Page 29 of Sven

And he told them, told them about how she showed up, about some of her shady behavior, and about how she left with his stuff and his car but not the baby.

“So, she just left Winnie with you?” asked Conner, looking shocked.

Sven nodded.

“Damn,” Cash said, shaking his head and rubbing the back of his neck. “How are you holding up?”

Sven blew out a breath. “It’s been crazy. I’m not sure it’s all hit me yet. But now that I have a nanny, I won’t let you guys down again.”

“Hey, man, you didn’t let us down. I wish we would’ve known. We’re here to help however we can,” said Cash.

“You should bring her to the next family skate,” said Gunnar.

“She’s still a baby.”

“My wife will be there with our new little one,” Gunnar said, who was only one of three of the Magic players who had kids.

Well, four now, Sven thought to himself.

“Okay, I’ll think about it.”

Sven turned to his gear and got ready for practice. He was ready to get out onto the ice and blow off steam.

After a good practice and a workout session, Sven was on his way home. It’d gone better than he could’ve thought. In fact, it was kind of a best-case scenario, really. He was excited to get home and see his little girl. He pulled into his garage. The empty stall next to him still made him angry. And he wasn’t angry that she had stolen his car, and he probably would have bought her a car if she asked. No, he was mad—because how could she haveleft Winnie with him? He would never hurt Winnie because he loved her, but how did she know that?

That whole situation still made him sick, but as he walked into the kitchen, a smile spread across his face at the sight.

There, dancing in his kitchen to “The Wheels on the Bus,” was Natalie, making his baby girl laugh while she fed her.

Winnie’s eyes found him, and she reached for him.

“Hey there, sweet girl,” he said, walking over to them and dropping a kiss on Winnie’s head.

He had the urge to do the same thing to Natalie... That was weird.

“How was your day?” he asked as he walked over to the fridge, got out a container of grapes, and started snacking.

“Good,” she said as she fed Winnie the last bite, then moved to the sink to wet a washcloth to wipe off her hands and face. “Ms. Malone went shopping, Winnie and I hung out, and she’s just about ready for a nap.”

She turned to get Winnie out of the highchair, but Sven had beaten her to it.

“I was wondering if it would be okay if I took her on a walk or even to the park... Ya know, stuff like that.” She propped her hip against the counter, taking them in.

“Of course,” Sven answered. “As long as you have your phone on you so I can get a hold of you. I’ll order another car seat for your car if that would make it easier.”

“That sounds great! Is there anything else you need today?”

“Actually, I was going to see if we could sit down and talk about your schedule and my schedule and look over all that stuff.”

“Oh, ummm... yeah, that sounds great. Let me go put Winnie down for her nap,” she said, moving to take her from Sven.

“I’ll do it. Just relax for a little bit... if you don’t mind.”

She shook her head. “No, that’s fine.”

He couldn’t help his smile. “You really are from Alabama, aren’t you?”

“Why?” she asked skeptically, pinching her brows.

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