Page 6 of Habibi: Always and Forever

“Give me that precious baby girl,” Lydia moves in and efficiently snaps Riley out of the baby carrier.

“Grandma’s got just the thing for you, haven’t I?

” she coos, brushing her nose against my daughter’s.

“Homemade apple purée. Doesn’t that sound yummy, sweet pea?

” She presses a soft kiss against Riley’s head of brown curls, then cradles her against her chest, as she heads inside.

“Lydia, you don’t have to—” Cody heads after them, but I rein him in, clasping him in my arms.

“Baby, it’s fine. Let her.” I press a kiss against his neck, and he smells of a combination of baby drool and my Cody. He fights me for a few seconds, then relaxes against me with a sigh.

“Okay, okay. You’re right,” he says as he turns in my arms and buries his face against my shoulder.

“Fuck, I’m exhausted,” he murmurs against me as he gets all heavy in my arms. I snake my arms around him and hold him close as I maneuver us backward toward the other end of the back porch, away from the grill.

I ease him down onto the wooden swing and drop next to him.

“Me too, baby,” I groan, leaning my head back against the soft cushion. “But we’ve got reinforcements now. And plenty of them. Let’s make the most of it,” I yawn.

Cody sighs next to me, and I feel him relax as he leans his head against my shoulder. I wrap my arm around him, squeezing him tight.

“You think Lydia will be okay? Riley’s not exactly an easy baby.”

“She’ll be great.” Then I can’t help laughing. “She did raise Doofus One and Two, so I’m sure there’s nothing she can’t handle.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Cody laughs too. “Matt and Chris were a handful from what Danny told me.” There’s an edge of sadness to Cody’s voice.

I know it still pains him that he lost such a big part of his childhood with Danny, and that Matt and Chris had all those years with his dad that he didn’t.

But it’s gotten better over the years. “I just… I just wanna be a good dad, you know? I just… wanna be there for Riley.”

“You are,” I say, pressing a kiss into his hair. “You’re the best dad. Our baby girl loves you, and so do I. Always.”

“I know. Fuck, you’re right. I know. I’m just… scared, I guess.” He pulls away from me and looks out at the forested area surrounding the house, a faraway look in his beautiful eyes. I sit up too.

“I know you are. I’m scared shitless, too,” I admit.

He turns his head and looks at me, all stunned, with a deep frown between his blond brows. “You are?”

“Of course,” I chuckle as I shake my head.

My bangs tumble onto my forehead, and I realize I need a haircut.

All our focus has been on Riley, as it should be, so my hair has gotten way too long during the off-season.

“I’m afraid that I’ll mess up too. But then I remind myself that we’ve got the most important thing that Riley will ever need. ”

“What?” Cody whispers, his eyes not leaving mine. “What, Luke?”

“Endless amounts of love, baby,” I croak as I reach out and cradle Cody’s chin in my hand.

“We’ll love her always and with such fierceness that she’ll be the happiest little girl in the world.

And she’ll grow up to be a young woman who believes in herself and her own worth because her daddies have always told her she matters more than anything. ”

A solitary tear slides down Cody’s cheek, and when he blinks at me, another follows. “That’s all I want,” he smiles through his tears. “That’s all I want for her.”

“And that’s what she’ll get. She’ll get all the love in the world.

Not just from us.” I nod at my in-laws, who are gathered around the table, fawning over Lydia, who has now returned and is sitting at the table, feeding Riley apple purée.

“Look at them,” I tell him, smiling. “We’ve got an entire army, baby. ”

“We do, don’t we?” Cody laughs through his tears as Matt does a weird dance, causing Riley to snort strings of purée out of her nose.

“We do. I think your family is even crazier than mine,” I say, recalling how my parents and my sisters FaceTime us every chance they get, making faces at Riley, competing with each other to get her to laugh.

They haven’t met her in person yet, but we’ll all be celebrating Thanksgiving together in Burlington in a few months.

“Not possible.” Cody grins at me, then leans in and kisses me long and hard.

He tastes of salt and happiness and everything I hold dear in life.

Of endless days filled with love and laughter and moments with our daughter.

He tastes just like he did that night on the rooftop under the stars when I kissed him for the first time, and my life changed in a matter of seconds.

“I love you, Luke,” he mumbles against my lips, then his tongue dips out and swipes along my bottom lip.

“I love you so much that I thought I had no more love left in me, but then there was Riley, and my love just grew and grew. I never thought…” he trails off, then kisses me even deeper, almost like he wants to crawl inside my body and live inside me forever.

I kiss him back, hoping my kiss will convey all the things I can never tell him because there aren’t enough words to explain to him what he means to me.

What he’s done to me. He and Riley. The kind of purpose I’ve found with him and our daughter.

The kind I only thought I could ever find on the ice, with the crowd roaring my name back at me.

Not only have I found love in Cody’s arms, but I’ve also found myself in every way that matters.

As an ace man, as a husband, and now as a father.

“I love you too, baby,” I smile against his lips for lack of better words. “Now let’s go eat before I end up having you for dinner.”

“You wouldn’t!” he gasps, then blinks at me, all tired and flushed.

“Wouldn’t I?” I raise a brow at him, digging my fingers into his sides possessively, as I try to pull him in for another kiss. Before I know it, he jumps up with a squeak, then takes off across the porch and bolts down the stairs to the lawn.

“You gotta catch me first, Lucky,” he laughs at me, his blond hair all wild, surrounding his face like a golden halo. There’s a teasing glimmer in his eyes, a come here and get me, and before I know it, I fly out of my seat and chase him down the stairs.

“Boys, don’t run too far!” Lydia calls after me. “Dinner’s ready soon.”

I catch up with him halfway to the woods. He pretends to struggle in my arms. “You were always faster than me,” he pouts. I press kisses all over his face, and he squirms and giggles.

“Faster, maybe,” I pant. “But never better. You were always better than me.” It’s true. He was. He was always the better player, the greater talent. If it hadn’t been for his knee, he would still be playing, still the best goalie in the league.

He freezes in my arms, his face all serious. “You mean that?”

I nod.

“ Really? I’m the better player?” He frowns at me in disbelief. I’ve never told him before. I nod again, then kiss him.

“Yes, you are,” I whisper against his lips. “You always were.”

“Thank you. Thank you, baby,” he says, his voice so frail and humble. “Thank you for saying that.”

“I mean it.” I blink back the tears stinging my eyes. Then I wink at him. “Luckily, we’re on the same team.”

“Always.” He smiles at me, tears still clinging to his long lashes. “We’ll always be on the same team, Luke, you and I. You, me, and Riley. It’s written in the stars.”

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