One Night Becomes a Liftime

~Brent POV~

I heard the lady ask if I was his father but I stood there locked eyes with my own son until his coach called his name and he skated away. It has been almost four years since I last saw him and I couldn’t believe that was him skating on the ice. He had grown so much and the only thing I could think about was how much of it I missed because of his mother. I thought I was never going to see him again and I couldn’t take my eyes off him out fear that he would disappear on me again.

When Keith first nudged me and pointed Angela out I felt all the anger and hurt feeling surface, I had buried these feelings deep years ago. Her family had refused to give me any answers and her friends all said she cut ties with all of them leaving me no clue of where to even start looking. When I looked back down at her I could see the fear in her eyes as a tear slipped down her cheek.

“Please don’t take my son from me.” She said in a low shaky voice that I barely heard. “I can’t lose him.”

“Like I did.” I said having a hard time keeping the anger from my own voice. “All these years you kept him away from me, I’m not letting you do that to me or him anymore.”

“Brent please don’t do this.” She said as Toews walked up to us.

“Hey I know this isn’t any of my business but the kids are coming off the ice.” Toews said placing a hand on my shoulder. “Seabs whatever is going on needs to stop at least while the kids are around.”

I nodded at him as I took a step back and Angela quickly wiped the tears from her face. “Mommy… mommy did you see me.” Evan said running up to Angela. “I hit the slap shot just like Uncle Adam taught me and I got the puck pass Bradley this time… he never saw it coming.” He said smiling as she smiled down at him but I was confused about who the hell Uncle Adam was because her brother’s name was Anthony not Adam.

“Yes I saw it sweetheart.” She said squatting down in front of him and removed his helmet then kissed his forehead. “It was awesome and Adam will be so proud.” Angela said as she stood back up in front of him.

“But it’s not fair because your Uncle plays for the Sharks and you get to spend time with all of them.” The little goalie said sounding mad. “If my Uncle played in the NHL like yours I would be better too.”

“No you wouldn’t.” Evan snapped at him and I couldn’t help but feel proud of the way he stood up for himself. “My mommy and Uncle Adam said I’m a natural because hockey is in my blood. They both said I’m special like my daddy was.”

I looked up from the two boys arguing to Angela and she had a nervous look on her face as she bit down on her lower lip, that’s when the little goalie’s words hit me. Uncle Adam played for the San Jose Sharks and the only Adam that played for them was Burish and apparently my son spent time with him and the team he plays for. Then Evan’s words hit me like a brick wall, I’m special like my daddy WAS. I was about to open my mouth and say something to her but she looked down at Evan and spoke to him.

“Evan go get change so we can go home.” She said in a soft voice.

“But mommy Coach Kevin said we can take pictures with the Blackhawks and get autographs.” He said pointing towards where the guys were talking with the other kids. “Can’t I do it too?”

“Yes you can, go ahead… I’ll just wait here for you.” She said pushing him towards the other kids as she held on to his helmet.

“He doesn’t even know I exist.” I said watching him walk towards my teammates and I felt Toews squeeze my shoulder.

“Seabs… Tazer come on the kids want to talk with you guys.” Keith said waving us over.

“Don’t try and skip out on me.” I said looking back over at Angela. “We’re not done with this.”

“Brent I need some time to explain this to Evan.”

“Why so you can pack up and disappear on me again?” I snapped at her in a low voice then walked away with Toews.

“Seabs I know I don’t understand what you’re going through but you need to go easy on her.” Toews said walking next to me.

“She kept my son from me for almost four years… how am I supposed to go easy about that?” I said looking over at him. “You heard what he said, he talked like I’m dead.”

~Angela POV~

I watched as Brent walked away from me and over towards the kids, Evan was too busy questioning Duncan Keith to notice Brent and Jonathan Toews walking up to them. I felt like my whole world was crumbling around me and I was about to lose my only reason for living. I could see how all the players kept looking between Brent and Evan like they were comparing the likes of the two. I looked over to see Sarah standing there with her arms crossed over her chest glaring at me.

“He’s a natural, it’s in his blood.” Sarah said repeating what Evan said to her son. “Angela that boy is a natural because his damn father is a NHL hockey player and he doesn’t even know it. How can you not tell that boy his father is Brent Seabrook?”

“I don’t even know how to begin explaining this.” I said glancing over to the boys and saw Brent squatted down in front of Evan talking and laughing with him, the both of them looked so happy. “I didn’t have a relationship with him and things weren’t good between us.”

“I figured that out when he said you disappeared with his kid.” Sarah said shaking her head. “Angela the man is rich and could have helped you all these years.”

“I didn’t and still don’t want his money… I wanted my son to have a father that cared enough to keep his promises.” I snapped at her and instantly felt bad. “I’m sorry Sarah… I just can’t do this right now.”

Sarah didn’t say anything else to me and I was grateful because I couldn’t have this conversation with her right now, she walked away leaving me there standing by myself. I watched as Evan smiled from ear to ear talking with the players, Brent and Evan’s smiles were almost exactly the same. My son knew a lot of the Sharks’ players because of Adam but he was so excited to meet more guys from another team. After about twenty minutes of pictures and autographs the kids started to go back to their locker room to change but Evan came back towards me dragging Brent behind him.

“Slow down buddy I don’t want you to hurt yourself.” Brent said smiling down at Evan.

“Mommy the Blackhawks players said I can come with the team to have dinner and they’re taking just me.” He said with a beaming smile and I could see the excitement in his face. “Can I go… please?” Evan begged when he came to a stop in front of me. “Can I… can I… please?”

“Evan Dante Casalino you need to shower and get ready for bed, you have school tomorrow.” I said calling him by his full name and he frown at me.

“I won’t keep him out late.” Brent said as I looked up from Evan to him. “You owe me this Angela and you know why.”

My heart was pounding hard in my chest and my stomach was twisted into knots. I was so afraid of letting Evan walk out of my sight with Brent because I feared I would never see my son again. I wanted so desperately to grab my son and make a run for it but I knew I would never even make it to the door due to the fact that I was completely out numbered. There was an entire hockey team standing behind Brent and all I had was myself.

“Go get changed while mommy talks with Mr. Seabrook.” I said bending down to kiss his forehead and he smiled as he walked away as quick as he could on ice skates. “He has school in the morning.” I said looking back at Brent.

“I know, you said that already.” Brent said sarcastically to me and I guess I deserved it. “How late do you let Uncle Adam keep him out or am I not allowed to have the same privileges he has with my son?”

“It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out you know who Uncle Adam is.” I said glancing over at the guys who were standing there trying to pretend like they weren’t watching or listening to us. “In Adam’s defense I made him promise not to say anything or I was just going to move again and unlike someone else I know he actually kept that promise.”

“Burish was my teammate and my friend, he has been in my kid’s life more than you let me… fuck, his whole damn team probably knows my kid more than me.” He snapped at me in a low voice. “Just give me your address and I’ll have him home after we have dinner.”

I stuff Evan’s helmet under my arm as I went into my bag and pulled out a paper and pen then wrote my address and cell phone number on it. I looked up at him when I was done writing it. “Please bring him home.” I said softly as I held the paper out to him with a shaky hand but was having a hard time letting it go when he tried to grab it. Brent sucked in a deep breath and exhaled it very slowly as he grabbed my small hand in his much larger hand applying a little pressure to my wrist and pulled the paper out with his other hand when I released it.

“I wouldn’t hurt you like you did me, I’m better than that. I’ll have him home and I won’t tell him who I am… I’ll let you do that.”

He dropped my hand from his and walked back over to his teammates, I stood there a few moments until I was able to will my legs to move again. I slowly walked pass the guys and down the hall to the front exit. Things had taken such a horrible turn for me and the tears I was desperately holding back started to cloud my vision. I knew this day was bound to come I had just prayed it was much further from now and Evan was older to understand things better.

When I finally reached the door I glanced back to see Evan excitedly come running out of the locker room with his equipment bag over his shoulder and he went over to the guys that were waiting for him. Brent took the equipment bag from him and slung it over his own shoulder as he held Evan’s hand. Duncan Keith looked over at me smiled softly and nodded his head then they all walked away towards the side exit where I was sure their bus was waiting for them. It hurt to notice that Evan didn’t even look around to see if I was still there waiting for him.

When I got home I couldn’t keep myself still, I cleaned and re-cleaned the apartment. Every ten minutes or so I would walk to the window and look down to see if they were back yet then glance at the clock to check the time. I went to Evan’s room and sat down on his bed and cried then walked back to make sure I left the door unlocked for them to get in. I repeated this routine over and over until I heard the front door open and I came out of the kitchen to see Brent carrying a sleeping Evan in his arms.

I walked over and went to take Evan from him but he shook his head no. “Just show me where his room is.” He said in a low voice.

“Ok.” I said softly.

I walked down the hall and he followed behind me to the bedroom. I pulled Evan’s covers back and stood back as Brent slowly laid him down on the bed. After laying him down Brent removed Evan’s shoes and socks putting them both down on the floor next to his bed. I walked over to the dresser and grabbed his pajamas from the dresser and walked back to Brent holding them out to him.

“I think you should do that.” He said in a low voice as he stepped back. “I’m not sure how he’ll feel waking up to me changing his clothes.”

I smiled at him as I began changing Evan’s clothes, I got his pants off and his shorts on without waking him but when I removed his sweater he stirred a little. “Mommy I had so much fun.” He said in a sleepy voice as I slipped his pajama shirt over his head. “They let me have two bowls of ice cream and I got to call all of them by their nicknames like I do with Uncle Adam’s teammates.”

“I’m glad you had fun but two bowls of ice cream was too much for you.” I said shaking my head at him and he smiled. “Go back to sleep little man, we’ll talk in the morning.” I said kissing his forehead.

“I’m not little man anymore.” He said smiling at me and I raised my eyebrow at him. “Duncs said my new hockey nickname is mini Seabs because we both wear number seven and I’m a d-man just like him.”

“Get some sleep and we’ll see you tomorrow at the game.” Brent said to Evan before I could say anything.

“We will?” I asked raising my eyebrow at him. “I don’t remember buying tickets for the game.”

“Can we talk in the other room?” Brent said nodding towards the door. I nodded at him as I covered Evan up and kissed him goodnight one more time then follow Brent back out to the living room. “We need to figure this out before I leave, this can go one of two ways. I can get a lawyer and fight for my son or we work something out between us but either way I’m going to be in his life whether you like it or not Angela.”

“You can’t come here expecting everything to just be perfect, this is going to take time.”

“I’m not asking for perfect, I’m asking for a chance to be a father to my son.”

“Brent I have to explain this to him, he is just five I can’t just say hey that man you spent time with is your father.”

“Well you should have thought of that when you decided not to tell him about me.” Brent snapped at me in a low voice. “Look I don’t want to fight with you, it won’t get us anywhere.” He said as he sat down on my couch and I just stood there watching him. “Why didn’t you keep any of the checks I sent you… were you even getting them? I was sending them to your parents place but they kept coming back to me.”

“My mom was sending them to me and I sent them back to her every time. I told you before I don’t need or want your money.”

“That’s bullshit Angela and you know that.” Brent said shaking his head at me. “Evan told all of us how his mommy loves him so much she works two jobs just so he could play hockey.” He said to me and my eyes went wide. “I fucking sent you two thousand dollars a month, you could have been using that for everything he needs.”

“I don’t know how you want to work this out.” I said ignoring his comment about the money. “I live in San Jose and you live in Chicago.”

“Move to Chicago.” He said making it sound like it was the obvious answer and I shook my head no as I sat in the chair across from him. “Angela I only come to San Jose a few times a year, that’s not enough time for me.”

“My job is here and Evan has school, his hockey and friends here.” I said shaking my head at him. “I can’t just uproot him and move him across the country.”

“I’ll come see him on the holidays and then in the summer I’ll take him home with me.”

“I am not going to let you take my son to Canada.” I snapped at him.

“Damn it Angela, he is my son too and my family deserves to know him.” Brent snapped at me as he sat back and ran his hands down his face. “I’m trying here and you keep turning down every solution I come up with.”

“Moving to Chicago or taking him to Canada for the summer are not solutions.”

“Fine you figure something out and let me know by tomorrow.” Brent snapped as he ran his fingers through his hair then he stood up. “Coach Q will have two tickets at will call for you and Evan, I want him to know the truth before I leave town.”

There was a knock at my door and I got up to go answer it while Brent stood there watching me. I had gotten used to Adam coming by after a late game that I didn’t bother asking who it was when I opened the door. To my surprise it wasn’t Adam standing there it was Duncan Keith instead, then I remembered Adam wasn’t even in town until morning.

“Um… hi.” He said in a nervous voice. “Seabs forgot this in the shuttle bus.” He said holding Evan’s equipment bag out to me.

“Oh thank you.” I said taking the bag and stepped to the side. “Please come in.”

“Um thanks.” He said as he glanced over at Brent. “You ready to go, eh?”

“Yeah.” Brent said walking over to him. “I got your number so I’ll send you a text or something so you can have mine.”

“Brent we need to finish figuring this out.” I said as Duncan looked between us probably feeling out of place.

“I said all I had to say, if I stay any longer this is going to end with both of us needing lawyers.” Brent said walking to the door as Duncan walked out. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

I stood there watching his retreating back, when I started this day I had no idea it was going to end with me having to choose between moving to Chicago or letting my son go to Canada every summer with his father or end up in a nasty custody fight. I was at a complete loss and didn’t know what to do, I couldn’t take this to court and chance losing my son. I looked at the clock to see it was already coming up on eleven o’clock at night and I had to be up early to go to work and get Evan up for school.