Page 31 of Signs and Signals

“Of course, I would follow you anywhere,” Indya says dreamily. “Where are you wanting to take us? Is it just going to be the four of us, or is some other players coming along? Not that I mind, they all seem great, I just need to give Amara and Haven a heads up if we are going to be surrounded by people, especially men, for the better part of the evening.”

She sounded almost nervous to give me those thoughts she let spill from her lips. I do my damnedest to make that fear of hers disappear real quick.

“I would never put any of you in danger. But yes, Zander is the one that mentioned taking Haven, he said even though he doesn’t know her, and she has only met him for five minutes in the locker room, she has him wrapped around his finger. Actually, now that I think about, she has brought the whole damn team, coaches included, to their knees, willing to bend over backwards for her,” laughing at the thought of these big burly men, bending at the helm of a curly haired four-year-old girl.

“Okay, where is this destination Zander believes my little girl would love?” She is sitting up on the bed now, her eyes sparkling with joy, glad to hear her daughter has the power to rule these famous athletes’ lives, with one flick of her tiny wrist.

“Zander was looking for things to do as a team, like he always does when we come to a city that is not our own. He came across a place called Butterfly House and Aquarium inSioux Falls, and when he read about it, his mind went straight to Haven. We would have to fly there from Minneapolis, that way we get more time exploring rather than sitting in the car on our only free day we have on the away trip,” I laugh, shaking my head.

Zander has never connected to a child like that before. He holds them, signs their merchandise, takes pictures, or chats with them for a while, but never anything like this. He rented a private plane to take us there and bring us back, because he was determined for Haven to experience this.

Indya grabs her phone, immediately looking at the website. She looks up to me with the biggest smile I have seen cross her face. “Atlas, Haven is going to be absolutely thrilled. She is going to feel like a real-life princess here,” she coos.

Indya ends up falling asleep not long after doing some more research on Butterfly House and Aquarium. I’m glad she is excited and says Haven and Amara will be thrilled to experience everything the place has to offer. I slip out of bed and head to the shower before waking Indya up, to let her know I have to meet the team in the locker room, soon.

She gets up, collects all her things, smile still gracing her face. I stop in front of her suite door, blocking her in, she is caught between the door and my body, not able to escape. I lean toward her, tucking a strand of hair that has fallen from her bun, behind her ear.

“Thank you for last night. Not just for the amazing sex, or the cuddles, or the baths and showers. Thank you for trusting me and loving me enough to let me in completely. I want to know not only your body, but also your mind and soul as well. I just wanted to say thank you for giving me some of the burden to bear, I don’t like that you were carrying all that on your own,” I whisper in her ear.

The next thing I know the door is swinging open and thank fuck for my fast reflexes because I grab Indya’s waist and twist, we both fall through the door, thankfully, I landed first and softened the fall for Indya.

Indya rolls off of me, and we are both lying on the floor, almost in shock that this happened, while a pair of gray eyes and a pair of blue eyes, stare down at us, like we did something wrong.

“Amara?” Indya says her name like a question, she wants to know, what the hell she did that for, but Amara just stares at her, mouth agape.

I turn my head, and I don’t see Haven standing there any longer. Suddenly, little arms pop up and begin signing to me, while lying next to me on the floor.

Pancakes?

I don’t want to tell her I don’t have time to eat breakfast with her, because Idowant to have breakfast with my little princess. I frown, looking back at her.

Can’t. Work. Game today. Drive.

Haven takes on my frown, then as she has either remembered something amazing or thought of a brilliant plan, her hands shoot up and she is going faster than I have ever seen her sign. I have no clue what she is saying to me because her hands are going so fast. I turn to look at Indya and Amara, they are watching her, you can see the love these three have for each other. Every time Haven learns something new or becomes more fluent with her signs, pride beams from each of their eyes.

Then Amara speaks, “Haven said that it is okay that you have to miss breakfast this morning, we will have plenty of breakfasts in the future together. Maybe you could take her on a date, and then get ice cream some time, because she has a lot of things she needs to talk to you about. But it has to be you she talks to, and alone, so no one else can hear what you guys aretalking about. Because this is what best friends do, have lunch, eat ice cream, ask questions, and whisper secrets to each other that no one can know about. Not even mama or Aunt Mar.”

My eyes are wide, I am about to ask Indya if those are the words that Haven used, but when I look at her face, they are glistening, as if they are wet with tears. So instead of making things worse for her, I turn to Haven to respond.

Good thinking, princess. You mama set it up? Yes?

The women to the left of me giggle, but I ignore them. I know I am getting better with my signs; I can feel how fluid I feel when doing them. I just need to learn and practice the sentences, then I will be signing just as fast as Haven. I look back at Haven, she gives a short nod, then jumps into my arms.

I leave the suite a little heartbroken, to meet with the team and coaches before we pack up and head to Minnesota for the game tomorrow. I think this is the first time since I was five years old that I didn’t want to play baseball. I wanted to stay with Haven and Indya. Even Amara.

Chapter Fifteen

Indya

We are back in the blacked-out SUV with the driver, heading to Minneapolis. The driver, Don, said we would stay close to the bus, in case they need Atlas for anything, and he is riding with us. He said they usually are not allowed to do this, but his coach has a soft spot for Haven, so he caved. This is more than likely the reason Atlas was carrying Haven to the coach’s area, when he asked about a transportation change for the next couple of days.

It takes us a little under four hours to get to the hotel that is reserved for us in Minneapolis. This one is just as fancy as the one we stayed at in Chicago, though this one is called Four Seasons.

Again, we get a two-bedroom suite, where Amara swears, she is loving having nightly sleep overs with Haven. We can see the Mississippi River through the floor-to-ceiling windows. It is breathtaking. The hotel has so many amenities, it’s thrilling just to be here.

It’s only ten in the morning, and Atlas said that the plane Zander reserved leaves at ten forty-five, it will take a little over an hour to get to our destination, giving us plenty oftime to see everything. The guys were told they have an eleven o’clock curfew tonight since they were leaving the area.

After getting everything settled in our designated rooms, we all load back into the SUV, with Zander with us this time, making our way to the airfield.

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