Dark Paradise

Tina Oshie loved her son unconditionally- that was a given. She prided herself in instilling a good sense of judgement in all three of her children. However, it was when TJ made awful decisions in his life that Tina began to question just how well she actually did. Upon receiving the news of divorce soon followed by a gaudy looking wedding invitation, she couldn’t help but shed a few tears. Tina had always loved her eldest son’s wife. Upon returning back to the house, Kayla was maneuvering through the kitchen with Victoria perched on her hip. Following her son into his home, Tina pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and began typing a message.

Sitting in an uncomfortable baby blue chair, Emma watched Luca play on the floor with his brand new Iron Man toy from Jon. A muffled chirp sounded through the material of her purse on the chair beside her alerting the brunette of a new text message. Emma dug through her bag until finding the device only to smile at the sight of Tina’s name flash on the screen. She let out a soft chuckle and reached down running a hand through her son’s over grown mop of hair.

“Luca, baby, hold up your Iron Man. I want to send Grandma a picture before we get on the plane.”

The boy looked up at his mother and held his toy proudly as he flashed a toothy grin. He pulled himself off the floor and crawled into his mothers lap as she pounded away on the touch screen of her iPhone. As their flight was called, Luca jumped down from his mother’s lap and threw on his new Captain America backpack that was nearly the same size he was. Emma hoisted her duffle bag over her shoulder and wrapped her fingers around the handle of her black rolling suit case. She sent Tina one last message before shutting off her phone and taking the final few steps to paradise.

Meanwhile, Tina shifted uncomfortably as she tried her best to make nice with Kayla’s parents. They were lovely people, a little obsessed with their daughter, but pleasant nonetheless. Audrey spent a half hour cooing over her grandchild while Tina half-heartedly spoke to Arthur. With their daughter occupied, TJ and Kayla took the moment to themselves to relax in the backyard on the swing seat.

“I was thinking we should only have one kid...” Kayla said as she intertwined her delicate fingers with her husband’s calloused ones.

TJ, caught off guard, looked at his wife, “One? I thought we said three? That’s always been my number, you know that.”

Kayla nodded, “I know, but think about it. You already have two and what’s one less going to do, you know? Eventually Emma is going to start asking for child-support- I’m surprised she hasn’t already, and you’ll still have a responsibility for our baby. I can’t work if I’m always watching Victoria and I just don’t think you should financially stretch yourself. Once Lucas goes to college, you’ll be paying for that too, I guarantee it.”

“Financially, we’re fine.” TJ stated leaving no room for argument, “Three has always been the number...”

“Listen, just come up okay? I don’t care about Jon, alright? It’s my birthday! Besides, he and Kane are a little too domestic for straight boys if you ask me.” Emma listened to her friend sigh before speaking again, “I’m buying you a ticket, end of story. That ass better be on the plane Tuesday morning or else.” The brunette hung up and tossed her cell phone back into her purse before beginning to load her groceries onto the conveyer belt.

Upon returning back to her condo, Emma found her husband asleep on the couch with the television remote balanced on his chest. She laughed to herself as she made her way into the kitchen, giving TJ a gentle prod with her foot as she past. He grunted softly before sitting up to rub his eyes. The hockey player stretched quickly before joining his other half in the kitchen digging through the brown paper bag as she tried to put things away.

“Uh, excuse me! I don’t see any Fruit Loops or Lucky Charms.”

Emma closed the refrigerator and turned to look at her husband, “When you start doing the grocery shopping, you’ll find Fruit Loops and Lucky Charms in that bag.”

TJ huffed and hoisted himself up onto the counter. As Emma walked by, the hockey player outstretched his legs and snickered as his wife walked blindly right into them. From impact, the brunette grunted and dropped the box of Pop Tarts in her hands. After picking up the dropped box, Emma lifted up the hem of her shirt to see a tiny bruise forming on her hip.

“You’re kidding right?” She shot TJ a look of irritation and sighed dropping her shirt, “I married a child, I swear...Just you wait until we actually have kids.”

“What are you mumbling about, babe?”

The brunette turned around and nearly ran into her husband. She looked up and smiled, unable to be angry at him, “I said, when we have kids, you’ll feel bad about how much you torture me. I’ll make sure those munchkins drive you up the wall.”

TJ cracked a smile and dropped a kiss to his wife’s forehead, “Who said we were having kids?”

Pulling away, Emma gave TJ the most serious face she could muster, “You’re kidding right?”

“Of course. I’ve already decided that we’re going to have six kids so when we’re up in North Dakota, they can easily split in teams for a quick pick-up game.”

Emma raised her eyebrow, “Six kids, eh... What if I only wanted three?”

TJ wrapped his arms around Emma’s waist and pulled her close, “That’s an odd number though.” He dropped his head into the crook of her neck as the brunette nodded, but didn’t say anything. “Then they will be the three most amazing kids ever- one in goal while the others practice shooting.”

“Babe, are you even listening to what I’m saying?” Kayla waved her hand in front of her dazed husband’s face.

The hockey player stared at the blonde before him and gave a sheepish laugh, “Yeah, I’m sorry. What were you saying?”

Kayla rolled her eyes, “I was saying that my friend Roger wanted to come over tomorrow afternoon to see the baby.”

“Roger?” TJ asked as he jogged his memory for a guy named Roger.

“Yeah, you know, the one who has that funny birth mark.” Kayla pulled out her cell phone and began looking for a photo of her friend, “He’s the one who I said should be Victoria’s god father. Don’t you remember or am I always talking to a brick wall.” TJ shook his head. He didn’t need to see a photo of Roger, he knew exactly who the guy was.