courage, dear heart

July 14th, 2028

“Scar no,” Ethan sighed, walking over to where Scarlett was standing in front of the mini sticks goal that was against one side of the living room wall by the door, the coffee table moved out of their way. “You have to turn around and try not to let me score.”

“Stick!” Scarlett smiled, holding up her mini hockey stick before returning back to hitting the top of the net with it.

“Yeah, it’s a hockey stick,” Ethan replied, putting his hands on her shoulders to turn her around. “And you use the stick to try and stop me from shooting the ball into your goal, okay?”

“Okay,” Scarlett nodded, moving her stick away from the net and letting Ethan turn around.

“Okay,” Ethan echoed, holding his hands out towards her. “Now stay, don’t move. I’m going to get the puck and then we’ll play, okay?”

“Ethie score?” 

“Well, you want to try to not let me score,” Ethan replied, using his stick to move the ball closer to him as he stood midway between their two goals. “But you’re still new to hockey, so I’m probably going to score anyway. Ready?”

“Ready!” Scarlett smiled, waiting for Ethan to move the ball before she ran out towards him. “My ball!”

Ethan waited until she was near the ball to move it, only to wait again for Scarlett to catch up and try to hit the ball with her own stick, giggles emerging from the 18-month-old as she unknowingly basically played keep away with her big brother. A sight that was very endearing to Caroline as she walked down the hallway carrying the freshly dried batch of laundry in the laundry basket.

“I score!” Scarlett said, bending down to pick up the ball.

“No, Scar, you have to use your stick.” Ethan said, grabbing her stick and moving it towards the ball before pointing towards the net at the other end of the living room. “Now hit it towards my net down there, okay?”

Scarlett went to raise her stick above her head, Ethan quickly correcting her to show her the proper way to shoot. “No, no, you shoot like this. Watch me,” he let go of her stick and stood back bending down to show how to bring his stick back. “And then you come forward and– wait no.”

Unamused with his way of trying to teach, the moment Ethan had stood up to demonstrate, Scarlett bent back down and picked up the ball, dropping her own stick before running down to Ethan’s goal. She stopped right in front of it before throwing the ball down and it bounced its way into the net, hitting the back of it.

“Score!” She yelled, throwing her arms into the air as she bounced up and down with a smile on her face. “Daddy, I score!”

“You did?” Matt gasped, coming down from the hallway where the bedrooms were and walking by the lounge chair and over to Scarlett, bending down and picking her up, tossing her into the air and catching her and causing her to giggle before resting her on his left hip. “Are you winning?”

“Yes,” she smiled, resting her head against Matt’s shoulder.

“No she’s not, because we’re not keeping score.” Ethan huffed, walking over and bending down, grabbing the ball from the back of the net before standing up. “Besides, she cheated because she picked up the ball and threw it in. And if we were really keeping score, then I’m winning because I’ve scored like a hundred times already.”

“She’s also not even two, Ethan, relax,” Caroline laughed, walking out from the hallway fully. “BeeBee used to be you when you were her age, and he never complained.”

Ethan sighed, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, but she’s supposed to get it by now, Momma. You said that when she got older, she’d understand better.”

“That was eight months ago, Ethan. When I said older, I meant when she’s around three or four.” Caroline replied, putting the laundry basket down behind the couch. “Just give it a little more time and keep playing with her, I’m sure she’ll grasp it eventually.”

“Until then,” Matt said, giving Scarlett a kiss before putting her back down onto the ground, squatting down her to level. “Why don’t you show Mommy and Daddy your mini sticks skills that Ethie’s taught you?”

“Okay, Daddy,” Scarlett nodded, walking back over to where she’d dropped her stick and picking it up. “Play, Ethie.”

Matt followed Caroline into the kitchen, grabbing his empty water bottle off the counter and unscrewing the lid, refilling it from the fridge. “Was that the last load you took out of the dryer?”

“You wish,” Caroline sighed, grabbing the container of strawberries from the fridge. “There’s one load of Scar’s stuff in the washer and then our last load in the dryer.”

“Then whose clothes are in the hamper?” He asked, putting the lid back onto his water bottle.

“Ethan’s. Decided he wanted to have options for tonight,” She replied, taking a bite of a strawberry. “And I was going to have him fold them, but they’re having fun so I folded it all for him back in the laundry room. He just needs to put it away.”

“Options?” Matt snorted, shaking his head. “Kids 12. What kind of options does he have besides the pairs of jeans that all look alike, hockey jerseys and those fancy shirts he wears on special occasions?”

“Leave him alone, he’s just nervous,” Caroline laughed, holding the container of strawberries out for him to grab one. “Maybe he wants to make a good first impression.”

“Not like they haven’t known each other for eight years,” he replied, putting the water bottle down and reaching for a strawberry. “Besides, it’s his first–”

“Ow!” Ethan yelled, the sound of a hockey stick hitting the floor. “No, Scarlett, we don't do that!”

The first sound of Ethan’s distress had both Caroline and Matt practically running out of the kitchen, and they had just rounded the corner when Scarlett began to cry. Ethan was sitting on the couch, resting his head in his hands as Scarlett stood right by her end of the goal, crying and still clutching her mini stick in her right hand, while her left hand was balled up into a fist and rubbing at her eye.

“What happened?” Matt asked, looking at Ethan as he walked into the living room. “Ethan, look at me.”

“No,” he replied, shaking his head as he kept it down towards his lap.

“D-Dad-Daddy,” Scarlett sobbed, struggling to speak as her face was wet with tears.

Matt looked at Caroline and then back at Ethan, Caroline nodding and waving him off to go to Scarlett while she walked into the living room and sat down on the couch next to Ethan, rubbing at his back. “Ethan?”

“No, I’m not looking at you,” he replied, pressing his head further into his hands as he shook it, his elbows digging into his thighs.

“Okay, that’s fine for right now,” Caroline spoke softly, trying to lean forward and see if she could get a better look. “But what happened?”

“She hit me!” Ethan yelled, lifting his head up and motioning his arm towards Scarlett, who was now resting on Matt’s hip.

“Hey, relax the tone,” Matt warned, as he rubbed Scarlett’s back.

“E-Ethie mean!” Scarlett sniffled, rubbing at her face as she looked at Matt. “H-he yell a-at me.”

Caroline reached out and grabbed Ethan’s chin, turning his head slightly towards her where she could see the forming of a bump just beneath his left eye where his skin was starting to redden just along his cheekbone. “Let me go get you an ice pack–“

“We’ll go get it,” Matt said, as Scarlett was sniffling against his shoulder, hugging onto him. “Give these two some space, I think it might be time for a nap anyway.”

“Thank you,” Caroline replied as Matt walked over, stopping in front of Ethan and putting his hand on top of his head, getting him to tilt it up before nodding.

“Yeah, I’ll grab some peas instead. Might do better for that,” he said, readjusting Scarlett on his hip before ruffling Ethan’s hair and walking out of the living room and into the kitchen.

Ethan was still upset even when Matt took Scarlett out of the room, but he was no longer hiding his face in his hands. “I didn’t yell at her,” he mumbled, leaning back into the couch. “Not really…I just yelled because she hit me in the face and it hurt.”

“She’s little, Ethan. You may not have yelled at her, but she thinks that you did,” Caroline replied, patting his knee. “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

“We were playing with the ball and after I scored I brought it back and told her I’d set it up for her to shoot.” He motioned towards where the ball was still lying in the middle of the floor, along with both mini sticks. “And I set her up first and then when I went to move the ball she just swung it up and hit me in the eye. Even after I told her that’s not how you swing the stick.”

“Ethan, she’s–“

“I know she’s little,” he huffed, crossing his arms. “But I already told her five times, Momma. Why doesn’t she listen?”

“Because she’s half of your father and half of me. He doesn’t listen and I’m stubborn,” Caroline replied, smiling slightly as she reached up for his hair and brushed it back to bring the barely visible scar that was mostly hidden by his shaggy hair, into view. “Besides, do I need to remind you just how you got that scar right there?”

Still pouting, he looked at her and shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Well, you were three,” she said, turning towards him and leaning against the couch cushion. “And you loved climbing on stuff, no matter how many times we told you not to, you never listened because you were three. You were with Papa Walt and Mimi one day and Papa Walt got up to answer the door and you decided to climb up onto his chair and then onto the table beside it. You went to stand up on it, fell and the table came down right after you and smack,” she brushed her thumb along the white scar. “Corner table right to the head. Kids don’t listen, Ethan, and she’s getting ready to get into that terrible twos era, so she’s about to get really testy. But that’s a part of growing up and raising kids. We’ve just got to keep teaching her right from wrong and making sure she knows and one day she’ll get it, I promise.”

“How do you know?”

“Because you did,” Caroline smiled, brushing his hair back down and sitting up. “Now tell me what’s really bothering you, because you’ve taken feet to the stomach and lower body from her trying to climb up on you, so I know it’s not her hitting you in the eye. Though I think I might have an idea of what it is.”

“I don’t want to have a black eye for my date with Mel,” Ethan sighed heavily, frowning soon after as his shoulders sank. “I mean, I’m still kind of mad at Scar but she’s little so she doesn’t know…but really I just don’t want to look ugly for my date.”

Caroline took a deep breath and exhaled, getting off of the couch and squatting down in front of it. “Sit up, let me get a better look.”

Still frowning, Ethan sat up and sigh, shoulders still dropped. “I already know I’m going to have one.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” she replied, grabbing his chin and turning his head sideways so she had a much better look. The skin was still getting pretty red, but it didn’t look like a bigger bump was going to form. “I can’t say for certain that it won’t bruise a little, but I can guarantee that you won’t be ugly.”

His eyebrows furrowed and upper lip curled. “How can you do that?”

“Because regardless of just how much of your father you are, the one thing I was able to bless you with is my good looks.” She smiled, reaching up and fixing his hair that Matt had ruffled. “Oh, and my manners. You definitely got those from me.”

Ethan smiled, rolling his eyes before taking a deep breath and exhaling. “Are you sure she won’t think it’s ugly? What if Dad showed up with a black eye?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Caroline laughed, bringing her hand down and resting her hands on the couch on either side of him. “He actually has a black eye in our junior prom photo. Mimi tried to cover it up as best as she could, but if you look really closely you can still see it.”

“How many times do I have to apologize for that?” Matt asked, leaning out from around the corner of the kitchen. “Trent threw a water bottle at my head during the water break to give me the bottle. His aim was just shi…uh, bad. Really bad.”

“Plus, I seem to remember you having a black eye on the opposite side of your face on Valentine’s Day back in second grade,” Caroline replied, pushing herself to stand up and sending Matt a look who just rolled his eyes. “And that was a pretty big day for you.”

“Yeah, you got kissed,” Matt teased, smiling as he walked towards them and leaned against the back of the couch. “So maybe Melody will see this black eye and feel bad enough to give you another one.”

“I don’t want a pity kiss,” Ethan whined, looking at Matt. “But what if I go to kiss her and she moves or something?”

“We’ll talk more about it later,” Matt replied, looking down by his side before looking back at Ethan. “But now, you just need to chill out about it. Literally.”

Scarlett’s feet were pattering against the floor as she rounded the corner of the couch holding onto a bag of frozen peas wrapped up in a dish towel with both hands, coming to a stop by Ethan’s right knee. “Here Ethie,” she pouted, holding it out to him. “I sowwy for hitting you. It was an assident.”

“Accident,” Matt quickly corrected her, rubbing his right hand down his face. “It was an accident, not an assident. We don’t say that word.”

“Sowwy daddy,” Scarlett replied, if possible her pout getting more dramatic as she raised her arms up higher for Ethan to grab the makeshift ice pack. “Ice peas, daddy say it help.”

“It’s okay, Scar. I know it was an accident.” Ethan took the frozen bag of peas and re-wrapped it up before pressing it against the left side of his face and looking at Scarlett, sighing. “And I’m sorry for yelling, I promise I wasn’t yelling at you.”

“Hug kiss?” She asked, holding out her arms and puckering up her lips, filling her cheeks up with air.

“Come here,” Ethan put the bag of peas back down onto the ground and opened his arms.

Scarlett smiled as she walked in between his legs and Ethan picked her up, resting her on his lap where she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug, then leaned back and gave him a kiss where she blew a raspberry like Matt does every time he tucks her into bed. “I love you, Ethie,” Scarlett said, hugging him again and resting her head down against his chest.

“I love you too, Scar,” he replied, hugging her back.

“Daddy say it's naptime,” she said, bringing her left hand to her mouth. “You read my book and we watch ducks, please?”

Ethan looked at both Matt and Caroline to see if they’d oppose before standing up and putting Scarlett back onto the ground, holding her hand. “Okay, come on, we'll go to my room.”

“Groot!” Scarlett gasped, trying to let go of his hand and run off, only to not move at all. “Come on Ethie, nap with Groot!”

“Don’t forget to ice,” Caroline said, picking up the bag of peas and handing them to Ethan. “10 minutes on—“

“10 minutes off, I remember.” Ethan nodded, taking the bag of peas before letting Scarlett lead him out of the living room and down the hall to his room.

Caroline sat down on the couch, sinking back against the cushion and exhaled heavily, closing her eyes. “Is it nap time for us too? That was draining.”

“Mm, I was kind of hoping we could do something else,” he said, sliding right behind her and reaching down for her shoulders, massaging them. “Because I don’t know about you, but that was the cutest thing I have ever seen.”

“Which part?” Caroline asked, opening her eyes and looking up at him. “The two of them yelling or Ethan getting hit in the face and worrying about whether or not he gets a kiss on his date tonight?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” Matt laughed, digging his thumbs into her shoulders. “The part where our extremely adorable, already the master of the pout, daughter not only apologized to her big brother, but then asked for a hug and a kiss. And said big brother pulled her onto his lap and did just that.”

“I suppose that was really cute,” Caroline sighed, smiling slightly. “Did you see how she called the movies ducks? That might be the thing Ethan will be most proud of. Getting his little sister obsessed with the Mighty Ducks movies.”

Matt laughed and moved his hands up her shoulders and to her face, cradling it. “We should have another one.”

“Another one what?” Caroline laughed, widening her eyes. “Because I know for a fact we’re not talking about another kid.”

“Well I guess you’re not Mrs. know it all after all, because that’s exactly what we’re talking about,” he pouted, letting go of her face as she sat up and turned towards him. “I mean, E’s a great big brother, Scar was a pretty easy baby and you saw that cute moment they had. Tell me that didn’t give you baby fever.”

“It was pretty cute,” she replied, turning around and bringing her legs up onto the couch, standing up on her knees as she faced him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “But Scar’s not even two yet.”

“Brady and I are barely two years apart,” he shrugged.

“Yeah, but Ethan drove me crazy throughout the first few months of his terrible twos phase,” she sighed, pouting at him. “How about we talk about it a little more and then once she’s two, we’ll see how everything is?”

“Works for me,” he smiled, leaning down and kissing her before pulling back. “But we can still practice right? Maybe right now?”

“Definitely not right now.”

“Tonight when the kids are asleep?” He replied, kissing her again.

“Mmmm, assuming Scarlett does well in her crib tonight,” she laughed, patting his shoulders and standing up off of the couch. “But for right now, we need to drop off the laundry in Ethan’s room, then check on the clothes in the dryer, maybe switch over the stuff in the washer and then double check with Melody’s parents she can still go and what time to be ready and–“

“You know you should probably breathe a little,” Matt joked, picking up the hamper she’d been carrying earlier. “You go check and I’ll go drop this off with E.”

Caroline nodded as they went separate ways, Matt down the hall and her to the laundry room. The washing machine had stopped, but when she opened the dryer door to check on the clothes in there, they were still a little damp. She closed the door and added more time to the cycle before turning the laundry room light off and walking back out into the hall, where she could see Matt standing in the doorway of Ethan’s room, the laundry hamper on the floor next to him..

“What are you–“

“Sh,” he whispered, looking at her before nodding his head into Ethan’s room, “Look how cute.”

Caroline nudged the hamper away and came up beside him, peeping her head around the corner of the door to see Ethan and Scarlett laying on top of the blankets of his bed. The first Mighty Ducks movie was playing on the tv that they moved from their room to Ethan’s after Matt “couldn’t resist a good sale” and bought a new one for their room, Scarlett’s copy of ‘The Monster at the End of this Book’— which for the moment was her favorite book— was to the right of Ethan and the bag of peas wrapped up in the rag beside it. They were both rolled over onto their left side, Scarlett was hugging onto the stuffed toy much bigger than her, and Ethan had his right arm draped over Scarlett, most likely to make sure she wouldn’t fall or try to leave without him noticing.

“Grab that blanket off the lounge chair?” She whispered, picking up the hamper and walking into Ethan’s room as Matt walked back out to the living room. She put it down by his dresser and walked over to the bed, carefully leaning across them both and grabbing the bag of peas and Scarlett’s book, putting the book down on Ethan’s side table as Matt walked into the room.

He walked over the bed and draped the blanket over the two of them making sure they were tucked in before standing up. “Guess he didn’t really ice the eye did he?” He laughed softly, motioning towards Ethan.

Ethan shifted in his sleep, exhaling heavily as he opened his eyes barely. “What time is it?”

“Don’t worry, go back to sleep,” Caroline said, grabbing the remote from where he’d placed it on his pillow. “We’ll wake you when it’s time for you to get up.”

“Okay,” Ethan nodded and closed his eyes again, moving closer towards Scarlett and laying his head back down on the pillow.

Caroline placed the remote down on his bedside table and then grabbed Matt’s hand. “Come on,” she said, going to walk out of the room.

“Where are we going? He asked, following behind her and out into the hallway.

“To our room,” she smiled, nodding her head down the hall towards their room. “Talk a little more about having another baby. I think Ethan and Scarlett could use a little brother or sister.”

Matt’s eyes widened and he reached back and shut Ethan’s door just barely before resting his hands on her hips and walking them down the hall to their room. He nudged the door open with his foot before bending down and picking her up bridal style, Caroline laughing as he walked them into their room and he shut the door behind him, locking it and walking over to the bed, laying her down on it and crawling over her.

“That’s definitely a conversation I would love to have,” he smiled, closing the gap between them with a kiss, just barely pulling back. “After we practice first.”

“Do you guys really need to be here right now?” Ethan huffed, crossing his arms as the car came to a stop just outside of the Hastings home.

“How else would you pick Melody up?” Caroline asked, putting the car into park and looking at him through the rearview mirror.

Ethan shrugged, unbuckling his seatbelt. “Uber.” 

Matt snorted, shaking his head. “Yeah, over my dead body are you taking an uber at 12. Try 18.” He looked over his shoulder at Ethan. “Now go get your girlfriend, it’s bad manners to be late for your first date.”

“She’s not my–” Ethan huffed again, clearly stressed as he opened his car door, grabbed the bouquet of lilies and got out. “Besides, I won’t need to take an Uber when I’m 18, I’ll have a car.”

“If we even get you one,” Matt replied, looking forward and shrugging. “Don’t think I forgot about you spilling the slurpee on my newly cleaned and detailed back seats after I told you to keep the lid on. Your car will look like a pigsty.”

Ethan shut the door and stomped his way over to Matt’s window, knocking on it until Matt rolled it down. “You won’t need to get me one because I’ll be in the NHL with a contract worth millions of dollars and buy my own car!” He stuck his tongue out and turned around, walking away from the car.

“Nice try, but we share a birthday and you won’t be draft eligible till you’re 19 like I was!” Matt called out the window and laughed as they watched Ethan walk up the Hastings’s driveway. “God, he is so much like you it’s hilarious.”

“Excuse me?” Caroline laughed, motioning towards his window. “He is literally you in every aspect.”

“Yeah, but he gets stressed so easily just like you,” Matt smiled, looking at her. “Kids freaking out his parents are taking him to pick up his girlfriend and chaperoning his first date as if he’s not 12.”

“I here too daddy,” Scarlett said, lifting up her arms from her car seat as she looked at them through the mirror hanging from the middle seat headrest that helped them see her when driving.

“I know princess,” Matt replied, reaching back and tickling one of her hands.

“To be fair, he did say she’s not his girlfriend and you know how he gets when you tease him about it,” Caroline replied, keeping an eye out towards the driveway.

“Please, they may not be official, but they’re totally a thing. We were basically a thing on our first date,” he shrugged, looking back out the window. “And then I asked you to be at the end of the date, so we were official.”

Caroline rolled her eyes, laughing. “Yeah, but we also lived two doors down from each other. I think you’re forgetting the fact that we live in Calgary nine months out of the year.”

“So?” He shrugged, looking back at her.

“They’re 12, Matthew. You’re telling me that they’re going to have a long distance relationship at 12?”

“I don’t see why not,” he shrugged again, turning back towards the window before reaching out and tapping her hand. “Sh, they’re coming this way. Let’s see if he remembers what I told him to do.”

They watched as Ethan and Melody walked side by side towards the end of the Hastings’s driveway. Once they got closer to the car, Ethan walked ahead of her and grabbed the car door on the side he had been sitting on on the drive over, opening it for her. “Thanks,” she smiled, climbing into the car, Ethan closing it once she got inside and walking around the front of the car. “Hi Mrs. Caroline, Hi Mr. Matt.”

“Hi Melody, it’s nice to see you again,” Caroline said, keeping an eye out on the road as Ethan checked to make sure the street was empty before he walked alongside the car.

“Hi Mellie!” Scarlett squealed, waving her left arm out towards Melody. “How you?”

“Hi Scar,” Melody smiled, giving Scarlett a high five. “I’m good, how are you?”

“Good,” Scarlett said, as Ethan opened the door and got into the car opposite of Scarlett. “See my hipotomush?” She asked, holding out the gray stuffed animal that she’d gotten that first summer home in St. Louis after she was born when they took a trip to the zoo.

“It’s hippopotamus, Scar,” Ethan corrected, putting his seatbelt on. “Or hippo.”

“Hipotomush,” Scarlett smiled, holding him up with both hands. “My hipotomush.”

“He’s very cute, Scar,” Melody smiled, grabbing one of the hippo’s arms and shaking it. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. hippopotamus.”

“Ethie no let Groot come,” Scarlett sighed, bringing her hippopotamus down. “Groot’s Ethies best fwend.”

“He is?” Melody smied, raising her eyebrows as she looked over at Ethan. “And here I thought I was his best friend.”

“Groot’s not my best friend, Scarlett,” Ethan said, looking at the toddler. “He’s a stuffed toy like your hippo.”

“My hipotomush not a toy, he my fwend.” Scarlett said, her eyebrows furrowed and her nose and mouth scrunched up. “Mommy, Ethie being mean to my hipotomush.”

“Ethan, apologize to her hippopotamus for calling him fake.”

“I’m sorry Mr. Hippopotamus,” Ethan replied reluctantly.

“Great,” Matt smiled, looking at them through the rearview mirror. “Now go ahead and give him a hug and a kiss like you do for her during nap time.”

“Momm–”

“Matthew, stop it,” Caroline said, giving Matt a look. “Don’t make me turn this car around, I will drop you off at home.”

Matt just rolled his eyes as Ethan relaxed into his seat, Scarlett hummed along to whatever she was thinking about in her head and Melody leaned near Scarlett’s car seat, most likely entertaining the toddler.

“So Melody,” Matt said, breaking the silence as Caroline started to drive towards the roller skating rink. “How’s life in St. Louis? Are you excited for 6th grade? Got any boyfriends?”

“Dad!”

“Matthew!”

Despite the initial choice of subject, the car ride was filled with learning about how school and hockey were going for Melody here in St. Louis, while Ethan also kept her up to date on how his school and hockey were going for him in up Calgary– though Matt teased, once again, that Melody probably already knew all of this since the two of them talked on FaceTime or over texting. Which, of course, Ethan sulked about in the backseat as he tried not to turn red and Caroline gave Matt another warning look.

By the time they got to the roller skating rink, it wasn’t shocking to Caroline that Ethan got out of the car as fast as he could, even urging Melody to do so. The fast departure made Scarlett panic that she was getting left behind, meaning she alternated between crying, calling out for Matt or Caroline or Ethan, and crying some more. At least until Caroline got her out of her car seat, then she realized that she wasn’t getting left behind and calmed down once Matt gave her her hippopotamus stuffed animal.

“Okay bye, we’ll see you later!” Ethan said, waving at Matt and Caroline as Melody walked up beside him.

“What’s this see you later thing?” Matt asked, looking at the two of them as they all started walking towards the entrance of the skating rink. “We’re not just dropping you off and going joyriding, we’re staying.”

Ethan’s eyes widened ignoring Matt’s reply as he turned back around and walked with Melody up to the ticket office line, standing in it as they waited their turn. When they got up to the window, Melody walked up first, ready to ask for and pay for her own ticket until Ethan stepped forward and brought his wallet out from his jeans pocket. “Actually, can you make it two tickets please?”

The man at the ticket counter asked about skate rentals, the two of them choosing yes since they didn’t want to wear their outdoor skates inside the rink and then Ethan pulled out some cash from his allowance he’d, by some miracle, managed to save and handed it over, getting his change, two tickets for their skates back, and a receipt before walking off. Matt paid for two tickets to get inside for him and Caroline, not getting any skates themselves though he heavily considered it and then followed into the skating rink behind Ethan and Melody who were waiting right by the door for them.

“You guys go ahead and get your skates before your sizes are out, we’ll find a place to sit.” Caroline said, nodding at them both to walk ahead.

Melody nodded and went to walk towards the rollerskate and rollerblade rentals, Ethan staying behind and turning around towards them. “You guys are kidding…right?” Ethan spoke quietly, looking every bit stressed and panicked as he was probably feeling. “You’re not actually staying here are you?”

“No, we’re not kidding and yeah, we’re staying here,” Matt replied, putting his wallet into his pocket. “You’re 12, you don’t get solo dates just yet. Wait till you’re 15 like mom and I had to.”

Ethan looked over at Caroline with a pleading frown. “Momma–”

“I’m sorry Ethan, but we’re not leaving two 12-year-olds at a skating rink by themselves, especially since it’s a Friday night and it’s summer, so it’s going to be crowded.” Caroline replied, shaking her head.

“Hurry up or I’ll rent myself a pair of skates and join you guys–”

“No!” Ethan gasped, holding his arms out in front of him and keeping Matt away. “Why don’t you guys just go…sit in the car or something?”

“Because it’s the middle of summer, Ethan. And we’re not killing the battery on A.C. just because you’re embarrassed your parents are in the same building as you,” Matt replied, laughing. “Besides, on our first date, we had our parents literally sitting above us with an eagle eye view and sending pictures, plus Papa Walt on the ice who would intentionally stop by us just to check on us with teammates. So yeah, I’d say you’re pretty lucky right now.”

“We’ll stay out of your guys’ way as best as we can, I promise,” Caroline said, grabbing her wallet from her purse and opening it, handing Ethan a few bills. “This is for food and games, if you need anything, we’ll try to stay over in the jungle gym area.”

“Ethan!” Melody called out, waving her arm in the air. “They need your ticket for the skates!”

“I’ll be right there!” Ethan yelled back, turning back to Caroline and Matt. “You guys promise not to embarrass me?”

“We promise,” Matt replied, picking up Scarlett and sitting her in his lap. “Now go enjoy your date, I promise the ATMs aren’t leaving. Say bye to Ethan, Scarlett.”

“Bye Ethie!” Scarlett yelled over the music, waving her hand as Ethan started walking away. “Where Ethie go, daddy?”

“Ethie’s on a date with Melody,” Matt replied, turning Scarlett around to face him as she stood up on his thighs. “So we’re going to go play over by the jungle gym and try not to embarrass him.”

“I go date too.”

Matt’s eyes widened and Caroline laughed as he shook his head. “Oh no, no date for you. Not until you’re 30.” He leaned in and blew a raspberry against her stomach, getting her to giggle. “Now come on, let’s go find Mommy a table to sit at so you and I can go play. And maybe we’ll get something to eat too.”

Caroline looked over her shoulder as they started to walk off towards the seating area near the jungle gym and saw Melody and Ethan grabbing their skates and going off to find somewhere to sit down to put them on. She pulled her phone out, snapping pictures of the two to send to Melody’s parents, only for Ethan to look up at her with wide eyes of horror. He immediately started mouthing ‘go’ and waving her away and Caroline held her hands up and mouthed sorry before turning to follow after Matt.

“I think I’m turning into our mothers,” Caroline huffed, sitting down in one of the chairs across from Matt and Scarlett.

“That’s not a bad thing, but what happened?” He laughed, putting Scarlett’s diaper bag down into the seat across from Caroline. “

“Oh I know, I love our moms,” she sighed, handing her phone over to him. “But remember any time we went on a date they–”

“Would make us stand there and take a million pictures? Yeah, vividly,” he laughed, looking at the screen. “Tell me you didn’t.”

“I did,” she pouted, taking her phone back and motioning towards it. “But it's not like I asked them to stand there and smile.”

Matt laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah, so you photo stalked instead. Scarlett, can you say creepy?”

“Reepy,” Scarlett said, hugging her hippopotamus to her.

“Matthew,” Caroline glared, locking her phone. “It’s not creepy. It’s his first date, I want pictures so I can embarrass him years down the line.”

“I know, I’m just messing with you,” he said, walking over and kissing the top of her head. “Take all the pictures your little heart desires, but send them to me so I can show the guys and we can all make fun of him too.”

“Daddy, I go slide?” Scarlett asked, pointing at the slide over in the play area.

“We’ll go slide, but you have to give mommy Mr. Hippopotamus first,” Matt said, as Scarlett reached out Mr. Hippopotamus to take before leaning her over. “And now a kiss.”

Scarlett gave Caroline a kiss, and Caroline tickled her leg, smiling. “Have fun, sweetie.”

“Bye mommy, I go slide now.”

Matt readjusted her on his hip and held her closer, turning around towards the play area. “To the slide we go!” He turned back around, pointing at Caroline. “Sneak more photos, please.”

“Got it,” Caroline laughed, giving him a thumbs up as he turned back around and looked out towards the rink to see if Melody and Ethan had made their way onto the floor yet.

Tons of kids were skating on the floor, a majority of them were around Ethan’s age or older and the younger ones that were skating around were either skating close to the edge or with their parents. Caroline did notice that she wasn’t the only parent sitting at a table in the rink by far, which made her feel a little more comfortable with the fact her and Matthew were staying around. Most of the older kids also seemed to be hanging around in the arcade area, and if this was anything like the few times Matt and Caroline would come to the roller skating rink, then the older teens were waiting for when a majority of the kids and tweens to head out for the night before taking the floor themselves– which always happened to be around 9 o’clock.

Right when she was about to turn her focus towards the play area to watch out for Matt and Scarlett, she saw Ethan step out onto the wooden floor and stay close to the edge, holding his hand out for Melody to take. She quickly opened her camera again and snapped a picture as Melody held onto Ethan’s hand and stepped out onto the rink, and then the two of them let go of the other’s hand before starting to skate side by side, Caroline snapping pictures until she saw them getting close. She quickly put her phone down onto her lap and turned sideways, resting her left elbow onto the table and then leaning her head against her fist as she pretended to look off towards the play area, waiting until she saw them skate by her again and then bringing her phone back out and getting another few pictures of them. She sent the photos off to the siblings group chat, along with the parents group chat and then finally opened her message with Melanie, Melody and Nonnie’s mom. Melanie having taken pictures of Ethan and Melody on their front porch when he’d walked up to get her and during the drive over to the rink, having sent her pictures of the two of them from preschool.

Melanie Hastings: I can’t believe they used to be that small! 🙁

Caroline sent the pictures she took, typing up a message.

Caroline Tkachuk: I may have gotten the stink eye for snapping these, but oh well. Matt and I have been ordered to stay out of sight and out of mind until the end 😂

Melanie Hastings: They’re too cute! Craig tried to give Ethan that cliche “have her home by..” speech and Ethan just said “You’ll have to talk to my Mom and Dad, Coach Hastings. They’re the ones driving.” Craig couldn’t keep a straight face and poor Mel was just traumatized.

Caroline Tkachuk: You should’ve seen E’s face when we told him we were staying. You’d think we were dressed in clown costumes there to embarrass him. I’ll try to get some pictures for you guys throughout the night, so don’t worry, we’re keeping a good eye on them.

Melanie Hastings: I know you guys will. Craig and I won’t be home from dinner until 11, but Nonnie should be home from her plans with some friends by 9. Melody knows to text Craig or I when you guys leave and also Nonnie to make sure.

Caroline Tkachuk: Okay, that sounds great. Have a good date night!

Melanie Hastings: Thank you, we will!

Getting ready to put her phone down, she saw a message pop up at the top of her screen.

Ethan 🏒: Tell dad 2 stop taking pics plz 😩

Ethan 🏒: His flash is on 😒

Caroline looked up to see Matt standing against the netted fence of the play area, Scarlett on his shoulders and his phone out in his hand, and sure enough, a quick flash coming from his phone.

Caroline: Don’t worry, I’ll tell him.

Caroline: Now put your phone away, it’s not good date etiquette.

Ethan 🏒: Thank u 👍🏻

Caroline left her messages and went to her favorite contacts, clicking Matt’s name and bringing the phone up to her ear. She watched as he looked at his screen and then brought the camera down, answering her call and bringing his phone to his ear. “Hello?”

“Your flash is on you know,” she said, watching as he looked at his phone and then looked over towards her. “Ethan texted me to tell you to stop taking pictures. Maybe turn the flash off before you try again, hm?”

“Shit, okay thanks,” he replied, looking back over at the rink. “Did you get any more pictures?”

“Tons, and I have the better view, so you can stop being a creeper,” she replied, smiling at him.

“Daddy, go play!” she heard Scarlett whine, also watching her pat the top of Matt’s head.

“Okay, we’ll go,” he said, keeping a hand on her left leg as he looked towards Caroline. “You’ll keep taking pictures?”

“Absolutely. We’ve got two sets of grandparents, aunts and uncles and Melody’s parents requesting pictures for this moment. I’m getting tons.”

“Perfect, we’ll be over in a bit. Scar’s been eyeing this kid's hotdog for the last two minutes.”

“Good thing we brought snacks then,” Caroline laughed, shaking her head. “Love you, let the toddler play and tire her out.”

“Sounds like a plan, love you too.”

She watched as Matt hung up the phone and then brought his phone up towards the rink one more time, this time no flash before putting his phone back into his pocket and then helping Scarlett down off of his shoulders

Another message notification popped up from Matt and she opened it to see a picture of Ethan and Melody on the other side of the rink, still skating side by side and the both of them smiling and looking as if they were in the middle of a conversation.

Matty 💙: How’s this for incognito? 😉

Ethan and Melody had skated for the first hour before they ventured off the floor and over to buy some food, actually having to sit at the table with Caroline, Matt and Scarlett because there were no available tables. Matt and Caroline both tried their best not to ask any questions that would possibly embarrass the two of them or cause Ethan to give them a glare, and Scarlett had offered more than kept the two of them entertained by also trying to steal their slices of pizza despite Matt continuing to try and get her to snack on the puff snacks they’d brought along with them.

Once they finished eating, the two went back off to the arcade for about ten to twenty minutes before making their way back out onto the floor to skate again, and then Matt went off to go buy him and Caroline two slices of pizza and Scarlett some chicken tenders that, every time she noticed whenever Ethan and Melody would skate by, she’d either try to offer it to them or wave it at them. Something Caroline had to consistently get on her for since she almost dropped it onto the rink floor. They were waiting for the yawns to start, especially when they gave her the sippy cup of breastmilk from their freezer stash that they were almost through with until they could fully wean Scarlett onto cows milk. Unfortunately, the milk did not make Scarlett tired like it normally did and they were stuck trying to keep her occupied since the play area was now filled with tweens taking breaks from skating.

So anytime Matt or Caroline had to get up, whether just to walk around, throw trash away– they always took Scarlett with them, holding her hand and letting her walk to try and get rid of some excess energy she had. This included when Caroline told Matt that she’d be right back because she had to go to the bathroom. And the mere mention of the bathroom had Scarlett perking up and saying she wanted to go too. Caroline knew that the chances of Scarlett actually having to go to the bathroom were slim, because at home, Scarlett would follow absolutely anyone into the bathroom if you didn’t close the door in time. The first time she followed Ethan into the bathroom, she was crawling and 10 months old. He was absolutely traumatized and kept trying to get her to leave, but anytime he picked her up and placed her outside of the bathroom door, she cried. So, Ethan let her into the bathroom and then called out for Matt or Caroline to come and get her.

Most recently, since Scarlett found out that Madeline got to wear “princess undies” and asked Matt and Caroline if she could have some too, they’ve spent the better half of the last week and a half trying to potty train her. The first four days were a mess, quite literally. She absolutely refused to use the training potty they’d gotten for her, because she wanted to use the “big kid potty,” but they told her that once she got used to her training potty, then they’d see about letting her use the “big kid potty.” So far they were going on three nights in a row of Scarlett not having a wet diaper in the morning, and always announcing when she needed to use the bathroom by saying “go potty, please” and then they would take her to go use it if they were at one of their parents house or out of the house, but if they were at home, she would walk herself into the bathroom downstairs and use it.

By no means was it easy, and every time she used the potty correctly Caroline or Matt would give her some cut up strawberries which she absolutely loved, and while they wanted to try and stay away from bribery, Matt was the one who started it by bribing Ethan with m&m’s to clean his room when he was younger, and it since carried over to Scarlett’s potty training– though he likes to call it “a reward system” and with that change of perspective, they were both on board– though it would stop since Ethan no longer gets m&m’s for cleaning his room.

Surprisingly though, this time around, Scarlett actually did have to use the restroom, waiting until Caroline was done going before asking for help to unbutton her white bodysuit, already having taken down her leggings and making Caroline laugh at the eagerness to use the toilet. Unfortunately, there were no strawberries in the diaper bag, so she was promised some strawberries in the morning for breakfast, but was nonetheless excited to run out and tell Matt about the feat.

“Daddy guess what!” Scarlett smiled, running the short distance over to where Matt was sitting at the table.

Matt turned in his seat leaning over and resting his elbows on his knees. “What? Did you see Elmo over in the arcade?”

“No,” she giggled, bouncing on her feet before throwing her arms in the air. “I go pee-pee in the big kid potty!”

“What?” Matt gasped, a smile on his face, reaching out and picking her up. “You did?”

“Yeah!” She smiled, clapping her hands together. “Mommy says I get berries for breakfast.”

“I don’t know, we might have to do something better for this monumental occasion,” Matt sighed, shaking his head as he placed her down onto his legs, letting her stand up on him. “Like maybe pancakes with berries.”

“PANCAKES?” Scarlett squealed, turning around and looking at Caroline. “Mommy, I get pancakes please!”

Caroline laughed, sitting down in her chair and nodding. “We’ll make pancakes tomorrow.”

“Yay!” Scarlett cheered, bouncing up and down. “Pancakes, pancakes!”

“Why don’t you tell Ethan your big news, Scar?” Matt said, pointing out at the floor. “See him and Melody coming around? When they get closer you should tell him about the pancakes too.”

Scarlett crawled up onto the table and sat on her knees, leaning back against her shoes and resting her hands on the edge, waiting for Ethan and Melody to come around. “Ethie!” Scarlett yelled, who knows if Ethan could hear her over the music. “Ethie!”

Ethan and Melody stopped just in front of their table, staying close to the edge so no one would run them over. “What’s up? Is something wrong?” Ethan asked, looking at Matt and Caroline.

“Ethie, I go pee-pee in the big kid potty!” Scarlett smiled leaning over the edge to try and give Ethan a hug. “We have berries and pancakes tomorrow, Mommy and Daddy say so!”

Ethan looked at Matt and Care, his face starting to turn red at the fact that his little sister was announcing out loud her potty training, and was desperately trying to tell them to help him out since it was clearly embarrassing.

“That’s awesome Scar!” Melody smiled, holding up her right hand. “Can you give me a high-five?”

“Mhhm,” Scarlett nodded, using her own right hand to hit Melody’s before holding her hand out for Ethan. “Ethie, five too?”

“Yeah, come here,” Ethan sighed, reaching over the edge and picking Scarlett up and giving her a hug. He carefully put her back down and held up his hand for a high-five, Scarlett smiling and hitting it. “We can even watch a movie tonight too–”

“Ducks!” She cheered, throwing her arms in the air. “We watch ducks, please?”

“Okay,” Ethan laughed, nudging her back away from the edge so she wouldn’t fall over. “Ducks it is.”

“Annnnd this is when we let Ethan and Melody keep skating, Scar,” Caroline said, putting her arm in front of Scarlett so she didn’t try to get closer to the edge. “Say bye.”

“Bye!” She waved as Ethan and Melody moved away from the edge and continued to skate around the rink. “We play games daddy?”

“Yes we can,” Matt said, reaching out for Scarlett.

“And now we’re going to go ahead and play the first slow song of the night, meaning clear the floor if you’re solo and go ahead and grab that special someone because now it’s time for couples skate.” The DJ announced, as the previous upbeat song faded out, the different colored disco lights above had changed color patterns and a new slower song started to play.

“Actually,” Matt smiled, grabbing his phone out of his pocket instead. “Let’s stay and watch Ethan and Melody for a bit.”

“Do you think they’ll stay on the floor?” Caroline asked, ducking down slightly as she grabbed her own phone.

“They better, he called it a couples skate and they’re on a date.” Matt replied, slowly trying to raise his phone. “The better question is if he’ll hold her hand.”

Taylor Swift’s Lover remix started to play and they both kept a secret eye out for Ethan and Melody as they skated around the rink and the solo people got off of the floor, the two of them still skating side by side and not holding hands.

“Pst, Scar,” Matt whispered, poking her side. “When Ethie comes by, tell him to hold Melody’s hand,”

Caroline’s jaw dropped as she looked at him. “Matthew–”

“Ethie, hold Mellie hand!” Scarlett yelled, leaning fully against the edge with a pouty face as Ethan and Melody skated by, but thankfully they were gone by the time she had added on “because daddy said so!”

“Okay, you go play in the arcade, stop embarrassing him.” Caroline said, waving Matt off. “I’ll get pictures or a video, but you need to go tire her out.”

“Come on Scar,” Matt sighed, picking her up and propping her up on his hip. “Let’s go see if we can win any cool prizes.”

As Matt walked away, Caroline kept trying to nonchalantly keep an eye out on Melody and Ethan, both who looked to be a little bit embarrassed by Scarlett’s outburst, but at least were still skating together on the floor. As much as Caroline and Matt had wanted Ethan to step out of his comfort zone on his first date, they knew exactly what he was feeling. It was one thing to be on your first date and be unsure of what to do, when to hold their hand or if you were going to kiss or not. But it was another to worry about all of that and then have your parents be in a close vicinity. So while she did tell Matt she’d take pictures, she really was trying to make it seem like she wasn’t paying that much attention to the two tweens– not wanting to add any more pressure from being chaperoned onto the already nervous date.

But the moment that she saw Ethan hold his hand out and motion for Melody to copy him and then saw Melody do the same, only for Ethan to smile and hold Melody’s hand– she knew exactly what he had done and where he’d learned it from. Because it was always how Matt used to get her to hold his hand between that period of being ten years old all the way until they were dating.

“Hey Care?” Matt asked, the two of them sitting on the side of the boat and waiting for fireworks to start over the lake.

“Hm?” She asked, looking up from her newest read of the summer, Tuck Everlasting, and turning off the book light clip she’d bought at the scholastic book fair this year.

“I want to show you something,” he replied, turning towards her, reaching out for her book and dog eared the corner of the page she was reading. “So put the book away.”

“Don’t fold my pages!” She gasped, smacking his hand away and quickly unfolding the page, placing her bookmark in the book upside down, her own method of reminding herself which page she was on. “And if it’s another bug, go show Brady instead.”

“It’s not, just put the book down so I can show you,” he huffed, rolling his eyes.

Caroline rolled her eyes back and placed her book down in her lap before turning to him. “What?”

“Okay, so put your right hand out like this,” he said, holding his left hand out just ahead of him, his palm facing the air.

“Matthew, if you’re going to play a trick on me, I’m not in the mood. I’m burnt–”

“Just do it, Caroline,” he replied, bringing out the full name, a smile on his face as she rolled her eyes again and held out her right hand, copying exactly what he did. “Okay, ready?”

“I swear to God Matthew, if you slap my hand or–” she paused once Matt placed his left hand on top of hers and intertwined their fingers together. “Oh.”

“Ha,” he smiled, his face red with a slight sunburn and his hair still wet from his shower. “I got you to hold my hand, now you have to hold it until the fireworks are over.”

“Okay,” Caroline smiled, shrugging her shoulders as she opened her book with her left hand. “That just means you have to turn the pages for me.”

Still smiling, Matt nodded his head. “Okay.”

Caroline didn’t care if she wasn’t hiding her phone that well as she snapped pictures of the two of them skating hand in hand as they skated by her and around the rink. And she knew for a fact that Ethan had seen her, because as she looked back in one of the pictures, she could see him looking directly at the camera, but miraculously, or maybe because she had already taken the picture before he had the chance to drop it, he was smiling.

“Mommy, look!” Scarlett smiled, Matt sitting her down on the table as she showed Caroline the plastic container with a red lid. “I won prize. Open please!”

Caroline grabbed the plastic container known to mostly come out of the quarter machines with the knobs you turn and looked at Matt. “What? Your prize winning skills are lacking?”

“That’s the only one she wanted to play,” he replied, plopping down in the seat across from her. “We didn’t even get into the arcade or past those machines. I tried to tell her they weren’t real games, but she insisted.”

Caroline opened the plastic ball, taking the lid off to reveal the white piece of squared paper, and when she picked it up and flipped it over, it was a flaming heart with an arrow through it– a temporary tattoo. She looked at Matt, holding it up. “Really Matthew?”

“She’s the one who picked the machine. I told her it was tattoos and not a toy.” He replied, shrugging as he dug through the diaper bag in search of the baggy of cut up celery. “But someone got her mommy’s stubbornness.”

“Yay heart!” Scarlett smiled, reaching for the tattoo and holding it in her left hand, pointing at Caroline. “I be like mommy!”

Matt grabbed Scarlett and turned her to face him. “How about we put your tattoo right here on your arm where everyone can see it instead of where mommy’s is?” Matt asked, placing the paper down in the middle of Scarlett’s forearm.

“No Daddy,” Scarlett frowned, lifting up her light blue striped shirt, only to show her white bodysuit, and pointing right where her heart was. “I wan here like mommy.”

“Sorry princess,” Matt replied, tugging the shirt out of her grasp and pulling it down. “But no tattoos there until you’re 18 and mommy and I can’t tell you no,” he smiled, handing her the tattoo, “So pick a spot on your arm and go ahead and stop pouting, because daddy isn’t changing his mind.”

As Caroline handed him a bottle of water and he got to work on putting Scarlett’s temporary tattoo on her, Lover came to an end and more people were brought onto the rink, yet Ethan and Melody were still holding hands.

“Did you teach E the ‘I want to show you something’ hand holding trick?” She asked, looking away from the rink and towards Matt.

Matt smiled, pouring some water into a small towel they had in the pockets of the diaper bag, nodding his head. “Yeah, he asked me how to get Melody to hold his hand, or something along the lines of how to hold hands on a date. So I told him about how I used to pull that trick on you all the time when we were kids to get you to hold mine. Why?”

“Because I watched him pull that exact trick out on Melody when they were skating,” She smiled, opening the photos and sliding her phone over to Matt. “Don’t worry, I got pictures of the evidence.”

“No kidding?” Matt held the damp towel against Scarlett’s arm and looked down at the phone, smiling as he swiped through the pictures. “Huh, then he’ll probably take my kissing advice too.”

“What kissing advice could you have to give him at 12?” She asked, rolling her eyes. “Stuff your mouth with fifteen mints beforehand so your breath doesn’t smell like dinner?”

“Ha ha, very funny,” Matt replied, rolling his eyes. “But no, it was much simpler than that.” He lifted up the towel and placed it down onto the table, looking at Caroline with a smile. “I told him not to get their braces stuck together, because we’d have to go to the nearest fire station to get them unstuck with wire cutters.”

“Kiss daddy,” Scarlett said, puckering her lips.

Matt laughed, giving her a kiss before carefully peeling off the paper backing of the tattoo to reveal the heart on her arm. After blowing on it a few times, he held it up so Caroline could see. “There you go princess, a tattoo like mommy.”

“Yay!” Scarlett smiled, turning around and showing Caroline. “See mommy? I like you now!”

“Very pretty, princess,” Caroline smiled, holding onto her arm and looking at the tattoo.

“Kiss please,” Scarlett replied, puckering her lips up again.

“Of course,” Caroline laughed and pulled her closer to her side of the table before giving the toddler a kiss. “Why thank you, Scarlett. Now how about you put your jacket on because it’s getting a little cold in here.”

“Okay, mommy,” Scarlett nodded, Matt handed Caroline the jacket from her diaper bag and Caroline put it onto her, zipping it up. “Hood too?”

“And your hood,” Caroline nodded, putting the hood onto her head. “There you go.”

“Cuddle with Ethie now?” Scarlett asked, a frown on her face as she looked out towards the rink for Melody and Ethan.

“Ethie’s busy, princess,” Matt said, turning her around. “But how about some cuddles with daddy and Mr. Hippopotamus? Would that be okay?”

“Okay,” she nodded, letting Matt pick her up and rest her in his lap. Caroline handed over Mr. Hippopotamus and watched as the toddler hugged it to her chest and snuggled down into Matt’s chest, staring out towards the rink.

Matt rested his chin down on top of her head as he held her close to him and looked at Caroline with a smile. “Change your mind on that thing we talked about earlier yet?” He asked, taking a quick glimpse down at Scarlett.

“Mmm, I might be able to be persuaded,” Caroline shrugged, taking one of the celery sticks out of the snack back and biting it.

Scarlett gasped, looking at the bag. “I want one please!” Matt grabbed a celery stick and handed it to Scarlett, who just snuggled back against Matt and just held onto the stick, not even eating it.

Matt kissed the top of her hood as he rubbed her back and looked at Caroline with a smile. “We’ve got the rest of the summer to practice and talk.”

It wasn’t supposed to be different.

Well, yeah, it was supposed to be different from when she first kissed him on Valentines Day when they were eight-years-old, and all of the times they’ve hung out every summer just the two of them– but not this different. Just because they weren’t just “hanging out” and were on a date, doesn’t mean that it was supposed to be different at all.

His parents never told him that it felt different on their first date to the school dance or what they called their “official” first date to Papa Walt’s pre-season games. They always played it off as if it felt like any other time they hung out together, but then they were more than just best friends. Everything was fine when he asked her if she wanted to go on a date, it didn’t feel any different because they were at the rink just having fun and practicing with his Dad, BeeBee and some of their other NHL playing friends. 

“What are you doing this weekend?” He asked, the two of them picking up pucks from the end of the rink that they had to themselves.

“Um, I don’t think anything,” she shrugged, dumping the pucks she’d gathered in her practice jersey, down into the bucket. “My parents are going on a date for their anniversary, so I’ll probably just be home with Nonnie since she’s visiting from Texas for a bit since Andrew’s got a lot of road games this whole week. Why?”

“No reason,” Ethan replied, shaking his head as he ducked down into the net, keeping his back to her as he closed his eyes in frustration.

‘Stop being a scaredy cat, just ask her.’

“Actually, there is a reason,” he replied, standing up just slightly and hitting the top of the net with his head, forgetting it was there and immediately feeling his face and ears heat up in embarrassment.

“Here,” Melody laughed, bringing the bucket over. “At least we’re still small enough to where we don’t lift the entire nets like our dads.”

Ethan nodded, moving out from under the net and dropping the pucks he’d picked up into the bucket. “Papa Walt just says that my dad has a big head.”

Melody looked over her shoulder towards where his dad and everyone else was, tilting her head to the side and then looking back at him with a smile. “I’d say it’s slightly bigger than average.” She carried the bucket with them as they went to the corner boards, putting the bucket down onto the ice. “So what’s the reason? You said there was a reason why you were asking…what is it?”

“Oh uh,” Ethan cleared his throat, bending down and stacking a few pucks in his hands as he stood back up and dropped them into the bucket, shrugging. “Just seeing if maybe…we can hangout.”

“Like we are right now?” She asked, tossing more pucks into the bucket.

“Well, I mean…yeah, but no,” Ethan replied, shaking his head and picking up more pucks. “Like this, but not this…not during the day, maybe at night or something?”

“Eth–”

“Okay so a date!” He huffed, dropping the pucks into the bucket and when he looked at her and saw the shock on her face, his heart dropped and he felt nervous. “Maybe…if that’s okay?”

“So…it won’t be just us hanging out like we are right now?” She asked, furrowing her eyebrows. “But a date? Like a date, date?”

Ethan blinked, unsure of how to reply. He just kind of figured she’d say either yes or no, not that he’d have to explain himself. He’s never even been on a date before, so how was he supposed to know if there was really a difference? “Yeah. Like a date, date.”

Melody smiled, first it was a closed lipped one and then it grew, showing off her turquoise braces. Ethan may have hated his braces and thought that they made him look like a major dork, he’d always thought hers were pretty from the moment she sent him a selfie the day she got them. Not that there was ever a moment when he thought anything about her was ugly, but the braces, like everything else about her, just seemed to fit and make her prettier.

“Yeah, I’d love to,” she nodded, picking the bucket back up. “I’ll have to ask my mom and dad first though, but I doubt they’ll say no.”

“Really?!” He smiled, catching himself in excitement and clearing his throat. “I mean, yeah…me too. Ask my mom and dad, not yours. I don’t think mine will say no either, because they really like you. I mean I like you too, but they–”

“Ethan?” Melody laughed, cutting him off as she looked at him.

“Yeah?” He asked, skating beside her as they brought the full bucket of pucks to center ice.

“I already said yes,” she reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder, still smiling as she shook her head. “So relax, you dork.”

Yeah he was nervous actually asking her, but who wouldn’t be? It was him asking his best friend in the entire world on a date– their first date– so it was still kind of a big deal. But after that, once he asked his mom and dad and they talked to Melody’s parents, the rest of the week felt normal. He talked to Melody, hung out with her and nothing ever felt majorly different. But from the moment they pulled up in front of the Hastings’ he was nervous. It didn’t help that while he didn’t have a total black eye from where Scarlett had whacked him with the toe of her mini-stick, he did have a small amount of red swelling and slight bruising just along his left cheekbone like his mom said he most likely would.

Despite his parents hanging around in the rink with Scarlett and being within eyesight of him and Melody, Ethan was still able to have a pretty fun time. They skated a lot, challenging each other to see who would get around the rink faster or even just catching up on their lives in school of things they hadn’t managed to discuss throughout the school year and keeping up with each other every day. He talked about how different school was in Calgary compared to Shadowlawn and how he got to walk with Adam every day after school over to the high school where their mom’s worked.

Everything was going great, even when they decided to stop for something to eat and realized that they had to sit with his parents and Scarlett. It wasn’t that bad, because Scarlett was like a nice buffer in the switch from skating on the rink to sitting down and talking with his parents and getting entertained by Scarlett trying to tell them about the slide…that and she kept trying to steal the cheese or pepperoni off of their slices, especially his, even if she was holding a punch of puff snacks in one hand that their dad had been trying to feed her instead.

The worst part of the night, and it wasn’t even that bad really, was how when they went to the arcade, he spent the remainder of his allowance that he’d saved up for tonight, trying to win her a stuffed animal from one of the claw games. He tried, she tried, and the cycle continued before he eventually ran out of money and she did too, so they went back onto the floor. Of course not without Scarlett not trying to get them to stop every time that they skated by, even almost dropping a chicken tender on the floor and Ethan could already see that play out in his head where an employee would ask his parents to leave because of the toddler dropping chicken tenders onto the floor where someone ran it over and broke a leg. Then if they left, that meant he and Melody would have to leave because they already said that there was no way they were going to sit in the car while the two of them were in here.

“What’s your next excuse?” Melody laughed, out of breath as they both slowed down and moved towards the inner part of the skating circle. “You tripped on a chicken tender?”

“Ha ha, very funny,” Ethan replied, rolling his eyes as he slowed up beside her. “But no, no more excuses. You’re clearly a better skater than me.”

Melody smiled, bumping her shoulder against his. “I think I might get that in writing so one day when you’re in the NHL and competing in fastest skater, I’ll have it as proof that I’m a better one and you know it.”

“Or you could just train me so that way when I win and they pull me off to the side for an interview and ask, I can give you all the credit,” he smiled, the two of them still standing shoulder to shoulder.

“I’ll be sure to draft up a price chart for your lessons every summer,” she replied, nodding her head, looking ahead of them, then pointing. “I think your parents are waving us over…or at least Scar is.”

He looked over just ahead of them to see Scarlett sitting back against her shoes on the table yelling something, but he couldn’t quite hear her over the music. But it was the fact she was staring right at them that told him Melody was right. They kept the pace, moving themselves closer to the edge as they rounded the corner right by where his parents were sitting at the table, coming to a stop just in front of it.

“What’s up?” He asked, Scarlett staying where she was and not saying anything as he looked at their parents. “Is something wrong?”

“Ethie, I go pee-pee in the big kid potty!” She smiled, scooting herself all the way to the edge and reaching her arms out to try and hug him. “We have berries and pancakes tomorrow, mommy and daddy say so!”

The one person he could rely on not to embarrass him in front of Melody, just turned on him at the worst possible moment and with the worst possible thing. Sure, Scarlett is a cute toddler, but the last thing he wants to talk about on his date is the fact that his little sister just used the adult toilet for the first time. Melody was the youngest sibling, she didn’t have any younger relatives and she’s only ever been around Madeline and Scarlett whenever she was around him– but never once did a potty training conversation ever come up.

“That’s awesome Scar!” Melody smiled, holding her right hand up for Scarlett. “Can you give me a high-five?”

“Mhhm!” Scarlett nodded, using her own right hand to hit Melody’s before holding her hand out for him. “Ethie, five too?”

Ethan blinked in awe that Melody never even cringed at Scarlett’s bathroom announcement. To him the moment the news left Scarlett’s mouth, he wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. He could even feel his ears and face start to heat up with embarrassment…until Melody was the one who broke through the slight awkward silence with excitement. That made everything a little less embarrassing for him, and what really sealed the deal was how Scarlett was looking at him. It was hard enough that she was a cute toddler and had the chubby baby cheeks like he’d had in all his baby pictures, but she had their mom’s eyes and she was pulling off the puppy dog pout the way he’d taught her to and it just made him think of her being sad and then their mom being sad…and he hated thinking of that or even seeing it.

“Yeah, come here,” he sighed, reaching over the edge and picking her up, feeling her squeeze her arms around his neck as he hugged her. When he put her back down onto the table, he held up his left hand for a high-five and Scarlett smiled, hitting his hand. “We can even watch a movie tonight too–”

“Ducks!” She cheered, throwing her arms in the air. “We watch ducks, please?”

He couldn’t help but smile. Not like he hadn’t been training her to watch and enjoy the mighty ducks movies with him since she was a baby, he totally had and it was clearly paying off very well. “Okay,” he carefully nudged her back a little away from the edge,  not wanting her to fall over. “Ducks it is.

“Annnnd this is when we let Ethan and Melody keep skating, Scar,” his mom said, moving her arm in front of Scarlett so she wouldn't try to get closer to the edge. “Say bye.”

“Bye!” Scarlett waved as Ethan and Melody moved away from the edge and continued to skate around the rink.

“She’s cute,” Melody said, nodding behind them. “Makes me wish I had a younger sibling.”

Ethan nodded. “Yeah, she’s a lot of fun when she’s not whacking me in the face with a mini stick or trying to follow me into the bathroom.”

“Oh come on, you love her,” Melody teased, reaching up and poking his cheek. “Admit it. She’s the best thing to ever happen, because I know for a fact that you’ve been dying for a brother or sister since forever.”

“I didn’t say that I didn’t love her. She’s just, a lot sometimes, because she always wants to be around me,” Ethan laughed, shaking his head as he looked at her. “Bathtime? I always have to be there. Before I used to just sit on the toilet while my mom or dad gave her a bath, but now I just put on my swim trunks and get in with her because she wants to play with toys. And when we brush our teeth, she likes to sit on the sink and brush her teeth with me. She won’t let our mom or dad put the toothpaste on her brush, only me.”

“Sounds to me like she really loves her big brother,” Melody said, nudging him again.

“And now we’re going to go ahead and play the first slow song of the night, meaning clear the floor if you’re solo and go ahead and grab that special someone because now it’s time for couples skate.” The DJ announced, as the previous upbeat song faded out, the different colored disco lights above had changed color patterns and a new slower song started to play.

All of a sudden, just when things were starting to feel like they were normal– like it was them being two best friends just on a date– the stupid DJ pulls a stunt like that. Maybe it was because he was too young to ever really pay attention to the fact that there was a couples skate, but now he was well aware and his heart was thumping against his chest as he started to notice that one by one, people who weren’t in a pair were walking off the rink. And those that were? Well, they were holding hands and still skating along.

At least he knew the song– it was one his mom always used to listen to when he was younger. She’s still to this day a big fan of Taylor Swift. But it’s still pretty awkward to skate to a song called lover, on their first date…when technically, they weren’t even a couple. So were they allowed to stay skating around? Oh God, what would his parents think? He could easily hear the teasing from his dad now and at least he knew that his mom would step in to defend him from it, unless she took part in it too and–

“Hello? Ethan?” Melody said, waving her hand in front of his face. “Are you in there?”

“What?” He asked, shaking himself out of his thoughts. “Oh, yeah…sorry, I was just trying to figure out what song it was. My mom listens to her music all the time.”

“Nonnie does too.” Melody nodded, the two still skating side by side as they kept getting passed by couples.

“Ethie, hold Mellie hand!” Scarlett yelled, fully leaning against the edge of the rink, her signature frustrated pout on her face as the two of them skated by.

Unfortunately, this time he was able to hear what she was saying…which meant that Melody could too. And that was only confirmed when he could see her tuck her chin into her chest out of the corner of his eye. And there was no stopping himself from turning red right there. Just when he thought that Scarlett could come through for him…she does this.

He was definitely looking forward to the day where he didn’t need chaperones on his dates.

“So um…sixth grade!” Ethan said, quickly changing the subject. “School dances and stuff… are you excited?”

Melody shrugged her shoulders, chewing on the inside of her cheek. “I guess. Chloe said she thinks Benji might ask me to the winter one because he asked me to be his Valentine this year.”

“Oh,” Ethan frowned, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I thought you liked the stuff I sent you?”

“I did, I did!” She nodded, suddenly looking shocked. “I just— he asked me in front of the entire class and you know how my mom says I’m too nice for my own good…so I only said yes so he didn’t get embarrassed. And I told him that after school, and that you’d asked me first.”

And he did. Another time of saving up as much of his allowance that he could, though he needed a lot of assistance from his mom and dad— because while he’d sent a box filled with her favorite candies, two books and a teddy bear, his parents also helped him pick out an edible arrangement for her to eat as well. They asked him if he wanted to or anything on the card and he said yes and told them not to look while he typed it up and then made sure they didn’t see it when they filled out the payment information.

He’d written— “Mel, Happy Valentine’s Day. Will you be my Valentine for the fourth year in a row? xx E”

She texted him back a yes and funny enough, a few days later, right on Valentine’s day, he’d come home to a box on the front porch from her. Filled up with m&m’s, a pack of hockey trading cards, a cool St. Louis Blues shirt and then even one of her own trading cards from the season…signed of course.

“What about you?” She asked, fidgeting with her fingers. “Are you excited for school dances and stuff?”

“I don’t know if they do them in junior high in Canada…or at least not in Calgary,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders. “My mom and Mrs. Elizabeth chaperoned the formal this year…which I guess is like a prom. But I think that’s the only one they have.”

“That sucks.”

“Not really,” he replied, shaking his head as she looked at him. “Cause if I was going to go to a dance, I’d want to go with you.”

She smiled again and he’s known her long enough to know when she was blushing or flustered. But it was how she tucked some of her curls behind her ear that he knew she was just as nervous as he was. “I’d want to go to a dance with you too. So are you free for prom when we’re seniors in high school?”

They both laughed as Ethan just nodded and moved his head side to side. “I’ll probably be playing for the Knights by then…so I think I can manage that.”

“I like that you’re following in your dad’s footsteps,” she said, their nerves easily fading out. “I think it’s really cool, but I also hope you make it your own, you know?”

“Oh I will,” Ethan replied. “I plan on beating every and any record he made. I only wish my birthday was maybe a day or two later so I could at least beat him for being younger too when I get drafted.”

They continued to skate around the corner and Ethan looked around at all of the strictly couples only who were skating with them. Every– and literally, every single one of them…were holding hands. It was a couple skate and they were on a date. If she didn’t want to hold his hand, the worst she could do was say no. But then a part of her must like him enough to want to hold his hand since she said yes to going on a date with him. He felt himself get nervous on how to initiate it– but then he remembered the advice his dad gave him.

“Hey dad?” Ethan asked, putting the mini sticks nets away in their corner of the living room as his dad was leaning against the back of the couch, double checking that everything was in the diaper bag.

“What’s up, E?” He asked, looking up from the bag and zipping it.

“So when you’re on a date,” he turned around, slowing down his actions as he collected the mini sticks and the ball. “How do you like…hold her hand? I-I mean I know how, but like…how do you get her to?”

His dad smiled, nodding him over. “I’ll show you the trick I always used to get your mom to hold my hand when we were your age and younger before we started dating.”

Ethan placed the sticks and ball on top of the net and walked over to his dad, leaning against the couch arm. “But I don’t want to trick her into holding my hand…I want her to actually want to hold it.”

“If she doesn’t want to then she’ll just let go of your hand dude, relax. Now watch,” he said, taking a deep breath, exhaling and then rolling his shoulders forward before nodding at him. “I want to show you something.”

Ethan furrowed his eyebrows. “I thought you already were?”

“What? No, that’s— this is part of it. You tell Melody ‘I want to show you something’ and when she asks what, you tell her to put her right hand out like this,” his dad laid his hand out in front of him, palm up. “Or whichever hand you’re going to hold. But for right now, put your left hand out…do it.”

Confused, Ethan copied his dad and put his left hand out ahead of him, palm up. “And when she does, you just,” his dad reached for his hand and held it. “And voila, you’re now holding hands.”

“And that actually works?” Ethan asked, as his dad let go of his hand.

“Worked on your mom all the time.” He smiled, nodding his head. “The first time I did that was one summer when we were at the lake. We were 10 and I told her that she had to hold my hand until the fireworks were over. She did.”

Ethan nodded, leaning fully against the arm of the couch and bringing his feet off of the floor, “I kinda have one more question.”

“If you want to ask before your mom walks in, I’d make it quick. She’s the one who can get Scarlett not to put up a fight with what to wear.”

He shrugged, not wanting to look at his dad as he asked and instead focused on the sliding glass door to the backyard. “So if we were to kiss what do I do?”

“Well for one, don’t get your braces stuck together because then we’d have to go to the nearest fire station so they could use their wire cutters to get you both unstuck,” his dad replied with a smile as Ethan looked at him in panic. “But E, you guys have already kissed. I think you know what to do.”

“But we were eight!” He whined, resting his chin on his arms. “It was just a peck that lasted like two seconds.”

His dad raised an eyebrow. “So what? Are you planning on making out with her right then and there in the skating rink?”

Ethan’s face crinkled as he rolled his eyes. “Gross, dad, no. But I don’t want it to be a two second peck on the lips.”

“I gotcha,” his dad laughed, leaning his arms against the back of the couch. “Well, kissing is really just something you pick up along the way the more you do it, E. You read off of each other. So tonight, if you choose to kiss her or her you, just go off of what you feel. If you choose to do it, you can just kiss like you did when you were eight and then pull away after a few seconds and go for a second one. But do you want two pieces of real advice I can give you besides that?”

“That’d be nice since it’s what I asked for originally.”

“Dork,” his dad rolled his eyes, reaching out and nudging his head. “But really Ethan, the four most important things when it comes to kissing are this.” He held up his right thumb finger, “turn your head slightly to the right before you kiss, that one comes from Aunt Clara so thank her for that.”

He held up his index finger, “read off each other, don’t just smash your mouth against hers, okay? You have to be gentle with it.”

He held up his middle finger last and looked at him. “If and this is a big heavy if, you two do decide to make-out, make sure I am nowhere nearby because I will not only chirp you about it until I’m dead, but it will be embarrassing for both of us for many, many years.”

“And lastly, but most importantly,” he held up his ring finger. “When you’re kissing her, make sure you’re touching her also. Whether that’s her face like you see mom and I do, her waist or even just holding her hand. It’s a little more romantic if you’re touching in some way, got it?”

“Got it.”

“Hey Mel?” Ethan asked, taking his hands out of his pockets.

“Yeah?”

“I want to show you something,” he replied, holding his left hand out just like his dad had taught him to. “Put your right hand out like this.”

“Okay?” She replied, looking confused as she did what he asked and looked at him. “Why?”

Ethan smiled and moved his hand over towards hers before flipping it over and intertwining his fingers with hers— officially holding her hand. “Nothing, but it got you to hold my hand. Now you have to hold it until the song is over…or not, I-I mean you can do whatever you want to do because my mom says that nobody can tell you what to do—“

Melody laughed and squeezed his hand, smiling at him. “Okay.”

“And even if you don’t want to kiss her just yet, a kiss on the cheek is good too. I always did that to your mom even after we kissed at the school dance.” His dad smiled, reaching out and nudging his arm. “It’s a nice sentiment to let her know you care.”

Ethan quickly looked over his shoulder to see his mom was looking down at her lap, probably on her phone and he looked back at Melody, quickly leaning over and kissing her cheek before moving back. Melody looked at him, just as surprised as he was that he actually did it. But what he didn’t expect her to do, was skate closer to him to where their shoulders were touching versus having that hand holding distance between them. She leaned in, kissing his cheek before resting her head on his shoulder for just a second before standing close to him still, the two of them continuing to skate to the music.

And even as the seconds ticked on, he swore he could still feel her lips on his cheek and the warmth that had spread across his entire body the moment she did it.

When it started to near 9 o’clock, Caroline broke their promise of making sure they were out of sight and out of mind, flagging Ethan and Melody down and telling them to be ready to leave and be at the car by 9 o’clock, so that way they would leave with the younger crowd and wouldn’t get caught up in the older crowd for the night. Immediately after the warning, the two of them had done one more lap before getting off of the rink, turning in their skates and putting their shoes back on.

“Momma,” Ethan huffed, coming to a stop next to their table. “Can I have $20?”

“Sure, but where’s Melody?” Caroline asked, pulling her wallet out of her purse.

“Waiting by the arcade, I promise I’ll pay you back. I just want to try and win something for her or else I’ll look like a total dweeb.”

“Better make it $40,” Matt said, holding onto the half chewed celery stick Scarlett had started to eat before she opted for the puffs instead. “If his arcade game skills are anything like they were back when he was eight, it’s a lost cause. You were the one who won Groot, Care, remember?”

“Groot?” Scarlett asked, looking up from the puffs lid. “I want Groot!”

“No Groot,” Ethan said, pointing at Scarlett. “Groot doesn’t leave my room.”

“Groot my friend,” Scarlett said, sticking a puff in her mouth. “Mine.”

Caroline shook her head and sighed as she handed him the $20. “You both have your shoes and your belongings with you?” When Ethan nodded his head she waved him off. “9 o’clock Ethan, we’re heading out the door. Got it? That means you’ve got ten minutes.”

“Yes ma’am, thank you!” He said, immediately turning around and running to wherever he’d left Melody standing last.

“No more puffs, Scar,” Matt said, moving the toddler’s hand from trying to dig into the container. “It’s way past your bedtime and you should be sleeping, not snacking.”

“I not tired, daddy,” Scarlett said, crossing her arms and pouting. “You tired, you go sleep.”

Matt huffed, nodding his head. “Yeah, daddy is very tired. Which is why you should be tired.”

“Mr. Hipotomush tired?” Scarlett asked, looking down at her stuffed animal sitting on the table before looking back at Matt, shaking her head. “Mr. Hipotomush no tired, I no tired too.”

Caroline laughed as she packed up the diaper bag, taking the celery stick from Matt. “Scar, I know you’re excited to watch ducks with Ethie, but you might have to do that in the morning,” she said, eating the rest of the celery stick.

“No mommy!” Scarlett pouted, eyes instantly filling with tears. “I wan watch ducks night! Ducks with Ethie!”

“Sorry princess, but it’s past your bedtime and you’re going to fall asleep the moment you and Ethie lay down to watch it. And we need you to sleep in your big girl bed,” she said, tossing their trash in the trash can that was behind them since they had the corner table. “You like your big girl bed, remember?”

It wasn’t much of a real big kid bed, just her crib that was transformed into a toddler bed instead, so she wasn’t constantly trying to climb out of her crib and risk falling down onto the floor. Especially after the incident when she was a year old where Ethan had accidentally dropped her onto the floor while trying to help her out of her crib and she cried to the point where they thought she broke a bone– only to find out that she hadn’t been injured at all. But still, it wasn’t uncommon for Scarlett to find her way out of her bed and room in the early morning hours and crawl into Ethan’s bed.

A habit that Ethan doesn’t really mind, but would also prefer not to be woken up from time to time because Scarlett can’t climb up onto his bed and is demanding for him to pick her up.

“Ducks my room,” she said, grabbing her hippo and cuddling against Matt’s chest, looking away from Caroline and up at Matt. “Ethie sleep in big girl bed too.”

“Ethie’s too big for your big girl bed, princess,” Matt said, looking at her. “Maybe tomorrow during nap time, Ethie will take one with you again in his room.”

Her pouty bottom lip quivered as she shut her eyes and ducked her head down into her chest and then her 24 pound body started to tremble with sobs and hiccups. “N-no b-b-big girl,” she cried, her left fist rubbing at her left eye as her face was turning red from crying and her right arm, which had Mr. Hippopotamus clutched in its hand, reaching out for Caroline. “D-ducks b-bed, m-mom-mommy.”

“And I think this is our cue to leave,” Matt sighed, standing up from his chair and walking over to Caroline and handing a leaning Scarlett over to her. “I’ll grab the diaper bag and go start the car.”

“I’ll find Ethan and tell him to meet us out there.” She nodded, adjusting Scarlett’s hood onto her head as she sniffled into her ear and clung around Caroline’s neck for dear life.

They walked towards the entrance of the skating rink as more teens started to file into the building and towards the skate rental and rink floor. Matt walked ahead of her as Caroline stopped at the arcade and tried to skim through the crowds of people that were in it, spotting Ethan and Melody at a claw machine midway through the arcade. She made her way through the crowd of people, coming up beside them as Ethan went to put in another token.

“Your dad and I are going to the car, Scar’s getting tired so we’re just going to go ahead and get her settled in. I still want you guys out the door at 9 o’clock though, okay? No hanging around.”

“Yes ma’am,” he and Melody said, nodding as they turned their attention back to the claw machine.

She turned back around, rubbing Scarlett’s back since the toddler was no longer crying, still just sniffling quietly, and made her way back through the crowds and then out the exit door of the skating rink and across the parking lot to where Matt had started the car and was waiting at the trunk, leaning against the back of the car.

“Want me to put her in the seat?” Matt asked, standing up straight as Caroline got closer.

“No it’s okay, I’ve got it, you can get in the car,” she said, walking over to the passengers side back door and opening it as Matt walked around to the drivers side. “Okay, Scar you gotta let go of mommy’s neck so she can put you in your car seat okay?”

“No,” Scarlett mumbled, digging her head further into the crook of Caroline’s shoulder.

“How about if mommy sits back here with you?” Caroline asked, trying to get the toddler to look at her. “Will you get in your car seat then? And I’ll sit back here with you until Ethie and Melody get back?”

Scarlett leaned back, nodding her head as Caroline stood her up on the back seat. “Yes please.”

“Okay, climb on in and I’ll sit back here with you.” Caroline smiled, taking Scarlett’s jacket off and then using the sleeves to wipe her cheeks before kissing her cheek and letting her climb into her car seat and sit down. Caroline sat down and closed the door behind her and scooted closer to Scarlett’s car seat, starting to buckle her in as Scarlett hugged onto her hippopotamus.

“Keep an eye out on them, Matt?” Caroline asked, sliding her hand beneath Scarlett’s buckle and softly rubbing her stomach to see if it would get her to fall asleep.

“Were they almost done?” He asked, looking at her through the rearview mirror.

“I don’t know, but I told him 9 o’clock still, so he’s got about,” Caroline peeped at the clock on the touch screen, nodding. “Two minutes to be outside.”

Caroline leaned her head against the headrest of the middle seat as she watched Scarlett slowly start to drift to sleep, only an hour past her bedtime. She kept rubbing her stomach softly, just until she was sure that Scarlett was fast asleep. Scarlett wasn’t a light sleeper by any means, it always took a little extra effort to get her to sleep and to wake her up from a nap, so Caroline knew that if she kept rubbing her stomach for the next two minutes, along with Scarlett having cried so hard, then she would be fast asleep in no time.

“Sh, is that them right there?” Matt asked, whipping his head around and staring through the rear window.

“Matthew, quiet!” Caroline whispered, nodding down at Scarlett. “But what are you talking about?”

“Turn around,” he said, nodding back and Caroline followed his gaze, looking through the back window. “Right there by the exit door, is that them walking out and getting ready to stand by the wall?”

Caroline squinted, trying to figure out in the group of kids walking in and out of the rink, were the two that belonged to them,  until she spotted just who Matt was talking about– and sure enough, it was Ethan and Melody. “Yeah, that’s them. Do you think they forgot where we parked? Hold on let me get out and–”

“No!” Matt said, reaching back and smacking at her hand, shaking his head. “They definitely didn’t forget where the car’s parked. Your car literally has an #7 junior-flames hockey sticker on it.”

“Then why are they just standing there?” She asked, turning back and peering through the window.

“He asked me earlier when you were getting Scar dressed about how to hold her hand and kiss her, so if I’m guessing right, he’s probably going to kiss her.”

“What?” Caroline gasped, looking back at him. “But he’s a baby, he’s only like 8.”

“That’s what you said when he actually was eight and kissed Melody the first time, only you said he was four.” Matt laughed, rolling his eyes. “There, there mama bear. The first little cub is just growing up.”

“I know,” she frowned and sighed, looking down at a still fast asleep Scarlett. “Now I know how our parents feel. It sucks but is also equally awesome to watch them grow.” She looked back over her shoulder to see Ethan and Melody talking, both of them sort of shielded by a car parked nearby. “We should probably give them privacy.”

“Are you kidding?” Matt scoffed, motioning towards the back window. “Besides, this is revenge for all the times he cockblocked me. Not to mention while our parents didn’t see our first kiss, my dad wasn’t afraid to literally tap on the glass during a break on the ice because he saw me kiss you before his shift change. Plus I want to see if he took my advice.”

“Good point,” Caroline replied, turning around in her seat and looking out the window while partially trying to hide behind the headrest. “Do you see a stuffed animal? I hope he was able to win one for her. I know he was–”

“Sh!” Matt gasped, hitting the front passenger headrest. “What’s he doing? You’re closer. Is he holding her hand?”

Caroline rolled her eyes. “I’m barely closer and it’s dark–”

“What’s he doing? Hand, face, or waist?”

“What?” Caroline asked, looking at him over her shoulder. “What the hell are you talking about Matthew?”

Matt sighed and rolled his eyes. “I told him that when he kisses a girl, he should be touching her. Either her face, her waist or holding her hand. So turn back around and tell me if braceface is following my advice.”

Caroline shook her head and tried to lean forward more. “Uh…” she squinted more, tilting her head to the side. “Both? Maybe?”

“Both? Care I gave you three–”

“Fine, fine um…well he’s holding her right hand and–” Caroline’s eyes widened as she gasped, reaching back and reaching for Matt’s hand that was resting on the side of the passenger seat. “He moved a hand to her cheek, Matthew.”

No sooner than she said that, did Ethan lean in closer to Melody and from where she and Matt were sitting in the car, it looked like the two of them were kissing.

Caroline was smacking at Matt’s hand, pointing out the window. “Matthew, he's kissing her, they’re kissing!”

Ethan pulled away, but just a short moment later, Melody leaned back in and kissed him again, causing Matt to swat at Caroline’s hand. “Stop swatting at me and enjoy the fact that our son has major game like his dad.”

Caroline turned towards Matt, raising an eyebrow as she snorted. “Alright, sure we’ll go with that.” When she turned back around, the two were still kissing before finally pulling away and then the both of them started to walk away from where they were standing and back in a more clear view, headed towards the car holding hands.

“Shit, turn back around,” Matt huffed, quickly turning forward and adjusting his position in his seat before turning the radio up just a little bit. “Act natural.”

Caroline carefully turned forward in her seat, but propped the car door open just enough to where whoever got in on this side would know that someone could be back there and then pretended to double check Scarlett’s buckles.

“Oh hi, Mrs. Caroline,” Melody said, opening the door and standing just outside of it. “Did you want to sit back here with Scarlett?”

“Oh no, that’s fine sweetie. She just wanted me to sit back here with her until you both got back,” Caroline said, scooting out of the seat. “But she just fell asleep so just try to be a little quiet when you get in. She shouldn’t wake up, but just in case.”

Melody nodded and let Caroline get out of the car before Caroline switched places with her and then went to close the door once Melody got inside, only for Ethan to close it first. “So you won a claw machine prize after all?” Caroline asked, noting how Melody had been carrying a stuffed Patrick Star plush.

“I tried to get the Scooby Doo one because that was her favorite cartoon when we were little, but his head kept slipping through the claw,” Ethan nodded, shrugging his shoulders. “And somehow I grabbed Patrick on the last try…so I don’t have any change for you, sorry.”

“It’s fine Ethan, I’m just glad you had fun,” she smiled, nudging his back. “Now go ahead and get in the car.”

He nodded and walked around the back of the car to the drivers side and Caroline opened the front passenger door and got in, closing it behind her. “Alright, time to go home. We’ve got a curfew to meet and multiple bedtimes have been delayed. Ethan’s included–”

“Dad!” Ethan groaned, barely done with putting his seatbelt on as he glared at Matt. “I don’t have a bedtime!”

“Ethan Matthew!” Caroline said, turning around and looking at him. “Your sister is sleeping, quiet down.” She turned to Matt, nudging his elbow as he put the car into reverse. “And Matthew, stop teasing him. We get it, it’s past your bedtime.”

“Not all of us can be youthful tweens,” Matt teased, rolling his eyes as he started to pull out of the parking lot. “And some of us need our beauty sleep. Ethan is most definitely one of– ow!” He looked towards Caroline, furrowing his eyebrows as he rolled his right shoulder. “What was that for?”

“Figure it out,” she replied, giving him another look before relaxing into her seat. “Melody, your mom said that you know to text her and Nonnie when we were leaving the rink. Don’t forget to, sweetheart.”

“Yes ma’am, I’m doing it now.” Melody replied, the light coming from her phone screen being the only source of light in the backseat.

They listened to the radio play softly on the car ride home, Melody asking Matt about the last season and about the upcoming season and then Caroline about how she likes teaching at her new school and how her mom misses working with Caroline and that she said Coach Preston was having trouble finding a new teacher to bother. By the time they pulled up to the Hastings’ house, only Nonnie’s car was in the driveway, which allowed Matt to pull up so Ethan and Melody didn’t have far to walk.

“Thank you for driving us tonight, Mrs. Caroline and Mr. Matt,” Melody said, unbuckling her seatbelt and opening her door. “And thanks for letting us go, I had a lot of fun.”

“Of course, Melody. It’s always a pleasure getting to hang out with you,” Caroline replied. “Tell Nonnie we said hi and that I still give her permission to smack Andrew upside the head every once in a while if it’s deserved. She can even say it's from me.”

“Okay, Mrs. Caroline,” Melody laughed, nodding her head. “Goodnight!” They waved goodbye as Melody closed her door and Ethan was already standing there to walk up with her to the front door…which also just so happened to be out of sight.

Matt nudged Caroline, a smile on his face. “How much do you want to bet he’s gonna do a cliche front porch kiss too?”

“Leave him alone, Matthew,” she sighed, shaking her head as she laughed. “Why do you always have to embarrass him?”

“Because it’s fun, out of love and a rightful dad passage.”

“Chew.” A soft sound came from Scarlett’s car seat, the both of them looking back towards her.

“Scar, sweetie are you awake?” Caroline asked, turning around.

“Hold on, I got this,” Matt said, unbuckling his seatbelt and opening the door, getting out of the car and then getting into the back, sitting in Ethan’s seat and sliding over next to Scarlett. “Well good morning princess.”

“Chew,” Scarlett smiled, stretching in her car seat as much as she could.

“Oh bless you,” Matt smiled, leaning down and kissing her forehead. “Hm, must be allergies, because she doesn’t have a fever.”

“No, daddy,” Scarlett giggled softly, pointing up at him. “Matt-chew.”

Matt’s face deadpanned as Caroline’s jaw dropped and then she started to laugh. “No sweetie, I’m not Matthew, I’m daddy. Dah-dee. Daddy.”

“Matt-chew.” She giggled again.

“Why are you doing this? Go back to sleep,” he whined, looking at Caroline. “Did Ethan do this? Is this normal? Why does she hate me?”

“She probably thinks it's funny, Matty,” Caroline sighed, nodding at him. “I mean, look how worked up you got.”

Matt looked back down at Scarlett, pouting. “Scar, you love daddy, right princess?”

“No daddy,” Scarlett said, shaking her head as he yawned and pointing at him again, smiling. “Matt-chew.”

He sighed, hanging his head down as he shook it. “You’ve forced me to take extreme measures princess,” he looked back up at her and pointed at him. “I’m daddy. Dad-dee. Dah-dee. Daddy. Not Matthew or Matt-chew.”

“Matt-chew.”

Matt sighed again, shaking his head. “Okay, no ducks.”

“Matthew!” Caroline gasped, eyes wide. “Don’t torture the poor girl.”

“Ducks, daddy!” Scarlett cried, whining slightly as she held both arms up. “Ducks, daddy please?”

Matt smiled, looking at Caroline with an ‘I told you so’ look before leaning down and kissing Scarlett. “Of course, princess. Daddy was just joking.”

He got out of the car and left the door barely closed before getting back into the driver's seat and closing his door. A few moments later, Ethan came walking down from the front porch and towards the car, walking back around towards the drivers side and getting into the backseat, closing the door. “Nonnie says hi.”

“Hi Ethie,” Scarlett said quietly as Ethan put his seatbelt on. “Ducks?”

“Oh yeah, ducks,” Ethan nodded, sinking into his seat. “Maybe tomorrow, Scar. I’m kinda tired.”

“Chew! Chew!” Scarlett whined, kicking in her carseat. “Ducks, chew!”

“Bless you,” Ethan said, leaning closer towards her car seat as Caroline started laughing. “What?”

“She’s not sneezing, Ethan,” Caroline said, looking at Matt. “It seems she’s discovered dad’s name is in fact, not daddy. But Matthew.”

“Matt-chew! Ethie watch ducks please!” Scarlett called out, holding her hippopotamus in the air.

“Ethan, just tell her yes and put an end to it,” Matt groaned, both hands on the steering wheel as he backed out of the driveway. “We’ll just give her a warm bottle when we get home.”

Ethan nodded, leaning against Scarlett’s car seat. “We’ll watch ducks when we get home, Scar.”

“Yay,” she smiled, snuggling down into her seat. “Ducks quack!”

“That’s right,” Ethan smiled, holding onto one of her hands. “The ducks quack.”

“So, Ethan,” Matt asked, looking at him through the rearview mirror. “How was your first date? Everything you hoped for? Did you score a second date?”

“It was a lot of fun,” he nodded, trying to hide his smile as they drove down the lit neighborhood streets. “Yeah, I asked if she’d want to go on another one before we go back to Calgary and she said yeah, she just has to ask permission and then we have to figure out when and what to do. Thanks for letting us go.”

“Of course, sweetie. We’re glad you had fun,” Caroline smiled, looking over her shoulder. “So I know we’re not supposed to ask because you get all embarrassed, but are you and Melody dating?”

“No, we’re not dating because we’re both not allowed to date until we’re 13,” Ethan replied, shaking his head as he smiled, this time not holding it back. “But she said if I ask her next summer, she'd say yes.”

Matt and Caroline shared a look as Ethan looked down at his phone, most likely replying to a text from Melody. Matt reached across the center console and held his hand out for Caroline to hold. And when she took it, she intertwined their fingers and he brought her hand to his, kissing her knuckles.

“Feeling a sense of deja vu?” He whispered, just for the two of them to hear.