Blitzed(58)

"When Troy gave me the football, did he know that he is my Daddy?" Laurie asks. "I asked Grandma to read me what he wrote again, and I'm not sure."

"No, sweetie, I didn't tell him that you were his baby girl until a couple of days later. You guys actually played together first before I told him, but as soon as I did, he was so happy that he nearly broke my ribs, he hugged me so hard."

The doorbell rings, and Laurie's on her feet in a flash, running for the door. I hear the door open, and the delighted squeal as Laurie throws herself into her father's arms. "Daddy!"

I leave the bedroom and see that Mom, who has been busy in the kitchen for the past hour, has also come out to greet Troy. He's wearing charcoal dress slacks and an open-throated, checked dress shirt, his muscles still bulging against the cotton of his shirt. Maybe it's because the door is open, but I swear it just jumped five degrees inside the house.

Laurie, who’s hanging from Troy's neck and refusing to let go, gives Troy a big, smacking kiss on the cheek. "Kissy-kissy!"

"And a kissy-kissy for you too," Troy replies, kissing Laurie on the cheek and neck loudly, giving her a hug. "How was school today?"

"Great! I got to tell everyone about what my daddy's going to be doing this weekend, and I drew a picture, too.”

"Oh really? And what did you tell them?"

"That my Daddy's going to beat Pittsburgh.”

"Well, the entire city of Pittsburgh is a little difficult, but I'll try to start with the Warriors." Troy laughs. "Just remember, I need all my teammates to get the job done."

Laurie allows herself to be set down, and Troy does the right thing by instead of coming over to hug me, he turns to Mom and offers his hand. "Ms. Nelson. Thank you for having me."

Mom stops moving and then sighs, shaking her head. "Come here, you big oaf. And for God's sake, call me Patricia or Patty."

Mom gives Troy a quick hug, then steps back. "So I hope you're hungry, and the team didn't fill you up already."

"Nope, that's tomorrow." Troy laughs. "Saturday night, we get to eat and live on our own, as long as I'm at the stadium by nine tomorrow morning."

"Why so early?" Mom asks, leading Troy over to the table. "Don't you have a four o'clock kickoff?"

"No, that's four Eastern time," Troy says. "The network bumped us back because of some stuff that happened around the league in the pre-season, so we've got a one o'clock kickoff. If it was still at four, I'd have to be there by eleven. But nine is a good time. It gives everyone a chance to eat, relax, get warmed up and get ready to go come game time."

Mom nods and goes back to the kitchen, and I hear the sound of pots and pans moving around. "Can I help you, Mom?"

"No, honey," she calls, "but if I could get a little help from a certain granddaughter of mine, I think we can get these plates out on the table in under three minutes. What do you say, Laurie?"

“Coming!” Laurie calls, going into the kitchen area. It's not totally cut off. I can see over the kitchen island as Mom scoops up plates of spaghetti, but only from her shoulders up.

"Whatever it is, it smells great, Ms.—sorry, Patricia," Troy says, sitting down next to me. "What am I in line for anyway?"

"Whitney's favorite when she was in high school, linguini with a tomato and Italian sausage sauce. Laurie here has helped me tweak it to make it more authentic, but still American enough for our taste buds. You don't mind having a lot of carbs before a game, right?"

Troy shakes his head and gives me a look, and the warmth inside me is definitely not due to the ambient air. We both want each other, but we know we need to get the air cleared with Mom first. "No, Patricia, that sounds great. Do me a favor, though. If you have any plans for dessert, hold off, please? I can handle the pasta, but if I load up on ice cream or cake or something like that, I tend to crash down from the sugar high and then I'm sluggish in the morning."

"What do you eat on game days?" Laurie asks as she emerges with the first plate, which she carefully sets in her place next to me before going back into the kitchen area. "You know, to play so well."

"No secret formula," Troy says, and he reaches over to take my hand, the touch of just our fingers thrilling me. "I like to eat a lot of vegetables, some beans for the slow energy, and a few eggs with breakfast. Nothing too heavy or fatty for an early game. Do you like eggs, Laurie?"

"I do, Daddy,” Laurie says, and I see Mom look up before snorting and shaking her head, smiling as she hears Troy being called Daddy again. "But beans? Ewww."

"I just need to introduce you to the team catering staff," Troy says, giving Laurie a kiss on the forehead when she comes out with his plate. "They make a black bean salad that is so delicious I bet even you'd like it."

"I don't know," Laurie says, and Mom comes out with the other two plates, setting one in front of me before sitting down. As soon as she sits down, Laurie folds her hands, and Troy follows suit, while Laurie says grace in her sweet little voice. "Okay, let's eat!"



We had a great dinner, Mom and Troy seeming to bond after apologizing to one another. Now, Mom and Laurie are in the living room having dessert and watching a Disney movie.