“I will hold you to it the next time it’s in town!”
Liam smiles as he starts to put Ari down in her seat between us.
“No! I hold you!” Arianna screams.
“Here, let me take her.” I offer my arms for her to climb into.
“No! Lee-em!” Arianna shouts at me as she swats my arms away. Liam picks her back up and Arianna sits peacefully on his lap.
“I’m sorry. She—” I stop as I find myself starting to apologize.
“It’s okay, I don’t mind at all. As you can see, my boys are too big to be held. I don’t mind the snuggles,” Liam says, placing a small kiss on the top of her head.
Liam starts telling me a few stories about when he and his brothers used to come here all the time growing up and how his pops and Nonno always made time for it.
“In retrospect, I think it was really his way of giving our momma a day off.” He laughs.
“I’m sure she appreciated the silence for a little while.” I smile. I can’t help but wonder what that would be like. A day without my two kids being at home? I wouldn’t know what to do with myself, or would I?
“You seem lost in thought,” Liam declares suspiciously.
“I was just thinking what it would be like to have a whole day at home, alone. I don’t think I’d know what to do with myself.”
“I’m sure you’d think of something. Hot bubble bath and a glass of wine? Curl up in the corner of your couch and read a book you’ve had on your TBR list since it made best-seller list last year?”
“TBR?” I question.
“To be read list?” Liam answers with a smile.
“Yeah, unless Dr. Seuss wrote it or the pigeon wants to drive it, or the bears are teaching life lessons, I don’t have time to read it.”
“Ah, yes, the famous pigeon. My boys love him, too!”
Talking to him is like talking to an old friend. I know it sounds crazy, we just met, but he’s so easy to talk to. We must have completely zoned out for a little bit together, lost in our own little world of conversation.
“Dad, you and Mia are on the big screen!” Aiden shouts excitedly, breaking us out of our own little world of conversation.
We look up and sure enough, the two of us are inside the heart on the “Kiss Cam”.
Liam smiles, and gazes deep into my eyes. I notice his eyes are the bluest of blues with tiny little specks of white. “May I?” he asks.
“For the Kiss Cam? Sure,” I reply with a shy smile.
Liam brings his hand to my cheek and pulls me into him. His lips collide with mine, sending a shock right through my entire body—right down to my soul. His tongue entangles with mine in a way that I’m not familiar with, yet it feels like I know nothing else. Next thing we know, the entire crowd is whistling and hollering. We even hear the announcer say, “Get a room!”
We snap out of the kiss, and I can feel my face turning bright red. I can’t believe all these people just witnessed our first kiss. We glance over at Garrett, Aiden, and Cooper who just stare at us in total shock.
“That will probably go on ESPN tonight!” Aiden declares, jumping up and down.
“Let’s hope not,” I whisper.
Liam leans into me whispering softly, “A kiss worthy of a highlight reel.”
I think this man just melted my panties, and if that kiss is anything more than a Kiss-Cam kiss, I am in deep trouble.
The entire drive back to Liam’s place, the boys are on a high from the Springs’ win today. Pulling into his driveway, Liam turns to me.
“I know it’s a school night and that you’re starting your new job tomorrow morning, but would you and the kids like to have dinner with us tonight?” Liam asks hopefully. Maybe he had a great time like I did and doesn’t what this to end.
“We’re just having pizza. It’ll be fun!” Cooper chimes in.
“The pizza place is the best pizza ever!” Aiden sells it.
“I think we’d like that. I’m always down for finding new pizza places.” I’m not sure where my answer stems from. This is not like me at all. I don’t do family outings with guys I just met. I don’t just have dinner with them either. The boys run off to play, while Liam, Arianna and I sit on the porch. A few minutes later, Cooper appears next to Liam.
“What’s up, Coop?” Liam questions.
“Can Arianna come play with us too?”
I smile. “That’s so sweet of you to include her.”
“Arianna’s a kid like us, of course we want to include her. That would be mean to leave her out.”
I swear my heart just swelled at this revelation. Such amazing manners from these two little guys, I silently pray that my son doesn’t corrupt them with an outburst. I nod my head in agreement. Liam carries Arianna to the play area which is the living room for now. Watching from the front porch, I see the boys starting to set up their Hot Wheel cars and tracks. Off to the side, yet close to the boys, I notice Liam handing a blanket to Cooper for Arianna to play on. I glance over a few feet and I see Garrett and Aiden starting to set up their cars. It’s the best view I’ve seen in a long time. My kids, playing with other kids and smiling. My heart warms at this site in front of me. “I could get used to this,” I whisper.
Chapter 9
Liam
I bring Ari into the living room and I have Cooper lay out a blanket for her to play on. I know we don’t have to go that far, but I want her to be comfortable as possible here. I place her on the blanket and make sure that she has toys within her reach. I look at her holding that giggly dragon and she looks as if she’s about to cry.
“What’s wrong, Ari? Why such a sad face?” I say with sympathy, getting down on the floor next to her.
“Nazboo, broken,” she says with a pouty face. Nazboo is a stuffed dragon from her favorite show, Shimmer and Shine, and it giggles and dances.
“Let’s see here…” Taking the toy from her, I glance over it. I see that there’s a button in the middle of its belly. I push the button and listen to dragon make this distorting creepy sounding noise. New batteries should get Nazboo back in business.
“Can I borrow him for a minute? Maybe I can fix him?” I ask.
“Okay, hurry, fix him please,” Ari says sadly, but with a glint of hope.
I stand up and she places a small blanket over the dragon. “He’s cold,” she says in a small voice, handing Nazboo to me.
“Of course, he’s cold, he isn’t feeling well.” I wrap the dragon tighter in the blanket and walk, carrying him with me into the kitchen where I keep the batteries. Thank God, I brought this box over today! I place the dragon on the counter and fish in the box for a screwdriver to open the backplate. As a parent, some days you do feel like you are a toy surgeon with all the effort it takes just to change out batteries. I switch out the batteries and push the button, the dragon giggles! Voila! He’s back to normal. Quickly screwing the battery cover back on, I proceed to wrap Nazboo back up in the blanket. I walk back out to find Arianna, patiently waiting.
“Good as new!” I tell her as I hand her back her friend. I press the button and her face lights up with this huge smile.