Once the three of them were seated, his sister stared at him. “So, are you guys fighting?”
“Um, I don’t think so.” He honestly didn’t know right now.
“You don’t know?” Sam asked. “Is this about–”
“Maybe?” Tyler really wasn’t sure. “I know I’m being confusing. I was all set to talk to Paige about something big today, and she basically ran out of the house claiming she had a meeting.”
“Maybe she did.” Trina said calmly.
“That’s the thing. I texted Mel to see how long Paige would be, and she confirmed that there was no meeting.”
“Ty, start from the beginning.” Trina asked.
Tyler worked backwards. He told them how he was going to tell Paige all about his misstep and they could discuss adoption together. But she ran out the door to her fake meeting before he could say anything.
“Tyler, you do realize that first, you told the whole team, and now you’re telling Tri before you talked to your wife about this?” Sam said.
Shit. Tyler dropped his head into his hands.
“You told the team before me? I mean...before your wife?” Trina’s eyes narrowed. “And here I thought you were smarter than that.”
“Trina, can we save the lecture for later and just jump to the part where you give me on advice on how to fix this?”
“Absolutely.” Trina looked like she was settling in for a long-winded discussion. “It’s very simple. You need to apologize and grovel.”
“Grovel?”
“Groveling always works.” Sam agreed while Trina nodded with a smile.
“Yep. You said she would be home for dinner, right?”
Tyler nodded.
“Get her some flowers, her favorite bottle of wine, and order her favorite dinner.” She looked at her watch. “And it’s getting late so you better hurry so you can be home before she is. Then once she gets home, apologize. Explain everything to her.”
He knew his sister was the right person to go to.
“Do you think Mel can give you a head’s up as to why she stormed off?” Sam asked.
“Probably not.” Tyler shook his head. “But does it even matter? If I screwed up, then I need to fix it.”
“I’m going to have to agree with that.” Sam said.
“Paige doesn’t typically get like this. If she’s mad, she lets me know.” Tyler said. Lately she’s been getting mad quicker and more often. It was unusual and he was at a loss for how to react.
“Just apologize and spoil her. Women like that.” Trina said. “I don’t think it matters what you did, as long as you are sorry, and you make it up to her.”
“Even if I don’t know what I did?”
“Yes.” Sam and Trina said in unison.
Tyler chuckled. “Well, considering you two are still going strong, I’m going to take that advice to heart.”
Sam slid his arm around Trina. The way they looked at one another with such love, Tyler was certain their advice was solid.
“Okay, I better get going.” Tyler got up from the table.
“Uncle Ty, are you leaving already?” Willow called from the living room. She had been so quiet he forgot she was even in there.
“Yeah, sweetie, I’m afraid I have to leave. But, how about you come over to my house next weekend and play with our new kitten?” Tyler offered.
“You got a kitten?” Willow gasped.
“Yep. So you want to plan for next weekend? Maybe we can get a pizza for dinner?” Tyler said.
“Mommy, can we?” Willow begged.
“Sure.” Trina agreed.
“All right, I will see you all later.” Tyler said as he slipped on his coat and opened the front door. “Guys, I can’t thank you enough.”
“And don’t forget, I need to yell at you later for being stupid and not including your wife in on this. She is your family. You can’t go running around making decisions for the both of you willy-nilly like you do your hockey team. Not to mention she should be the first person you go to with things, not the team. But you can come to me for advice, that’s allowed, because we are family too. But not the team before her. EVER.” She wagged her finger at him.
“Okay.” He stifled a laugh. “But I think you just did.”
“Oh, right.” Trina nodded very proud of herself. “Now go talk to your wife!”
Chapter Eighteen
PAIGE
Paige closed the front door and hung up her coat. Tyler’s car was in the driveway and the house was filled with the aroma of dinner from their favorite restaurant. She’d know that wonderful scent anywhere. Tyler has always been more of a “let’s grab a salad and sandwich at the deli” kind of guy, so it was obvious to her that he was working on an apology.
He wasn’t the only one.
She ran out of here without finding out why he felt that way. Maybe it was the hormones making her overreact, but no matter what the reason, she owed him an apology. It was childish for her to run away.
Tyler was standing in the kitchen holding a bottle of wine. A beautiful bunch of new flowers sat on the table in a vase. The way he was watching the hallway, he appeared to be waiting for her. The dinner smelled so delicious that her belly growled as if on cue. She just stood in the doorway and smiled as he poured two glasses of wine.
“Hey, babe.” Tyler’s lips did a combination of a smile and a pout, and it was adorable. He pointed to the counter and the take-out boxes. “I got your favorite dinner.”
“I can tell. That was awful thoughtful of you. And it smells wonderful.”
Tyler never did anything halfway, and his apologies were no exception. And, yes, she has experienced a few of them in their marriage already. His passion tends to override his brain sometimes. But that same passion for life was what she loved about him.
Tyler shrugged. “It’s only take-out. It’s not like I cooked or anything. Why don’t you sit down and have some wine? I think we have a lot to talk about.”
Tyler grabbed two dishes and plated their dinner. She swore since she found out the news, she was hungrier than usual. Or maybe it was all the stress she had been under.
“I got that wine that you like.” He smiled lovingly.
“Oh, sorry, but I’m going to have to pass on the wine.”
“No wine? Are you really that upset?” his face dropped.
Her heart hurt as his smile faded.
“Babe, I am so sorry that I’ve kept you in the dark,” Tyler began.
“Ty–” she tried to stop him, but he just kept talking.
“Please, just hear me out. Apparently, I have jumped into trying to give you everything you want with both feet and forgotten to include you in on it.” Tyler sighed.
“Oh, Ty, you don’t have to–”
“Babe, please. Let me say this before I chicken out.”
“Tyler Kidd, chicken out? Please.” She scoffed. Then at his serious glare, she added, “sorry. Go on.”
“Someone brought the idea of adoption to my attention. I don’t know why I had never thought of it before. Adoption is such a wonderful thing, for people like us, and the babies that get a new family. But, regardless... I got overly excited about the idea. Obviously with everything we are doing, things just aren’t happening for us. And I hope you know that I would move heaven and Earth and pay any cost to give you the world.”
Paige couldn’t help but smile at his words. She knew Tyler was an all-in kind of guy, and everything he did was for her happiness.
“I would do anything to see you smile, and honestly, you haven’t been doing a lot of that lately. Unfortunately, I got so wrapped up in the idea, like I fell down a rabbit hole,” he laughed. “I found everything online that I could about adoption, all the research and agencies. It all seemed so perfect for us. Obviously, money is no issue, and I’d spend my last penny to give you a family.”
Tyler took a breath and looked down to his plate. “Our dinner is getting cold while I babble on and on. But I have to tell you that
Melanie made me realize that I was missing one very important piece to this puzzle.”
“Me.”
Tyler chuckled nervously as he pushed a piece of food around his plate. “Yeah, and I’m really sorry about that. I never meant to leave you out of this. I mean, this needs to be a joint discussion. It was purely unintentional. I just got so–”
“Passionate?”
“Yeah,” he laughed. “Passionate. I was so passionate, that I already had a meeting set up for us at a local agency. I hope you aren’t too mad at me for leaving you out. I swear, I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Tyler, I would never think that you did. Thanks for telling me though.”
“And once I realized how huge I messed up, I called Chuck and cancelled the meeting. He, of course, didn’t understand why I was putting the brakes on things so soon. I just told him that I jumped the gun with this decision and that I wasn’t ready yet. I needed more time.”
“Wait,” her brain quickly replayed the phone conversation she had overheard, the one that sent her into a panic attack. The one that sent her running. “So, that’s who you were talking to earlier?”
“Yeah, why? I didn’t realize you were listening.”
“Oh, well, you’re not the only one with egg on your face here.” She shook her head in amusement. “I didn’t know who you were talking to, but I assumed you were saying that you were changing your mind about having a family, that you weren’t ready.”
She couldn’t help but laugh at her own words.
“No!” His eyes were wide, and panic showed on his face. “Absolutely not! I want a family with you more than anything. I’m absolutely ready.”
“Good.” She simply smiled. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear that.”
“So, should I call Chuck and tell him the meeting at the adoption agency is back on? And really confuse him?”
“I don’t think so, babe.”
“But... Paige, I thought we were okay?”
“Ty, we’re more than okay.” She didn’t want him to squirm any longer than he already had. “I’m pregnant.”
“Wait– what??” Tyler stuttered. “We’re going to have a baby. How?”
“Um, do you really need me to explain?” she teased.
“No, of course not. I didn’t mean, how, I meant how? I thought nothing seemed to be working?”
“Well, obviously something did.” She laughed. “The doctor thinks the test I had on my tubes may have loosened a blockage, and then we had our mini-getaway, and lots of time together. It makes sense, and she has seen this happen before. Honestly, I’m not going to question it.” She put her hand on her belly and couldn’t help but smile as she looked down at it.
“No, me neither.” He pushed his dinner aside and jumped up from his chair to her side. He put his hand on her belly, covering her hand. A tear escaped his eye.
“I wanted this for you so much – for us. I felt like such a failure and wasn’t going to stop until we had our family.”
She kissed his cheek. “And now we will. A mini Tyler Kidd.”
“Or a little Paige Martin. Girls play hockey too, you know.”
“Right, they do.”
“You should eat. You’re going to need to make sure you get your vitamins since you’re eating for two now.” Tyler began to slightly panic.
“Ty, relax.” She took a bite of her dinner to appease him. All she could do was smile at her loving man, because she had the next nine months to tell him he didn’t need to worry.
Epilogue
TYLER
(2 months later)
Tyler entered the event hall hand in hand with his wife. The large room was decorated in blue and white balloons and streamers, flowers adorned every table accented with blue pacifiers. The whole Renegades team and wives filled the room, ready to shower the Dubois family with congratulations.
“Let’s go say hello to the family of the hour.” Tyler said.
He smiled at his wife; his beautiful, and pregnant wife. Paige ran her newly manicured hand over her baby bump. She glowed with happiness.
Patrick and Gia had a line of people ready to speak with them, and when it was finally Tyler and Paige’s turn, he found himself choked up when he went to speak.
“Gia, you look beautiful as usual.” Tyler said, hugging Gia gently. He moved his attention to Patrick, shaking his hand.
“Ty, so glad you guys were able to make it.” Patrick said. Looking at Paige, he added, “Paige, how have you been feeling?”
Paige nodded with a smile. “Great.”
Paige was nearing the end of her first trimester and Tyler had learned more about morning sickness than he had ever wanted.
Tyler’s attention moved to Gia’s arms, where a baby boy laid, swaddled in light blue blankets.
“Cap, Paige,” Patrick started, “I’d like to introduce you to our sweet little Brayden. Named after my dad.”
Tyler’s heart ached at Pat’s words. He knew Patrick’s history– both of his parents were killed in a car accident when he was young. “Brayden. That’s a perfect name.”
Paige cooed at the little baby boy, running her finger along his chubby cheek, while Tyler watched her adoringly as she interacted with the baby.
“I know I missed a lot of time this season, but I’d do it all over again for this little guy.” Patrick said, he hadn’t stopped smiling since they walked in the door.
Tyler waved off Patrick’s concerns. “Don’t even give it a thought. Family comes first.”
“How’s it going so far? You guys adjusting okay?” Paige asked.
“Easier than I thought.” Patrick nodded. “It’s like I can’t remember life without him.”
“He is blending into our little family seamlessly. Like he was meant for us.” Gia added. “So far he is such a good baby. He rarely cries.”
“I’m not sure what we did to deserve him.” Patrick added, still smiling, as he kissed his wife on the cheek, and wrapped his arm around Gia.
Tyler simply smiled, knowing his friend and teammate did deserve this little miracle. He and Gia had been through a lot together, and even though Gia was Tyler’s past, he only wished her the best. She truly belonged with Pat, as he truly belonged with Paige.
Pulling Paige close to him, he looked around realizing everything turned out like it was supposed to. Paige looked up at him and smiled, as she ran her hand over her own baby bump.
“Everything is beautiful, Gia.” Paige said.
“Did you see the cookie and candy table? Melanie helped us with the planning, and she did a wonderful job. Even with a newborn, Mel can’t help but keep herself busy with work.” Gia said, gushing over the beautiful room and decorations. “She helped organize a lot of this.”
“Cookies?” Paige focused on that one word and as soon as she spotted the goodies, she pulled Tyler in that direction.
“Excuse us, you guys, apparently the baby wants sugar, again.” Tyler said with a laugh, then followed his wife.
Paige had been craving more non-health foods with the pregnancy, and he was not going to stand in her way.
“Don’t worry, Ty. We’ll work off the extra calories tomorrow.” Paige called to him as she began loading up on cookies.
Paige signed them up for pregnancy workout classes at the gym, something Tyler needed because he’s been eating those extra calories right along with his wife.
Gia grabbed Tyler’s arm before he could catch up with Paige. “Ty–”
“Hey. I’m happy for you guys. You are finally getting the life you deserve.”
“Yeah, thanks. Looks like you are too. I just wanted to say that I am really happy for you and Paige.” She moved her focus to the floor. “I don’t think we ever discussed things between us, and I feel like it is long overdue.”
“Gia–”
“No, Tyler, I need to say this.” She looked over at Patrick, who was now holding the baby. “I am really sorry for how things went with us – I never wanted to hurt you.”
“Gia, that is all in the past. I’m happy that you and Patrick found each other. It’s how it was supposed to turn out.” After all the hurt, he found Paige.
“I’ll always care about you. Everything happens for a reason... we were meant to be part of each other’s stories. We just took different paths. But I don’t regret our time together.”
Tyler nodded. “Yeah, I believe that too. And now we are both getting our happily ever after.”
Gia looked over at Patrick and their baby. A smile slid over her lips. “Yeah, we really are.” She turned back to Tyler. “And please don’t give the past another thought. We are good. And you deserve happiness.”
Tyler hugged Gia. His heart felt lighter than it had in a long time. They really were good, and they were each getting their happily ever after. Letting her go, he nodded to Pat, “I think your baby is calling you.”
“Hey, Ty,” Kris patted him on the shoulder.
“Hey guys,” Tyler said to Kris and Kat. “Congratulations on your new nephew.”
“Thanks. I haven’t seen Pat smile this much in a long time. Those two really deserve this.” Kris said.
Tyler agreed. “I bet Ian is excited to have a new little buddy?”
“Oh, he can’t wait.” Kat said with a laugh, pointing to little Ian who was sitting at a table eating a cookie. Kat held up the plate of cookies she was collecting. “For us to share. I told him little kids weren’t allowed at the cookie table without a parent.” She laughed.
“Otherwise he’d pull up a chair,” Kris added.
“It’s just better for all involved.” Kat said. “Paige, how have you been feeling?”
Paige finished the cookie she had been eating and cleared her throat. “Really good. I get tired easy, and sometimes nauseous,” she looked at her plate of cookies. “You really wouldn’t know it today though. I’m feeling good, and baby likes these cookies.”
“Ty, you ready?” Kris asked.
“Absolutely.”
Patrick joined them, grabbed a plate and filled it with cookies. “Gia hasn’t eaten since we got here. She’s just so enamored with Brayden. Speaking of food, the buffet is being set up now, and please help yourselves.”
Loving the Game Page 13