Page 38 of The Winning Hat Trick (The Steel City Knights #1)

Maclan

" G orgeous, I really need you to stop fidgeting. You're starting to make me nervous." I squeeze Celeste's knee that's bouncing up and down in the passenger seat next to me. "I thought you said Chadwick was cool."

"He is, I swear." She starts biting her nail.

I gently guide her hand away and hold it in mine. "Then why are you so anxious?"

"I don't know. Probably because I have to tell him for the millionth time that his son's a fuck-up who's trying to ruin my life." She tilts her head back on her seat as she groans.

I can't hold in my laugh at how adorable she is.

"This is not funny, Maclan," she grumbles at me.

"Yeah, Macwan. Dis is not funny," Calla chimes in from her car seat, which only makes me laugh harder, and Celeste finally joins me.

"It's going to be fine, Celeste. Sure, it sucks that you have to tell him his son's a dou—Not very nice, but this is the lesser of two evils. Better talk to his dad then you having to deal with him, which is ultimately what he wants."

"I know you're right. I just feel like I'm tattling, and I'm too old to be doing that." She huffs.

"Eh, maybe, but if he's going to act like a child, maybe leaving his father to deal with his bad behavior is the best move."

"For sure. I am excited to see Chadwick. We missed our meet-up last month because we couldn't get our schedules to jive, but he really does love the kids, and they adore him."

"I'm looking forward to meeting him. You've only had nice things to say about him."

"I think you two are going to hit it off. He's this brilliant business man, but he's so down to earth. He doesn't flaunt his money, ya know? His son definitely does not take after him. His mother ruined him."

"I'm sure we'll be fine. You said this place is kid friendly? I've heard of it, but I've never been here before." I follow the directions from my GPS.

"Yeah, it's new, but it's really cool. It's set up so that new restaurants, or people who want to open their own restaurants, can test out their recipes, pin down their business plans, and see what works and what doesn't. But it's super cool because it's set up in a square with a courtyard that has a jungle gym and play area for kids. "

"Oh, that sounds really cool." I can't wait to play with the kids.

"Yeah, they also have a dog bar where people can bring their dogs—like a dog park—but also hang out at a bar."

"Damn, this place sounds awesome. I wonder if they'd shut down or let us rent the whole place out for a private event," I muse.

"You mean for the team?" She turns towards me.

I pull into the parking garage. "Yeah. It would be great publicity for the upcoming businesses, and it would be nice for all of us to be able to unwind without fear of the paps catching something stupid. Plus, if it's kid and pet friendly, the guys could bring their families."

"Oh, that could be really cool, Mac. I don't even know how you would go about setting something like that up, but I bet Jessa would be able to help you."

"Yeah, I'll have to talk to her about it. Now, let's get these rugrats out and go see their grandpa."

Celeste and I get the kids, stroller, and diaper bag then make our way out of the parking garage. Talon spots Chadwick right off the bat and takes off across the courtyard. Calla starts after, but her little legs can't keep up. I scoop her up on my shoulders and take off after Talon.

"Grandpa!" Talon launches at Chadwick, who spins him around right as I catch up to him.

"Hey, buddy. I've missed you."

"Grampa!" Calla squeals from my shoulders.

"Hi, my Calla." He beams at her.

"Hello, sir. I'm Maclan."

"Call me Chadwick. It's nice to meet you, Maclan."

"Gramps, dis my Mac." Calla squeezes my head tightly, making my heart burst.

"I see that, Cal." Chadwick smiles as he sets Talon down.

"He's da bestest. He's gonna be my daddy someday."

"What?" I splutter as I pull her off my shoulders and hold her in my arms so I can look in her eyes. It's not as if I haven't thought of being the kids’ dad someday, but Celeste and I haven't talked about that yet, so I'm not sure why Calla is bringing it up.

"Uh, Calla." Celeste's shocked voice startles me.

"Huh? That's what Talon tolded me." She blinks innocently.

"Calla, shh. I told you not to say anything about that yet." Talon's face flushes red as anger flares in his eyes.

"But I want Mac to be my daddy. He is the bestest daddy." Her little face scrunches as tears roll down her cheeks.

Panic floods my veins as I look from Calla to Celeste. Her eyes are just as wide as mine as she tries to figure out what to say.

Much to our surprise, Chadwick is the one who takes control of the situation.

"Come here, my Calla." I hand her over to her grandpa and wait to see how this plays out.

"I know you love your Maclan very much, and it would be amazing if he were your daddy.

That's something you want very much, isn't it? "

"Y-yes." She sniffles.

"Sometimes, you just have to be patient when it comes to the things we want.

I think your mommy and Maclan love each other very much, and Maclan would be thrilled to be your daddy someday, but that day isn't today.

That doesn't mean he doesn't love you with his whole heart because I can tell you he does.

Becoming someone's daddy is serious business and takes time.

I'm sure when Mommy and Maclan are ready for that to happen, you and your brother and sister will be the first to know. "

I reach over to Celeste and tuck her under my arm. I owe Chadwick for tackling this situation with such grace, especially since his son is their father. Celeste wasn't wrong to talk so highly about Chadwick.

Glancing at Talon, I see him angrily wiping tears away.

"Come here, Talon." I wave him over to me as I squat down in front of him.

"I want nothing more than to be your dad someday.

Please don't be mad at Calla for saying something about it today.

If anything, I'm glad that you're on board.

I promise that once your mom and I have some very important grown-up conversations, you will be the first one I come to, okay? "

"Okay, Mac."

I pull him in for a fierce hug, then look at Celeste, who is wiping tears from her cheek.

"Well, that was way more of an emotional introduction than I was expecting. What do you say we go check out some restaurants, pick out what we eat, then find a table since it's a fairly nice fall day?" Celeste asks our group.

"Sounds wonderful, dear." Chadwick wraps an arm around her shoulder, gives her a squeeze and a kiss on the side of her head, then enters the building.

I tug Celeste's hand to hold her back as Calla and Talon follow their grandpa. "Are you okay?"

"I should be asking you that, seeing as my kids are the ones who just claimed you as their dad." She's fidgeting again as she looks anywhere but at me.

"Hey, gorgeous." I pinch her chin in my fingers and guide her eyes to mine.

"I meant what I said to Talon. I have every intention of making you all my family and want nothing more than to be their father someday.

Hell, take this as me telling you that it's going to happen, not just a possibility.

" Celeste gasps, and I can't fight my cocky smirk if I'd try. "You good with that?"

"I think so." She smiles contently at me.

"Good." I peck her lips, grab her hand, and then start pushing the stroller. "Let's get some food and enjoy some good company. You were right about me liking Chadwick. I think we're going to have a great friendship, and he's going to be someone I can learn a lot from."

After our emotional start to lunch, the rest of the afternoon goes off without any issues. The restaurants are vastly different, so we decide to get a little bit of something from each of them and share. All of the food is delicious, and even the kids find stuff they like.

Layla is sleeping in my arms while we watch Talon and Calla play in a sandbox.

When I look over at Celeste, I can't help but picture our future together—more days like this, outings together as a family with the kids, maybe even one more on the way.

I can see it all so clearly, and I'm more than a little excited to start on that future.

"So, how are things really going for you, Celeste? I've heard great things at work." Chadwick smiles at her.

"Workwise, things are better than I could've imagined.

Managing my first client has been a learning curve, but it's going well.

Gabriella is a huge help in guiding me to make the best decisions for her.

I also booked a fashion show that I'm really excited about.

I hadn't planned on joining that side of the industry, but when Gabriella had some interest, I told her to see who was offering. "

"That's wonderful. I'm not surprised that people still want to work with you. Your look is timeless, plus your work ethic is hard to beat."

"Aww, thanks, Chadwick. That means a lot coming from you." Celeste's eyes get glassy at the compliment.

"Only speaking the truth. My good-for-nothing son tried to claim too much credit for your career and hard work, but that was always on you. The only thing he was good for was riding your coat tails. You definitely married down in that relationship." He harrumphs.

"Stop." Celeste lets out a startled laugh.

"It's the truth. I thought I was doing right by letting his mother handle him while I built my business, but all that I did was let her raise an entitled, self-righteous, spoiled brat."

"Speaking of…" I look pointedly at Celeste, who glares back at me.

"What's he done now?" Chadwick sighs dejectedly.

"Well, I don't really have proof—"

"No, but with some deductive reasoning, we're pretty sure." I glare at her. I know she doesn't want to be the one to add to the bad image Chadwick has of his son, but I don't feel any remorse in letting him know the pain he caused us.

"Just come out with it. Rip it off like a band aid." Chadwick waves.