Rooster: A Secret Baby Sports Romance (15 page)

“I don’t have one already, thank you. I think you’re right too, I think he’s teething. It’s difficult to know sometimes.”

“Well, he can’t exactly tell you can he?”

“Not in so many words, no?” I say.

“Can I see him?” Rory asks.

“If you promise not to wake him up.”

“If I wake him up, I promise I’ll get him back to sleep again.”

We go into the room together, tip-toeing as quietly as possible, although with Rory’s bulk, enough to shake the foundations of even those kinds of buildings that are made to stay up in earthquakes, it’s kind of difficult.

Oscar is on his back, asleep in his crib, breathing lightly.

“Fucking hell”, Rory says, so loud I have to slap him on the arm.

“Sorry”, he goes on, in a whisper this time. “It’s, I don’t know, fucking hell, that’s my boy.”

When he turns to me he has a smile on his face bigger than any I’ve seen on him, and when he kisses me he does so enthusiastically enough that we accidentally bang teeth.

This is not the response I was expecting after his hundred meter dash last week.

Back in the living room, when I’ve finally pulled him away from the crib, I go to full-on serious mode.

I’m delighted he’s back, don’t get me wrong, I just think it’s time we talked about what it means for both of us. I’ve kind of gotten used to being a single Mom and even though I’m all about Rory like you wouldn’t believe, having someone else help me in the decision-making, as well as the finances and care, is going to be a little difficult to get used to. While Rory’s obviously been coming to terms with having a baby, I’ve been trying to come to terms with having to share one.

“I’m sorry I left like I did”, Rory begins. “It was a fucking shock. Usually, you go round to someone’s house for dinner and they give you a cocktail or a bag of sweets. I wasn’t expected you to tell me we had a baby together. Actually, sorry, I wasn’t expecting your flatmate to tell me.”

“Who gives you sweets when you go to their house for dinner?” I say, being intentionally flippant.

“I’m serious, Izzy.”

“I know. Look, I invited you here to tell you, and I was going to, it’s just, I thought you’d freak out if I said something like
wine or beer and by the way look in door number two, you’ll find your baby inside.
I didn’t want to lose you again, not after just getting you back.”

“What do you think I am?” Rory says, “some kind of guy that goes around fucking women and making babies all around the world, like some kind of baby making machine?”

“Will you get offended if I tell you
you have the look completely
, and we did fuck in an alleyway two seconds after meeting each other”, I point out.

“You do have a point”, Rory says, “But I don’t do that with every girl I meet.”

“Only the ones you want to make babies with, right?”

“See, you do know me”, he says with a smile.

“This is serious”, I say. “That beautiful bundle of tears and trouble next door is not going away. That’s not a temporary contract in there, that’s a permanent, full-on, one-hundred-percent, never going away, Mommy and Daddy, leaching machine. If you are serious about any of this, you need to realize that.”

“I’m serious about all of this. I’m serious about you, about Oscar, about everything else that entails. I told you I’ve been reading.”

“Has April put you up to this?” I ask.

“April? No, Izzy. Look, I’m in shock still. I don’t think that’s going to go away from a while. You’ve had a whole year to come to terms with this, I’ve had less than a week”, he says.

“That’s what I mean”, I say.

“I want to be here with you and for him.”

“You say that now. Wait until he wakes up with the world’s biggest shit in his diaper”, I say.

“You think I can’t handle a tiny bit of shit?” Rory asks. “Come on, I’m a fully grown man.”

“Alright, when he wakes up, he’s all yours.”

“Deal.”

Rory reaches out for my hand and even though I’m scared I let him take it.

“Is that why you didn’t call?” I say.

“I didn’t call because I needed some time to let it sink in. Every time I fucking say it, I feel weird. Dad. Daddy. Son. Those words meant different things to me before last week and now they mean something else entirely”, he says.

“I didn’t think you were going to come back, you know.”

“Are you glad I did?”

“I’m scared”, I say.

I think Rory must pick up on what I’m scared of because he says it without prompting. “Izzy, I’m not here to take Oscar away from you. At the moment he’s your child way more than he is mine. I haven’t been in his life anywhere near enough to warrant being called his dad. That’s not exactly my fault, and I want to change it, but I know exactly where you are coming from and I want you to be aware of that too. He’s your boy right now. You carried him for nine months and you’ve looked after him for four without knowing who the hell I am or where in Christ I might be. I get that. I just want to be given the opportunity now to change it. I like you, I think we have a decent connection beyond the back alleys and beaten up couches of this world, and I want to be in your life in the way that makes this whole thing look normal.”

“That’s a very mature attitude for someone who beats people up for a living”, I joke.

“Dad taught me how to fight, Mom taught me how to do the right thing”, Rory says.  “Besides which, as much as I look like a bad boy, I’m not really. I’m a big fucking softie, even though I do beat people up for a living, albeit under the thin guise of a professional sport.”

“I’m beginning to change my mind about you”, I say.

“I have that effect on people.”

Rory, Oscar and I, one big happy family. Here he is, after only a week in the shadows come back to claim what’s rightfully his. If that’s the case, why do I feel unsure still? Oh yeah, Rory’s not here for more than a year, and if he’s not playing for the Rangers, or he manages to get that ban lifted, he’ll want to go or won’t be able to stay, either way, it’s a separation situation. We can’t live on two sides of the world, and Oscar certainly can’t FedEx his way around either.

“We’ll make this work Izzy. I just need to know you want too as well”, he says.

Back alley to boyfriend. Five minutes to family members. Holiday romance to Best Daddy with lover thrown in for good measure. I want him. There is no doubt about that. I need him too, not just in the
I’m fucking lonely and I need someone by my side
way
,
in the
my body misses him when he’s not here, my soul cries out for him, my pussy aches to have him inside me
kind of way. And then, beyond all of that, we have Oscar. We have the one thing in this world that I love more than anything else. The one thing I can’t cope with alone.

“I want it”, I say. “I want you and I want you in his life, I just-. I’m scared Rory. I’m scared about what this means for us all.”

“What do you think it means for us all?” he asks.

“I think it means, fucking hell, we’ve got a baby”, I say.

“And.”

“And that’s scary.”

“You had a baby before, that hasn’t changed”, he points out.

“No, the baby hasn’t changed. The responsibility for him has, though. I’ve never been in this situation before, I don’t know how we are supposed to handle it”, I say.

“Look at me”, Rory says, his hand on my arm to turn me towards him.

I look, those blue eyes smoldering into mine, and I can’t help but smile.

“Are you trying to seduce me?” I say, already feeling myself go red.

“I’m trying to be serious”, Rory says.

“I think you’re trying to turn me on.”

“Let me just say this and then we can fuck, as long as April’s not going to come back with another one of your secrets”, he says.

“Baby behind door two, I promise you there is nothing behind door one”, I say.

“Good, because I think I know what you need to relax.”

“I’m just scared, that’s all”, I say. “It’s a big thing and we barely know each other.”

“We know each other well enough”, Rory says. “I’ve seen your CD collection, that’s enough for me to know almost everything about you.”

“I haven't seen yours, though.”

“I didn’t have enough money growing up to buy any.”

“Then we can share”, I say, and Rory smiles.

“Listen”, he begins. “We don’t have to decide anything yet, we just take it slow. I didn’t come over here to propose, I came here to tell you how I feel. To offer my support if you want it and to show you I’m committed, both to you and Oscar. The rest we just take every day as it comes.”

“Every day as it comes”, I say.

Rory’s eyes widen. “Now you’re flirting with me.”

“It has been a week”, I say.

“How long will he be asleep?”

“If we can manage to make him in five minutes, I’m sure we won’t have any problems now”, I say.

“That was a one-off”, Rory says. “I usually last much longer than that.”

“Well, you’ll be pleased to know I’m happy to give you an opportunity to prove yourself again.”

Rory smiles. I can already see he’s hard and making no effort to hide it. I don’t mind. Rory looks so comfortable here he’s practically part of the furniture.

“Door one or door two?” he asks.

“In front of our son, or in April’s bedroom? That’s a tough one. April’s at work but she’s the kind of person who will know. How does out here sound?”

“You see, you and I, we have a connection”, Rory says, already on his feet and eagerly pulling at his belt.

I stand too, keen to have him inside me before our baby wakes up.

“Not here”, I say. “April’s washed that throw twice this week already. Ever since she’s been going out with Cory she’s turned into a clean freak. I think he’s bad for her.”

I step out of my shoes and head to the dining table.

“Bend me over here and fuck me hard, Rory O’Connor, but leave my dress on and my panties just above my knees.”

“That’s very specific”, Rory says.

“I’m had enough time to imagine it”, I say.

Rory pushes me across the table, flips my dress up over my back and pulls my panties down to just above my knees, to exactly where I’d imagined them.

“Here?” he says.

“Mmmhmmm”, I respond, already losing myself to it.

“You know I only came here to talk, this is going down on the record as you seducing me”, he says.

“Just fuck me, Rory”, I say. “We can sort the details out later on.”

“That’s just fine by me”, he says, his cock already at my entrance.

Eight.

Rory

Derby game, and Kowalski’s busy sharpening his stick.

This is a rivalry much more intense than the one with the Bruins, even more important to win than the championship for some of the fans. Even though this is a game like any other, I know what rivalry feels like between teams, and I know what it’ll mean to every player and supporter if we win.

I’m back on the starting roster after I was able to convince Francis I hadn’t completely lost my shit after the defeat to the Penguins, and I can’t tell whether Kowalski is pleased with that decision or not. He’s got a grimace on his face like molten lava and he hasn’t said a single word to me since I got here. I know I’m not exactly his favorite player but I’m a member of this team nonetheless, an important one at that, and I’m a fucking dad now, which automatically elevates me to a position that commands respect.

It might even give us something to talk about too, although I’ve seen Kowalski's kids and they look like the potatoes that get left at the bottom of the bag by mistake.

I go over just to get a reaction out of him.“You know what they say about a guy who shaves his arms and legs?” I say.

Kowalski doesn’t even look up. I know he’s not the only one in this team who does it either. Some of these guys shave their chests as well.

“They say he probably shaves his vagina too”, I add.

Now I get the look. No smile, no nothing positive, just a sneer. “What do you want, Irish?”

“Did I tell you I’m a Dad?” I say.

He pauses for a brief moment, gives me a look of even greater disgust and then carries on polishing the curve of his wood, as though it were some fucking religious idol.

“Congratulations”, he says. “Somebody else’s life you can fuck up.”

I don’t know what his problem is. Ever since I got here Kowalski’s been up in my face about it. I don’t get shit from any other member of this team, except for him. I thought he was like that with everyone at first, but no, just me. I can’t say I haven’t tried either. It’s no skin off my nose whether he likes me or not, as long as we get on well enough on the ice, but I just don’t get what it is about me that bothers him so much.

I can’t say I haven’t tried either. To be honest, it’s gone on so long now it’s actually quite comforting. I’d probably hate it if Kowalski turned around one day and suddenly said something decent to me. That’d probably be even more of a shock than finding out about Oscar.