He huffed.“I told you what was happening.I didn’t kidnap him.”
“You didn’t ask me, and you didn’t tell me till you were already gone.”
His lips pinched.“I don’t get much time with him.”
I whipped around and poked his chest with a finger.“And whose fault is that?You chose to leave us, not the other way around.And since you don’t know him, if he’d gotten sick or hurt himself, what would you have done?You don’t have his health insurance card, you don’t know his medical history.”
“I’d have called you!”
“And if I couldn’t be reached?Or couldn’t answer right away?”
He narrowed his eyes.“Why couldn’t you?Your job with the hockey guy isn’t exactly demanding.”
“Phone networks go down.Batteries die.Phones get dropped and break.Taking him like that, without me preparing?Was irresponsible.”
He huffed a breath.“Fine.Next time I’ll make sure I get all the information.”
“Ifthere’s a next time, you ask first and make sure I agree.He missed a soccer game.And a test at school this morning.Right now, yeah, that’s not a big thing.As he gets older though, it’s a problem.You can’t take him whenever you want.”
Erik firmed his jaw.“He’s my kid!I have a right to see him!”
I drew in a long breath.“We need a proper custody agreement.One that sets down rules.”
He flinched back.“What?One weekend and you want to lawyer up?”
I’d been too easy on Erik, and now it was risking Arne’s future.“You sent me a text message and then ghosted me for three days.That is not acceptable.I didn’t know if you’d even bring him back, and what my rights were if you didn’t.”
He crossed his arms.“Yeah, but mostly you want to get your hands on child support.”
I glared at him.“I haven’t pushed you about money.I’ve let you pay whatever is convenient and didn’t say a thing.Mostly because I didn’t want Arne to know you couldn’t be bothered.But now, if you want to take him for trips and be his dad, you need to step up in all the ways.Time, money,andcooperating with me.”
He looked over my shoulder.“Okay, I was wrong.I admit it.But we’ve been doing fine till now.I swear I won’t take him without telling you again.”
I wasn’t budging, not this time.“I appreciate that.But I still want a custody agreement.”
He glared at me.“Vindictive much?”
“This isn’t about you, or us.It’s about Arne.I’ll do anything for my son.You should as well.”
Erik stared at me for a long minute.Maybe he was waiting for me to cave, like I usually did.But something had to change, and that started with me.
He finally blinked.“Fine.I’ll send you my lawyer’s name.”
He stalked off.My hands were shaking but I’d done the right thing.I needed to protect Arne, and myself.And Erik needed to figure out if he was in or out when it came to his son.He couldn’t fly in for a few weeks, play at being super dad, and then disappear again.
I’d sacrifice myself, but not my son.
Justin
Mia sent a message that Arne was safely home.She didn’t mention what her plans were, so I spent most of the day working out, on the ice and off, and tried not to think of her.The weekend had been magical, but it wasn’t real life.I needed to get used to that.
The next day she knocked on the door and we went straight to my bed.Neither of us tried to define what we were doing, but we both knew there was only a small window of time before I went back to Toronto and she started her next job.As far as her family knew, she was still working.She went to my on-ice workouts, helped with my exercises at home, and we made meals together.
“When did you learn to cook?”she asked when she came down from a post-sex shower and I’d started coq au vin.
“I had time to kill in New York, so I took classes.I’m not bad, but I can’t bake.”
She stood behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist.“Not bad, he says.Do you even use a recipe?”