Warmup
JORDY SHAWhad not paid a terrible amount of attention to his high school English classes, but one concept had stuck with him. He couldn’t remember the exact wording—something about the best-laid plans of mice and men going awry. And that Jordy understood.
Some days it felt like the only thing hehadplanned was his hockey career. At age five he’d told everyone he would one day play in the NHL.
But he definitelyhadn’tplanned on early morning wakeup calls from a six-year-old excited about going to the library.
Jordy grunted awake as Kaira landed on the bed and snuggled onto his back like an excitable kitten. “Daddy, Daddy,” she cooed in a manner that might have fooled a stranger. “It’slibraryday.”
He grunted and buried his face into his pillow. Maybe if he didn’t talk, she’d think he was still asleep and would likewise settle in for more rest.
“Daddy.” She poked him between the shoulder blades. “I know you’re awake.”
A lie. Jordy was pretty sure she was guessing. Mostly.
“Daddy, it’s morning. You said we’d go to the library today, and I stayed in bed until the clock said six, just like you said, and it’s morning and”—her tone shifted from overeager puppy to reverent apostle—“books, Daddy.”
Jordy couldn’t deny her a moment longer. But that didn’t mean he wanted to get out of bed any more now than he had a few minutes ago.
In one fairly practiced move, he gently lurched upward with a roar, caught his daughter around the waist, threw her down on the mattress, and pulled her in for a cuddle. “Sleep,” he groaned and snuffled his face into her neck as she shrieked and giggled.
“No, Daddy! Books, not sleep!”
“Yes, sleep.” Jordy pulled the duvet over them both.
Kaira giggled and squirmed and gasped, “No! Wake up!”
Jordy laughed, pulled back from his aggressive snuggling, and stared down at her beloved, impish face. “Morning, sweetheart.”
“Good morning, Daddy! Did you sleep good?”
“Hm.” He settled next to her, hoping she’d let them linger just a few moments. “Yes.”
She tucked her hands under her chin and asked seriously, “Did you have good dreams?”
“I dreamed about our trip to Curaçao last summer.”
“You did? Did you dream about the beach? And the water? And the fishes?”
Jordy hummed. It had been a wonderful vacation—just sun, sand, water, and Kaira—and not a single person on the island knew who he was. For the first week, Kaira had flourished under his exclusive care and had nearly vibrated out of her shoes when her beloved Auntie Emma arrived to join them for their last days.
Jordy’s sister was fifteen when she called him, choked up and scared to tell him she’d been stupid. He’d forever count his blessings for the NHL off-seasons and his dumb salary that let him get on a plane that same day and ride to her rescue. As scared as Emma had been, Jordy could never regret anything that brought her daughter—hisdaughter, now—into his life.
“Are we going to swim with fishes this summer?” Kaira asked.
Jordy hummed noncommittally. “Maybe.” Kaira had just finished her kindergarten schoolyear, and Jordy hadn’t made plans yet, mostly because he was looking forward to hanging out with his baby and enjoying some quiet days, just the two of them.
Undeterred, Kaira rambled on about sand castles and fish and playing with Jordy and Auntie Emma in the sun. It sounded good to him. And even better, her musings bought him several more minutes snuggled in bed.
STORY TIMEat the library had been Kaira’s favorite weekly haunt ever since Jordy’s friend-slash-lawyer, Gem, introduced them, but given its timing on Sunday mornings and the NHL’s love for Saturday evening and Sunday matinee games, Jordy could rarely join her. It was a treat to drive her there, even if he couldn’t stay with her for the full program. Once she was settled in the children’s area, he headed back out to his car for his meeting.
Conducting business from the back seat of his SUV might not have been the classiest of moves, but it worked. And at least it was a cooler June morning.
“Sorry again about the Sunday meeting, Jordy,” Erika said by way of greeting.
Considering they were about to talk about his participating in an outreach program this summer, Jordy didn’t protest the timing.
Almost an hour later, he headed back into the library to collect Kaira. Story time had ended, and kids and their parents were wandering away from the children’s section. Jordy finger combed his hair out of his eyes and looked around for his baby.
