“Nope! Just name and number will do for now!”
“So, what do you have going on for the rest of the week? Same schedule as usual?” Tracy asks.
I think for a moment about whether anything out of the ordinary is happening this week. “Yes, just the normal stuff. I have the shelter tomorrow. I’m holding babies at the hospital on Thursday. This weekend, I have Leo’s games since Nikki and Gabri are playing away. I haven’t volunteered at the soup kitchen in a while, so I’m hoping I can fit that in as well. And of course,if our mystery man comes back in, I’ll be running here as fast as possible to catch a glimpse.”
Horace takes my hand and squeezes. “You are some woman, you know that, Elliebelly? You give back so much to the world. I know we all look forward to your visits and cherish every minute you spend here. If anyone has ever deserved someone as sexy as our mystery man, it’s you. You’ve been single way too long.”
Tracy pipes up next. “You know, he’s right. You’ve been single as long as I’ve known you! How is that even possible?”
“Horace is right!” Mildred agrees. “Your beauty should catch the attention of him or any other man, but with your heart, well, darling, there isn’t anything in this world you don’t deserve. Including andespeciallylove.”
Tears well in my eyes as my friends who have known so much life build me up. I respect everyone here, and their words and opinions mean everything to me. “Thanks, guys. I cherish every minute with you as well. You’re some of the best friends I’ve ever had.”
“Oh, you make me feel young again. But you don’t mean that, sweetheart. Surely, you have a gaggle of young girlfriends,” Mildred says.
“Actually, no. I gave up on trying to make friends years ago. They would all just get close to me to, um, sleep with my brothers.”
“That’s why you should get some fabulous gay besties.”
“They would probably want to hook up with my brothers too.” I giggle.
“Touché. Well, speaking of the glories of the male figure…”
Horace wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me in for a side hug while Mildred continues telling me about his pride night party, but all I can think about is the mystery man. Well,not him specifically, just the idea of someone kind and handsome to spend my time with. What I would give for a companion to fill the hole in my heart that only seems to get larger with each passing day.
Chapter 5
I’m as stillas a rock, afraid that if I move a muscle, I’ll mess something up. At least this is the last thing on the hazing list the guys on my new team made for me. Who even thinks of this stuff? I’m trying to decide whether Pretzel or Bugsy was behind this when the nurse lays athirdtiny baby on my chest. Mybarechest because apparently, skin-to-skin is a big deal for babies.
“And here’s little Ronnie. Aw, look at them all together. You’re the first volunteer we’ve had who’s been, um…wide enough for them all to lie on at the same time.”
“What do I do with them?”
“Hold them, sing to them, tell them stories. They should fall asleep soon. At that age, that’s all they really do. Just keep loving on them!”
“Okay…”
“If you need anything, just hit the call button on the remote.” She pauses when my eyes go wide at the thought of having to move to reach for the remote. “Or just yell forsomeone. My name is Tina, but someone should be around if I can’t get to you. Oh, and Ellie will be here any minute, and she knows the ropes. Alright, see you soon, Teddy!”
“Ellie?” I ask as Tina leaves the room, closing the door behind her.
Great, now I’m really going to have to yell to get someone’s attention.I look down at the triplets, all sleeping soundly against my chest, and smile. Yelling would wake them up, so I guess I’ll just wait until this mystery girl shows up if I need something.
The baby bundled in a pink blanket hiccups, then nuzzles into my chest, melting my heart in the process. I’ve never been around many babies. I’m not sure I’ve ever held a baby at all, and I know for a fact I’ve never held one this small.
“Okay, this isn’t so bad. I guess whoever added holding you little guys to the list wasn’t a total asshole. Oh shit, sorry. I mean, fuck—I…never mind. That was a list of wordsnotto use when you start talking in…I don’t know when babies start talking. What? Five or six more months?
“Anyway, my name is Theodore, but everyone calls me Teddy. Well, not everyone. My grandma calls me Teddybear, and my teammates call me Cuddles. I’m a professional hockey player, and…you guys probably don’t know anything about hockey. It’s basically the best sport in the world. Just like most sports, the whole purpose of the game is to end up with more points than the other team, except we have to do it on skates. I play the position of goalie, so my job is to keep the other team from scoring, and I’m not so bad at it, if I do say so myself. I’m on track to be up there with some of the best goalies of all time, which is insane. Most people argue that the GOAT, which means greatest of all time, goalie is Patrick Roy, but in my opinion, it’s Henrik Lundqvist. There was just a swagger about him. I knew the first time I saw him play that I wanted to be just like him. I’ve actually met him several times now, and man, what a guy—”
I pause my monologue and look up when I hear a knock on the door. “Come in!” I whisper-yell. I expect to see one of the nurses when I look up, but instead, it’s a woman who is way hotter than any of the nurses I’ve seen today.
Oh, this is the mystery woman.In fact, I’m not even sure it’s ahumanwoman. A goddess, maybe? The light reflecting from her long dark hair shines like a halo, so maybe she’s an actual angel. Time stands still as she seems to float toward me.
“Can I have one of your babies?”
At this distance, I can make out every perfect feature on her beautiful heart-shaped face. Hazel eyes, olive skin, rosy cheeks, luscious lips. “Oh, you can absolutely have my babies. You can have as many babies as you’d like.”
“Well, it looks like three is your limit right now, big guy.”
