“Don’t get him worked up,” she said. “Oh Lord.”
“Mom doesn’t know how to have fun like the rest of us.”
“Don’t be so sure of that,” she said. “Come give me a hug.”
“Mom!” Archer yelled. “No. There are too many people around.”
She rolled her eyes. “How about a fist pump?”
“Sure,” Archer said, touching his knuckles to hers, then turning and doing the same to Jayce.
Jayce squatted down, and whispered, “It’d make your mom feel really good if you gave her a tiny little hug. It’s about her and not you.”
Archer looked at his face, then turned and walked over to Farrah. “One tiny hug, Mom. You can’t hold on too long.”
She laughed. “Just a quick one.” She squatted and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, then stood back up quickly. “See, not too bad.”
“Bye, Mom.”
“Bye,” she said, waving to her son and turning to leave.
“You’re getting a lot of stares,” he said. “From the older boys. Bet I know what they are thinking.”
“Stop,” she said, laughing.
“What? I know if I were them I’d be thinking it. Lucky me, you’re mine.”
“Yours?” she asked when they got on the pathway to move back to his car.
“Yep,” he said, the P popping at the end. “Problem with it?”
She put her head on his shoulder and moved closer, him wrapping his arm around her waist for a snuggle. He was trying to distract her from the fact she had just dropped her son off with strangers for a week. It wasn’t the same as leaving Archer with his father.
“No,” she said. “And thanks for telling him to hug me.”
“You know he wanted to,” he said. “He just needed the nudge. He’s going to be fine. You were.”
“I was, but I was older and had more friends with me. So many other parents weren’t willing to send their kids just yet. If Liam couldn’t come, Archer wasn’t.”
“I’m sure more will go next year once they find out it’s not that bad,” he said.
“You’re probably right.”
“Are you going to be okay? Do you want me to stay in Charlotte so I’m close to him?” he asked. He’d already mentioned it to his parents, that he could work remotely if Farrah felt uncomfortable with leaving Archer.
“That’s very sweet, but I’ll be okay. I appreciate it though. It’s only two hours and once I hear from him tonight and in the morning, it will be better. He’s going to have the time of his life. I could see he wanted me to leave an hour ago.”
Jayce laughed. “Caught onto that, didn’t you?”
“Hard not to when I know my kid so well. We can’t check into our hotel yet, but I’m starving.”
“Then let me feed you. Are you sure you’re okay going out tonight with other people?”
“And miss the chance to meet some people you worked with or some players? No way. Then I’ll have something to brag about to Archer for once.”
“Should have known,” he said, smirking. “But not sure it’s going to be anyone other than DeVone and Katrina.”
“Then it’s just a friend of yours I’ve yet to meet, so yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”
