“Shouldn’t you be helping with that?” Phantom asked.
“Not at all. He and Add have a system. It’s their thing since Addison is basically a carbon copy of his Papa.” He looked at his watch on his wrist. “I’ll go help in a few minutes. Where’s John?”
“He’ll be here soon. Max had soccer practice this morning, and then they’ll be on the way.”
My best friend was ridiculously in love with his family. “I still can’t believe you have four kids. ”
“Yeah, well I can’t believe you only have one. What’s up with that?”
I grinned. Our six-year-old son Max was two years younger than Addison. “One is enough right now. We have time. Maybe you should think about a fifth one.”
He laughed. “He’d love it. Once Charlotte came along, he was hooked. He’d have more, but Sandra pulled the plug on the baby operation.”
“I don’t blame her,” I muttered.
My attention was called away when I recognized my name being called by a voice that always made me smile.
“Daddy, Daddy I made a goal!”
Max came tearing toward me and jumped into my arms. “You did? That’s fantastic! Did anyone else score?”
He nodded. “Yeah, Sam and Blaine. And I congratulated them like you said.”
"Good boy. Sportsmanship is more important. Friends are more important than winning."
I kissed him on the cheek and left a raspberry behind, making him squeal in laughter. Then I held him close and moved around. “Did you zig and zag like this?”
I jumped around with him from foot to foot making him howl. “Yes! Like we practiced.”
I gave him another big kiss and put him down. “Say hello to your uncles, then you can play with Addison.”
He looked up at me as John walked up. “Can I get a cookie from Nanna?”
All the kids had claimed Phantom’s mom as their Nanna, and she loved it.
“Yes, go get one,” John said to our son. “Remember your manners.”
Max reminded me so much of my brother, and I knew my dad would be so proud of his grandson, Maxwell Michael Langdon, who shares his middle name.
“Hey, Laura wanted to know if we could babysit Mason. She’s got a league meeting in Canton to go to.”
Smiling at him, I nodded. “Tell her yes, babe. The boys will have a blast.”
He kissed my cheek and nodded. “I’ll go call her now.”
John and I had moved to San Diego a few years ago when Laura and Remington had gotten pregnant. We loved it here, and when we left Portland, the others slowly began to follow us when the clientele changed. The only ones remaining in Portland were GQ and Dominick, and my guess was they’d be moving soon too.
When Max returned, he brought two extra cookies and handed them to me. “Here ya go, Daddy. One for you and one for Papa.”
I grinned at him. “Thank you,” I said, taking a bite. “I knew I trained you right.”
He grinned up at me, loving the praise. “Can we go in the waves now?”
I shoved the rest of the cookie in my mouth and handed the other one to Dare. “Give this to John when he comes back, would you? We’re going to go play.”
“Sure,” he said, shoving the cookie in his mouth.
Dare shrugged. "I couldn't help it. It's Nanna's cookies. John can get another one."
