Page 97 of Game On

Logan grinned. “Okay, bud.”

I rocked Rosie in my arms. She was getting a little fussy—that was why Logan took her around the rink, to try to calm her down. Logan gave Mari the day off, but she had been texting me, reminding me to stick to their routines. We had been having such a great day out, I didn’t want to tell Logan we had to leave soon because Rosie needed a nap.

I took Rosie out of the rink and sat her down on the bench while I put my skate guards on. I held out my hand to her, and she walked with me while I returned the skates for my shoes. I tried to distract her from running off when I slipped my shoes on. We went back to spy on Liam and Logan as they skated around each other. Rosie wanted to be pressed up against the glass. She started having a meltdown when I wouldn’t let her lick it.

I shifted her against my hip and started humming the Dragonspire theme song. “Don’t lick. Yucky. Ick!”

“Ick!” she imitated and giggled.

“You’re such a little stinker, but I love you, little girl. So much.”

She still tried to lunge for the glass, though. The coming years of toddlerdom were going to kill me. I still wanted her to be my cute, snuggly baby, who was sweet as could be, but little miss had a mind of her own.

I wasn’t waiting long before Logan and Liam came out. I helped Liam with his skates and shoes while Logan changed from his skates to his street shoes. “Hey, you want to get lunch before these two need a N-A-P?” he asked.

Liam crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. “I don’t need nap!”

We cringed in unison. How did he know how to spell?

“Mari’s been working on getting him reading,” Logan explained. “He’s gonna start school next year, so we want to be prepared.”

“I don’t wanna!” he said and stomped his little feet.

“Liam,” Logan said in a warning tone.

I held out my hand to the little boy. “Come on, bud, let’s go get lunch together, okay?”

He took my hand and reached out for Logan’s other one, and the four of us walked outside together.

“Can we go to Uncle Blaise’s?” Liam asked.

I raised an eyebrow.

“He means Eileen’s Tavern,” Logan explained.

I smiled in understanding. “Okay, yeah, let’s go there. Did you know I work for Blaise’s daddy?”

“Really?” Liam asked.

“Yup, Uncle Blaise recommended me to help with their math. They hate math, but I’m so good at it,” I told him, trying to explain in a way he’d understand.

Logan and I got the kids into their car seats, with both of them babbling away, and we drove over to Eileen’s Tavern. I should be working today. I had a ton of things piling up, but with Logan being gone next week, I wanted to spend the day with him. I loved that he made today a playdate with the kids. The way he cared about his nephew pulled at my heartstrings.

It was a fight to get the kids out of the car. Once we got food in them, I hoped they calmed down. I already had the dry cereal ready to go to give to Rosie while we waited for our lunch to be made.

Hal smiled at me when he saw us coming inside. “I thought you weren’t working today?”

“Nope. I’ll work later, but we’re coming in for lunch.”

Hal nodded at Logan. “Oh, hey, Logan. Let me grab your seats.”

“Thanks.”

Hal seated us and grabbed a highchair for Rosie while Liam sat next to his uncle. I gave Rosie her Bulldog plushie and cereal to distract her, and Liam colored from the kids’ activity paper. Eileen’s Tavern didn’t cater to kids, but they weren’t unwelcome, especially since a sports bar got loud enough that kids being noisy didn’t bother people.

Hal took our order, and our food came out record fast. Liam was happy with his chicken tenders while I fed Rosie mac and cheese, my salad having gone untouched.

“Lil, let her feed herself. You need to eat,” Logan said.