A Second Chance at Love

The week went pretty quickly. I only had one other game. Lavy kept it light in between with short practices or optional skates. She opted to stay at my house on Thursday night and watch the game on TV. I left around four o'clock to go to the arena. She was in the backyard, running and chasing Lola all around. The boys were disbursed throughout the house after just finishing their homework.

I got to the arena with plenty of time to spare. My phone was ringing and I realized it was Sylvie. “Yea Syl, what’s up.” I asked her.

“Dan, whose watching the kids?” she sounded mad.

“Raina has them at the house. Don’t start with me. I told you she was gonna be in their lives because she was in mine.” I said quickly.

“That’s fine Dan, I got your point. I don’t love the idea but whatever. Cam’s teacher just called me. She said he got into a fight in school. The other boy had made some comments about us not being together. You may want to ask him about it later.” I thanked her and hung up.

We lost the game. I didn’t really care. I was only preseason and I didn’t play much anyway. I stayed back after the game and drank a beer with some of the guys.

“She let you out of the house?” Jeff laughed.

“Did Pam actually give you any yet” I countered. I only stayed for about an hour. I had already texted Raina and let her know I was gonna be late. She told me to lose Claude on the way home and lock the door behind me. I left Claude at the bar and raced home. She met me at the door and pulled me quickly toward the bedroom. She promised me I wouldn’t have to do any work.

Forty-five minutes later I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face and she laid exhausted beside me. She fell asleep and I laid there quietly.

I couldn’t fall asleep. I kept questioning why everything was going so well. Even Sylvie had seemed to back off. I knew it couldn’t stay like this.

When Claude came in I tried to talk to him about it, but he was half drunk and called me a pansy for wanting to discuss relationship things with him.

The next day I had off. Ryan had an evaluation for hockey after school and so did Carson. The older two already were placed on teams. We all ended up at the skate zone watching the two boys. I was happy for Raina. Ryan did really well. She did a good job skating with him. For six he was pretty good. They both ended up on the elite teams for their age group. The nice thing about that was the number of Flyers alumni that worked with the teams. They were really good about helping us out with picking the boys up and helping out when we were on the road. I told Raina the same and she frowned at me. “Can’t you just play home games” she whined.

I put my arms around her shoulders. A few of the moms started whispering. I smiled at them and gave Raina a long kiss. Cam made puking noises and Caelan gave me the thumbs up sign.

We ended up getting ice cream after their team selections and going back to Raina’s house. I was slightly annoyed when I seen the neighbor bringing flowers to her that had been delivered earlier. She looked surprised but put them on the counter. Once we put a movie on for the boys we went into the kitchen and she opened the card.

“The ball is in your court. I love you and hope I can see you soon. Love Jordan.” I wanted to throw the vase against the wall.

“Are you serious Raina, what the hell is that supposed to mean?” She just shrugged at me.

“You guess is as good as mine. I haven’t spoken to him since he left. Why are you jealous anyway? Didn’t I tell you I only wanted you.” I couldn’t help it. I wanted to drive to Pittsburgh and punch him in the head.

I didn’t want him anywhere near her. I knew she loved me, but I didn’t want temptation to get in the way of our relationship. I don’t know why I didn’t stop myself before I pissed her off. “And they really expect you to visit them?” I growled.

Her face immediately changed. “Wow, good one Danny, and here I thought I had a boyfriend who trusted me. Funny, I don’t seem to have concerns about you leaving all of the time. I'll miss you but I believe you when you say you love me. Stop letting your ego interfere sweetheart. Trust me, it won’t end well if you don’t.“ She walked away and into the living room with the boys.

I tried talking to her the rest of the night but she busied herself with the boys. Once they fell asleep I pulled her closer to me on the couch. “I’m sorry Raina. Can I help it if I’m jealous? You are smart, funny, beautiful and a great mom. Any guy would be happy to take you away. I love you.” She leaned her head on me.

“I love you too Daniel Briere.” After she fell asleep I thought about the situation a lot. I knew I wasn’t happy with the Jordan thing, but I did trust her. I knew she was going to want to visit the guys, but there was no way I was going to agree to her staying with Max like she normally did.

All four of the boys had practice the next morning, beginning at 7:00 am. We ended up at the rink for more than half the day. Ian Lappierre’s wife came up to me when Raina went to get a coffee. “She’s great Danny, how long have you been together?” I had to laugh.

“We just started dating three weeks ago.” I said and she smiled.

“Honey you would never know.” She gave me a hug and went to look for her son.

Notes