Loving the Game

by Melody Heck Gatto

  Paige laughed along with him. “I know you, are. I’m sorry.”

  “There you go again,” he joked. “But really, I need to tell you how sorry I am.”

  “Me too.” She bit at her bottom lip. “I overreacted, and I don’t even know why.”

  “Well, I feel terrible for even getting upset in the first place.”

  “And I feel terrible for making you sleep on the couch.” She winced. “I hate being the type of wife that does that.”

  “It was fine. I’m pretty sure I need to see my chiropractor now, but it’s fine.” He grabbed at his lower back, pretending it ached.

  “Oh, stop it!” she laughed.

  “He’s snoring.” Tyler cocked his head at the odd sound coming from the kitten.

  “It’s called purring.” She tried not to laugh at his lack of cat knowledge.

  Tyler pet the little guy’s head. His fur was so soft, and that little face was so sweet. How could anyone not fall in love with him? “Babe, I really am sorry that I acted like an ass over this little guy.”

  “I’m sure Reggie will be relieved to hear that once he wakes up from his power nap.” She smirked. “Why don’t you grab some glasses? I think we can both use a drink. And I’m not moving anytime soon, not as long as he’s asleep on my lap, of course.”

  Tyler nodded. Grabbing two glasses, he opened the bottle of wine, filled both glasses, and returned to his wife. Tyler made himself comfortable in the seat next to his wife. He had a lot to tell her.

  “My reaction had little to do with Reggie. I’ve had a lot going on and he just set me off.”

  “What do you mean?” Paige asked, tilting her head in confusion.

  Tyler took a sip of his wine trying to find the words. “Remember that little boy, Cody, that I hung out with last season?”

  “Of course. We had a pizza party. I had that little jersey made for him. He had the brightest smile.” She recalled.

  “Yeah. That’s him. Well... I got word... that Cody, he lost his battle.” Ty could barely get the words out. He still couldn’t fathom the loss of such a young life.

  “But he was in remission?”

  Tyler nodded. And he was. He fought so hard for such a young man. Last Tyler had heard, he was doing great.

  “Oh, babe.” Without hesitation, Paige gently moved Reggie off her lap and set their glasses on the table. She slid her arms around Tyler, hugging him tight. “I’m so sorry to hear that. When did you find out?”

  “About a week ago. It was the same day Lila was born.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I would’ve told you as soon as I got home– I should’ve told you. I didn’t want to ruin the happy day.”

  “Babe, you should’ve told me.” She said sympathetically. “You’ve been carrying this around this whole time?”

  Tyler shrugged. “Yeah.”

  “My poor husband.” She laid her head on his shoulder with a sigh. “We’ve been dealing with so much lately. I wish we could hide away, maybe get away from it all again.”

  “Me too babe.” Tyler wrapped his arms around her, dropping a kiss on her head. “It’s just the wrong time of year for that.”

  They have been through so much in such a short time. He was known for keeping his focus on the game, but this season all he wanted to do was protect and love Paige. Splitting his focus was new to him, and maybe that was a sign of him growing up.

  “I know. At this point of the season you need to focus.” She shrugged. “A girl can dream.”

  Focus. Yes, he needed to focus. But nothing said he couldn’t focus on the game during working hours and turn his focus to her once he walked through the front door.

  “You know,” he smirked as he dropped a kiss on her neck, tugging at her shirt to expose her shoulder where he left a trail of kisses.

  “You can’t possibly be in the mood for that tonight?” she said through her flattered giggles.

  “Why not?” he looked at her. He knew what she meant, but more often than not being close to her is the only thing that made him feel better.

  Paige looked at him with question on her face. “Babe, you have so much going on, I’m sure you’re on emotional overload.”

  “No. I mean, yeah, it’s been a lot.” He shrugged off her concern. “Cody was so young, and it’s not fair. But the same moment I got the news, I also got word of baby Lila being born. I got to hold her and witness how beautiful a new life is. Maybe it was a sign that as depressing as things can get, there is still beauty in the world.”

  Paige nodded with a wince of concern still showing on her face.

  “And I know I’ve been absent during the season, but you are my peace, my grace, my everything that’s good in the world.” He took her face in his hands. “I know I don’t give you the attention you deserve during the season, and haven’t lately, but that’s going to change.”

  “Babe, you don’t have to worry about that. We’re both busy.” Her voice was sweet and sincere.

  “No,” he put his hands up in front of him. “It’s not okay. I get so blinded during the season and my focus is solely on my game.”

  “And I love you for that focus and passion.” Paige smiled sweetly.

  Tyler took a quiet moment to stare at this beautiful woman. Somehow just having her in his arms made everything okay. His sadness and pain were gone when he was with her.

  “I’d be falling apart if it wasn’t for you. And I know we have our own issues, but all I need is you.”

  “You know that I’m always here.”

  “I know, babe.” Tyler pulled her close.

  She stared at him, and then as if she was reading his thoughts, Paige kissed his lips softly. “Maybe we can’t leave and get away from it all. But we have tonight.” She turned off her cell phone and then turned off his. “We don’t have to let anyone in. Tonight, we have our own private bubble. Just you and me.”

  “I’d like that.” Tyler pressed his lips to hers, running his hand through her soft hair.

  Tomorrow he will figure out how to give Paige her heart’s desire.

  But tonight, tonight was no longer about sadness over the loss of a young life, or misplaced anger about a cat that they didn’t discuss. It was about focusing on the woman who loved him unconditionally.

  She kissed him deep and lovingly. Then standing up, she held out her hand to him.

  “What about Reggie?” Tyler asked.

  Paige pointed to the armchair where the little kitten was curled up on a blanket, sound asleep. “It’s past his bedtime.” She teased.

  Sliding his cell phone in his pocket, he then kissed her hand and joined her. Staring at her, his heart skipped at her beauty. The desire to be close to her boiled up inside of him. He again took her cheek in his hand and softly kissed her lips.

  His breath caught as she slowly unbuttoned his shirt, pulling it from the waist of his pants.

  He ran his hands around her hips, pulling her body snug to his.

  She giggled with a squeal at his touch.

  “Shhh, don’t wake Reggie.” Tyler said.

  Looking over at the kitten, he opened one eye towards the commotion. Then sliding his paw over his face, he fell back to sleep.

  “I’ll race you upstairs.” Paige said, barely getting out the whole sentence before she was rushing up the steps. “Loser buys dinner tomorrow.”

  Tyler knew he could easily catch up with her but let her win. He’d let her win for the rest of their lives if that put a smile on her face.

  TYLER LOOKED AROUND their dark bedroom, their clothes scattered on the floor.

  He tried to sleep, but his mind was racing. Reggie lay between them, snoring, and Paige was sound asleep, looking beautiful as she slept.

  Talking to Patrick the other day brought back memories that he hadn’t thought of in a long time. It is true what they say, everything does happen for a reason. He and Gia had an ugly past, and no one was spared from the hurt. But without it, he wouldn’t be with Paige
.

  He looked down at his wedding band and then over at his beautiful wife, he wanted to give her the world. Anything she could ever want should be hers. She deserved happiness.

  Paige was his happily ever after, just like Pat and Gia were meant to be together, and had he seen that earlier, maybe Gia would have never lost the baby. Her miscarriage wasn’t anyone’s fault – and yet, he still carried the guilt.

  Tyler sighed as his past came rushing back to him. He had been such a mess after he and Gia broke up. When she chose Patrick, he chose too many women and too much alcohol. He was on the verge of ruining his career. That’s when Paige came into his life. She saved him and helped make him the man he was today.

  Looking back, it all worked out like it was supposed to – even as ugly as it all was when it happened. It taught him forgiveness, and he learned how to love again – that was all thanks to his wonderful wife.

  He still couldn’t help but wonder if his missteps in life were coming back to haunt him? Karma never disappointed.

  Maybe he wasn’t meant to have a child of his own.

  He looked down at Reggie, who already held a place in his heart. He would do whatever he needed in order to give Paige a baby. She wanted a family and he wouldn’t let her pay for his mistakes in life.

  If adoption is what it takes, then he wouldn’t spare any expense to make her dreams of a family a reality.

  Tyler rolled over and grabbed his phone off the nightstand. He researched adoption and the local agencies until his eyelids refused to stay open any longer.

  Chapter Fifteen

  TYLER

  Morning skate was wrapping up and a few of the guys had already headed off to the locker room. Tyler was still on the ice, taking shots at the empty net. Slapshot after slapshot, about half of them bounced right off the boards behind the net.

  He had never missed so many shots in a single practice before.

  Frustrated, his face was burning, and he was sweating in his gear. Almost all the team had left the ice, but he continued to take shots at the net. He wasn’t going to leave until he put ten consecutive pucks in the net.

  When he was finally satisfied, he headed to the locker room. Turning to the bench, he noticed Kris had been standing there, probably the whole time.

  “Tyler, what has you so distracted today?” Kris asked on their way to the locker room.

  Tyler shook his head, not wanting to concern the team with his problems. “Nothing. I’m good.”

  The room silenced as he entered. All eyes were awkwardly on him.

  “Oh, this is you good? I’ve never seen you miss the net as much as you did this morning.” Pat remarked in typical annoying-Patrick fashion.

  “Whatever.” Not in the mood for Pat’s sarcastic comments, he brushed off his teammate’s words. “I’m fine. I’ve just been thinking, that’s all.”

  “Certainly not about getting the puck in the back of the net! Boom!” Pat made some weird motion with his hands, proud of his comeback.

  At least it broke some of the tension he walked in to.

  “Shit, you guys,” Tyler complained as he looked around the locker room. Peeling off his equipment, he added with a comical tone. “You are worse than a bunch of old women!”

  Kaden shrugged with a grin on his face. “I’m good with that. So, what’s up, Cap?”

  Tyler sighed, knowing these guys weren’t going to give up now. He rarely had such a bad practice as he did today. He had made it painfully obvious that something was off. Most of his teammates now were staring at him in anticipation of his answer. “Fine. So, I’m a little off my game. For once in my life, hockey is not first and foremost on my brain. I’ve been doing some research on adoption and am in the process of lining up some meetings to see how to get the ball rolling.”

  “Yeah, I noticed something was off this morning when I saw Paige in the hall. She was focused on her phone and almost ran right into me. It’s not like her to not know everything that’s going on around her.” Kaden said.

  “And around every corner. That girl has magic senses, I swear. I can just be thinking about doing something that might cause a media mess, and *bam* she’s there to put the kibosh on it before it even happens.” Sam shook his head, impressed. “Girl is good at her job. But I’m sure she’s over the moon at the idea of moving forward with adoption.”

  “Oh, no, I haven’t talked to her about it yet. She must be preoccupied with work. I mean, we have some stuff going on at home, but–”

  “Wait, what?” Kris asked.

  “What?” Tyler asked, confused. As he looked around the room at his teammates faces, he realized he was the only one that had no idea what was going on.

  “Ty, for a smart guy, you are really being dense about this.” Harrison added with a shake of his head.

  “Excuse me?” Tyler tried not to sound offended by his brother-in-law.

  “I think what Harrison means is, your wife should really be part of this discussion. Probably even before us.” Sam tried to calmly explain.

  “Ty, you really haven’t talked to her?” Kris asked.

  As Tyler looked at Kris, all their comments hit him at one. Why couldn’t he see this on his own? “Oh man... how could I have been so stupid?”

  Slowly, what he had done sunk in. He had been so worried about the process, and the money, and taking care of everything to give her the world, that he forgot to include the most important person.

  “Every time I spend a day with Trina and the kids, it gets me thinking about what it would be like to have a family. And it always brings Paige down. Baby Lila gave her a different reaction, and for the first time in a while I saw hope in her eyes. She hasn’t smiled that much in almost a year, not that genuine anyway. When I came across some info on adoption and must’ve went down a wormhole researching it. There is so much to learn and investigate. But it really is a wonderful option.”

  “Technically, you and Paige are a family. Kids don’t make a family, bro.” Harrison quickly responded.

  Harrison would be the one to say something like that. He has a baby on the way. Tyler did his best to hide the bitterness he was feeling.

  Some of the guys nodded in agreement, but others stayed quiet.

  “Yeah, I mean, I know that.” Tyler responded to his new brother-in-law. Adding in a little sarcasm to help keep the mood light, he added, “But all this talent should be passed down to the next generation, you know?”

  Tyler couldn’t help but turn it into a joke, because talking serious with the boys seemed all sorts of weird.

  “Joking aside, shouldn’t you be talking to your wife about this instead of us?” Patrick asked.

  The guys continued to talk, but he didn’t hear a word they said. Things had already been set in motion, and he needed to get ahold of his lawyer immediately to hold off on everything until he could talk to Paige.

  “I have to make a phone call, excuse me.” He ran to his locker for his cell phone and found a private area.

  He quickly dialed his lawyer’s number. Voicemail. “Chuck, it’s Tyler, give me a call back as soon as you get this. We need to pump the brakes on that meeting. I need to talk to Paige. Call me back.”

  How did he get so wrapped up in all this that he forgot to talk to his wife about it? That seems like the obvious first step, and yet somehow, he did this backwards.

  “Talk to Paige about what?” Melanie said as she strutted into the locker room with her tablet in hand. She called out, “Knock-knock, hope you all are decent.”

  “Nothing, Mel. The guys are just being stupid as always.” Tyler shot Patrick —and anyone else who was watching— a glare, so they knew to stay out of it.

  Melanie never gave up that easily, and Tyler sat waiting for the other shoe to drop.

  Melanie shrugged it off and kept on pace. “Okay guys, it’s just me this afternoon. Paige is in meetings. We have the normal line-up of media folks waiting. Today it’ll be Kris, Dominic, Harrison, Patrick, Sam, and Tyler.” She looke
d up from her tablet and asked, “You guys have anything for me?”

  “Dominic,” Melanie asked. “Anything you want to spill?”

  Tyler looked around the room at his teammates to see who was going to break first. Each guy either stared at his locker or exchanged glances with one another. But not one spoke up.

  “All right... I’m sure the media is getting restless. Get ready boys.” She flashed a smile before letting the media into the room. “Tyler, can I talk to you for a second?” she waved him to a corner, away from the gaggle of media folk. “You’re not keeping things from your wife, are you?”

  “Mel,” Tyler shook his head. “You know me better than I know myself.”

  “I do. That’s why I know there’s something going on.” She smirked. “I don’t like secrets, and Paige is my friend.”

  “It’s not like that, Mel.” Tyler looked back at his teammates that were busy answering questions. He knew Melanie was just looking out for him and Paige. “Can I meet you in your office after the media leave?”

  “I’ll clear my schedule.”

  FRESHLY SHOWERED, AND a bottle of water in his hand, Tyler knocked on Melanie’s office door.

  “Come on in, Ty.” Melanie called. She smiled as he closed the door and sat down on the couch. “So, what’s going on?”

  “I need some advice.”

  “Uh-oh.” She teased as she ran her hand over her baby bump. “I can’t even remember the last time we talked like this.”

  “Yeah, well for the first time in a long time I took initiative on something that involves Paige and now I’m not so sure about it. I wanted to run it by you to see if I’m doing something good, or am over stepping?”

  “Okay, I’m listening.”

  “I don’t know if you are aware, but Paige has had a lot of doctor’s appointments lately.”

  Melanie nodded.

  “We are dealing with infertility. Or at least that’s what it looks like. We don’t have any real answers.” He shrugged. “And I apologize if I’m telling you something that Paige didn’t want you to know, but I need to talk this out. The guys have me thinking I’m crossing the line. I need help.”