatscreen, was little Troy. He jumped up as soon as he saw Patrice.
"Dad!" He cried joyfully, and Ashlyn smiled.
Patrice picked him up and hugged him, before setting him back in his den of blankets and sitting on the couch next to him. Troy held out a blanket with an inquisitive look on his face, and Patrice took it with a smile.
They watched the last half hour of the movie, and Patrice offered to take Troy to bed.
"I can't believe you're my dad." Troy said, closing his eyes and snuggling into Patrice's shoulder as he was carried up the stairs to his room.
"Will you tell me a story?" Troy asked, yawning and pulling the blankets up to his chin.
"Sure." Patrice shrugged. "What about?"
"About you. About your hockey. Tell me what you did at the game today." Troy said, and Patrice thought for a moment.
"Alright." He replied. "I have a very specific routine that I have to do before every game, so I do certain stretches in a certain order, I get three bottles of water, and one bottle of coconut water and line them all up on the right side of my stall. Then I put all of my equipment on in a specific order, and I head out into the hallway to wait for about ten minutes before anyone joins me there."
Troy nodded and closed his eyes, as Patrice continued to tell him about his pre-game routine. Patrice smiled and got up when he knew Troy was asleep. He headed for Ashlyn's room, where she was waiting patiently.
"Good story time?" She asked him with a smile.
"The best." He grinned, and she laughed.
"Well, I suppose I owe you." She smiled shyly, lying back down. "Come and get some."
He walked over and lay down on the bed on top of her. He had such clear memories of seven years earlier in Florida.
She leaned up and kissed him softly, putting her hands on his shoulders and pulling him toward her. Patrice smiled. It was a perfect night.
