“Bye guys,” he said to the kids, then went and gave Elli a hug.

“Thank you for fixing my boo boo. Bye.”

“Bye Ryan,” she said with a grin, and then she looked over at Shea.

“Bye, Shea.”

“Bye babe, I’ll call ya.”

“Alright,” she said with a shake of her head. Shea looked back at the kids as he began to walk away. They all had their mouths hanging open at the sight of him.

“Bye, guys.”

Their eyes never left him as he walked to the car with Ryan on his arm and Amelia on his hip. It seemed that as soon as he got Amelia buckled into her car seat, she passed out. That wasn’t the case with Ryan. He jabbered until they got to the house, up the driveway, and even when his dad came to the door to get the kids.

“You’re a Godsend, Shea. Thanks,” James said as he took a sleeping Amelia from him.

“No problem. Where’s Grace?”

“Sleeping. I figured I’d meet you at the door, take the kids, and try to keep them out of her hair.”

“You’re a good man, James. Good man.” Shea leaned over and kissed Amelia’s head, and then he hugged Ryan tightly.

“Love you, bud.”

“Love you too, Unky. Thanks for a fun day.”

“No problem, bud. We’ll do it more often.”

“Am I still going to your game on Wednesday?”

“Absolutely, bud. Everyone will be there.”

“Awesome!” he said with a punch in the air, and then he ran off. James smiled at Shea as he said goodbye, and shut the door after giving Shea his keys. Shea walked to his truck, a smile on his face. He felt good, today was a good day.

Hell, maybe a great one. When he got into the truck and left Grace’s, he went through the drive through for some Taco Bell before he headed home.

It was close to six that night when Shea finally sat in front of his TV to watch Sports Center. He was ready for the opener on Wednesday, ready to play. The thought of Elli watching him made him smile. His thoughts wandered to Elli and what she was doing, so he pulled his phone out of his pocket and texted her.

At the wedding?

He only had to wait a moment before she answered back.

Yup, bored. Some weddings are awesome, while others are drags, and this one is a drag.

Sorry about that, how was your ride home with the kids?

Interesting to say the least. I just dropped them off, didn’t even stay for the fireworks. My mother has called me 10 times.

Shea smiled to himself. Her family probably wasn’t that bad. She was the baby, so they probably just picked on her.

Wow, sorry about that. It was good seeing you today, can’t wait until tomorrow.

Me either.

Shea smiled to himself as he laid his phone down. He didn’t want to keep her busy so he decided to wait until later when she would call on her way home. What he didn’t expect was to fall asleep; he guessed the kids wore him out more than he thought. He woke with a jump when his phone started ringing. It was Elli. He answered as he looked at the time; it was past midnight.

“You were sleeping.” He smiled as he rubbed his eyes.

“I was.”

“Sorry! Just text me your address in the morning.”

“Okay, babe, I’m sorry. I’m really tired.”

“It’s fine. I’ll see you tomorrow, sorry to call so late.”

“No, don’t be sorry, are you home?”

“Just left Nashville.”

“Okay, text me when you get home, so I know you got there safe. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Alright, goodnight.”

“Night, baby.”

He hung up the phone and texted her his address before walking to the back room where he fell face first onto his bed. He was almost asleep when his phone went off again. He glanced at it and saw that Elli had made it home, and she would see him tomorrow. With a smile, he closed his eyes, pulling the pillow that was beside him up under his chin, and wished it was Elli as he went back to sleep.

“Hello, brother dear.” Shea smiled when he answered his phone the next day. Shea was excited to be cooking lunch for Elli. He wasn’t much of a cook, but he made a mean sandwich and heating soup wasn’t that hard.

“Hey, you sleep well?”

“Amazing. I haven’t gotten more than 12 hours of sleep in God knows how long. So thank you!”

“No problem, only for you,” she gave a little laugh and he knew what was coming.

Ryan had the biggest mouth in Nashville.

“So, all I heard this morning was Ms. Elli this, Ms. Elli that, and oh Mommy, then Ms. Elli and Unky Shea were open mouth kissing.”

Shea shook his head, a grin on his face.

“Shea, where the hell did my four year old learn about open mouth kissing?”

Shea let out a hoot of laughter, slapping the top of the counter with his hand.

“Not my fault, Elli’s niece yelled it at us.”

“You were making out in front of the kids?”

“No, we kissed goodbye and it got a little hot.”

“I mean, jeez, protect the younger eyes please.”

“Sorry, is he scarred for life?” She laughed, as he smiled.

“No, but he is wondering why Unky Shea and Ms. Elli don’t have kids since they kiss like that.”

Shea was practically choking on his laughter.

“That kid is a trip.”

“That he is. So what do you have planned for today?”