We all chuckle, and I eye my dad with a smirk. He shrugs his shoulders. “I thought I pulled it off quite well. Who says pappas can’t be princesses too?”
Once the oven goes off, Sadie and I head to the kitchen to grab everything we’ll need for our first official family breakfast.
I grab the French toast and place it on the counter while Sadie moves gracefully around me, grabbing plates, cups, orange juice, and fruit from the refrigerator. We move so effortlessly together in this space, I’m oddly excited to do this every day. I want to wake up with her every morning, make love, and then come down here and create a beautiful meal for our family. The fairytale in my brain is too good to ignore, so, before I can stop myself, I’m propositioning Sadie.
“Move in with us.”
Sadie is mid-pour when her head turns toward me, eyes wide with surprise. “You mean in the apartment?”
I set the spatula I was using down and grab her shoulders gently, turning her so we’re facing each other.
“No. Move into the main house with us. Sleep in my bed. I want you to be the last thing I see before I go to sleep and the first thing I see when I open my eyes in the morning. Move in with us.”
Sadie’s breath hitches and her eyes fill with unshed tears. “Okay. I’ll move in with you.”
I’m grabbing Sadie and lifting her up, twirling her around in a circle as soon as the words are out of her mouth. She’s giggling and squealing, and the sound is music to my ears.
I have the urge to throw her over my shoulder and take her upstairs, but Sophia’s voice calling our names makes me think better of it. Reluctantly, I set Sadie back down on the ground.
“We should get out there,” Sadie says, her eyes not moving from mine.
“You’re probably right.”
We finish plating our food and it’s quite impressive we’re able to grab everything in one trip. Sadie’s balancing two plates on one arm and has three drinks cradled in the other. Doing my best not to drop the plates I’m holding, I lean down and give her a quick kiss on the lips.
“We make quite the team,Kulta.”
She pushes up onto her tiptoes, and I give her another kiss. I follow her into the dining room and the scene in front of me steals all the air from my lungs.
My parents. Sophia.Sadie.All sitting at the table, ready to enjoy breakfast together.
I’m the luckiest man in the world, and I’ll never ever take that for granted.
It’s been three days since Sadie’s decided to stay with us for good. Just like she said she would, she moved into my room—our room—to start life with us as a family, and I couldn’t be happier. Neither could Sophia, who refuses to leave Sadie’s side today at the barbecue we’re hosting.
I haven’t had the team over in a while. It’s hard to get everyone here, especially around playoffs when we all have our own ways of mentally preparing for those types of games. I don’t like to throw a wrench in anyone’s system with so much on the line. But with the end of the season, I decided to have one final get together before the guys take off back to their home countries or wherever they spend their summers.
I’m busy manning the barbecue, so I haven’t been able to mingle much. Coach Lincoln and Coach Ellie just arrived, and as soon as they see me they head my way.
Lincoln pats me on the back. “Thanks for having the team over, man. I think it’s great for morale. Especially after how shitty of an ending we had this season.”
Ellie bumps Lincoln with her beer bottle. “Hey, no work talk today. We’re here to relax and say goodbye to the team. Not stress them out about next year.” She quirks an eyebrow and Lincoln holds his hands up in surrender.
“All right, all right. How are you doing, Cap? Sophia seems happy.”
I follow his gaze to where my daughter is sitting on Sadie’s lap and she’s playing rock, paper, scissors with Coach Hunter and Lincoln’s cousin Katie.
“Yeah. She is. So am I.”
Ellie squeezes my arm which has me looking back to them. “I’m happy for you. Really, I am. But if you ever do anything to hurt my best friend again, don’t think I won’t get your ass traded.”
We all laugh and start talking about our plans for the summer. Ellie and Lincoln are apparently heading to Michigan for the summer. They both grew up there and the northern part of the state is gorgeous this time of year.Hearing them talk about their plans makes me want to plan a trip with my girls.
Sadie joins us now, and I look behind me to see Sophia happily chasing Hunter around.
Ellie’s panicked voice catches me by surprise. “Oh my gosh, I forgot to tell you. You know how Mickey, our play-by-play commentator, retired this year?”
I’m concentrating on not burning the burgers, so I nod along to let Ellie know I’m still listening.
