Epilogue

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These are better than any flower picture...

Epilogue – The following Summer…

“Daddy,” Sofia called out as she skated over to the boards where Evan and I were sitting watching her practice.

“Yeah, Grasshopper?” “Yeah, Sof?” Evan and I both asked in unison, laughing about it.

“That boy over there told me that I had to kiss him after practice,” she said, pursing her lips like she just ate a sour lemon.

I felt Evan sit up a little straighter to listen to what his daughter had to say.  “What did you say?” I asked her.

“I didn’t say anything,” she said with a wicked smile and sparkling green eyes.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I just punched him instead.  He has a bloody nose now,” she announced proudly as she looked over her shoulder towards the bench.  Both Evan and I followed her eyes back to the little boy sitting on the bench holding a bloody paper towel to his nose.

“Who told you that was okay to do?!” Evan freaked in a loud whisper.

I just looked the other way, pretending to not hear a word of what Sofia was going to say next.

“Daddy Loops told me that is how you settle things out on the ice…”

I felt Evan turn towards me, so me being the polite guy I turned to face him with a sheepish smile on my face.  “Hey Evan!” I said with a shit eating grin, trying not to bust up laughing.

“Well Daddy Loops should have told you that fighting is what boys do, not girls,” Evan said with a sparkle in his eye as he scolded me.  “Are you in trouble with the coach now?” he asked, turning back to Sofia.

“I have to sit on the bench for the rest of practice and say sorry to Luke after I talked to you guys,” she said, not seeming a bit sorry for what she did.

“Okay, well go back over and say sorry and we will talk about this after practice,” Evan said as sternly as possible.  He had really taken to the father role easily and Sofia loved him for it.  Of course when something needed to be addressed, I addressed it but all in all I was fairly lax with her.  It was an adjustment for the four of us that was filled with temper tantrums, tears, laughter and a lot of love.  By the time the baseball season rolled back around, Sofia was on terms with Evan being her real father and was involved with his family as much as possible.  Not that it is hard to love the curly, blonde haired beauty.  During the summer Sofia traveled with Evan’s family to Tampa Bay a couple times when he had long home-stands.  And like tonight, of course when he played in the area she was by his side.  There was a slight media back-lash but nothing we weren’t prepared for.

Nana passed away in her sleep after Christmas, unexpectedly.  Obviously we were all heartbroken, but Sofia kept us smiling every time we talked of her.  In February Avery and Sofia moved into my house in Newport. 

Some people could say that the family arrangement we had was like a Jerry Springer show, but we saw it as an extra happy family.  Evan and I got along like brothers and Avery often got annoyed when we would gang up on her.  Luckily the only time we only spent joint time together was during Sofia’s hockey and baseball practices and games, events that Avery wasn’t always available for because her flower business had seemed to bloom, pun intended, over night.

Evan was still glaring at me when I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket.  I just winked and answered the phone, “Heylo beautiful.”

“What did you do wrong?” Avery chirped into the phone.

“How do you know I did something wrong?”

“You don’t answer the phone like that unless you did something wrong,” she said, smiling into the phone.

Evan was chuckling besides me, obviously hearing the phone conversation.  I punched him in the arm and said, “Don’t worry, I’m sure Evan will tattle on me later.  Until then, what’s up?  You have all the flowers done for the wedding?”

“Yes, finally.  Ugh, I’m so exhausted.  It’s tough doing the flowers along with getting everything together for you and Sofia.”

“Did you get yourself a dress?” I asked, knowing that she had been having trouble finding something for her swelling belly.  She was already 6 months along and complaining about how fat she was.

I heard her sigh into the phone, “Yeah, Krissy helped me pick out this baby-doll type dress; either way I’m going to look like a balloon.”

“Yeah, a big blimp,” I chirped sarcastically into the phone as Evan raised an eyebrow at me, reminding me that I might be talking my way into a death sentence for when I arrived back home.

“I knew it!” she cried into the phone.

“Avery, you are too much.  You look beautiful pregnant, so please spare me the drama.  I love you and I will be home after Sofia’s practice to rub your feet.”

“Okay,” she said, hormonally happy once more.  “Love you bye!”

“Love you bye, baby,” I said into the phone, thinking about how truly beautiful she was pregnant.  The night she told me she was pregnant she was a complete wreck, going on about how once again she was pregnant and not married.  I told her we could go to Vegas that night if she thought it was so important.  I didn’t care either way.  Instead of Vegas we settled on the Justice of the Peace in Newport Beach.  Being that it was California, we were able to have a tiny wedding on the beach behind our house in the middle of February.  Avery said that she had spent too much time over the years helping plan for other people’s big weddings that she was happy just having a tiny wedding.  I didn’t care; I just wanted to be able to call her my wife.  My mom was a little miffed when I invited her down for the weekend and told her to bring along a wedding gift.  My parents had only met Avery and Sofia once, which was when we played in Edmonton and I flew them up for the game.  Of course my family instantly fell in love with my two women, but my mom was surprised because she knew my track record with relationships and how I had a habit of jumping in too quickly.

“Are you sure this is what you want to do?  I mean, we love Avery and Sofia, but I just want to make sure this is what you want,” Mom said over the phone when I called to ask for my Grandmom’s diamond ring that I was to inherit.

“Mom, I found my soul mate.  She loves me for me and I love her for how she makes me feel, which is the happiest man on the planet when she’s near me.” 

“Well then you need to marry her,” my mom said as I heard her begin to cry happy tears into the phone.  I of course just rolled my eyes because I had enough of crying women the last couple weeks with my pregnant, soon to be wife and Sofia being upset about Evan leaving for Tampa.

--

Back to hockey practice…

I looked over at Evan who was laughing to himself about the conversation that just happened with Avery.

“God bless you when she is 8 or 9 months pregnant…” Evan snorted.

“So are you saying you are glad you missed this part?” I asked, eying him.

“Yup,” he said with a smile that told me he probably wished he hadn’t missed it for the world.

“You are in so much trouble when she gets older,” Krissy smiled as Sofia jumped down from the make-up chair all dolled up in her flower girl dress.  She really did look like a princess with her wild hair all pinned back and a little make-up bringing out her cute little cheeks and lips.

“Nah, according to Evan, Joffrey already taught her how to fend for herself,” I said with a smile, laughing inside at the story of her punching a kid at the hockey rink for asking her to kiss him.

“Yeah, Bobby told me.  Seems Joffrey was pretty proud of her,” Krissy laughed.

“Of course he was…” I rolled my eyes before finishing up my own make-up.

Bobby and Krissy’s wedding was a fairy-tale and I was happy to be the one to help make it that.  The flowers were beautiful and set the tone for the whole celebration.  I already had appointments scheduled from two people who talked to me during the cocktail hour that followed the wedding ceremony.

“Why hello, Mrs. Lupul,” Joffrey growled in my ear as he came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my swollen belly.

“Mr. Lupul,” I cooed back as I leaned back and kissed him.

“I think it’s time for a dance together,” he said as he twirled me around, moving us out onto the dance floor.  He pulled me into him and I was happy that I still wasn’t big enough to not be able to rest my head on his chest.  “You look stunning,” he breathed into my hair, causing me to shiver.

“You look pretty sexy yourself in that tux,” I quipped back.  “But I’m sure the tux will look a lot better crumpled on the floor next to our bed when we get home tonight…”

“I like your thinking, horny pregnant woman,” he laughed back.

We were swaying together, getting lost in the music until we were interrupted by a little tug on the hem of my dress.  “Can I dance with you?” Sofia asked as she looked up between the two of us.

“Of course!” Joff exclaimed as he scooped her up into his arm and I wrapped my arm around the back of her.

“I love my family,” Sofia sighed as she laid her head on Joffrey’s shoulder.

Joffrey and I just looked at each other and smiled at her comment, agreeing 100% with the little girl’s observation.

the end.