A Dad is a Son's First Hero and a Daughter's First Love

Kate's POV
"Mummy! Daddy!" Asher came running into our room and jumped on the bed, "where's daddy?" his sad face was the cutest thing I had seen yet.
"He's training remember? But he will be home after lunch." 

He continued to sit and look sad at me but I could help him, "how are you feeling?" After him and Evgeni had been wiped out from the bug for a couple of days I was surprised he was running around like he was.
"Good," he smiled, "can we have pancakes for breakfast?"
"Of course we can," I grabbed him in a hug and ruffled his hair, "but let mummy have a shower first, ok?"
"Ok," he climbed out of bed and ran out of the room.

I was just about to get into the shower when Luka started crying. I had mastered their cries and could tell the difference between the twins crying, Evgeni not so much.

"Hey little man," he smiled as I picked him up, "shhh or you will wake you sister," his little frown turned upside down and he smiled as I ran my finger along his neck. For the first time it was a genuine little smile on his face.

I couldn't leave him alone and Lacey was still sound asleep so I took him the shower. If there was something Asher always loved when he was a baby it was the warm water running down his little back and so far Luka did too.

He laid on my chest, his little hands doing that grappling thing that babies hands do as I rubbed his back. He was loving it. 

I was kind of jealous of Evgeni and how Lacey had taken to him like a fish to water and there was no doubt in my mind she would be a little hockey playing daddy's girl, but I was ok with that because I had my two boys keeping me on my toes all the time.

Evgeni's POV
I didn't like waking up early every day to go to training and I couldn't begin to imagine how down I would feel about being away from my family when the season started again.

"If I stay in Russia we play weekend, I have more time with my family," I was trying to explain my point to Gonch but he thought it was dumb.
"Plenty of guys in the NHL have families and we are perfectly fine. Why can't you be?"
"Because it was hard with Asher, now 3 kids I don't know. I feel like I will miss them growing up."
"That's part of playing hockey," he slapped my back and walked away to continue working out.

I didn't want to be away from my kids, I didn't want to miss seeing them grow up. All the important things, like crawling and walking and Asher's first hockey game. It was already a possibility that I was going to miss that and I was kicking myself for it. 

"I am going," I couldn't deal with this. I wasn't up for training anymore and decided to go home.

"Daddy!" Asher jumped from the couch into my arms as I walked in the door.
"Hey bud, how are you?" I wrapped my arms around him.
"Good," he wriggled from my arms and ran into the kitchen, "Mummy! Daddy is home!" 

You would have thought I was away for weeks with his reaction. Nope just an hour or so.

"Hey," she smiled from the stove as I walked in.
"Hey, what you making?" I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her cheek.
"Pancakes, why are you home so early?" 
"I come spend time with favourite people," I walked over to the twins laying in their carriers and pulled out Lacey.
"You know you missed Luka's big smile today," she pointed over towards me.
"What? No," this was exactly my point.
"Don't worry babe I am sure he will smile again."

Kate's POV
Evgeni spent the rest of the day trying to get Luka to laugh for him but it wasn't working.
"Maybe he only smile for his mummy?" I took back my little man and he smiled straight away.
"See," I turned Luka around for Evgeni to see him with a gummy grin on his chubby little face.

He mumbled something under his breath that sounded like 'not fair' and disappeared down the hall. He was going have to get used to being favoured and the love/hate relationship that comes along with parenthood.