The Penalty Box

Chapter 62

Coty and I got up pretty early that morning. Ty had texted around nine to say that he was on his way home for breakfast, so I'd decided on making the full spread.

Coty's arms were wrapped around me the whole time. He barely let me go for anything. Although it made things difficult, I kind of liked it.

"Coty," I laughed, trying to push him away a tad.

"Nope, not leaving," He laughed.

I elbowed his slightly as I reached for the pan on the stove. He laughed and held me just a little tighter. He nuzzled his head into my neck, which is something he'd done for years now.

"I love you," He mumbled, kissing my neck.

"I love you too," I replied," But you better stop, or I'm going to burn your pancakes."

"Not the pancakes," He gasped jokingly.

The front door swung open a couple of seconds later. Ty walked in and kicked off his shoes before closing the door and making his way to the kitchen.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" He questioned.

"Absolutely not," I replied, elbowing Coty off me," Sit, I'm almost done with the pancakes."

"Damn, I forgot you learned how to cook," Ty laughed.

I stuck my tongue out at him and pulled the rest of the pancakes off the pan. Coty grabbed the milk and juice out of the fridge and a couple of cups. Ty gave me a questioning look, he knew it was rare that we actually had a real breakfast together.

"Spill, what's going on?" He asked half way through the meal.

Coty shifted and put a hand on my thigh. My heart started racing, what if he said no? What if he didn't want us to adopt him. There was always that chance, there was that chance that he didn't want to be an official part of the family.

"Two things really," Coty started," We, Callahan and I, have some news."

"How do you feel about being a big brother?" I blurted out.

"Wait what?" Ty questioned.

"Well um...We-"

"Yeah you're pregnant I got that," He replied," Congratulations, but the other bit."

I couldn't help but laugh," We want to adopt you Ty."

"We want you to be this baby's big brother," Coty continued," And we want to be able to say that you're our son Tyler. That is, if you'd like us to."

He shook his head," You guys don't- It's hard to adopt, trust me. I mean, my case isn't the best and I know that you'd be-"

"Tyler Morris, shut up," I laughed," We already talked to your social worker, you dummy. All the paperwork is in line, all we'd have to do is get a judge to sign off."

He looked down and ran a hand through his hair. I looked over at Coty, rather worried because I couldn't get a read on Ty. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, or what he was feeling. Much less if he was actually processing the situation.

He sniffed a minute later and reached to wipe under his eyes, "You guys really want to adopt me?"

"How could we not Ty?" I questioned," You're already a part of this family, all we'd be doing is make it official."

He laughed as tears fell from his eyes. I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't sure if this was actually happening or not. He hadn't really belonged to a family since his own fell apart.

I pushed myself out of my chair and pulled him up to hug him," You're my son Ty, okay?"

He nodded," Thank you."

Coty joined us a second later, and together, we shared our first real moment as a family.

**

"You still don't have to call me mom if you don't want to," I told Ty as we walked into the rink a few hours later," Or change your name if you don't want, we understand."

"No, if you guys are going to adopt me, then I'm going to be a Bruner," He replied," As for the whole mom and dad thing, give me some time?"

"Hey, I don't really care either way Ty. I told you once before that having a sixteen year old call me mom would freak me out," I joked," Same thing still applies now I think."

"Is Coty cool with you being on the ice," He asked me.

"It doesn't really make a difference right now," I shrugged," But Con and Kyler will have to take over practice before the end of the season."

"I'll talk to the guys before that happens, make sure they're all on the same page and stuff," He told me.

"You know you don't have to do that Tyler," I reminded him," The guys want to play, so they'll play."

The guys swamped Ty when we walked in. He was more than just the captain, he was genuinely the glue of the team. Long gone was the kid that first came to the team after running out of options.

"You guys go suit up," I told the few players that were hanging around in the lobby," Practice starts in fifteen."

I wondered on into my office. We'd added to the couple of team pictures I had on the desk. Soon, our first official family picture would be among them.

I smiled and rubbed my hand over my stomach for a brief moment. A lot of things were about to change in our lives, and this baby was going to be a big part of it. But for once, I welcomed the change that was coming.

I grabbed my clipboard and headed for the ice, where all the boys were currently shooting a couple of pucks.

"Alright boys, who's ready to work?"

And just like that, we settled into our practice. The boys worked a little harder. They all wanted to make it back to the National Tournament this year, I just hopped I'd be able to see it through. I hoped this little baby would let me hang around the team long enough to watch it happen.