Epilogue

"Helmet?"

"Check!"

"Mouth guard?"

"Check!"

"Cleats?"

"They're on your feet."

Delaney looked down at my shoes and I followed her line of vision. Yep, my cleats were on my feet.

"Daddy's wearing shoes in the house," Daisy, our six-year-old, said.

"No tattle-telling," her older brother Dominic told her. Then he hoisted his father's athletic bag up higher on his shoulder. It was so big, it strained his eight-year-old frame, but he managed to stay upright anyway. "Dad, can I keep score?"

"You can help Papa Nate," Delaney told him. "But only if you go grab the cookies. I'll take the bag."

Delaney's father injured himself during the first game of the season, so he was sitting the summer out. That meant taking care of keeping score, using Dominic as his helper.

It had taken Delaney's dad a while to get used to the two of us dating, but he'd met a woman of his own soon after. And that woman was Delaney's age. That seemed to make him realize just how powerful that first-time connection could be. Now, he was the proudest dad and grandfather I knew.

"I'll take the bag," I said, reaching out.

Dominic handed it to me and ran to the kitchen. That left Delaney and Daisy watching me as I slid the strap of the bag onto my shoulder. I wasn't sure what touched me more—the look in my daughter's eye or the look in my wife's. They both saw me as their hero.

The same went for Dominic, who returned seconds later with a large platter of Delaney's signature dessert. She'd learned to bake football-shaped cookies that had become the hit of our weekly football games. We were playing the Rosewood Ridge Mavericks, the only other team in town. It was all just for fun, but we took it as seriously as if we were in the big leagues.

"Dad, can I spend the night with Amara?" Daisy asked.

Amara was the daughter of our friends Lynlee and Cooper, who'd met the same weekend Delaney and I got together. We got married around the same time and now had kids around the same age. Unfortunately for Dominic, though, Lynlee and Cooper had two girls, so he was shut out of these constant sleepovers.

"We'll see," I said, looking at my wife. "Depends what we have going on tomorrow."

"I think we could make a sleepover work," she said. "If Lynlee has too much going on, maybe Amara can come here and spend the night."

"Yay!"

Daisy started jumping up and down, and I didn't stop the smile that spread over my face. I never imagined being a father and husband would fill my life with so much happiness. This was truly what life was all about.

"Let's get this show on the road!" Delaney said in her best mom voice.

That, of course, brought eye rolls from her two kids, who even exchanged a look. That was one thing they could agree on—their parents were huge dorks.

"Hold on a second," I told Delaney as she started to follow our kids into the garage. "I want to tell you something."

She stopped and turned to face me as Dominic slammed the door to the garage behind him. That left us alone in the kitchen, but I knew our time would be limited. They'd be fine climbing into the SUV alone, but Delaney would be worried about them after ten seconds or so.

"What's that?" she asked, shifting my helmet from one hand to the other.

"Come a little closer and I'll tell you."

Now she was smiling up at me, practically glowing. Her eyes still lit up when she looked at me, even after nearly ten years of marriage. I'd spend the rest of my life making sure they always did.

"Mmm," she said as she rose on tiptoe and pressed her lips to mine.

The kiss immediately deepened, reminding me that it had been a whole eighteen hours since we'd last make love. But our team was going to win tonight, giving us plenty of reason to celebrate. Once the kids were tucked in—including Amara if she spent the night—we'd play our usual game of trying to stay quiet while rocking each other's world.

The sound of Delaney's car horn told us we'd kissed a little too long. We broke apart, both with smiles on our faces.

"I think we're being summoned," he said.

She nodded. "Let's go see Grandpa."

"Don't call him that to his face." I laughed. "Them's fighting words."

It was a little weird that Nate was my age and already a grandfather. The kids called him Papa Nate, which was pretty much the same thing as Grandpa, but he seemed fine with Papa Nate as his name.

"Let's go, Dad," Delaney said, giving me a flirtatious smile as she reached over and grabbed my butt.

"Watch out," I said. "You might convince me to skip the game altogether."

But I wouldn't miss time with our friends for the world. Especially with my kids and wife watching from the sidelines. I couldn't think of a better way to spend Friday night.