Sunday Mornings

James had Peyton strapped to his chest in her Oscar The Grouch costume as he headed up the driveway to Shea and Riley's house. It was early still, so early that when James had left Ryan and Colin at his house to hand out candy they were ordering in for dinner. James had seen only a handful of kids out on his drive over to the Weber's, just little kids who's bedtimes were approaching. So he and Peyton knocked on the door and waited for an answer and when Riley answered the door James held up a box of Halloween chocolate.

She smiled and invited him in, telling him, "Shea's just finishing getting the kids ready."

James nodded his head and he didn't bother taking his shoes off. He figured they could join Shea and Noah for a trip around the block for the fresh air and the walk and it appeared that when Shea came downstairs with Isla in a baby carrier strapped to his chest much like Peyton that he had the same idea. James couldn't help but laugh at the large white and red stripped hat on Shea's head, and it all made sense once Noah came rocketing down the stairs in his Thing 1 costume.

James asked him, "Where's Thing 2?"

"Baby!" Noah told him.

That was when James noticed the blue, hair shaped hat on Isla's head and he smiled. Shea couldn't help but laugh at Peyton's costume and he asked James, "You pick that out recently?"

James looked down at her and grinned, "Last night actually."

Riley smiled and she reached out to tickle under Peyton's chin, telling her in a soft voice as Peyton giggled in response, "You just look so cute."

Shea looked over at Noah, who was waiting patiently at the door, and he then turned to James and asked, "Ready? Just a quick loop of the block that's all."

James nodded and he glanced at Riley, asking, "What are you gonna do?"

"Well Thing 3 and I are gonna enjoy the peace and quite and hand candy out." Riley told him, and Shea smiled, leaning over to kiss her quickly before he head James and Peyton out of the house.

As they started walking, Noah a foot ahead of them, Shea looked over at James and told him, "That is actually a pretty great costume."

James grinned, "Yeah, I was gonna do Little Red Riding Hood but then I saw this and figured it was too good not to get it."

As Noah went up to the first house Shea stood back at the bottom of the porch steps so James stayed beside him, and that was when Shea asked him, "You got any plans for tomorrow?"

It was the first time that season that the Predators would be taking on the Sharks, which also meant it would be the first time since Quinn's funeral that James would see Paul, and he knew from a text earlier that day that Rachel was meeting him there, and they had all made dinner plans at the house. James wasn't sure how he felt about the whole thing, but he was trying, he was really trying to get on with his life and reconnecting with an old friend seemed like a good way to start. Plus, he knew that Rachel was worried about him, sure James and Paul spoke rarely over the years but Quinn and Rachel had remained close friends since Quinn moved to Nashville.

Sometimes James wondered if it wouldn't just be easier to go to a new city where he knew no one and no one knew him, or Quinn.

James simply shook himself out of his thoughts as Noah approached them and they went onto the next house. That was when he told Shea, "Yeah, dinner with Paul and his wife."

"Sounds fun." It didn't really, James could tell by the sound of Shea's voice but he didn't say anything about it.

Instead James asked, "Think we could convince Pekka to babysit? Maybe you and Riley could come to dinner too?"

"You want Riley and I to crash your dinner with your old teammate?" Shea asked him in amusement, with his eyebrow raised.

James' cheeks flushed and he said softly, "Guess I'm a little nervous. I just don't really know what I'm supposed to say you know? Like Quinn's dead, I'm fine, sorry I haven't talked to you in years?"

Shea shrugged his shoulders and joked, "How about starting with 'hi'. That might be better, and a little less passive aggressive."

James smiled and said, "See, this is why you guys should come. Keep the conversation flowing, because I sure as hell won't be able to."

"We can come if you want, I don't see there being any problems getting Pekka and Brooke to babysit. Brooke's got empty nest syndrome pretty bad from what I hear, I'm sure she'll enjoy a full house." Shea said with a smile.

James asked him, "Is she totally freaking out with Nolan gone now?"

Shea shrugged his shoulders as they came to a stop outside another house and he told James, "Peks says she's not so much freaking out as she is worrying. He had to threaten to take her phone away last week because she wanted to call the kid every day."

"Poor kid." James stated, and Shea laughed and nodded, and then James said, "And poor Brooke."

"Yeah, I'm not so looking forward to those days myself." Shea stated, glancing down at Isla and then over at Noah who came running over to them with a beaming smile, ready for the next house.

James nodded and said, "At least we have a while before that."

"I've already decided they're not allowed to go to school anywhere outside of wherever Riley and I are living." Shea stated, and when James' brow lifted he laughed and said, "Kelowna has a good university... I think."

"Yeah... I'm thinking I might just stick around here after I retire." James said softly, looking down at Peyton and he smiled as he watched her head float back and forth, side to side, taking in her surroundings with big, wide eyes.

James knew he didn't have to explain to Shea that he didn't want to leave Nashville because that meant leaving Quinn behind, or at least it felt like it. He liked the idea of staying here, where they built a life and a family, instead of going home to Whitby like he had originally planned. The truth was, up until now, James and Quinn had always planned to do their fall, winter, and springs in his home in Ontario and then the summers in Pittsburgh once he retired, but life always seemed to have other plans.

In an effort to change the subject off of him James looked at Shea and asked, "So... baby number three huh?"

Shea smiled and nodded his head, "Yeah, three down, one to go."

"You guys are nuts." James stated, shaking his head in both amusement and a little bit of disbelief. He had one and he couldn't imagine having another and there was Riley and Shea, having their third but already talking about a fourth.

It would have been different if Quinn were still around. James knew that. If she were still around he knew they would be talking about another one already, they probably would have started talking about it right after playoffs if he was being completely honest. They both wanted another, actually James was pretty sure they both wanted a few more at that but, much like his life before Nashville, the one that was about to collide with his life now in twenty-four hours, those days where they were planning a family, siblings for Peyton, seemed like a lifetime ago.

Shea let out a chuckle as he told James, "Truthfully I think Riley's hoping for twins."

"Well... I've always thought she was crazy, now she's certifiably crazy." James said with a grin.

Shea nodded but explained to him, "I mean... I guess it makes sense. Get them both out of the way now, you know? And honestly, I kind of agree. Only having to deal with Riley pregnant once more seems much nicer than twice."

James nodded but he didn't know. It wasn't like he ever knew what it was like to live with a pregnant woman, he heard it was interesting to say the least, but James knew what it was like to live with a new mom and he didn't know why Shea and Riley were hoping to only have to do that once more. James didn't know he could love Quinn any more than he already did until the day they brought Peyton home for the first time. He had never been mushy or emotional, in fact he was extremely stoic all of the time but all of that changed when they became parents. His mother had been right.

His mother had also cursed him; his whole adult life she always told him she hoped that his kids would give him the same amount of grey hair as he and his siblings gave her and if Peyton kept it up he was well on his way.

There was small talk as they made their way back to the house, and once they were inside Noah crawled onto the couch and wrapped himself in a blanket, waiting patiently for Riley so he could show her all the candy James knew he wouldn't be allowed to eat most of. So as James slipped out of his shoes and pulled Peyton out of the carrier he laid it down on top of his shoes and then made his way over to the couch. He sat down with Peyton in his lap as Riley took the spot between he and Noah.

Once Noah was done animated showing Riley all his candy he decided he was bored and shuffled off of the couch and over to play with some toys on the floor. James bounced Peyton on his knee, making her giggle loudly, and then he turned to Riley and asked her, "Are you free tomorrow night?"

She raised her eyebrow, "It's possible. Why?"

He sort of word vomited all over the place, "Paul and Rachel are in town and want to do dinner and I have no idea what to say or how to act around them so I was hoping you and Shea could come and then I wouldn't feel like a complete and total failure because someone else would be there to pick up the conversation when I inevitably drop it."

Riley let out a chuckle and she leaned over to Peyton, tickling her stomach as she used baby talk to talk to her, "You daddy's crazy. Yes he is. He's the craziest in the bunch."

Peyton laughed away, not having any idea what Riley was saying, and that was when James asked her, "But you'll come?"

"We'll come." Riley assured him, patting his forearm gently, and she chuckled when James let out a visible breath of relief.

"Hey Ry?" Shea called from the kitchen.

"What? You just ruined our moment over here." Riley fired back, laughing when Shea stepped into view with narrowed eyes.

He informed her, "Uh... call me crazy but I think it might help to actually put dinner in the oven when you're cooking."

Riley looked over at him, staring at him, before she slammed her palm against her forehead and both James and Shea laughed. James pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and asked, "Pizza or Italian? You get to choose."

Shea joked, "You're letting the one who forgot to make dinner choose what we order? You're nice."

Riley turned to him and stuck her tongue out when James informed him, "She's pregnant, she gets to make the decisions around here, I'm not fucking with her right now."

"Pizza. I haven't had pizza since...." She trailed off.

Shea finished for her, "Last Tuesday."

"You're rude." James told Shea, answering for Riley, who grinned over at Shea immediately when the words came out of James' mouth.

So James ordered them pizza, he ordered more than usual so that each house could have some left overs, this was how James usually ordered in. He wasn't a very big fan of the kitchen, though that was probably why every week one of the wives seemed to drop off some kind of dish or left overs. Normally James would have gotten tired of it, annoyed even, but now he welcomed it. It was nice to not have to do anything other than throw something in the oven for fifteen minutes. James really didn't know how people did this whole single parenting thing for eighteen years. He had been doing it for three months and he was already sick of it. It seemed like every day he was on the verge of crying, breaking everything in sight, or pulling out his hair, sometimes all three at once.

Once their dinner was ordered Riley plucked Peyton from James' grasp so he got up off of the couch and went and sat down on the floor across from Noah. He asked him, "Want some help?"

Noah nodded his head and pushed a pile of red building blocks to him, it seemed to be the only toys he played with anymore. James looked over at what he was building and he grinned at the sight; he was building little hockey nets and on the floor next to him were two mini sticks and a little ball. When Shea walked into the living room Noah got up and asked him, "Play?"

Shea reached down and ruffled his hair, telling him, "Sorry kiddo, you're gonna have to settle for uncle James for a bit your sister is a little needy."

He pouted but held out the extra mini stick to James who took it with a smile and asked him, "Think you can beat me?"

Noah nodded, "Duh."

So they played mini stick hockey for almost forty minutes, James let Noah beat him every time and he even made it extremely dramatic; falling all over the place and jumping out of the way each time Noah pushed the little ball toward his net as if his shot was as hard as his dads. Noah's laughter filled up the house, and Riley and Shea both watched with smiles from their spots on the couch with the two girls.

James glanced over and caught Peyton's eyes at one point, and he grinned and then stuck his tongue out at her, and again, as per usual, she mimicked him. It made Shea and Riley chuckle, and then when the doorbell rang James got up, ruffled Noah's hair and headed to the door to answer it. He paid for their pizza and brought the boxes over to the dining table with Noah hot on his heels.

James, welcoming the chance to not have to deal with a grouchy Peyton sat down next to Noah and carefully cut up a slice of pizza into small pieces, waiting until it wasn't so hot before he set the plate in front of Noah. Shea sat across from them, and Riley at the end of the table with Peyton next to her and Isla by Shea. It was like one big, happy, blended family. James didn't see what was so wrong with this from time to time, and he was reminded of Quinn telling him that he and Peyton deserved better.

Yeah, they did. They deserved better than a makeshift family for holiday dinners, just like Quinn had said. But their better went and died on them the very next day.