Kos sent one in our group chat.
Alec Kostelecky: Family dinner this weekend, pending game schedule. :)
And a few from my mom, including a photo attachment.
Mom: We are so excited to cheer you on!
I click on the photo and wait for it to finish loading. The damn service in here can be shitty sometimes. It finally processes, and my heart leaps out of my chest when I see my sweet parents taking a selfie in front of the arena.
“No way,” I mutter to myself.
My dad hasn’t been able to come to a game for a while. They can be super overwhelming for him, but if they’re here, then he must be doing even better than we imagined. And they flew in for this.
This is just what I needed tonight—having my parents here to support me. Especially my dad.
I feel giddy, like a little kid when their parents are picking them up from a summer camp and they’re desperate to be home. I was always that kid, the one who hated being away from home for too long. I’ve felt that same anticipation and emptiness since my dad was diagnosed.
I can’t imagine how scary it is for him and for my mom. God, that must be the hardest thing in the world to watch your partner go through. It’s hard as his kid, lonely even, but it has to be ten times worse for her.
But tonight, we’re celebrating where we’re at and that we’re all still together. That’s a blessing in itself. And Shay’s here. Maybe I’ll have time to introduce them to her before the game starts.
I quickly type a response to my mom before messaging Shay separately.
Me to Mom: Did you guys make it inside? I’d love to introduce you to someone.
Me to Shay: Hey, where are you at? How do you feel about meeting my parents?
Shay responds almost immediately.
Shay: I would love to. Tell me where.
Mom: We are inside. Sitting down in one of the Nighthawks family boxes now.
Okay. We’ll be there shortly. I’ll find you.
I don’t text Shay back. Instead, I call her quickly, and she answers right away.
“Hello?”
Speaking through my headphones, I ask, “Where are you?”
“Outside the room,” she responds with a sassy undertone. “Myroom.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. This place wasminelong before it was yours.” I laugh and stand up, walking over to the exit and slipping my headphones down around my shoulders.
When I throw the door open, she hangs up the call and squints at me. “Hmm. You can win this argument for now. But it’s not over, MacArthur.”
“Deal.” I smirk, staring down into her stunning green eyes. God, she’s so fucking beautiful. The kind you can’t ever get used to seeing. It takes your breath away every single time.
“Come on.”
Shay walks beside me, her thin heels clicking, and it takes everything in me not to reach over for her hand. It’s my natural reaction, wanting to be closer to her.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I ask her once more to be sure. “Big step, meeting the parents.”
She flicks her gaze up at me, concern gleaming like a neon sign. “Are you not serious about this?”
I stop dead in my tracks, making sure her eyes are glued on mine when I say, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. It’s not that at all. I’m one hundred percent positive and one hundred percent serious. About you. About us. All of it.”
