Page 29 of A Whole New Play

“I bet!” I smile down at the energetic child. I look up at his dad and see his eyes soften with an emotion I’m not interested in naming.

“Today will be free of charge,” I say as a joke.

He nods his head, looking serious. “I’ll have my lawyers draw up a trial employment contract right away.”

“You do that,” I reply as Andy leads me into the backyard, choosing to ignore the way my heart flutters in my chest when I see Carter’s answering smile.

This is going to be harder than I thought.

7

CARTER

Two Weeks Later

“I don’t know what to tell you, Carter. Laura is within her rights to contest you taking full custody of the children.”

I sit in my lawyer’s office, loathing the smell of expensive leather wafting around me. I’ve started to associate the smell with frustration and disappointment. Those are the only emotions I experience in this place.

I scowl. “She dumped Abby and Andy on my doorstep without any warning and then proceeded to leave the country. As far as I’m concerned, she should have zero rights.”

“I’m not saying I don’t agree with you,” Davis Phillips from Phillips and Phillips Law Firm, says. He leans forward to rest his elbows on his desk, looking apologetic. “But we aren’t the ones who get to make that decision. It’s up to the judge.”

My hands curl into fists. “Laura is only doing this because she wants to keep receiving the child support.” Abby and Andy are the best things that ever happened to me. I love being their dad. But sometimes I wish I’d had a better head on my shoulders when I was younger.

I fell for Laura’s beauty and, let’s be honest, her sex appeal. Women had propositioned me before, but none of them were as stunning as my college girlfriend. I was blinded by lust and, eventually, what I thought was love. I didn’t realize how selfish Laura was until it was too late and I was linked to her forever.

Not that I regret the twins. Like I said, I love being a dad. It just sucks that I chose a woman who barely cares about them to be their mother.

“My associates will include evidence of that in the case we will present to the judge,” Davis replies. “Trust me, we will do all we can to do what’s right for you and the kids.”

My shoulders fall, releasing the tension that’s been building ever since I got word of Laura contesting my application for full custody. “I know you are. Thank you.”

Davis has been my lawyer ever since I was drafted. He was recommended to me by my sports agent. Thanks to them, my contracts have been some of the most lucrative for any player in the league over the years.

Davis doesn’t specialize in divorce issues or custody battles, but he uses aids and other lawyers in his firm to help me out. Having someone who knows me so well in my corner has been helpful.

“Is there anything you need me to do to prepare?” I ask. I’ll do practically anything he suggests to guarantee the twins stay with me. I regret ever agreeing to let Laura have them in the first place.

“Just continue to ensure your parenting is above reproach. Make sure the kids don’t miss school when it resumes. Be sure that they’re up to date on their health and wellness checkups, and be ready to prove that you have reliable childcare for when you are traveling with the team and away from home.”

I nod along as Davis speaks. His last remark makes me think of Valerie.

It’s been two weeks since her pseudo-trial run with the twins, and things are going well.

Really well.

Andy loves having Valerie around. He can’t stop talking about her once she leaves in the evenings. I think he enjoys the attention she provides—attention he never really got from his mom. Laura will deny it, but I know she favors Abby. Sadly, she lets that preference creep into the way she interacts with the kids, and Andy is at the age now where he notices. Yet another reason I’m determined to keep the twins living with me. I don’t know exactly what that sort of parent-child relationship will have on Andy’s psyche, but I know it won’t be good.

Abby, on the other hand, has been slower to warm up to Valerie. Of the two, she took Laura’s abandonment the hardest. But despite the distance she tries to keep, Abby can’t resist joining Andy and Valerie when they’re doing something fun.

Like when the temperature hit three digits last week and Valerie set up an inflatable water slide in the backyard. I’d come home from a grueling practice to find all Andy and Abby cheering in delight when Valerie climbed the inflatable rock wall and slid down the slick surface into a pool of water.

I’d been tempted to join in the fun, but one glance at Valerie’s toned figure in her modest one-piece and I knew I shouldn’t. We’ve done a good job at keeping our interactions professional, but inside, there isn’t a conversation that passes without me thinking of our night together—and how badly I wish it could happen again.

But Valerie is the first nanny that’s lasted longer than a week, and it’s because she’s not interested in the job as a way to get close to me. She’s here for the twins.

The relief I feel knowing someone responsible and reliable is watching out for the two most important people in my life is almost overwhelming. I hadn’t realized how much stress the twins’ care, or lack thereof, had been causing until it was gone.

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