Page 33 of The Game Changer

“Exhausted,” she says, her head rolling back on the cushion.

“Go take a nap, I’ll watch Mason, maybe take him down to the p-a-r-k,” I say, spelling out the last word.

“You sure?” she asks, yawning again.

“Yep,” I tell her. “Hey, Mason, you want to go to the park with Uncle John while Mom takes a nap?”

“Yes! Can you go down the slide with me?” he asks, hopping off the couch and running over to the door to put his shoes on.

“You are the best,” Cindi tells me as she stands up. She kisses Mason on the top of the head. “Be good for Uncle John,” she tells him before she makes her way down the hall and into the bedroom she uses when she visits.

“All right, buddy, it’s just you and me, kid. Shall we blow this popsicle stand?” I ask him and he gives me the most quizzical look I’ve ever seen on a three-year-old’s face.

I grab his hand and we head out. Once off the elevator, I slip my sunglasses on and we head outside. The park is only a couple blocks away. Mason is excited to get there, so his little legs are practically running, wanting to get there as quickly as possible.

“Slow down, buddy. You don’t want to fall and hurt yourself,” I warn him.

“I’s a big boy, Uncle J,” he tells me, shortening my name.

“I know you are. How old are you now? Twenty?” I ask him teasingly. He giggles at my questions.

“No, silly, I’m still only three,” he says just as we reach the edge of the park. Since it is a nice day out, there are a decent number of people here. We head straight for one of the play structures. After climbing to the highest point, Mason heads for the slide next. “Are you coming, Uncle John?” he asks me as if I’m not on his heels.

“I’m right behind you, should we go down together?” I ask him as we wait our turn to go down.

He looks down the winding slide, then back at me. “It’s big!” he exclaims.

“It is, how about you sit on my lap and we’ll go down together?”

“Sure,” he finally agrees. I position myself at the top of the slide, sitting him between my legs. I push us off and we go sliding, picking up a pretty good speed on the way down. “That was fun!” he exclaims as we come to the bottom. “Can we do it again?!” he asks.

“Sure, but did you want to check out the other things they have here, first?” I offer. I hardly have the question out when he’s beelining it to the next structure.

We play hard for about forty-five minutes when I notice he’s starting to yawn. “How about we go back to my place and have some quiet time. Maybe we can lay on the couch and watch a movie together?” I suggest, knowing that if I said anything about taking a nap it would have him balking at the idea. Cindi has told me many times how he doesn’t think he needs naps anymore, but really he does. So she just has to get creative with how she gets him to do so.

“Okay,” he agrees.

“Want a piggyback ride?” I offer, knowing he’s tired.

“Yes!” he says, the excitement in his voice, but his outward emotions aren’t. I get him on my back and start the return walk. We aren’t even a block away when I feel his body start to relax. I look behind me as best as I can, and between that and the feeling of dead weight on my back, along with his head now resting on mine, I’m confident he’s fallen asleep already.

I carefully make it back to my place, somehow getting through unlocking my door without dropping him. I take him in and lay him on my bed, slipping his shoes off and moving him to the center so he doesn’t roll off and hurt himself. I sneak out of the room, pulling the door most of the way closed so I don’t wake him.

I pad out to the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge and cabinets to figure out a plan for dinner. I’ve got a good group to cook for with Cindi and Mason visiting this week. It takes me ten or so minutes to figure out a dinner plan before I’m plopping myself down on the couch. Mason has worn me out. I don’t know how Cindi and Stephanie do this on a daily basis. Parenthood isn’t for the faint of heart.

John: How’s your day going? Mason and Cindi are both napping, and I am worn out. Took Mason to the park so Cindi could get a longer nap in.

I toss my phone on the couch next to me, knowing that Jill is most likely with patients now. She sometimes has time between them to text me throughout the day.

Jill: Going good, just have a few minutes before my next patient will be here. Glad to hear things are going good so far today! I can’t wait to get off work and get there. I’m dying to meet them both in person for the first time!

John: Cindi was grilling me about when you’d be here before we’d even left the airport.

Jill: I plan to leave here right at five. I need to stop and check on Walter for ten or so minutes and repack my bag and then I’ll be there. Plan on me arriving around six.

Jill: Unless you need me to stop and get anything on my way over? Do you have dinner planned out?

John: Just get your pretty little ass here ASAP. I’ve got dinner under control and we have everything we need. If Cindi wants or needs anything for her or Mason, we can run to the store after they’re both awake.

Jill: Sounds good! See you in a few hours! GTG, my next patient is here. {kissy face}

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