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Chapter 13

Annette

H earing moans coming from Eric’s room, my mom mode immediately kicked in, and I had to check out what was going on with Eric. I felt so bad for the kid.

At least things seemed to be stabilizing after moving into Terry’s place. He's been great with Eric and was really making an effort to step up as his dad. But moments like this showed how much more he had to go.

The pain in my ribs flared as I got up. It didn’t help that walking Walter always seemed to make things worse again, and I hadn’t had a chance to lie down to recover from the last walk.

Once I got to Eric’s room, Eric looked at me and cried, “Mommy!”

He pointed to the puddle on the bed.

I cussed under my breath so Eric wouldn’t learn to use profanity. He’d heard too much of it already, and I didn’t want him thinking it was okay to use.

While I knew it wasn’t unusual for kids Eric’s age to have some bed-wetting, thanks to all the trauma and upheaval, I still hated it. Not wanting to make things worse, I didn’t get angry. Instead, I went to the linen closet so I could get some new sheets to replace the soiled ones that had to get into the washer.

“It’s okay, Eric. Why don’t you get into new PJs?”

Then, much to my surprise, Terry stormed up the stairs and demanded, “What’s wrong?”

Eric didn’t answer. He was still a little starstruck knowing his dad was one of his favorite hockey players, and he didn’t want to let him down, ever. So I said, “Just some bad dreams. It’s okay.”

Terry gave us a weird look as he looked into the bedroom. He clearly saw the wet bed, but I didn’t want to embarrass Eric in front of his idol. I just hoped Terry didn’t think I was trying to lie to him again.

Terry stepped out into the hallway, took the sheets out of my hands, and said, “I’ll take over with making the bed.”

It was sweet how Terry would always try to help me out with chores, thanks to my broken ribs. It made me wonder if he suffered from them before or if this was his way of trying to rekindle things.

Terry was quick at making the bed with a flick of his wrist to spread the sheets like a parachute. It made me wonder where he learned that trick.

Suddenly, Eric popped out from the closet and said, “Look, Scuba, I got new PJs that have Chase from Paw Patrol on them.”

It seemed like Eric was getting closer to calling Terry “Dad.” I hadn’t pushed the issue with the two of them despite knowing how much Terry wanted the title. I kind of liked Eric calling him “Mister Scuba,” but Terry always told Eric to call him Scuba or Dad.

Terry smiled. “It’s not hockey ones?”

“Mom made me get out of them,” Eric said with a dramatic frown.

It was crazy. The two of them could be so extra and crazy. They really were cut from the same cloth. The sad thing was Luke killed so much of Eric’s flamboyance with his temper.

It was nice to see that side returning to Eric. It gave me hope that Eric would one day forget all about Luke and his asshole behavior.

“That’s okay. I hear Chase is pretty cool. Just like you are.” Terry scooped Eric into the air and mock threw him into the air three times before setting him down on the bed. He then sat down next to Eric. “Up for a bedtime story?”

He really was a good dad. I had really screwed up by keeping him out of Eric’s life.

Eric nodded and pointed to the books on the nightstand. Terry reached over, picked up the books, and flipped through the various picture books. Then, Eric pointed to one and said, “I can read you this one.”

Terry nodded and laid the other books back on the nightstand. He flipped open the book, and that’s when I caught sight of the cover and realized it was Z for Zamboni, which made sense. Eric loved that book and knew all the letters by heart now. Although, it was tricky to know for sure if Eric could actually read it or if it was only memorized.

I loved watching their interaction, but I was exhausted, so I let the two of them have a private moment. It was quite possibly the sweetest thing ever, and it was causing me to fall for Terry all over again.