“How you feeling about tonight? You gonna make it?”
“Yeah. It sucks. I hate sitting there while the team is playing, but it’s my penance. I can take it. After tonight, I’m free.”
“Good attitude, kid. Love you.”
“Love you, Mom.”
“Gotta go?”
He grins cheekily at me. “Kind of. Sorry, I told coach I wanted to see you guys, so he said to come as soon as I could.”
“No problem, bud. We’ll see you after the game.”
“Yeah. Oh, I have something I want to tell you and Dad, but it will have to wait until after the game. I’ll come straight home.”
“Everything alright?”
“Oh yeah. Everything’s great,” he says walking backward toward the garage. His smile fills his entire face, and I’m so glad that Barrett and I remembered to let him be the one to tell us about his date with Bri. His excitement is infectious, and I can’t wait for him to tell us in his own words. It makes me a little disappointed that James spilled the beans to us, but at the same time I’m happy.
Harper runs up with a black Sharpie in her hand and points to the spot she wants us both to sign. Her tiny cast is already covered in signatures, with Grady’s in the middle, followed by “My Favorite Person On Earth” scrolled in his handwriting.
Maggie and Harper tell us they’re going to get ready for the game tonight, still not willing to miss it, even though Grady isn’t playing. Apparently they’re completely over the excitement of seeing their parents who’ve been gone for almost a week. While this could make me sad, it actually makes me feel completely happy. Knowing that they’re growing up to be well-adjusted humans who can adapt and not break down when we’re not around makes me proud. It also makes me realize that we can spend more time focusing on each other without feeling guilty.
After we sign Harper’s cast, the girls trudge off to the hall closet and grab their coats for tonight.
As soon as they’re out of sight, Barrett launches in on James. “So-o-o… Ms. Hanson, huh?” Barrett says, teasing.
He punches him in the shoulder lightly and chuckles. “Shut up, man. She’s your daughter’s teacher,” he says like he’s repulsed, but the gleam in his eye says that he is not immune to the beauty that is Carly Hanson.
“True. But you can’t deny that she’s beautiful. Even I’d hit that.”
Two sets of wide eyes swing to me. “Tess!” James guffaws while Barrett raises his hand and says, “I’d watch,” then laughs like he’s the funniest person on the planet, like a total idiot. Good thing I know he was just being a complete goober and teasing.
I roll my eyes at his immaturity but still reach over and give James a tight hug. “Thank you, James, for staying with them. For helping everything here to stay rolling along, for keeping the kids happy. For taking care of my baby.”
“Nowhere else I’d rather be.”
“I know. And I love you for it. Stay through the weekend?”
“Yeah. I was planning on it, anyway, and I really wanna see Grady’s panic attack tomorrow night. He’s so sure of himself now, but I can’t wait to see the nerves settle in,” he says, grinning widely.
“It’s killing me that he hasn’t told us yet!”
“I honestly can’t believe that you didn’t slip up and say something.”
“Barrett coached me on the way home,” I admit. Barrett’s eyes are gleaming, and his smirk is sure. I roll my eyes and shake my head at his cockiness.
“Mom! Dad! Why aren’t you ready?!” Maggie’s voice breaks in. She’s standing in front of us with her hands on her hips and a stern expression on her face. She’s eager to get to the game, just as we are. Only one more game remains before playoffs begin, and Grady is no doubt feeling even more eager for missing these last two weeks, knowing that.
“You just want to get there in time to watch Jack warm up,” Harper says in a bored tone.
“Quiet, Harps!” Maggie shrieks, her face flaming bright.
“Alright, let’s go change and head over to the game,” Barrett says, not wanting to hear about his daughter’s sudden crush.
“So, what is it you wanted to talk to us about?” Barrett asks Grady casually because he’s probably certain my voice will come out squeaky and excited.
We got home from the game about forty-five minutes ago, and, despite our weekly tradition of our home tailgates, we chose to hang at home tonight after the game. After being gone for a week we needed to catch up with the kids and weren’t ready to fully socialize quite yet.
Barrett and I are seated on the couch next to each other, and Grady is on the other end of the sectional cracking his knuckles.
“Well, you know how Bri and I have been friends forever, right?”
“Yeah,” Barrett hedges.
I swear if he doesn’t just spit it out soon, one of us is going to explode. As it is already, Barrett keeps having to squeeze my knee because my leg won’t stop bobbing up and down.
“And I know you guys already assumed this, but yeah, I kind of have a thing for her.”
“Kind of?” I ask, my voice staying surprisingly steady.
Grady grins at me, completely reading into my struggle. “Yeah, Mom, kind of. Or more than kind of. Actually, I asked her to go on a date with me tomorrow night.”
“And? Spit it out, man!” Barrett says, making both of us laugh.
I really thought I’d be the one who broke down first.
“She said yes,” he says. His grin is split so wide. His happiness is radiating off him. In fact, he starts laughing at nothing in particular, either his excitement or nervousness catching up with him — maybe both.
But no matter what, it’s easy to see what this night means to him.
James pokes his head around the wall that separates part of the living room from the rest of the house, looking like a total creeper but funny, nonetheless.
“Tell them yet?” he asks, his own grin splitting his face. His interruption comes so early into our conversation we hadn’t even had a chance to weigh in with our thoughts yet.
“Yes, Nosey Noserson. I just did.”
“About time. That secret was killing me,” he says with a wink in our direction.
He’s so subtle.
I shake my head and roll my eyes at my brother. He’s seemed happier than he’s been in a long while. I don’t know if being around the kids has helped his overall mood, or if something else is going on, but I’ll take it, whatever it is.
I turn my head in Grady’s direction and speak truth to him. “Grady, neither of us could be happier. You know we love Bri and have felt for a long time that you two are perfect together. You also know that your dad and I have been together since we were younger than you guys are now.”
“Mom, it’s one date.”
“No, son, it isn’t. Trust me. This might be the first official date between you two, but you know as well as we do that it’s been more than that for a long time. There’s a reason neither of you have ever really dated anyone else. There’s a reason Bri is the one who wears your jersey every Friday night. And there’s a reason you point to her in the stands after every touchdown,” Barrett says, his voice full of authority but loving sincerity.