Justin
“Let’s go, buddy!” I yell down the hall toward the bedroom. Caroline comes out of the bedroom, and she looks like she’s going to throw up. “You look beautiful.” She is wearing a short-sleeved white dress with gray stripes and a matching belt around her tiny waist in a bow. She is wearing the brown sandals that she has been wearing for the past four days even though she now has twenty pairs of shoes. Because not only did Zara overdo it, but there has also been extra packages coming every single day.
“Yeah.” She puts her hands to her stomach. “I really don’t know what someone wears when they meet the family of the guy she’s …”
“She’s dating,” I finish for her. “You’re my woman.” She glares at me. “Come here.” I pull her to me, and she looks up at me. “Sweetheart.”
“You guys with the kissing,” Dylan says, walking past us. “I’m getting a snack for the car.”
“We leave in two!” I yell to him. “Now, tonight is going to be good.” She doesn’t even smile. “Great, amazing … they are going to love you.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she says softly, and we walk out together. She kisses Dylan on the top of the head and then leans up to kiss me. “Drive safely.”
“You, too,” I say, watching her get into the SUV and driving away. I get into the car and make my way to the arena, parking in my regular spot. “Let’s go, buddy,” I say, opening the back door for him, and we walk in together like we always do.
“See you on the ice,” Dylan says, walking to his changing room, and I turn to see Ralph.
“Hey,” I say to him, and he nods.
“You have some visitors.” He motions over to the changing room, and when I enter, I see it overrun with the men in my family. Matthew and Max sit side by side, their hockey bags in front of them as they search through them. Evan and Viktor are sitting together on the other side, leaning with their backs to the wall and their eyes closed. Their hockey bags are not even open. Mini Cooper is sitting with Michael as he ties his skate. The kid has gotten so tall he might be past me now. My father sits on the bench by himself as he puts on his skates.
“You can’t skate faster than me, Dad,” mini Cooper tells Matthew. “You’re old.”
“I’m going to smoke you,” Matthew says.
“He really is getting up there in age,” Max says, and I laugh.
“What are you guys doing here?” I say, and my father looks up at me, and he smiles big. “Dylan!” I yell down the hall, and he sticks his head out of the room he’s in. “Come here.” I motion with my hand and wait for him to jog over.
“There he is,” Evan says, finally opening his eyes.
“Buddy, I want you to meet my dad, Cooper.” I point at my father, and he just smiles at him. “That’s Matthew and Max. You know Evan and Viktor, and those two rats are my nephews, Michael and MC.”
“Look at this kid,” Matthew says, getting up and slapping my shoulder. “You look good,” he says and then hits me in the stomach. “You look like you been eating doughnuts.”
“You fuc-” I start to say, but then I catch myself. “You wish.”
“That’s Cooper Stone,” Dylan whispers, and I smile, putting my hand on his shoulder. “Are you guys coming on the ice with us?” Dylan asks with his eyes big when everyone answers. “Cool,” he says, then looks at me. “I’m going to go get ready.”
“See you out there,” I say, and I watch him walk out of the room.
My father now gets up and looks at MC and Michael. “Are you two ready to go?” He holds his helmet under his arm when they nod and get up, walking toward the ice. “You look good,” he says, and I walk to him and give him a hug. “Looks good on you.”
“Thanks, Dad,” I say, and he walks toward the ice now. “You guys said you were coming in tonight.”
“Yeah,” Viktor says, opening his eyes now. “Then the chain texting started.”
“Then plans started being made,” Evan says. “And poof, we’re packing up a day early. Now we are in a strange house, and baby Zoey is over it. She didn’t get to sleep until five.”
“Four thirty,” Viktor says. “Then again at six.”
“What are you talking about?” Evan says. “She’s two months old, so that’s her thing.”
“How does a little thing have such deep lungs?” Viktor asks, and the guys laugh now. I sit on the bench and start getting ready.
“It’s only starting,” Evan says. “Wait until teething.”
“Fucking horrible,” Max says. “I swear I almost went bald on both sides of my head.”
“So what’s the story?” Matthew says, looking at me. “He yours?”
I just look at him. “Yeah, pretty much.”
“Holy shit,” Max says the same time Viktor holds out a hand for Evan to pay him money.
“I never thought I would see the day,” Matthew says. “You with a kid.”
“I used to babysit all the time,” I tell them, putting on my skates.
“Yeah, to get the girls to come over and help you,” Max says.
“Shut up,” I tell them.
“How serious is this?” Viktor asks me.
“Very,” I tell them even though we haven’t had any conversations about it.
“She living with you?” Matthew asks me.
“Yeah,” I say, and then I look up while he smirks and crosses his arms over his chest.
“You going to let her leave?” Max then asks.
“Nope,” I say, and now Evan and Max moan.
“He’s a fucking crazy like Matthew,” Max says, shaking his head.
“No one is crazy like Matthew,” Evan says.
“I bet you double or nothing,” Viktor says. “He’s a touch worse.” He points at me.
I’m about to answer him when Michael comes into the room. “Dad, my leg hurts,” he says to him, and I look at him. He’s the same age as Dylan.
“Where?” he asks him.
“Where Alex hit me with the stick,” he says, and Max shakes his head.
“You’ll be fine,” he says. “Go sit on the bench for a bit.”
“What was that?” I ask Max.
“Alex was not happy when she was told it was boys only,” Max says. “She took the hockey stick and slashed Michael with it.”
“Oh my God,” Evan says, putting his hand over his mouth to stop the laughing.
“Don’t laugh,” Max says. “Where do you think it comes from? Those Stone women.”
“Okay, let’s go,” I say, getting up, and Viktor and Evan finally open their bag and get their things on. I walk out to the ice and see that Dylan is skating with MC. They both skate for the puck, and MC is a touch faster because he’s taller.
“Bring the puck back!” my father yells and makes them, and Dylan lifts MC’s stick, and just like that, he’s skating down the ice toward my father.
“That yours?” Matthew asks from beside me, and I nod. “That kid is going to make it.”