When he picked his head back up, he didn’t look angry. He looked…relieved. “I’ve never been happier to see you.”
It clicked to me then.
He thought he was going to see Mark Rossi standing in his foyer, not me.
“Call me Ivan.” He gave me a bone-rattling pat on my left shoulder, making pain shoot through my whole body.
“Dad!” Ali gasped from behind him. “Don’t hit him, he just had surgery.”
“I didn’t,” he said gruffly before turning back to me. “I didn’t hit you, did I?” he pretty much demanded.
“No sir,” I answered, shaking my head.
“See,” he said to Ali. Turning back to me, he gave me an approving nod. “C’mon, I’ll get you a beer.”
“He can’t have that either,” Ali sing-songed. “He took some meds.”
“Fine, fine, he’ll have a water,” Ivan muttered as he led me into their den.
____________
For the next couple hours, Ali and Annie chatted in the kitchen with their mom, Sofia, and grandma, Marina—both of whom shed some happy tears about the babies—while I sat in the den with her dad watching college hockey.
“Gotta say, I thought you hated me,” I told Ivan.
He smirked with his eyes still glued to the TV. “Nah, I had a feeling about you.”
“A feeling?” Even though he was one of our trainers back at Centre Ice, this was the most words he’d ever spoken to me.
He chuckled to himself. “I knew you liked Alinna.”He briefly glanced at his daughter in the kitchen. “And I knew you had talent. I wanted you to make it. You three boys didn’t need any more cheerleaders. You needed someone to push you.” He shrugged and drank another gulp of his beer.
I smirked to myself as I took another sip of water. If only I could go back and tell my teen self that he didn’t hate me.
“Ivan,” Sofia snapped, “You didn’t get cream of mushroom soup?”
Ivan swore under his breath.
“We need it, Ivan!” she yelled at him.
“We can get it,” Ali volunteered. “Right?” She looked to me for approval.
“Yeah, for sure.” I pushed up to my feet and followed her out to the foyer.
___________
“Thanks. I feel like we haven’t spent much time together today.” She gave me a small smile. “Thanks for coming with me. Not, like, to the grocery store,” she added quickly, her cheeks flushing, “but…here.” She worried her bottom lip for a beat. “Maybe we could stay a little longer? Like, maybe a week?”
“Yeah, no problem.” I gave her an easy smile, and her nerves seemed to dissipate. “I have a couple weeks until I have to start meeting with the team physical therapist. We can stay as long as you like. I’m glad you’re happy,” I said with a smile. I had a feeling, or maybe a hope, that we’d be staying longer, so I packed a few extra outfits.
We held hands as we walked into our old local grocery store together, and it felt like all was right in the world. For the first time in a while, I didn’t feel any pressure, just peace.
The store, which I went to about once a week for my entire life until leaving for junior hockey, felt much smaller than I remembered.
“I have a feeling we’re going to need more eggs too,” Ali said as she grabbed a cart. “Want to get the soup and meet me by the eggs?” she asked.
“Sure, I’ll be quick.” I gave her a wink as we parted.
As soon as I turned the corner, a mom with a kid came into sight. They were right in front of the soup cans I needed, so I slowed my pace to wait for them. I didn’t feel the slight sting I used to when I spotted a boy with his mom. Instead, I felt a little hope. I pictured what Ali would look like pushing our babies around in the cart, and a goofy smile came to my face.
