“Aight. Please get this shit done.”
“I got you, Land. Relax. It’s just finalizing paperwork at this point.”
I ended the call and gave my attention to the guy handling the install for the vibrotactile floors. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking, getting all of this done on the same day. Well technically, it wasn’t the same day since the flooring installation started three days prior, but everything would be finalized today.
“I think we’re pretty much done. Would you like to come test the floors?”
“Yeah, hang on.” I turned to the guy working on the lighting attached to the doorbell and cameras so Somee would benotified when someone was on the property or at the door. “I’m about to head downstairs with him for a minute. I’ll be right back.”
He nodded and continued testing the system while I followed ol’ boy to the basement. We made our way to the room across from my gym, which I’d transformed into a dance studio for Rylee. LibertéAbstraiteallowed us to bring her for two days to try their classes and she was sold. My lil baby signed up for their summer programs before we left and so had Areena.
Toya and Daren thought it would be a great idea for her to go as well, and since the two of them were going together, we could balance getting them to classes so Somee wouldn’t be overwhelmed. She wouldn’t mind, and would do it all, but I didn’t want her life to be centered around Rylee. She deserved to have freedom to find her footing since all of this was new to her too.
“Do I need to take my shoes off?”
“No, in fact, I would like to test it both ways. The vibrations can be felt with most footwear, but are magnified when you’re not wearing any.”
I tossed my chin and moved toward the control panel. I had a built-in sound system that worked with the flooring. There was a Bluetooth option so devices could be synced.
After I removed my phone, I pulled up a playlist Somee made for their dance parties. The first song played, and even with the music at a tolerable level, I still felt the vibration from the bass through the floors.
“Damn, that shit really worked.”
“I would hope so considering what you’re paying to have me install these floors.”
I chuckled and he pointed to my feet. “Take your shoes off and walk around.”
I did as asked and was thoroughly impressed. I couldn’t wait to see Somee and Rylee’s faces when I brought them down here. Working around getting this done without either of them finding out was like tactical training. Rylee wasn’t that bad, but Somee’s nosy ass was an entirely different story. I had to enlist Makari and Toya to keep her out of the house. Between keeping up with her schedule, dealing with these installations, and practices, I was fucking exhausted. But after experiencing the end result, it was so worth it.
“What else do we need to do?”
“That’s it. I’m going to go through the controls with you and give you my contact information just in case you have any issues. I did the install, so I’m your dedicated technician.”
We moved through the tutorial, then he was gone, leaving me with the company handling the other modifications. By the time they were done, we had multicolored flashing lights that would notice things like the doorbell, the garage opening, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Each bedroom now had vibrating alarm clocks and bed shakers for Somee and Rylee and for when her mother visited. I also made sure to have additional video panels that provided access to the cameras and alarm system throughout the house so Somee didn’t always have to have her phone with her when I wasn’t here.
The season starting meant there were times when they would be home alone. Somee would never complain about the functionality of living here, but my job was to make sure she didn’t have to. This was the last thing I needed to handle for me to feel at peace before the season started. We hired a full-time cleaning staff last week, and since she was already comfortable with Des and Rich, Somee decided to keep them as security when I wasn’t with them instead of getting used to someone new. Neither of them knew ASL but Somee was confident they would be fine communicating via text and with her reading lips.
By the time everyone was out of my house and things were peaceful again, all I wanted to do was climb in bed and take my ass to sleep. I had been up since five with my personal workout, training with the rookies, team practice, then home for the installations. This season would be a balancing act. I had not one damn clue how I would make this work. I’d figure it out later.
Right now, I needed to sit my ass down and close my eyes for a minute. I had about an hour before Somee would be here with Rylee. All I needed was five minutes and I would be good. The minute I dropped my ass on the sofa in the basement, the chill and softness from the leather and the silence of the room took me down. My eyes closed, and within minutes, I was out.
Chapter 28
Somee
Iglanced at my ring finger, admiring the tiny R and S separated by a red heart and the inside of my wrist while I waited for the garage to open. My confidence had been on a thousand while I was getting inked, but now that I had time to think about what I had done, I was beginning to panic.
Unfortunately, it was too late. I had two tattoos quite visible on my skin. I pulled into the garage and waited for the door to come down before Rylee and I got out. My baby was mentally exhausted from end of year testing. As smart as Rylee was, she was high strung. Sitting for hours at a time with nothing to focus on but aptitude testing was a challenge.
Thankfully today was the last day and there were only two weeks left of school. She was looking forward to the summer, and honestly, I was too. Summer meant we could do some fun things and hopefully travel before we completely lost Ryland to the season. I was honestly a little sad about the amount of time we would miss with him because I was so used to having him around.
The separation was already starting for me since the two of us were typically home all day. Now that he was back in his training rotation, I was home alone. It wasn’t as bad for Rylee,because most of her day was spent at school, and by the time she got home, Ryland was done with practice and training. Even if he was tired, he still made an effort to give Rylee the attention she craved but it was wearing on him.
Ryland received the final signed documents granting him permanent guardianship of Rylee which made them officially a family. Legally binding. He and I were also locked in which meant there were no outs for either of us. I loved the peace and comfort of knowing that this was my life but it didn’t whoever come without challenges.
We ate dinner as a family, and after Rylee was in bed, he didn’t miss the opportunity to make me a priority. However, by then, he was drained. I felt horrible because he was trying to balance too much, so I did my best to give him time to adjust to football and having us here.
At night, we mostly just lounged in bed, watching TV until he fell asleep, but that was cool with me too. I would snuggle up next to him, appreciating that this man was killing himself to show up for us when he was struggling to show up for himself. The five a.m. workouts were kicking his ass. He said it usually took a couple months to fall back into football rotation. I would help however I could so he survived the transition.
