Page 13 of The Surprise Play

“Zoey?” Zander calls up the stairs. “You’re not up there, are you?”

She bulges her eyes at me, then calls out, “No?”

“Zo-ey,” Zander growls, and she starts to giggle, crouching into a ball and hiding her head.

My roommate, who now officially lives in the converted garage, is soon standing in my doorway, staring down at his kid with his arms crossed and fighting a grin as he puts on a stern voice. “Zoey Erling-Donohue, you’re not supposed to be up here.”

“Can’t see me,” she whispers.

“Icansee you, and I can tell you that you’re breaking the rules. Which means I’m gonna have to take a gem out of your jar.”

Her head pops up with a gasp, her mouth turning into a quick pout.

Zander raises his hands, palms up. “You know the drill, kid.”

She opens her mouth to protest, then quickly closes it with a cute growl, curling her mitten hands into two little fists and thumping onto her butt. Her face is going bright red as she lets out another growl and shakes her fists in the air.

“She did knock.” I go to bat for her.

Zander’s eyebrows rise in approval. “Did she?”

I nod and Zoey joins me, her eyes getting all big and hopeful.

“Well, that is an improvement, but you know you shouldn’t be up here without asking first. This floor is for the Football Frat guys and other adults, not lil love bugs.”

Zoey dips her head, murmuring a soft “I know.”

“Hey.” Zander crouches down, crooking his finger at her. “C’mere.”

She gets to her feet and shuffles across the room, her lips still curled into a sad pout.

Placing his finger under her chin, Zander gently guides her up to face him, and he smiles down at her. “Every choice has a consequence. And you chose wrong this morning, kiddo, which means I have to do something that’s gonna help you learn not to do it again.”

Her face crunches into an adorable frown.

“But… because you were polite enough to knock, I’m still willing to take you outside to play, okay?”

She nods. “’Kay.”

He smiles at her, leaning down to peck her cheek just before she snuggles against him.

And I slap my hands on my knees and stand up. “Well, now I want to play too.” Walking for the closet, I fish out my waterproof coat. “Let’s go build a snowman, Cowgirl. Yeehaw!”

Zoey giggles and pulls away from Zander, jumping and clapping while I gear up. It takes me a minute to find my beanie, but I’m soon traipsing outside with an excited toddler, my assignment shoved to the back of my brain so I can enjoy a little time with the cutest girl on the planet.

Zander and I walk her down the street to the nearby park so we’re not making noise outside the garage. Sienna is enjoying a sleep-in for once, and Zander will do anything not to wake her.

Using the freshly covered field next to the playground—yep, it snowed last night, and Nolan looks magical—we start forming balls that Zoey can use to build her snowman. She runs around us, leaving mini footprints in the snow and directing us with an excited yell: “Bigger, Daddy! Bigger!”

Zander does as he’s told, and I laugh, rolling my snowball toward his.

“See if you can find some branches for arms, Zo-Zo. There’ll be some under the snow.” Zander points to a nearby tree, and I take the chance to form a small ball in my hands and surprise my captain with a missile to his stomach.

He lurches forward with anoofbefore looking up at me. His lips twitch, his eyes silently challenging me—“You really want to do this?”

I laugh, already forming another ball.

Zander grins and drops to his knees, scraping at the snow. I get him with a ball to the face, letting out another raucous laugh before he launches one right back at me.