They spent the day at the arena where Lucas showed Aiden everything — the locker rooms, the ice, the penalty box, and the player’s bench. Aiden was in heaven as he walked around with the biggest grin on his face and asked question after question. Lucas loved hockey, but spending the day talking about hockey with his favorite little guy had him on cloud nine. The only thing that sucked was that it was time for Aiden to go home.

He had baseball practice.

“I think so too, bud.”

“Do I really get to go to one of your games?” Aiden asked.

“Of course you do, all of them if you like,” Lucas answered with a grin.

“Can my mom and AA come?”

Lucas heart skipped a beat at the thought of Fallon watching him play again. “Yeah, if they want.”

“Cool,” he said.

They rode along listening to a new CD Aiden had brought. It was some pop queen and at least she could sing, but it was still torture. Even with the bad music, nothing could bring down Lucas’ mood. He had enjoyed a great day with his son and after getting the chance to hold Fallon in his arms — even if it did end badly — he had had sweet dreams the night before. Lucas was slowly but surely breaking her walls down. She wanted him, he could tell, now all he had to do was get her to trust him.

“I think I want to play hockey. Can I try?”

Lucas couldn’t contain his grin or the way his heart pounded against his chest.

The chance to teach his kid to play hockey?

When could they get started?

“Sure, bud,” he said once he found his voice, “I think the people that are fixing my house will be done Friday. We’ll spend the day at my house, and I’ll teach you.”

Lucas was having hardwood floors put into the house since he hated the carpet. Since his house was so freaking big, it was taking a long time to get everything done. With nails, boards, and crap lying around, he knew that the house wasn’t a place for a six year old. Lucas was also having Aiden’s room redone so that it was bigger. He figured that Aiden would want to come and stay the night with him once he knew about him, so he wanted Aiden to have the best room ever.

The thought of telling Aiden made Lucas’ heart race, but Lucas felt that they were bonding and that they were already connected. He loved Aiden, and couldn’t wait for Aiden to call him dad.

“Cool,” Aiden said with a grin on his face.

“We’ll go shopping Thursday, since tomorrow you’ll be with AA.”

“What do we need to go shopping for?” Aiden asked as Lucas turned onto Fallon’s street.

“For your hockey equipment and maybe we’ll go shopping for other things.”

“I hate shopping,” Aiden said as he made a face.

Lucas laughed as he pulled into Fallon’s driveway. “That’s because you haven’t been with me. You’ll have fun. I promise. We’ll get Levi to go, too.”

“Cool!” Aiden exclaimed as Lucas parked the truck.

Aiden liked Levi but Levi hated kids, and he also didn’t believe Aiden was his son. He thought Fallon was lying. Lucas got so mad that Levi thought that, and for the first time, he threatened his best friend. Aiden was his son, he would never think differently. Lucas might not know how to fix things between him and Fallon but he knew that Aiden was his. Nothing was gonna change his mind.

When Lucas opened the door and got out, he noticed that Audrey was standing beside her car with Aiden’s baseball stuff in hand. He shut the door and smiled over at her.

“Hey, we aren’t late are we?” he asked as he opened the door, letting Aiden out. Aiden ran over to Audrey, hugging her tightly.

“Hey, honey,” she said before kissing Aiden’s forehead and looking back up at Lucas. “No, but can you take Aiden to practice? I got something to do.”

“Oh, sure,” Lucas said, thinking that he had nothing to do and since Aiden was spending the day with Audrey tomorrow, he was sort of glad to have more time with him.

“Thanks, is that okay Aiden?” Audrey asked looking down at Aiden.

Aiden nodded as he took his stuff. “Yup, I gotta tell you about my day though.”

Audrey smiled as she moved a piece of hair out of Aiden’s eyes. Lucas really needed to talk to Fallon about getting the kid a haircut, his hair was always in his eyes. “Tomorrow okay? Go spend time with Lucas. Mommy will be here when you get back.”

“Okay, love you,” Aiden said as he hugged her tightly again. She hugged him back before he broke away from her and ran back into the truck.

“I love you more, honey, have fun. Hit the ball for me!” Audrey said as she waved. Lucas took his bag from her, and threw it in the back. Lucas shut the trunk before making sure Aiden was buckled in. He then said bye to Audrey and got into the truck.

As Lucas pulled out the drive, he swore he saw a tear roll down Audrey’s face. He almost pulled back in but she got into her car and started it up. Lucas thought she was acting weird but he didn’t think she was upset and that worried him. It surprised him how much he cared and how he wanted to pull back in and make sure she was okay. In the process of getting to know Aiden, he was getting to know Audrey too. He was starting to consider her the sister he never had. She was a good girl, and she was loyal, plus she supported his advances on Fallon. That alone made him love her. He decided that he would check on her tomorrow and drove off towards the baseball field to take his boy to practice.

And to see Coach Dweeb.