Hard Fall

by Brenda Rothert

  I took Benny over to his large baby mat and laid him down to play. I got down on the floor with him and started arranging some large letter blocks in front of him. He finally started to calm down a bit as I began talking to him.

  “Should we play with these blocks?” I asked him, still lining up the ABC letter blocks. “Or should we maybe read a story?”

  “Aunt Hadley!” Annalise cried from the kitchen.

  I sighed. Just another day in a household with two kids. I quickly stood and scooped up Benny, hoofing it back to the kitchen. I came to an abrupt halt, my mouth dropping open as I saw orange goo splattered all over the white cabinets, the counter, the floor and even Annalise’s hair and face. It had to be the pureed sweet potatoes.

  “I’m sorry,” she said sheepishly.

  I hadn’t secured the lid on the food processor before I answered my call from Liz and she must have pushed the button while I was in the family room with Benny. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this point. The kitchen was an absolute nightmare. Think slasher horror film but more orange and less red.

  “It’s okay honey,” I said. “It was just an accident. We’ll get it cleaned up. You aren’t hurt, right?”

  Annalise shook her head and I buckled Benny back in his high chair even though he was crying again. If only I had two hands for each child.

  Lauren kept cleaning cloths in neatly folded stacks in the laundry room. I grabbed several as well as some hardcore cleaning supplies. On my way back to the kitchen, the doorbell rang, and my laugh was half amused, half crazed.

  “That better be Mary fucking Poppins coming to my rescue,” I muttered.

  Benny had stopped crying and was trying to fit his entire hand into his mouth now. At least he wasn’t upset anymore. That was something.

  “Aunt Hadley!” Annalise cried from the foyer.

  “Yeah?” I set the cleaning cloths down and headed in that direction, praying there wasn’t another disaster waiting for me.

  “My Gram and Gramps are here!” Annalise said.

  Oh God. In the few moments it took me to get to the foyer, I sent up a silent plea to God that it wasn’t Patrick and Susan Whitmore.

  It was. Annalise was grinning at me from her grandpa’s arms.

  “Hey,” I said weakly, forcing a smile.

  “Hi, Hadley. I hope you guys meant it when you said we could visit anytime,” Patrick said. “We just really wanted to see the kids, and maybe help out if you need it.”

  “Thank you,” I said, trying to think of a way I could get the kitchen cleaned up before they saw it.

  “You really shouldn’t let Annalise open the front door like that,” Susan said, frowning at me. “It could have been anyone.”

  “We…she’s not supposed to open it.”

  “It was my Gram and Gramps. Mommy and Daddy said to always open it for family,” Annalise explained.

  “Where’s Benny?” Susan asked.

  “He’s in the kitchen.”

  “Alone?”

  “He’s buckled into his high chair,” I said, not in the mood for her snap judgments. “Why don’t you guys go up to Annalise’s room so she can show you her tea party set and I’ll bring Benny up so you can spend some time with both of them?”

  “I want my Froot Woops!” Annalise cried, scrambling from her grandpa’s arms and running into the kitchen.

  Her grandparents followed, but I waited a moment, dreading the reaction the sweet potato massacre was going to get.

  “What in the world…?” Susan exclaimed with pure shock as I walked into the kitchen.

  “We’re making baby food, and Annalise forgot to put the lid on the food processor,” I said. “But everyone has accidents and I’m going to clean it up. It’s not a big deal.”

  “Want a Froot Woop, Gram?” Annalise offered, holding out her bowl.

  “What is that processed garbage?” Susan demanded. “Lauren didn’t feed our grandchildren this way.”

  Annalise’s happy expression fell away, and I despised Susan a little bit more than I already had.

  “I think you should spend some time playing with Annalise,” I said. “I need to clean up the kitchen and make lunch.”

  “That sounds like a great idea,” Patrick said. “Can we take Benny off your hands, too?”

  I gave him a grateful smile. “I’d appreciate that, thanks.”

  Annalise walked over to her brother and gave him a bright smile. “Benny, Gram and Gramps are here!” She wrinkled her nose. “Ew, I think he shit himself again, Aunt Hadley.”

  I needed a humongous glass of wine and a five-minute break, exactly in that order. Unfortunately, neither of those things was going to happen.

  “This is the language you’re teaching our grandchildren?” Susan cried. “Patrick, we need to expedite the lawsuit. We can’t have them around her.”

  “Actually,” a deep voice from the entrance to the kitchen interrupted Susan’s rant, “any bad language the kids heard came from me, and I’m working on it. Hadley’s a great role model, and she’s busting her tail taking care of the kids.”

  I turned, so happy to see Wes I could have cried. My heart hammered with excitement as I took him in, his hair damp from a post-practice shower. He wore a Mavericks T-shirt and gray jogger sweatpants, a day’s worth of dark stubble on his face.

  “You need some help cleaning up the kitchen?” he asked me as he approached.

  “Yeah…thanks.”

  Was I thanking him for sticking up for me or for offering to help clean? Both, I decided, and more. If Wes hadn’t walked in just now, I would’ve been left alone to deal with Ben’s parents, the kids and the work I somehow had to get done in the next hour and a half.

  “You guys planning on changing Benny or should I do it?” Wes asked.

  “I’ll do it,” Susan said, getting her grandson from his high chair and taking him upstairs without another word.

  Wes grabbed a towel from the island and started wiping down cabinets.

  “Hey, where’s my lunch?” he asked.

  I turned to him, ready to tell him where he could stick his lunch, and saw him smirking. Both of us burst out laughing.

  “I’ll make lunch,” he said. “And I can finish cleaning up if you’ve got stuff you need to do.”

  “No, I’ll finish. But if you’ll make lunch, that would be great. I also told Annalise we’d find one of Lauren’s cookie recipes and make them this afternoon.”

  “I’ll help with that.”

  “Thank you.”

  He moved closer, and I couldn’t name the emotion in his eyes as he looked down at me. “You want to talk about last night?”

  The kiss. My body warmed at just the mention of it. I shook my head, because I knew if I tried to say anything about that kiss, I’d embarrass myself and say something stupid like “it was awesome” or “you’re super hot”.” I’d die before I let that happen.

  No, I was going to keep both my dignity and my cool by not saying a word about that kiss. There was no chance of it happening again as long as Patrick and Susan were here, but after that…

  I didn’t know whether Wes would want to kiss me again, or if maybe he’d want more, but I knew I wanted it. I’ve never been Team Wes, but my body had decided to join his fan club in a very big way.

  Wes looked from newborn Annalise’s peaceful, sleeping face to mine, his eyes wide with wonder.

  “She’s so little.”

  “Isn’t she perfect, though?” I smiled down at the soft bundle in my arms, whispering because Lauren and Ben were finally asleep.

  It had been a long thirty-six hours, Lauren’s labor progressing slowly. Ben only left her side once, because he had to pee, and I felt for him during the three minutes I spent holding Lauren’s hand while he was gone.

  It was hard to see someone you loved in that much pain. Even with help from an epidural, Lauren was having a hard labor and she was exhausted.

  But you wouldn’t have known it once her daughter made
her entrance into the world. My best friend was smitten with her little girl, crying tears of joy as she held her for the first time, her smile more radiant than ever.

  She’d fallen asleep sitting up in her hospital bed, and Ben was snoring from a recliner in the corner. All four of Annalise’s grandparents were in the waiting room, anxious to see and hold her, but Wes and I were taking our turn first.

  He had been here for the whole delivery, not coming all the way in the room but occasionally sticking his head in the doorway and asking how it was going. He’d asked Lauren in the middle of a rough contraction how she was feeling and she’d just screamed, sending him fleeing.

  “She looks like Ben,” Wes whispered.

  “She looks like a squished raisin,” I countered, laughing softly. “There’s no way to tell who she looks like yet.”

  “Nah, she looks just like her dad.” He grinned. “Can I hold her?”

  I frowned. “She’s delicate, Wes. You have to be really careful.”

  “I’m not a complete dumbass. I know some things.”

  “Have you ever held a baby before?”

  He shrugged. “Not this young, but I’ll be fine.”

  “Hmm. Thought you might have at least one baby mama by now.”

  “Don’t be petty, Hadley. I want to hold my goddaughter.”

  “Okay, okay. Hold your arms out,” I whispered.

  He cradled his arms and I passed the warm, sleeping baby from my arms to his.

  “Make sure you support her head,” I cautioned.

  Annalise wiggled and wrinkled her face up as Wes took her, and he gave me a look of alarm.

  “Shit, she’s gonna cry,” he said. “Take her back.”

  “Just hold her close and rock her a little. You’ll be fine.”

  He wrapped his arms closer around her, his hands as big as her little head. When he looked up at me, his eyes looked a little watery.

  “I’m an uncle,” he whispered, grinning.

  It was hard to dislike him in that moment. Wes was taken with little Annalise, and I’d never admit it out loud, but he looked sexy as hell holding her.

  “You are,” I said, smiling back.

  “Will you grab my phone from my pocket and take a picture?” He turned one hip toward me. “Phone’s in my left pocket, and don’t try to cop a feel while you’re in there.”

  And I disliked him once again. I sighed with aggravation as I fetched his phone.

  “Password’s 696969.”

  I gave him a look as I entered the numbers. “Ugh, there better not be a photo of someone’s tits as your wallpaper.”

  “I think it’s a crotch shot, actually. A hairy one.”

  I glared at him and he winked.

  “You’re disgusting,” I whispered.

  His wallpaper was actually a photo of the Stanley Cup. I clicked the camera button and held the phone up, centering it to take a photo of him and Annalise. Wes smiled, looking as happy and proud as if he’d birthed her himself.

  “Want me to take one of you with her?” he asked.

  “Yes, please.”

  He passed her back to me and took two photos—one of me smiling while holding her and another of me kissing her forehead.

  “Should we share her with the grandparents?” I asked, reluctance in my voice.

  “I guess so.”

  Ben and Lauren had asked us to introduce their daughter to their parents while they rested; they were both too exhausted for talking or photos right now. They were in a private birthing suite with an attached waiting room.

  “I can’t believe Ben and Lauren have a kid,” Wes said as we walked toward the door that led to the waiting room.

  “I know. They’re better at this adulting thing than we are.”

  Wes scoffed. “Yeah, I’m not settling down for a long time. Like decades.”

  I rolled my eyes because I knew what he probably had in mind—womanizing until he was in his forties and then finding a hot twentysomething to be semi-faithful to and have a family with.

  And when he did have a family, Wes would be one of those fathers who showed up for photo ops but let his wife do all the heavy lifting. He’d probably pass out if he tried to change a dirty diaper.

  I couldn’t actually blame him on that one. I was over the moon to be an auntie to little Annalise, and if she needed me to, I’d change her diapers, but I was in no hurry at all to have kids of my own. I had parties to attend. Places to travel to. Corporate ladders to climb.

  Like Wes, I loved my carefree, single life. Though that was about the only similarity we shared.

  Chapter Nine

  Wes

  Coming home to find not just a disaster in the kitchen, but Patrick and Susan giving Hadley a hard time rubbed me the wrong way. She annoyed me to no end, day and night, but we were busting our asses to take care of these kids, and no one who wasn’t here with us had the right to criticize. Especially not them. They’d filed a lawsuit challenging the will, the custody agreement, the money, all of it. Like I needed Ben’s money. That was laughable. The new contract I’d negotiated last year had been worth more than Ben’s, and we’d laughed about the fact that for the first time professionally, I made more than he did.

  There was no doubt Hadley was stressed, too. Especially since she’d totally sidestepped my question about the incredibly hot kiss we’d shared last night. I let it go because I’d noticed her hands shaking a little as we started cleaning up the kitchen, and I didn’t think it was because of my question.

  “You okay?” I asked her as we sat down to eat.

  “Maybe?” The look she gave me was one of sheer exasperation. “My boss is being demanding and unreasonable, having Patrick and Susan here raises my stress level straight to ten, and I’m suddenly questioning every life choice I’ve ever made.”

  “Yeah, there’s been a lot of that lately. But we’re doing it, Hadley. Messy kitchen and the occasional curse word aside, we’re taking care of these kids and making sure they have everything they need.”

  “Patrick and Susan don’t think so.”

  “Patrick and Susan need a reality check,” I muttered thoughtfully. “And you know what? I have an idea.”

  “Oh?” She arched a brow.

  “We have a game tonight and the team is probably going out after. Why don’t we give them the opportunity to spend time with the kids while we go out and enjoy ourselves a little? I mean, obviously the game is work for me, but afterward would be fun. We’re a close-knit group and you haven’t really been part of it.”

  “I didn’t live here,” she said quietly.

  “Right. But you do now, and I think it’ll be good for both of us if you get to know more of the gang. We’re like a family and you don’t have relationships with anyone beyond Nina.”

  “So you think we should just leave for the whole night?”

  “Absolutely.” I wiggled my eyebrows. “Let’s see how they do when they’re a hundred percent in charge.”

  “That’s kind of brilliant,” she admitted. “I’m in. But right now, my boss is being a total bitch so I have to get some work done before she loses it.”

  “Go. I’ll make sure Patrick and Susan are on board and then I’m going to take my pregame nap. And don’t step in to help if Annalise needs you. Let them see how much work it is.”

  “Thanks again, Wes.” She touched my arm, grabbed her plate, and left the room.

  Once again, I watched her retreating figure almost longingly.

  I wanted her.

  There was no doubt about that, but I couldn’t just press her up against the wall and fuck her the way I wanted to. Well, I could, and if I was lucky, someday I would, but not now. Not today. She probably needed it as much as I did and I was willing to bet it had been even longer since she’d gotten laid than it had been for me. I hadn’t been with anyone since before Ben and Lauren died, not even on road trips, and my balls were sporting a nice shade of blue these days. But that was beside the point.

 
We hadn’t talked about it in any detail, but we were both resolute in our desire to keep custody of the kids. Patrick and Susan were too old to start over with babies, whether they wanted to admit it or not. Could they do it? Probably. But why? Hadley and I were younger and had the energy and resources to give them the kind of life Ben and Lauren would have wanted. Not that Patrick and Susan wouldn’t take care of them, but Patrick would be in his sixties by the time Benny was ready to learn how to ice-skate, play baseball, whatever. It was a complicated issue because plenty of grandparents wound up raising their grandchildren, but that wasn’t what Ben and Lauren wanted or they would have left custody to them.

  I went upstairs to Annalise’s room where Susan was on the floor playing Barbies with her while Patrick sat in the nearby rocking chair holding Benny, who was squirming and whining to get on the floor. He was learning to crawl and liked to scoot around on his stomach. Patrick didn’t know that, though, and I wasn’t going to tell him.

  “Hadley and I were talking,” I said to them, pretending not to notice Patrick’s discomfort. “We know you want to spend time with the kids so she’s coming to the game tonight and then a group of us are going out for a late dinner. Are you guys okay taking care of the kids?”

  “Of course we are.” Susan looked up. “They’re going to be living with us soon anyway.”

  I chose not to engage and merely smiled. “We’ll see, I guess. But yeah, it’ll be a great opportunity for you to spend time with them.”

  “We have to watch the game on TV, Grandma,” Annalise told her. “Just like I used to do with Mommy.”

  Susan looked startled but then nodded curtly. “You can’t stay up that late. You have to go to bed, young lady.”

  “But Mommy always lets me watch the first period!” Annalise protested.

  I walked out just as she burst into tears.

  We notched another win so we were in high spirits as we left the locker room to head to the family lounge, where wives, girlfriends, children, and guests waited for us after home games. I couldn’t explain the excitement in my gut, knowing Hadley was there with the others, but the minute I stepped into the room her eyes found mine.