𝐴𝑢𝑟𝑜𝑟𝑎

Chapter 5 ~ Gushy

Ryder

Practice has been going on for so long that my arms and legs are starting to hurt. I was supposed to pick up Laklyn from Coach Graham's house an hour ago but these kids are really distracted today.

I have never seen Coach Grahams mean side until today, well it wasn't really mean, maybe for him it was.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't distracted myself. All I could think about was Aurora and what the heck she is doing to my brain. I wanted to ask Coach so many questions like how does he know her?

It bothers me that I don't know that information yet. I have been trying to busy myself with this and Laklyn more than I have just so I can remove her from my mind. Because I may never see her again.

She could have been a delivery girl dropping off food for Coach and then there is no way I would ever see her again if that's the case.

"Collins!" I look up from the ice I have been staring at for way too long. Coach looks at me and I look around to see all the kids are gone.

"Ready to close up?' I nod my head and make sure I grab all my things before Coach locks up. This isn't the first time that his wife has watched Laklyn so I know the way by now and I shoot off without him in front of me.

I pull up in front of the coach's house and park on the street, waiting for him to come around the corner. He does so a couple seconds later and we walk up the porch and I stay back as he unlocks the door.

I have never been inside before. I have only seen the front room, but coach invites me in and offers me some dinner. I can't say no to him so I walk in and take off my shoes since I'm not sure what their policy is.

I follow coach into the kitchen and watch as he greets his wife and gets both of us some dinner. I don't see Laklyn around but I'm not worried since Mrs. Graham told me she has a room upstairs and she puts him in for naps.

I sat at the barstool with the coach and we chatted for a little while we ate some leftover pasta. I can see how much the coach loves his wife. And I can only hope that I get that feeling some day.

I look at the clock and see it's almost 11 so I decided it's time to go. "Where's Laklyn?" I ask Mrs. Graham as I place my dish in the sink and begin washing it but she takes it from me and shoves me back.

"On the couch." Never letting her smile falter. I look at the couch and my eyes go wide at the sight.

Laklyn is laying down on Auroras chest. My Aurora. What is she doing here? So many questions. "He has taken a liking to my daughter, wouldn't let her put him down so she ended up napping with him.

I look back to the couch and internally awe at the sight of my son in a woman's arms, securely wrapped around him. I try my best not to smile too wide but I like what I see and I can't deny it.

My brain thinks of a family. A mom figure for Laklyn. Something I wish he had but that got screwed up. I walk over to the couch and take a seat to them and put my hand on Laklyns back and start rubbing it.

To outsiders, this is a picture perfect family photo. We look like a family. I can't help but look at Aurora's face as she sleeps peacefully with my son. Her makeup is off and her hair is down and in front of her face.

Her natural freckles show and so does her dimple, even when she is not smiling, you can still see the dent in her cheek. I try my best to not get so caught up into this mess with her.

I want to put my guard down with her, but why? I have never wanted to do that with anyone and I have always wanted to protect my son.

"Laklyn." I start lightly shaking him to wake him up. I don't want to. If it were up to me I would let him stay here with her forever. Heck I would stay too.

Laklyn starts moving in his sleep and I hope Aurora doesn't wake up. I smile as Laklyn lifts his head up and looks at me through tired eyes.

"Hey buddy." I continue to rub his back as he starts to wake up. I go to grab him but he turns his head away from me and lays it back down on Aurora. "It's time to go to Laklyn." I know he can hear me. He is stubborn when he wakes up.

I grab him once more and successfully get him from Aurora's grasp without waking her. Laklyn starts to thrash in my arms and begins to cry but I start walking out the door so he doesn't wake her up.

"Thank you again for watching him." I turn to thank Mrs. Graham and she nods telling me, "Anytime." She shuts the door and I begin walking to the car and placing Laklyn in his car seat.

He is still not calming down and begins to cry harder but I learned that they always cry themselves to sleep so I let him cry so that I can have a peaceful night of sleep.

I get us home in a half hour and take Laklyn upstairs to his crib. He managed to stay awake throughout the entire car ride and has not stopped crying.

My head hurts from the lack of sleep I have gotten and Laklyn isn't making this easy on me. I decided that tonight he is going to sleep in my room so I can keep an eye on him.

I lift him from the crib and bring him to my bed where I have pillows on the edges to make sure he doesn't fall off.

I get myself ready for bed as I let him cry his eyes out on my bed. It makes me sad when he cries don't get me wrong, but sometimes when you are having a hard day, you learn to let them cry. And I have had a hard day.

From a long practice, to finding out the woman that has been invading my mind is the coach's daughter. Knowing she is off limits hurts me, but maybe it's a sign to not let her in.