Why Should You Care Now?

“Damon! Come here, please!” Jordan called out to her three year old son, who was somewhere in the house.

It was eight thirty in the morning and her husband of two years was fast asleep in their bedroom. Jordan wished that she could sleep in like him, but there was no way she could convince her son to sleep in for an extra hour. Not today anyways. Not when there was a party happening in the afternoon for him. It was his third birthday after all. Jordan could feel herself getting emotional about how fast her baby boy was growing up. It didn’t seem that long ago that she had given birth to Damon and now here she was married and still living in Chicago, not too far from Emmy.

“Damon Jonathan Toews, don’t make me come find you.”

The thundering of two sets of bare feet were heard on the hardwood floors as Jordan stood in the kitchen cooking breakfast for Damon and CT who were the only ones besides her that were awake. Both Joey and CT had been staying with her since Emmy had to travel to New York for work. It was hard for her, but she knew that her kids would be fine.

“Hi, Mommy!” Damon shouted before bursting into laughter with CT.

“Hi, buddy,” Jordan smiled. “I need you and CT to pick up the toys in the living room and put them away in your room. And don’t wake anyone up.”

“Then will it be time for the party?” CT asked, his voice held so much excitement that Jordan couldn’t help, but grin.

“Not yet, we still have to go through breakfast for everyone and Daddy needs to go and get the cake and then the people have to come and then the party can really start. So go and clean up.”

Before she had even finished they both darted for the living room. Damon loved having CT around. It seemed that when they were together, he behaved better. At least that’s what she noticed and so did Emmy. Although CT was a bit older, the boys didn’t fight or argue over things like Joey and CT did.

“Aunt Jordan?”

Turning around, Jordan saw Joey sitting at a seat at the kitchen table. “Morning buddy.”

“When does Mom come home?”

“Tomorrow night,” Jordan said. “So I’ll take you and CT back home and you’ll be able to sleep in your own bed.”

“Damon will be staying here with Uncle?”

“There’s no reason for Damon to go,” She smiled, knowing Joey was tired of hearing the two younger boys screaming as they played. Admitting it to herself, there were days when all three boys would drive her absolutely insane if it wasn’t for her husband helping out. “Are you hungry? Want some pancakes?”

“Yes, please.”

By mid-afternoon, Jordan was ready for everyone to leave so that she could sneak away into her bedroom and take a nap and leave her husband with all the kids. Walking out into the backyard with her digital camera, she started snapping pictures of the guests and the kids that were around. It was times like these that she knew she’d treasure, because they wouldn’t be around forever. When she noticed the low battery signal on the camera she knew remembered that she was supposed to change them last night so she wouldn’t forget, but she was just so exhausted that she actually passed out on the couch and woke up slightly when her husband was carrying her to bed.

“Mommy!” Damon called out as he lifted his arms to her.

“What’s wrong, baby?” she asked him as she picked him up and placed him on her hip and he dug his face into her neck. “I thought you were going to look for Daddy?”

“Daddy’s lost. He’s nowhere.”

“Well he’s gotta be somewhere.” Jordan said as she walked out towards the adults.

“Hey, Jordan.” Duncan Keith smiled at her.

“Hey Duncan,” she smiled at him. “Have you seen Jon? Damon can’t find him.”

“He’s talking with Brent over by snacks.”

“Thanks, Duncan.”

Walking away from him, she headed towards the tables where she had set up snacks earlier in the day. “Are you going to hang out with Daddy and Uncle Brent?”

Damon just nodded his head into his mother’s neck, not looking up or anything. As soon as she reached the two hockey players who were talking while snacking on the food. “If you eat all of that, then you both get to put the new ones out.”

“Hey Jordan, hey Damon.” Brent smiled as he took another grape and popped it into his mouth.

“Look, I found Daddy.” Jordan said softly to her son.

His head slowly came off her chest and looked into his father’s eyes. Reaching his arms towards Jonathan, Jordan walked closer to Jonathan so he could take his son from her. “Damon couldn’t find you, so he thought you were lost.”

“Did you find mom so that you could find me, huh?” Jon asked his son as he placed a kiss on Damon’s cheek.

“CT is nappin’ and mommy says not to wake him and Joey won’t play with me.”

“Well did you ask Joey nicely?”

“I did, daddy. I even says pleases like you and mommy say to says,” Damon said grabbing the chain necklace around his dad’s neck. “Can we go swimming now? Mommy said I could go if I wear my floaties and someone go too.”

“I’ve got to help mommy with your birthday cake.” Jon told him.

“I can handle it Jon as long I can get some help with the food trays that need to be replaced.” Jordan said as she glanced over at Brent with a smile upon her face.

“I’ll help you with the trays and I’m sure Duncs will to if you want.” Brent told her.

Jordan nodded her head as she looked over at Duncan. “We need to go and get your swim stuff, buddy.”

“Down, daddy, I gets my Nemo trunks.”

Setting his son on his feet, he watched as he ran towards the house by got intercepted by Duncan Keith, who picked him up and put him over his shoulder and continued towards the house. Damon’s giggling let them know that he was absolutely loving what Uncle Duncan was doing to him.

“Tazer, you did good. That kid has got it made. You two make good looking kids together.” Brent informed them.

“I got lucky, that much is true.” Jon admitted as he wrapped an arm around Jordan’s shoulders. She wrapped her arm around him as well, hugging him.

“He’s a good kid,” Jordan said. “Only one problem with him.”

“What’s that?” Brent asked.

“He’s growing up too fast.” Jonathan answered, knowing what Jordan had been thinking about. With a small smile upon her face, Jordan placed a kiss on Jon’s cheek before walking towards the house. She let out a sigh as looked over at Patrick Sharp who was sitting and talking with an upset Joey. Making a slight detour before going into the house, she walked over to them.

“Joey, what’s wrong?”

Joey looked at Patrick, unsure if he should tell his aunt or not. When she saw Patrick nod his head, Joey looked back at his aunt. “I lost the Diego game.”

“The one for your game?”

Joey looked down and nodded his head.

“Then maybe you should check your backpack.”

Joey looked up at his aunt. “I-“

“You left it in my car when I came to get you from your house. But you don’t need to be playing video games right now. It’s Damon’s birthday party. So how about you go and get your swim trunks on and go swimming with him?”

Nodding his head, he handed the hand held game to her and walked into the house.

“You look tired.” Patrick told her.

“I am,” Jordan admitted. “But Damon is so happy and I’ll be alright as long as the kids go to bed early tonight. At least I can hope they will. But now I have to go and find where Duncan has taken my son to.”

Patrick smiled at her as she walked away with the game in her hand.

Once inside the house, she heard Damon’s crying from his bedroom. Walking at a fast pace she saw him in his room with Duncan who was holding up the pair of Transformers trunks. Damon was having a fit about the trunks which usually meant he was tired. “Damon Jonathan, what is going on?”

“Nemo is gone!” he yelled.

“Hey, you are indoors, that means you use your indoor voice. Does Uncle Duncan have a pair of clean trunks for you?” Jordan asked.

“I want da Nemos.” He cried as he walked over to her with his arms up.

“Do you want to take a nap before you go swimming with daddy?”

“No.”

“Do you wanna take a nap with me?” she asked.

“In your bed?”

“Yeah, so go grab your favorite blanket and head to my room.”

“How tired is he?”

“He is very tired,” Jordan laughed. “He barely could go to sleep last night. I’m sorry he’s acting up.”

“You look like you could use a nap as well.” Duncan smiled.

“That’s why I suggested my bed. Mommy gets to nap and so will the little monster.”

“You are spending too much time at work.” Duncan told her.

“Only if that were true,” Jordan smiled. “If you are heading back out there, can you tell Jon that me and Damon are napping and tell him to keep an eye on Joey. CT should be up in about an hour and that’s how long Damon usually sleeps for, so you can tell him to expect us then.”

“We’ll find something to amuse ourselves with.” Duncan smiled at her.

“You are a good man, Duncan Keith.” Jordan told him as she headed out of Damon’s room and to her bedroom.

“I can’t get up.” Damon said, waiting on her side of the bed where she normally would sleep.

Picking him up, she set him on the bed before getting on herself. It was a fairly large bed, so she knew there was plenty of room for her to stretch out with her baby, who wasn’t really a baby anymore. Three years old today. So much time had passed and so many things had happened. Getting married, a contract renewal with the Blackhawks and watching her son grow up. It was three of the best years of her life. She couldn’t have asked for a better life. At times she thought about her life before coming to Chicago, when she was engaged and ready as she’d ever be to get married. Then the worst thing happened. He died in the line of duty. She knew she had to get away after that, so she came to Chicago after a job offer from the Chicago Blackhawks, she knew that her brother and his family would welcome her with open arms, and that was exactly what they did. She had escaped the painful reminders of what she had lost that day, until her brother died the same way. It had nearly killed her. She went out that night with the intention of a one night stand, and that’s what it had been at first. Then she realized she had sex with the one person that she hadn’t really been able to get along with since joining the Blackhawks organization, Jonathan Toews. During her whole pregnancy, her relationship with Jonathan had been rocky and it was a bit strained after the birth of their son, but now it was just solid and she was happy with it.

“Mommy will all of ‘em be gone if I take a nap?” Damon asked as he crawled over to where Jordan was laying on the other side of the bed and lay down next to her. “I no wants ‘em to leave.”

“I’m sure that everyone will still be here when we wake up.”

“You naps too, mommy?”

“I’ll be right here, sleeping. Now close your eyes and let’s take a nap.”

It had felt as if she had just closed her eyes when she felt Damon jumping on the bed. Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw just that, Damon jumping on the bed as Jonathan entered the bedroom. “I was just coming to see if any of you were awake. CT is up and Brent is getting him changed into a pair of swimming trunks. You wanna go swimming, bud?”

“How about cake first and then swimming?” Jordan asked as she sat up.

“But we hafta wait to swim.”

“That’s right, but we are still going to do cake,” Jordan told him. “How about daddy gets you into a pair of swim trunks and you can play while I set up the cake outside?”

“C’mon, daddy!” Damon said as he stopped jumping and slid onto his belly and off the bed. “Wait, we didn’t tell mommy we loves her. Loves you mommy. Your turn daddy.”

With a smile and a shake of his head, Jonathan looked at Jordan who was grinning. “Loves you mommy.”

“Now we can go and mommy will get da cake!” Damon shouted as he took his daddy’s hand and ran out of the bedroom.

Watching them leave the bedroom, Jordan stretched and just laid back down and let out another yawn. Closing her eyes for a second, she knew if she stayed this way, there might be a big chance that she wouldn’t be getting back up anytime soon. Slowly she got out of bed and headed to the bathroom that was connected to her room. Checking her appearance, she ran her hand through her hair before leaving the bathroom and walking out of her bedroom altogether.

Walking into the pantry to get the happy birthday plates and cups, Jordan gasped in surprise as she felt a hand cover her mouth. Then she felt a pair of lips on her neck as they moved up to right behind her ear, before the pair of teeth took her ear lobe in-between into their mouth and bit down on it. Letting out a moan, Jordan felt herself being turned and the hand dropped from her mouth to her ass. “I can’t believe you snuck in a nap, leaving me wanting to take advantage of you while the kids were sleeping.”

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” Jordan sighed. “Someone could catch us.”

“Let ‘em.”

“We can’t.”

He silenced her as he brought her closer and claimed her lips in a searing kiss. She had to wrap her arms around him to make sure that she didn’t lose her balance and fall. That was the kind of kiss he would give to her, it was the kind that she craved for. Running her fingers through his hair at the nape of his neck, Jordan stopped when she heard someone walking towards the pantry. The footsteps stopped and she backed away from the man in front of her. “I love you.” He told her.

“I know you do,” she smiled. “And you know I love you.”

“You had better,” he grinned at her. “After all, I did put a ring on your finger.”

“That’s not the only thing you did to me.”

“I think we should tell everyone today.”

“Jordan?”

“I can’t seem to get any alone time with my wife today it seems.”

“That’s because it’s Damon’s day and not yours.” She smiled as she grabbed the cups and plates as she walked out of the pantry she saw Duncan Keith standing there.

“What do you need, Duncan?”

“I was wondering if you needed help, I figured you might still be tired. And Tazer and Sharpie have disappeared so I thought I’d see if you need any help.”

“You are seriously amazing,” Jordan told her. “Now only if I could get my husband to think like you, then I think I’d be set. Actually do you think you carry the cake out there?”

“I need to get the silverware still and I’ll meet you out there?”

“Sure, not a problem.”

“Thank you Duncan.”

He just smiled at her and picked up the box with the cake inside and made his way outside.

“He’s gone you can escape without anyone knowing you were even in there.” Jordan said in a normal voice as she got out the candle for Damon’s cake and the plastic silverware.

“I was being serious Jordan; I think it’s time everyone knew.”

“I don’t want to take away from Damon’s day,” Jordan sighed as she looked into his eyes. “How about before we do cake? I just hope that Damon won’t be one of those kids that hates that his mother is having another baby.”

“He’s a good kid,” he told her. “He has positive influences in his life. Plus his mom is a great woman.”

“Yeah, keep sucking up,” Jordan smiled as she turned and placed a short kiss on his lips. “And maybe something will go your way.”

Jordan walked around him and towards the door that led to the backyard with the bag of plastic silverware and birthday cups and plates. “Oh and can you grab the juice from the fridge? Thanks.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

As she headed towards the table Brent met her right before she reached the table and took the stuff out of her arms. Looking over at the table, she smiled at the sight of Damon looking at the Finding Nemo cake that his father had asked her about getting. That was one thing that had changed about Jonathan. At first, he just did what he wanted without asking her, but when he realized that he was doing it only to show that he could and not because he was Damon’s father, that was when he really started to change and it was a good change. For her and for everyone in their lives.

Walking over to where Damon was standing on a chair, he saw her and when he was close enough he lifted his arms so that she would hold on to him while Brent and Duncan set everything out for her. Catching her husband’s eyes, she nodded to him.

“Alright, before we do cake, we have an announcement.” Jordan said as she got a better grip on Damon.

Coming up behind her, he wrapped his arms around her and smiled as their friends looked at them expectantly.

“Damon is going to be a big brother.” Patrick Sharp said.

Jordan’s eyes met Jonathan’s and they were happy for them. Truly happy. Not the fake happy that he had been when Jordan and Sharpie had begun their relationship. But that had been two years ago and in that time things had changed.

Three years was a long time and things had changed, but it was all for the better.