Page 107 of On Thin Ice

“Now, let’s get you fed, and then we’re going to sleep. Well, back to sleep. Don’t tell Daddy we didn’t watch the full game, okay?”

She let out a little whimper, which I took as an agreement.

DOM

“Look how cute she is,” I said, leaning over to show Micah the most recent picture Ally had sent. We were hanging out at the hotel restaurant in Nashville. We’d had a team meeting and afternoon skate and now had the night off before we played tomorrow.

I hadn’t seen my girls in three days and I swore I was going through withdrawal. Just had to get through the next two days and two more games before we headed home for the Christmas break. Then it was three days of no games, just hanging out at home.

I bit back a chuckle. If last year’s Dom could have heard me now, he would’ve thought I’d lost my damn mind or had one too many knocks into the boards.

“You’re so smitten,” Micah said with a smirk.

I shrugged. “Can’t help it. She’s adorable. I swore she smiled at me when we FaceTimed last night, but Ally said it was probably gas.”

“Isn’t it great?” Flower said, coming up next to us. “Although those first few weeks of trying to find some sort of schedule or routine were rough.”

“You’d think he’d be excited for a break from diapers and crying already,” Haldy said with a shudder.

“Constantly waking up at all hours to her crying, too. No thanks,” Xan added.

“Yeah, that stuff’s rough, but you deal with it because you have an adorable baby to love. It’s when they get a little older and the sass comes in full force that you might enjoy road trips more,” Flower said.

“I’m so telling Violet you said that,” Sin tsked.

Flower laughed. “Oh, she knows she’s sassy. She’ll be the first one to tell you.”

Sin chuckled. “It’s a good thing that we have our own plane because I swear Dom purchased more stuff on this trip for Olivia than everyone else has bought combined.”

“Hey, it’s Christmas in a few days.” I tried to sound outraged, but I couldn’t bring myself to care about their teasing. Yeah, it was nice to get some uninterrupted sleep in, but I’d rather be home with Ally and Livi.

Ally had been amazing, and I was in awe of how she was managing everything. I was also grateful that my teammates’ partners had stepped up to offer her any help she might need while I was on the road. They’d filled our fridge so Ally didn’t have to cook, and Brooke and Cora were already begging to come over and snuggle our girl. Livi was just over a week old though, and Ally wasn’t up for visitors yet, so everyone was being patient.

“She’s not going to know what you bought her,” Haldy pointed out.

“Doesn’t matter. She is getting all the things,” I said, knowing that Ally was going to give me that look when I walked in with an extra suitcase in a few days. I’d also picked up a few things for her. We’d said we weren’t going to do much because Livi just got here, but I wanted to make our first Christmas as special as possible.

“I bet all the grandparents are champing at the bit to meet her,” Flower said.

“Yeah. Ally’s mom is basically waiting on standby. They’re all excited.” At least, her family was. I hadn’t even texted my father. It was clear he didn’t care, and I had no plans to introduce them anyway. My mom had asked for a picture after I’d shared the news, but her response had been lackluster. She said congratulations but still hadn’t asked for all the details like Ally’s family did.

It shouldn’t have stung, but it still did. And that frustrated the hell out of me.

“You okay?” Micah asked.

“What? Yeah, I’m good. We getting another round?” I asked, brushing aside any further thoughts about my family.

“One more, and then we should call it a night. No hangovers tomorrow,” Tally said.

Sin rolled his eyes. “Always in captain mode. Thanks, Dad.”

“Some of us can play hungover,” Haldy boasted.

I shook my head at him. It wasn’t something a rookie should say to the captain, but hell, I’d been there.

“I mean, not me, of course. I take hockey very seriously,” Haldy said sternly.

We all looked at each other and then burst out laughing.

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