A Second Chance at Love

“Boys if you don’t calm down I swear we will watch this game on TV” I yelled to the four pair of eyes now staring at me. It was five o’clock. We had just finished doing homework and were in the process of eating. I wanted to leave for the Wells Fargo Center by 5:30. I knew traffic would be somewhat of a mess and didn’t want to run late. I shot Danny a text while the boys were finishing their dinner. “Have fun, kick butt, luv u.”

I piled the kids in my SUV and started towards the arena. The lady at the window immediately recognized the boys. “You must be Miss Miller. Mr. Briere asked if you could stop downstairs first. They should be down there for another twenty minutes or so. “ I thanked her and let the boys lead the way into the family room.

I stopped and let Caelan go into to the locker room to let him know we made it. I was not trying to see half of those guys naked. Danny came out a minute later half-dressed. I almost lost my composure for a minute glancing around for an empty room or closet. He gripped me in a tight hug. “I am so sending the inventor of Under Armor a thank you card” I whispered.

He laughed at me and headed back into the locker room, flinging five jerseys at me in various sizes. I had to laugh. Ryan ended up with Giroux, Caelan ended up with Richards, Cam had his Dad , Carson got Carter and I had Versteeg. I just shook my head at him and smiled. He must have lost some kind of bet.

We ended up sitting one row off the ice. I made Danny get me really good tickets because he convinced me to give up my season tickets near the bench in favor of the family box. I relented, knowing that when I brought the boys on non-school nights it would be easier if I didn’t need to bring a sitter as well. Once I got the boys settled in with drinks we sat back and watched practice. Claude made a spectacle of shooting puck at the glass. The boys were going wild. I mouthed “Need valium” to Danny as he skated by. Mike laughed at me and smiled just shaking his head. Ryan was by far the calmest. I think he was in awe of everything. Caelan was pointing to everything and explaining stuff to him. It was adorable.

The game went well and we ended up winning 4-2. I headed directly to Danny’s house sending the boys up to bed. I sent Ryan with Carson. I jumped in the shower once the two younger ones were asleep and threw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt from Danny’s pile of clothes laying on a chair in his room. I laid back onto the pillow and fell asleep. He woke me up when he came in. He jumped in bed and wrapped his arms around me. “I love you. Did they give you a hard time going to bed.” He asked.

“Nope, they fell asleep quick.” I responded dozing back off.

I woke up the next morning to the smell of breakfast. I rolled over and looked at the clock. It was ten o'clock. I headed down into the kitchen where Danny was sitting at the breakfast bar eating.

“Good morning sleepyhead” Claude yelled from the den.

“I took the boys to school. You looked comfortable.” I smiled at him.

“God I love you.” I responded.

Claude laughed from the other room. “Was that the L word I heard?”

“Stay out of grown folks business” I growled back. We spent the day hanging out and watching movies, trying to figure out how in the world we would game plan our schedules around the boy’s teams. They began this upcoming weekend. I was so not ready for it.

Notes

:) on a roll posting tonight