"Good," Franny says. "Which means I don’t have to deal with the needy."
"Heaven forbid you actually catch feelings for someone," Vivi goads. "If you want to get with her, you have to do it with an ice cube as a heart."
"Exactly," Franny confirms.
"Auntie." I hear a soft voice beside me. "Can I sit on your lap?" Mia asks, rubbing her eyes, and I know what that means.
I hold out my hands, and she climbs onto my lap, sitting with her back to my chest. Her shoes are the same as mine. Something I picked up while we were shopping today. I see Emma is sitting with Karrie, who just smiles at me. "Are you hungry?" I ask Mia, who shakes her head. She never used to come to the games since Julianne hated the thought of it. She would usually send Emma with him, and I would have her all night long and wait for him to finish, but never Mia. When they got separated, I started bringing them to the games on Saturday nights, and she loved it.
I look at the ice and see that Cooper is back. He moves along the board, looking at Manning passing it to Ralph, who then tips it to Brad. Cooper sneaks in there, and I see that no one is watching him. Brad looks like he will take the shot, but instead, he passes it to the side where Cooper is waiting and tips it into the open net. The goalie was not able to slide back in time.
The whole place goes fucking nuts. People jump to their feet as the siren goes off, and I know with Mia in my lap, all I can do is put my hands up in the air and clap. "Daddy just got a hat trick," I say, and she looks around at the people and claps her hands. "Three goals." The hats fly onto the ice, and Mia looks at me.
"I want to throw a hat," she says, and I look at her.
"Let’s go buy a hat”—I get up with her and put her on my hip—“and when you see Daddy, you can throw it at him."
"Okay.” She claps her hands with glee. I walk up the steps and look at Emma.
"We are going to buy a hat to throw at Daddy. Do you want to come?" I ask, and she nods her head and gets up and holds her hand out for Karrie.
"I guess I need a hat, too," Karrie replies, getting up, and Emma slips her other hand into mine.
"Where are you going?" Matthew asks as soon as Karrie gets up, and I have to roll my lips. You would think after being around them for the past eight years, I would be used to his caveman-like tendency, but it still makes me laugh.
"The girls want to get hats to throw at Cooper," she says, as he gets off his stool to follow her, and she glares at him. "I think I can handle getting hats."
He smiles and kisses her lips. "Bring her back to me."
"You don’t have to," Max says, grabbing a chip and tossing it into his mouth. "He got her chipped a while ago when she tried to run from him." Matthew glares at him. "Was I not supposed to tell her?"
"Allison!" Matthew shouts to Allison, who is sitting with Vivi and Franny. "Where is your husband's leash?"
"She’s the one who wears the collar," Max chides, winking at Allison whose cheeks turn pink, and I almost die when Matthew pushes him. My mouth opens in shock as Michael just grimaces.
"You guys are gross," he announces, shaking his head.
I can’t help but laugh, and when we walk out of the family box, we make our way over to the store. The girls grab two hats, and then they want a stuffed toy, and then they see a jersey with pink on it, and they want that and a flag and two foam fingers.
I put the bag on the couch when I walk back into the room and see that it’s the end of the second period. Mia gets a burst of energy, but ten minutes into the third period, she climbs back onto me, puts her chest to mine, and lays her head on my chest. "You tired, baby girl?" I ask, and she nods her head. "You want to go home to bed?"
"Auntie Erika," Emma says. "Can we go home?"
I nod my head and look over to see Karrie watching me. "I’m going to get the kids home."
She gets up. "Do you want me to come with you?" she asks, and I just shake my head.
"You stay and enjoy the game. It’s not every day you get to watch him live," I remind her, while the girls kiss everyone goodbye.
Matthew grabs Emma and comes with me to the SUV. "You know I do this all by myself when you aren’t here," I say, and he just looks over at me. "There is a security guy in the parking garage."
"Well, then I can see for myself," Matthew says, and when we get to Cooper's SUV, I reach into my purse for his spare key.
"Here," I say to Matthew. "Can you give him the keys to mine?"
We buckle the girls in, and he watches me drive out with them. Emma is dragging her feet when we finally get home, and Mia is already asleep by the time I open the door. "Get into your jammies," I tell Emma. "I’ll come tuck you in."
She runs down the hallway as I dump the bags of stuff I bought. I kick off my shoes as I carry Mia into the bedroom. The only thing that shows you that it’s her room is the clothes she has on top of the bed. I undress her, and she barely stirs when I tuck her under the covers and kiss her softly. I walk back to the other bedroom and see Emma getting into bed.
"Can you lie with me, Auntie Erika?" she asks, and I smile while nodding at her. I get onto the bed with her, taking her in my arms. She turns in my arms as I spoon her, and I fall asleep at the same time she does.
Someone leans over me, and I open my eyes. Cooper’s aftershave hits me right away as he leans to kiss Emma. "Hey," I say, blinking my eyes a couple of times as he stands.
"I didn’t mean to wake you," he murmurs in a whisper.
"No, it’s fine," I say, getting up. "What time is it?"
"Just after midnight," he replies as we walk out of the bedroom, and I see that he’s still wearing his suit. He shrugs off his jacket and tosses it on the couch. "Sorry I’m so late … my family."
"You don’t have to apologize," I say, walking to my shoes. I grab them, sitting on the couch.
"You aren’t leaving," he declares, and I look over at him. He’s in the fridge, grabbing a takeout container. "It’s too late. Why don’t you just stay here and we can head to your house tomorrow for lunch?”
I think about it. "I need to start cooking at nine."
"The girls wake up at six. I think we can make it to your house at nine." He laughs. "You hungry?"
"No, I ate a bunch tonight." I shake my head, still debating if I should just go home. I lean back on the couch and curl my legs under me. The beep of the microwave makes him open the door and grab a plate. He walks over to the couch with his meal and sits down.
"What’s with the bag of Dallas stuff?" He motions with his head to the two bags I put on the island.
"The girls wanted to throw hats at you. So we went to buy hats. How did the game finish?"
"We won," he says, and I smile at him.
"You played good, kid," I say softly. "How was the press?"
"Fine. One tried to ask, but I gave them a look."
I laugh at him. "What look?"
"You know," he says, taking another bite of his chicken, and I look in his dish. "The look."