Jack wakes up a little earlier than usual, and thus begins my first moments as a single mom. While I’m being paid to be his nanny, I’m also legally his stepmother now, and with no other parent in the picture for the foreseeable future, I’m it.
And that’s a bit of a scary thought.
CHAPTER 28: Dex Bradley
Phone Calls
It’s my first night at training camp, and I’m about to call Ainsley when my phone starts to ring.
It’s my mother.
My mother rarely calls. If ever.
“Mom?” I answer. I’m in a hotel room that I’m sharing with Nick Ryan, another defensive end, at the vineyard where we travel for the first two weeks of training camp. My roommate is currently in the shower. I might not have picked up this call if he were out here in the room.
“What’s this about a grandson?” she demands.
Freaking Ivy. That little brat.
I’m not shocked she spilled the news, but I’m sort of shocked it took my mom this long to call me. Ivy’s flight must’ve gotten in late.
I blow out a breath. “Ivy has a big mouth.”
“Maybe yours is too small,” she hisses.
I laugh. I can’t help it. I often laugh when I’m in trouble, which usually gets me into even more trouble.
“Can we have this conversation later? I just got back from my first day of training camp, and I don’t have the energy for this.”
“No. We will have this conversation right now.”
“Fine. What do you want to know?”
“When can I meet him?” she asks.
“He’s at my place now. Head on over and introduce yourself.”
“Who’s he with?”
“Ivy didn’t tell you that part? Her best friend Ainsley. She’s nannying for me.” And she’s the best lay I’ve ever had, so don’t get on my case about her.
I leave that part out, obviously. I’ll leave it out for my sister as well until Ainsley is ready to say something.
“I’m disappointed you didn’t feel you could let your family in on this part of your life. He is part of the legacy, you know,” she scolds.
“Now you sound like Dad,” I mutter, but I don’t really address her sentiment. “I get back in two weeks. We can arrange a meeting then.”
I can picture her pursing her lips, but it’s not having its desired effect due to the abundance of Botox and fillers.
“Fine. We’d like to welcome Ainsley to the family, too. Do well at camp,” she says, and we end the call.
We don’t end with anI love you,as some parents do with their adult children. We never have, even when I wasn’t an adult.
It just drives home exactly how powerful my feelings for Ainsley are since I’ve rarely said or heard those words my entire life.
Not to mention how powerful my feelings for my son are. I feel the love for him, too, like my heart is expanding from the shriveled black rock it was before into something new and different that’s allowing in not just one person, but two in very different ways.
Day two at camp is more intense than day one, which was really more about getting our bearings at the vineyard and having some meetings.
