Little Maddie had slipped from his embrace when Hailey bounded in, but now she returned to drape her small body along his hunchedback, grounding him with her delicate weight. These moments — his daughters simply being their sweet, messy, effervescent selves — always stripped away the thick calluses he had built over his shattered heart. He berated himself for being tough with them sometimes, yet felt helpless against the darker moods that descended upon him.
As if sensing her father’s emotional undercurrent, Hailey’s radiant smile dimmed slightly.
“Are you sad about Mommy again, Daddy?”
“No, ladybug,” he lied smoothly, plastering on a tight semblance of cheer. “I’m not sad anymore. I’ve got my two favorite little ladies to keep me smiling, don’t I?”
He punctuated his reassurance by tweaking Hailey’s nose, relieved when her muffled giggles filled the tense silence. While the moment of levity soothed his daughters temporarily, Liam was acutely aware of Maddie’s solemn gaze fixed on him. The perceptiveness in her clear blue eyes felt far too heavy for her six years, as if she understood that her father’s bravado merely masked the cracks in his soul.
Before Liam could sink too deeply into his thoughts, a muted buzzing interrupted him. He reached for his cell phone on the coffee table, suppressing a groan at the sight of the caller ID.
“Mom, hey,” he answered in as pleasant a tone as he could muster. Though he loved his mother dearly, Heather Anderson was nothing if not persistent.
“Liam…son, we need to talk.”
Her words were measured, heavy with unmistakable parental concern. Liam felt his gut clench.
“Your dad and I…we’re worried about you. And those sweet girls…”
A surge of defensiveness rose in Liam’s chest, quickly morphing into irritation.
“I know you’re worried, Mom, but we’re managing over here.”
From the corner of his eye, Liam noticed Maddie shifting nervouslyfrom foot to foot, glancing between him and her younger sister. He winced, realizing his tense words had soured the atmosphere in the room.
“Look, we don’t need to go through this again, Mom,” he said, lowering his voice. “I have everything under control. I don’t need your help. You have enough on your plate with Dad’s heart condition. The girls are my top priority every single day. You know that.”
“Liam, that’s not what I’m saying, and you know it,” his mother replied, exasperation creeping into her voice. “You’ve stepped up admirably. Bless your heart, boy. We know those babies want for nothing.”
A lump formed in Liam’s throat at the pride in his mother’s words. When was the last time he had allowed himself to accept his parents’ care and concern instead of constantly deflecting?
“But you have to take care of yourself too, son,” she continued, gentle yet firm. “You need to find a way to ease this burden you’re carrying. The school summer break is coming up, and I know those kids can be a handful. Get some help before it becomes too much to bear.”
Her blunt truth hit home. He glanced around at the toys and craft supplies strewn across the room. The girls’ room looked like a disaster zone, and the breakfast dishes were piled high in the sink. It was simply unsustainable to be a single parent while juggling the demands of a professional hockey career, especially with the recent tensions with his team. No matter how hard he tried, something had to give eventually.
Cradling the phone tighter against his ear, he masked a shaky exhale before responding.
“I know what you’re saying, Mom. It’s just…I have to make this work. For them.”
He nodded towards Maddie and Hailey, who had started a livelygame of chase, their squeals of delight filling the air. They dodged the various toys scattered across the massive living room.
Watching their carefree abandon ached Liam’s heart, reminding him painfully of how Kate used to orchestrate such joyful games. He knew he could never replicate even a fraction of her effortless domestic magic.
“You’ve been carrying this burden alone for months now,” his mother continued. “Out of some misguided sense of masculine martyrdom. Your dad was just the same, and look where that got him. Putting too much on your shoulders isn’t sustainable in the long run. You excel on the hockey rink, but that doesn’t translate to home life, Liam. It requires a different skill set.”
Squeezing his eyes shut, Liam rubbed the stubbly hinge of his jaw as he absorbed her criticism. He understood it came from a place of love.
“I’d ask Morgan for help, but you know how she is,” his mother said.
Liam knew his sister was the last person he could rely on.
“Morgan only cares about Morgan,” he replied, unable to hide his animosity. “I’m not expecting anything from her.”
“Tell you what,” his mom said, shifting the conversation away from his sister.
“Your dad and I will make a couple of calls. We’ll line up some potential sitters or nannies for you to interview — just an extra set of hands around the house. Just…consider it, son. For all our sakes. Especially those little angels.”
The suggestion settled over Liam like a heavy weight, even as he recognized its logic. Relinquishing even a tiny bit of control over his broken family’s lives felt like a failure — an admission that he couldn’t handle things. That he hadn’t stepped up when his family needed him most. That he had failed Kate.
