Page 135 of False Start

Security escorted us to my Audi. I’d left the Aston Martin at home, since it only had two seats. Madelyn and I both breathed a sigh of relief once we were inside the tinted windows with the doors locked.

Sebastian, on the other hand, let out a whoop of adrenaline, declaring how awesome that was and that he couldn’t wait to see his pictures.

He passed out in the back seat less than five minutes into the drive, and Madelyn reached across the console, wrapping my hand in hers.

“You ready?” she asked on a whisper.

I couldn’t fight the smile that washed over my face, and I squeezed her hand before lifting her knuckles to my lips.

“Ready.”

Madelyn

Sebastian was so tired when we got home that I carried him inside, and I loved that I could still do it. He was teetering on the edge of being too big, and I found myself nuzzling into him for those little boy cuddles as long as I could get them.

Once we were inside, though, he stirred, and a new wave of energy washed over him. He asked me if he could have ice cream, and though I didn’t think sugar at midnight was a great idea, it was a special occasion.

So, he and Kyle made little ice cream sundaes — one for each of them, and aspecialone for me, which included more sprinkles than I’d had in all my years of life combined.

We ate at the kitchen island and made a mess with chocolate syrup, Sebastian and Kyle talking about the game while I smiled and listened.

I could see how nervous Kyle was, and it was the most adorable thing in the world.

Here was this beast of a man who had just won an NFL game, and he was shaking in his boots at the thought of telling a six-year-old that he was about to be a big brother.

It warmed my heart.

Once the ice cream was done, Kyle grabbed Sebastian’s hand, casting me a weary look over his shoulder. I winked at him with what I hoped was an encouraging smile. With one last breath, Kyle nodded, his resolve set.

“Have you had a good day?” he asked Sebastian.

“Thebestday.”

“Well, what if I told you we had one last surprise for you?”

Sebastian’s eyes widened, flicking from Kyle to me and back again.

“There’s a present for you on your bed,” Kyle said. “Think you have enough energy to open it?”

“Yeah!” Sebastian took off in a sprint, and Kyle and I chuckled before jogging along behind him.

We poured into his room just in time to see him ripping into the race car wrapping paper, and he tore at the box until he was holding his present in his hand.

A medium-sized, smoothly polished river rock — engraved with the wordsBig Brother.

Sebastian blinked at it for a long moment, turning it over in his hands with a confused and tentative smile. “It’s a rock.”

“It is,” Kyle said, bending down next to him. “Can you read what it says?”

Sebastian sounded the two words out one letter at a time until he got it.

“Big brother.”

We waited for it to click, but when Sebastian just tilted his head to the side, Kyle glanced up at me before sitting on the bed and pulling Sebastian up next to him.

“Tonight, at the game, did you see how me and the other guys on my team worked together?”

Sebastian nodded.