Page 43 of Season's Schemings
I’m so lost in my future-baby-daddy daydream that I don’t notice Seb approach me, trying his best to balance a gigantic stack of toys that resembles the leaning tower of Pisa in his arms. "Need a hand, Santa's helper?"
I can't help but smile at the sight of him. Those striped tights are a real winner. "Well, I don't know. You look like you’ve got your hands full."
He winks and expertly deposits the toys into a nearby box. "You're underestimating my multitasking skills again."
“I was more wondering if you or the little girl won that argument. You looked like you were getting your ass handed to you.”
“Nah.” He laughs and shakes his head. “That kid is a spitfire, but I won in the end.”
“No!” The kid comes running up, waving her arms at me. “For the record, he didnotwin. I just said that girls my agemightfind hockey a little less boring if they got a pink stick for Christmas instead of a stupid gray one.”
“Those stupid gray ones cost two hundred bucks a pop!” Seb argues, but he’s grinning.
Meanwhile, my mouth falls open. Seb’s trunk was packed to the brim when we got here. If he’s serious about how much they cost, there must’ve been ten grand’s worth of hockey sticks in there.
“Don’t make ‘em any less boring,” the kid shoots back. She stares at Seb with a slightly terrifying expression, then turns to me, suddenly all sunshine. “Hello, I’m Allegra Liana Donovan Callahan. Who are you?”
“Maddie Grain–uh, Slater. Maddie Slater.”
She wrinkles her cute nose and jerks a thumb at Seb. “You married to this guy?”
“She sure is.” Seb slings an arm around me, still laughing good-naturedly. “Lucky lady, eh?”
Allegra narrows her eyes. Considers this quietly for a few minutes before nodding. “Maybe... I mean, Sebastian is very nice to buy so many hockey sticks for kids. Even if hockey is really, really boring.”
It’s my turn to laugh, and I give the little girl a conspiratorial look. “You get used to it after awhile.”
“Hey!” With the arm that’s still around me, Seb tickles my ribs, making me squirm to get out of his grasp. “Take that back.”
“Never!” I shriek, and he holds me tighter, pinning me against him as he tickles my side relentlessly. I’m giggling and gasping for air all at once, while simultaneously being hyper-aware of how tall he is next to me, how good he smells. “Okay, okay! I didn’t mean it. I secretly love hockey. Promise!”
He releases me from his death grip.Sheesh, he’s strong!
“Atta girl,” he says with his eyes fixed on me.
My stomach flips as electricity charges the moment so it crackles.
Seb looks like he’s about to say something further, but before he can, Allegra crosses her arms. “You look at her like my daddy looks at my mommy. And they’re super happy together. So, I’m going to go with yes. Sheislucky to be married to you.”
15
SEB
The night of the Christmas Elf toy drive, Maddie and I drive home together and watch—you guessed it—Elf.
The couple of nights after, we watch more sappy Christmas Hallmark movies, and the night after that, it'sThe Holiday.Maddie is clearly a huge romantic at heart, and I find myself hoping that, when this is over between us, she has that perfect “movie” romance with someone. That she falls in love, and has a fairytale wedding when she gets married for real.
She’s a great girl, and she deserves her dream love story.
But for now, while still in her temporary situation with me, watching movies together has become our unspoken little routine. Neither of us acknowledges that we’re no longer ships in the night, heading straight to our separate bedrooms when we get home. We just… adapt. And I’m a fan of it, I gotta say. It’s nice to come home to someone, especially someone who’s good company and always has healthy baked goods hanging around. Someone who sits closer and closer to me on the sofa each night, so much so that we’re practically cuddling at this point.
The Hallmark movies aren’t even that bad. In fact, I’ve enjoyed them so far—not that I’d ever admit that to any of my teammates. Dallas would never let me hear the end of it.
Before I know it, it’s our last night in Atlanta before the holidays. In the morning, we’ll fly to Denver, then drive to the cabin in Aspen. Tonight is also the Cyclones’ last game before the NHL break for Christmas. Unfortunately, it’s a loss to the Philadelphia Phantoms, finishing at 2-1. But somehow, the blow of losing is softened by Maddie in the box reserved for friends and family, wearing my jersey—coupled with a white ribbon in her ponytail. She jumps up and down and screams when I score our team’s only goal at the beginning of the third.
When I get out of the locker room afterwards, she’s not waiting for me in the corridor this time. And I’m surprised at the twinge of disappointment I feel that nobody’s there to greet me. Guess I better get used to it. It’s not like my marriage to Maddie is meant to be a forever thing.
The sting lifts a little when I walk through the front door of my apartment… and find a total winter wonderland.