“Do you have the diapers, Kristoff?” Frank asked.

“Yep. Right here. Give me two seconds. I need to grab the bottles,” I said.

Frank held Ainsley in his arms, lightly bouncing him. Both of them were wearing Addison’s sports jersey. I grabbed my bag of fatherly supplies and ran down the stairs.

“Okay, I’m ready,” I said. “Gosh. I’ve been freaking out all day. Addison’s first game back! This is huge, right?”

“I know I’ve been waiting for this for a while now,” Frank said. “Little Ainsley is excited. Aren’t ya, wittle baby?”

“Yeah, right. Ainsley would rather sit in his bassinet and poop himself all day. He made such a mess last night,” I said, laughing.

“Same with him,” Carl said.

Frank groaned. “Don’t listen to this jerk. He’s joking,” Frank said, defensively.

“Oh, gosh. Okay, that’s our cue to go,” I said.

In the car, Addison called me. I answered on the Bluetooth speakerphone. “Baby, I’m in the janitor’s closet right now. I’m having a freakin’ panic attack,” he said. He was breathing loudly against the speakers.

“Oh, relax. You’re going to do great!” I exclaimed. “We’ve got the whole gang in here. Ainsley, Frank, and Carl!”

“We’re rootin’ for you, kid!” Frank yelled.

“Oh my God! You guys. I love you so much,” Addison said. “Kristoff, I want to ask you for a weird favor.”

“Okay. Do I need to get off speakerphone for you to tell me?” I asked.

Addison laughed. “No, darling. It’s nothing like that. I just wanted to ask if you’d bring Ainsley to the VIP section before I walk out. I want to kiss his sweet face. The other players think he’s good luck,” Addison said.

I glanced in the rearview mirror, at Ainsley. He was smiling at looking out of the window, silently. “Well, he is like a little Buddha,” I said. “Okay, I’ll give you the baby for one kiss.”

“Yes! Thank you. I’ll see you soon,” Addison said.

“He’s excited to see Ainsley. So cute,” Carl said.

“I know. He has been such a good dad, lately. Whenever he has a chance, he’s with Ainsley,” I said.

“The change is so dramatic. Remember when you first told me about Addison? He was such a little shithead,” Frank said. “Now, look at him. Life turned out for the better.”

“I know, and I owe a lot of it to you, Frank,” I said.

“That’s not true. You did it yourself,” Frank muttered.

“Yeah, but you cheered me on when no one else would,” I said. “It means a lot. And you gave me the opportunity to start the charity. You gave me something to fall back on.”

“You’ve always had a purpose, dear. You didn’t know how to utilize your full potential. You both are learning,” Frank said.

This past year was about growing to accept the damage that has been to in your life. It was about moving on and forgiving. Everybody in the world deserved a few second chances.

I parked the car and hurried toward the locker rooms. Frank and Carl departed toward the seats. When I got to the room, I saw Addison peek his head out. “There you are!” he exclaimed. The rest of the guys were all clothed, unfortunately.

“I made it. Right on time,” I said.

“You sure did. Hey guys! Ainsley is here,” Addison announced.

I tiptoed into the locker room. Addison took Ainsley from my arms and held him close to his heart. “Ah, I missed you, son,” he whispered.

Loke, the young man whom Addison had been mentoring, combed through the other tall players. “He’s so handsome!”

“I know, right? He’s a freakin’ model,” Addison said.

“Man, I have the best idea ever. You have to bring him out onto the field!” Loke said.

“Why? So you can use him instead of a football?” I asked.

“Hear me out,” he said. “We all run onto the field as a unit. Then, out of the fog, Addison comes out, holding his baby. The crowd would go insane, and it would piss off your old management team.”

“Andy,” Addison said, laughing. “I do like making him mad.”

I hated this idea more than anything. “What if you drop him? What if something goes wrong? What if a cannon of confetti explodes onto his face?” I asked.

“Honey, I’m not a complete dolt. I know how to hold a baby,” Addison said.

I puffed out my cheeks with stress. “I’m going to regret this, but I’ll let you do it this one time. I’m only doing it so Ainsley can look back and laugh! If he becomes a meme or something, I’m going to be mad,” I said.

“I’ll bring our meme baby right back,” Addison assured me.

Great. Our baby was a meme now. Fantastic.

I reluctantly let my son go. He was the sexy quarterback’s kid now. I smacked Addison’s ass before I made the short trek to find our seats on the sidelines.

“We’re over here!” Carl announced, waving. I ran over to them and sat down.

“A criminal quarterback just hijacked my baby,” I announced.

“Why does Addison have Ainsley?” Frank asked. His big cigar sat against his lips.

The speakers announced that the game was about to begin, so I could only shrug. After the National Anthem was sung beautifully, the team came running out onto the green field.

“I see him!” Frank yelled, pointing.

“No, you don’t. That’s not him. That’s someone else. Where is Addison, Kristoff?” Carl asked.

All three of us stood up. The announcer’s voice boomed. “And we’ve got a special player tonight, folks! Get ready for the comeback kid himself… Addison Matthews!”

I glanced to my left. Andy, Addison’s old manager, was seen on the other side of us. He had a tight grimace on his face.

The crowd went fucking berserk. I had never heard such a loud sound in my life before. “Oh, gosh. Ainsley’s poor ears,” I muttered.

“Huh?” Frank asked.

Addison walked onto the area, looking like a hero who had just come back from battle. In his arms, he held Ainsley. He walked to the center of the field, keeping in time with the beat.

“There he is! Holy crap!” Frank exclaimed, laughing hysterically. “It’s baby Ainsley!” Way to go, Ainsley!”

To my horror, he held Ainsley high into the air. “Oh no,” I whispered. “Don’t drop him. Please don’t drop him.”

The crowd went even crazier. They started cheering both of their names. On the screen, Ainsley’s name could be seen.

Addison didn’t drop our baby, thank God. He walked carefully over to the sidelines, and I sprinted toward them. I took Ainsley in my arm and whispered into my alpha’s ears, “Never again.”

My heart was pumping too much adrenaline for me to handle, but Ainsley seemed to be having the time of his life, and that made me unbelievably happy. Ainsley smiled at me and patted my nose. “Looks like you had some fun,” I said, kissing him.

Watching Addison was a complete joy. I used to sit at those practices back in high school, and now I was here to see him play as an adult. It was incredible to see.

About thirty minutes in the game, I felt two hands fall on my shoulder, and squeeze. I turned around to see Caleb and Dill. “You guys made it! I’m so happy!” I exclaimed.

Caleb kissed my cheeks. “We got stuck in traffic, but we’re here now! I heard that we missed our crazy son walking onto the field with Ainsley. I would’ve had a heart attack if Dill did that,” Caleb said.

“Uh. Yeah. I wasn’t the happiest camper,” I muttered.

Ainsley made a loud gurgling noise. I should’ve known that he’d decide to throw up all over my shirt. “Uh, oh!” I held Ainsley away from me and handed him to Frank.

“Looks like he agrees with you,” Dill said.

I reached for a towel and dabbed at my shirt. “It’s fine. I’m heavily used to this by now. Here, come sit next to me,” I said.

They sat down and watched as their son threw a touchdown pass. All five of us stood up, cheering loudly. We were so proud of him. Most of all, I wanted to jump his bones like crazy.

By the fourth quarter, the San Diego Sand Sharks were down by three points. It wasn’t looking good, and it was apparent that Addison wasn’t feeling too happy.

We all watched Addison throw his helmet on the sidelines. He sat down and collected himself, running his palms over his face.

“I’m getting nervous, guys,” I admitted.

Frank held his cigar in his hands steadily. “He’ll come through. Once he gets a look at his son over here, he’ll get more courage,” he said.

I hoped he was right. At that moment, we were sitting on the edges of our seats. There wasn’t much time left, and they were on the defensive.

The opposing team’s quarterback ducked back and made an impressive pass. The receiver caught the football and earned a first down with ease. A cold shockwave of anger ran through my body.

“Fuck this,” I said. The word just slipped out. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to curse, everyone.”

“No worries,” Dill said. “I’m fucking pissed too.”

Frank let out a deep laugh, but he didn’t respond. It was becoming clear that the other side was going to win this game. Around me, the stadium started to empty. With five minutes left, it was going to be nearly impossible to win.

“Oh, come on!” I yelled. “Get your head in the game!”

The funny thing was I didn’t even enjoy watching sports. But now that Addison and I were committed, I wanted him to win every game that he played. Plus, this was his first comeback game.

And then, in the middle of a huddle, Ainsley let out a loud cry. A few players turned and saw our baby. They pointed because they knew it was Addison’s son. Ainsley let out a shrill laugh.

Addison couldn’t sit still. He sat up on the bench and confronted the coach. We could see them arguing in the distance, but it was impossible to make out what they were saying.

But then, I saw the coach nodding. He pointed at the field. “Oh, shoot! He’s going to go on the defense!” I exclaimed.

“No way…” Carl whispered.

It was unusual, but not unheard of. Addison had a plan cooking in his head, and he was going to have the chance to play it out. The coach called timeout, and then Addison took to the field.

The people that were leaving the stadium stopped to turn around and witness it. The crowd roared with excitement. He put his hand in the air and pointed toward Ainsley and me. My cheeks turned pink as the audience turned to eye me.

The defensive line took formation. The opposing quarterback dropped back, screaming, “Hike!” He aimed with precision.

Two linemen pushed Addison back, but he did something miraculous. Just as it looked like he was going to miss his chance, he dove high into the air.

Addison’s feet cleared the offensive line’s shoulders, as he dove over them. At that moment, everything seemed to slow down for me. We stood up on our feet, cheering for him. We watched as the offensive quarterback threw the ball. Even Andy was standing and cheering for Addison.

Then, Addison caught that ball in an interception. And to put the icing on the cake, he managed to juke out the quarterback too!

The crowd went insane. As Addison ran toward the end zone, the opposing team chased him with no luck. They were going to lose, and it was because of my lover-boy, the man I gave a second chance.

Addison jumped into the end zone. He dropped the ball and fell to his knees. Dropping his helmet onto the field, he revealed the tears in his eyes. He held his hands in the air and cried.

His teammates came rushing onto the field with that big, orange water-cooler in their hands. They dumped the ice-cold contents all over him, and then picked him up on their shoulders.

“We have to go down there!” I said.

“You go, dear,” Frank said. “Us old farts are going to stand guard up here. We’ll meet you after the game.”

“Okay, guys. See you later. Dill and Caleb, are you coming?” I asked.

“Right behind you!” Caleb said.

Addison found us amongst the madness of the game. He was soaking wet and shivering, but I hadn’t seen as big a smile on his face since he proposed to me. He was so happy, and that filled my heart with joy.

I hugged my Addison, unable to let go. “I’m so proud of you. You did it. You really did it,” I whispered in his ear.

“It wasn’t me,” he said. “I looked at you and Ainsley. I saw my whole family together. It gave me all the courage that I needed.”

Addison pressed his mouth to mine with pure tenderness. He left me breathless. And it was over way too fast.

In a tense moment, Andy walked up to us. “Addison,” he said.

“Andy.” Addison stood tall.

Andy cleared his throat. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry. I fucked up by trying to influence the press. I wanted to let you know that I’m done interfering with your life. And I’m fucking proud of you. You killed it today,” Andy said.

To my surprise, Addison hugged him. “It’s all water under the bridge. Thanks, Andy,” he said. Andy bowed his head slightly and smiled.

“All I want to do is spend time with you, our baby, and the family,” Addison whispered.

He put his sweaty forehead against mine. I looked into his deep eyes and said, “I’ll never leave you, okay?”

“Never?” he asked.

“Never, ever.”

END