One of the Boys

Chapter 30

Christopher

"Hey, there's my beautiful girl! Good morning, did you sleep well last night?" I ask appearing from the hallway as I adjust my gray long sleeve shirt. Delaney smiles at me, her cute dimples appearing as she does. "Yeah, best sleep I've had since my concussion." She replies.

"That's good, means you're improving in your recovery process." I say heading over to the fridge to grab a water. "Can you grab me one too?" Morgan asks. "I guess so." I reply bringing both bottles over to the living room with me.

"So, we ready to go for breakfast now or what?" Morgan asks with a hint of sass in her voice. "Yeah, yeah. Go grab your stuff and put your shoes on." I say as she gets up to go grab her bag from the guest room down the hall.

"Where we going for breakfast?" Delaney asks looking at me with her beautiful emerald green eyes. "I was thinking maybe the diner down by the water front. What do you think?" I ask. "Ou! I love that place! They make the best home fries!" She exclaims as Morgan reappears in the living room.
"Alright lover boy, your sister is ready so let's go! I'm starving and the home fries are calling my name!" Delaney says jumping up off the couch and over to the door to put her jacket and shoes on. "Oh my god me too!" Morgan says in a sassy tone before marching to the door to put her shoes on as I shake my head and laugh at them.

"Got everything?" I ask her as she slings her backpack over her shoulder. "Sure do Chrissy!" She smiles at me as I grab my keys off the counter. "Then off we go." I exclaimed as Delaney and Morgan step into the hall before me as I lock the door and follow them to the elevator.

******

"Oh my god that was so good I can not eat anymore!" Delaney says before taking a drink. "Me too girl!" Morgan replies putting her fork down on her empty plate. "Good, now you're all set for the rest of the day." I say as the waitress stops at our table to take our empty plates away. "I'll be right back with the bill." She smiles before disappearing.

"So I go for my assessment next Wednesday." Delaney says. "That's good news right?" Morgan asks. "Hopefully all good news." I reply as the waitress appears with the bill in her hand. "Alright, and how will we be paying today?" She asks. "Debit please." I reply. "Okay, give me one second to go grab the machine and I'll be right back." She says leaving the table.

"So who's taking you to the assessment?" I ask knowing that we have a game against Rochester that day at their home aren. "Either my mom of Mason will." Delaney replies. "Okay, here we go." The waitress says returning with the debit machine as I pull my debit card out of my wallet.

After I paid and she gave me a receipt, we got up and made our way out to the car. "If I get cleared next week, I'll be back on the ice for practices and hopefully be able to play in the next round of playoffs if we get there." Delaney says as I hold the door of the diner open for her and Morgan.

"I'm sure everything's going to be just fine Dels." Morgan says. "And don't worry, we'll make it to the next round." I add unlocking the car as we approach it.

"Mom and dad home?" I ask Morgan once we're in the car. "Mom said she is and dad left for work at 6 this morning." Morgan replied buckling her seatbelt. "Alright." I reply putting the key into the ignition and turning it to start the car.

******

"Mom? I'm home!" Morgan shouts opening the front door as Delaney and I follow behind her. "Mom?" I shout when there's no answer. A few seconds later, I hear her soft footsteps across the floor as she appears from the kitchen drying her hands with a kitchen towel.

"Oh hi Morgan, you're home!" She smiles when she sees my sister. She then turns to smile up at me. "Hi Chris." She says coming over to hug me. "Hi Mrs. Santiago." Delaney smiles at my mom. "Delaney, hi honey. How are you?" She asks. "I'm doing well and you?" Dels replies politely. "I'm good." Mom replied.

"Well why don't you two come in and visit for a while? I've got a fresh batch of cookies, fresh out of the oven." She exclaims pointing to the kitchen. "Alright, but we can't stay too long. I've got an afternoon gym session with the team at 2:30." I reply as we go and sit down in the family room while my mom got a plate of cookies ready in the kitchen.

When we sit down, Delaney looks at me in silence with a smile on her face. "What?" I ask her letting out a small laugh. She smiles even wider at me and says "Your mom's so cute." I smile back at her as my mom puts the plate of cookies down on the coffee table. "Alright, help yourself to some cookies if you'd like!" She said sitting down in the chair in the corner of the room.

"How's work going mom?" I ask as I take a cookie from the plate. "It's going good. Keeps me busy but I guess that's what happens when you work at a hospital right?" She replies. "Yep and I know you always do a great job at helping your patients." I reply.

"Mmm these are really good Mrs. Santiago!" Delaney exclaims after taking a bite from her cookie. "Thank you Delaney! It's a recipe my grandma taught me how to make when I was a little girl." My mom smiles.

******

"You sure you're okay staying here by yourself when I'm gone?" I ask Delaney who's cutting up some fruit in my kitchen. "Yeah, I'll be fine bubs. It's not like you're gone overnight. It's just a practice, I'll be fine." She replies popping a strawberry into her mouth.

"Okay, we'll I'm gonna head out now so I'll text you on my way back Alright." I reply. "Alright, I'll be around here doing something... Or nothing." Delaney shrugs. "Love you babe." I say giving her a quick peck on the lips. "Love you too." She replies as I open the door to leave.

******

"Guys night at my place tomorrow?" Casey asks as we begin to stretch before we get to work. "Dude, we've got a game tomorrow night." Jack replies. "Yeah, I know but we can always have a guys night after the game." Casey replies. "Nah man, I think we're gonna pass on this one. But maybe next time buddy." Riley chimes in.

After we've stretched, we split into two groups. Half of the team starts with group exercises while the other half uses the  gym equipment. "Treadmill?" Riley nudges me as he asks with raised eyebrows. "Sure." I reply as we go over to them and begin to turn them on.

"What's Delaney up to today?" He asks as he steps onto the treadmill and begins a light jog. "She's hanging out at my place right now. This morning I took her and Morgs out for breakfast before I drove her home." I reply as I turn my treadmill on and begin to jog lightly. "How did that go? I'm assuming we'll?" He asked.

"Yeah, it was nice. My mom even had a fresh plate of cookies for us when Dels and I stopped by." I reply before a moment of silence went by. Riley looked I we at me with furrowed eyebrows, reading that there's something going on in my head. "What you thinking about buds?" He asked. "Oh you know, a bunch of stuff. But I was thinking... Is it too early to ask Delaney to move in with me?" I ask. "Dude, it might be early but if you think you guys are ready to take that next step that's great, go for it. Maybe just talk to her first and go from there to see if she's on the same page though." Riley replies.