She shrugs one shoulder, trying for casual, but her eyes give her away.“That’s just one story.Everyone who’s been through the system has dozens.Some worse than mine.I was lucky in that I was never physically abused.Just severely neglected.”She hesitates a moment, before giving me a smile of solidarity.“A lot like you.Except it was the same people doing it to you over and over again.”
I shake my head.“I had it good compared to you.”
Maddie stops and places her hand on my arm.“No, you didn’t.Indifference is traumatic no matter the setting.”
I don’t know what to say to that.Just the heavy realization that I’ll never fully understand, but I can damn well listen.
Maddie studies me, then asks quietly, “What about you?What was a typical day?”
I let out a slow breath.“Hmm… let’s see.Dad was a car salesman—big on charm, not so big on follow-through.He’d promise he’d make it to my games, pump me up before walking out of the house in the morning, then not show.Mom worked at a bank.She was steady at her job, but when she came home, she was tired.Stressed.Her way of encouraging me was telling me I was strong enough to handle things on my own.Which sounds nice, except what it meant was Ididhandle it on my own.She wasn’t very nurturing.There weren’t hugs and I love yous in our home.No one checked my grades, no one made sure I had dinner.It was just assumed I could do for myself, so I did.”
Maddie’s brows pinch.“You basically raised yourself.”
“Yeah.Lugging my gear across snowy Buffalo streets because Dad ‘got caught up with a client’ or Mom was too drained to come pick me up.By high school, I had a job to pay for equipment and travel tournaments—wasn’t like we couldn’t afford it.I just didn’t want to give them another chance to let me down.”
Her lips press together, and her eyes glisten.“That sounds lonely.I wonder why they were like that?”
“No clue,” I admit.“Both sets of grandparents were gone when I was pretty young, so I’m guessing it’s how my parents were raised.I’ve never been close enough to either of them to ask.”
“And do you have a relationship with them now?”she asks.
“No.When I made it to the professionals, my dad tried to insinuate himself into my life, but he just liked the fame.I couldn’t stand to hear him brag about how he helped me be the man I was.It was offensive.We don’t talk much.Maybe the occasional text or call around the holidays.”I pause, throat tightening.“I haven’t even told them that Gray died or about Grayce, and I don’t feel compelled to.”
“That says a lot,” Maddie murmurs.
“That’s why Gray was everything.He showed up.He’d be the one in the stands, the one shoving fries at me after a bad game and acting like I was still the star.He didn’t have family either, not really.Whatever he had growing up, it didn’t stick.We kind of… made each other family.Brothers, even if it wasn’t blood.”
Maddie swallows, blinking fast.
“Gray was the first person who ever proved me wrong about people,” I say, voice low.“And now I know enough about you and your relationship with him, I know you know what I mean by that.”
“Yeah,” she says with a wistful smile.“Gray taught me that love could be more than empty promises.”
“Loyalty,” I concur.“He was great about showing up both physically and emotionally.”
Maddie looks down at Grayce, love shining in her eyes.“That’s why she matters so damn much.She’s the piece of him we get to keep.”
“We’re going to give her so much better than what we had.”
Maddie’s smile tugs at one corner of her mouth.“She’s going to grow up spoiled on attention.”
“Good,” I say without hesitation.“Better too much than not enough.”
Something flickers across her face at that, a release of pain perhaps.“We’re narrating the entire world for her,” she says softly.
“She needs a tour guide.”I glance down at the stroller.“You’re lucky to have us, kiddo.Most parents don’t come with running commentary.”
The park sprawls open in front of us—green lawns damp with dew, clusters of budding trees, and children laughing and running around.One day, Grayce will be doing that with other neighborhood kids.
I nod toward the playground.“Think she’s big enough?”
“Definitely in the bucket swings,” Maddie says, already steering us that way.
Minutes later, Grayce is buckled into the baby swing, her cheeks flushed pink.I give a gentle push, and she lets out a giggle so bright people turn their heads to smile at her.
“Look at her!”Maddie laughs, the sound like sunlight.
My chest swells.“She’s a daredevil already.”
