“Not especially,” I reply, wrapping my left arm around her calves. She’s my damn lifeline. I need her so much.
She smiles again, and runs her hand over my stubbled cheek. “Don’t let the press tarnish this honor. You deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Colin
“Car’s leaving in… five… four…” I yell as the twins race each other to see who can get their tennis shoes on the fastest. Ainsley waits patiently by the front door, and Charlie grabs her purse and work bag. “Three… two… one… Let’s go people.”
I give Pancho a goodbye pat on his head, and instruct him to watch the house. I swear the dog all but jumps to attention.
My family is walking ahead of me. That’s really not accurate. I don’t think the twins have the ability to walk anywhere. Run, jump, hop, skip? That’s what they do. Walking? Not so much.
The boys are dressed in shorts and T-shirts for gymnastics and are now racing each other to the car. Ainsley is dressed in her bathing suit with a pair of bright pink shorts. She’s carrying her blue-sequined swim-team bag, complements of Guncle’s Brad and Carter. Charlie’s dressed for work, and is attempting to instruct everyone on what we need to pack for Ohio.
Just then, Ainsley must find a hole in the yard, because she trips and falls, tumbling over herself. Panic grips me. Just as I’m about to race over and make sure she’s okay, her two little brothers, who heard her cry, stop dead in their tracks, turn around and run back to her.
Ainsley is sitting on her bottom, gripping her knee to her chest. She’s trying to be brave, but I watch her bottom lip tremble as she fights to keep the tears at bay. The boys kneel down beside her, so concerned about their big sister. They begin examining her knee and checking for other injuries. Liam, because he’s in the orange T-shirt, kisses her scrape, while Jax rubs her arm as if reassuring her that it’s going to be okay.
It’s such a tender moment that Charlie and I both keep our distance, watching our boys take care of their sister.
Before I know it, the twins help Ainsley to her feet, each offering her a hand. Jax picks up Ainsley’s swim bag and carries it the rest of the way to the car. All three are laughing and teasing again, as if nothing happened.
Was leaving football at the top of my career worth it? Yes, if for no other reason than this moment. If I were still playing I’d be at training camp right now, working to get into season-ready shape. Instead, I woke up and made love to my wife. Now, I’m off to take my kids to their activities and then spend the rest of the day playing with them. We’ll probably do tricks off the rope swing before dinner. My boys know how to take care of their sister, because I taught them. Not Brad. Not a nanny. Me. I’ve modeled that behavior for them. And I couldn’t be prouder. A smile breaks across my face as my body grows warm with pride for my family. This moment is PFM.
Bertha is parked in our garage next to the family car. I give her a good slap on the tailgate, silently reassuring her that I’ll take her for a drive soon. Damn truck is still running, and does a fine job of hauling supplies for the compound.
We climb into the minivan, and before the arguing can begin I remind the boys that they watched their show this morning, so it’s Ainsley’s turn to choose. I also remind her to pick something that all three will enjoy. Fortunately, she chooses an episode of The Justice League, so everyone will be happy.
I don’t necessarily believe in TVs in cars, however, we live forty-five minutes from just about everything. The TV buys Charlie and I a few minutes of adult conversation.
The way I situated our home on the property was done with security in mind. Our home is across the lake from the entrance to the land, off of the main road. Once you’re on our property, it’s almost a mile drive to our front door. The road is curved with switch backs. Aiden teases that there’s no way anyone could drive it drunk. It’s not that bad, but it’s a challenge the first time someone new visits us, which isn’t all that often.
We pass by one of the lake cottages that we built for guests. We have three on the property. Each one can sleep up to eight people. This particular one is where I put the double-wide trailer that I bought for us to live in after the twins were born.
As soon as I retired from football, Charlie and I finally got serious about building our vacation home, which has become our permanent residence. Before the twins were born, I had the land cleared for a road and utilities run.
We stayed in Dallas just long enough, so Charlie could be close to Doctor Starr. Once the twins were healthy enough to come home from the hospital, I hammered a For Sale sign in the front yard of the McMansion inside of the gilded cage, and we got the hell out of Dodge.