Chapter 15

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"Hey Elsie." I smile, stepping into her room where I find her reading to her stuffed animals inside her teepee. And by reading, I mean making up whatever story she wants to tell because she doesn't read quite yet. "I've got something for you."

Her eyes light up and she gasps in excitement. "A present?"

"Kind of, yeah. Do you remember how today is your daddy's birthday?"

"Yeah."

"Well, he has to play hockey tonight and I thought it would be a fun idea to surprise him and go watch and cheer him on. Do you think he would like that?"

"Yeah! He would really like that! And I could shout GO DADDY!"

I give her a high five. "That's right. So, I got him a surprise and it's kind of a surprise for you too and then after I show it to you, maybe you can help me show him tonight at his hockey game. Do you think you can do that?"

"What is it?"

I hand her a pink gift bag with pink and white tissue paper. "Here. Open it."

She takes the bag and drops it to the floor so she can see what's inside. She reaches her arms inside and pulls out the contents, letting the tissue paper fall away. She's holding a Chicago Red Tails hockey jersey. But not just any jersey. This one was specially ordered just for Elsie and has been bedazzled all over so that it shimmers at every movement.

"It's sparkly!" Elsie squeals. "Can you help me?"

She holds the garment up to me and I unfold it for her so she can see all of it. She marvels at all the shimmering beads decorating several parts of the jersey and then I point to where Zeke's last name is usually written across the back.

"Can you read what this says, Else?"

She touches every letter with her finger as she says it. "It says D-A-D-D-Y."

"That's right. It does! Excellent job. Do you know what D-A-D-D-Y spells?"

"Nope."

"It spells Daddy. And this number right here, what number is that?"

"One."

"That's right!" I beam. "So, this shirt is a super special shirt just for you. Nobody else can wear it because Zeke is your daddy and he's number one so when you wear this shirt everybody will know that he is your daddy and nobody else's."

"Yeah and you can have one too."

"I do have one," I tell her.

"Is it sparkly too?"

"Of course, it is. But mine doesn't say Daddy on the back like yours does. It says MILLER on the back because that's your last name and that's your daddy's last name too."

"Are we going to match?"

I nod excitedly. "Yes! We get to be twins tonight. How does that sound?"

Elsie jumps up and down. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Can we make our hair look the same too?"

"We sure can. Whatever you want."

___

"Ada! Elsie! Over here!"

Kinsley waves to us as we carefully maneuver down the stairs to where the wives and girlfriends are sitting. "Oh, my goodness look at you two beautiful ladies!"

Elsie smiles and jumps up and down. "Yeah and look! We match!" She gestures to our matching bedazzled hockey jerseys. We did a pretty fantastic job of matching everything else too. Black leggings, red converse sneakers, and because it's what Elsie asked for, we both have braided pigtails and the number one painted on our cheeks.

Kinsley winks at me and then holds her hand up for Elsie to give her a high five. "Of course, you do! You both look amazing! Did you make that shirt all by yourself?"

Elsie shakes her head. "Nooo. Ada made it for me."

"No, no, no. I didn't make them," I correct her. "I just had someone else make them."

Rory leans over, smiling at us. "Elsie, you look amazing! I love the sparkle. Has your daddy seen this shirt yet?"

I pipe in, standing over Elsie. "Daddy doesn't even know we're here tonight."

The ladies all gasp and smile and Charlee holds her arms out to Elsie for a hug. "So, you're surprising your daddy for his birthday?"

"Uh huh!" she says with a huge smile while jumping into Charlee's arms. "And Ada said I can get ice cream!"

Charlee gives her a tight squeeze. "Well, everyone deserves ice cream when it's someone's birthday!"

The ladies spend time doting on Elsie before the team comes on the ice for warm-up and I make myself comfortable next to Kinsley.

"Sooo." She leans over and looks at me with a hint of mischief in her eyes. "How are things?"

"Good." I nod reassuringly. "They're good."

She pats my knee. "Did you ever find the opportunity to talk things out? You know…with Zeke?"

I nod. "Yeah. We talked the other day."

"Aaaand?" She raises her brows in expectation.

I try not to smile in response but I fail. Miserably. "And it ended with us kissing until the little squirt down there," I gesture to Elsie, "woke up from her nap."

Charlee leans over our way too, whispering, "Did I just hear you say you and Zeke kissed? Again?"

Kinsley squeals. "Yes! They kissed again!"

"Oh my God!" She claps her hands excitedly. "So, are you two official now?"

"I…" I trail off not knowing how best to answer her question. "You know, I guess I'm not sure. He said he was attracted to me and I said the same. We talked about Luke and Lori and how our pasts have affected us in moving on with our lives and he kind of put the ball in my court. He said he didn't want to push me into doing anything I wasn't comfortable with but I told him I kind of wanted to…you know, try."

"Yeah, you do!" Kinsley grins.

Charlee takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. "Well, I, for one, am extremely happy for you both. Zeke has been a great guy since I've met him and you certainly seem to be catching his eye."

"Thank you, Charlee."

"Trust me. He hasn't been the least bit interested in giving attention to anyone but Elsie since the day Lori left. He was a sad sap when Milo and I got married but he's a different guy now. You guys just keep on writing your own little romance book and we'll cheer on your happily ever after."

Kinsley sighs dreamily and touches Charlee's knee. "Oh my God, it's like a second chance romance for each of them!"

"Right?" Charlee wags her brows. "And a kinky little single dad slash nanny trope on the side."

Kinsley laughs. "Eeeeek! There's no way this doesn't end well for them. It's fate. I just know it."

Our own little romance book.

A second chance at love?

With Zeke Miller?

Could this really happen?

Could I be that blessed?

The music in the arena changes and announcer calls over the loudspeaker, "Let's hear it for our very own CHICAGOOOOO RED TAAAAAAILS!"

The crowd cheers as our home team comes onto the ice for their pregame warmup. Zeke is the last one to hit the ice and when he does, my stomach flutters with nervous excitement. He skates around the net several times and then immediately starts his warm-up routine. I watch with apprehension, praying to all the possible gods that his groin muscle is healed enough to be back and that he can get through tonight's game without further injury.

He starts with his side-to-side shuffles, turning his leg out and coming to an abrupt halt in each direction. He does the same sort of exercise again but goes down on his knee with each shuffle. I cringle slightly each time thinking any minute now his muscle is going to seize and he'll be in pain all over again. Then he lowers himself down to his knees on the ice and spreads his legs.

"Hey Ada," Rory says, gesturing to the ice with her head. "Remember when I showed you the stretch?" She wags her brows.

Knowing exactly what she's talking about without talking about Zeke in front of his four-year-old kid, I nod with a smirk. "Yeah?"

"Feast your eyes, girlfriend. Feast your eyes."

Just as she showed me weeks ago, Zeke is now in the so called "hump" position, pushing back and then thrusting his hips forward on the ice.

Holy mother of…

Yep. I know these are stretches he has to do to keep his muscles warm and loose but holy hell, it's hot no matter how I look at it. We might be sitting close to the ice for this game, but when I watch Zeke stretch his body, even covered in pads, I am anything but cold.