Red Sandbox - A. Matthews

Prologue

December 23, 2029. Toronto, Ontario.

Not even five minutes after I had come home with the last of the groceries and set them on the counter did I hear the door open and a loud crash at the front door before my husband and nine year old son ran through the door. After a couple minutes, I saw my youngest hop up on one of the stools at the counter and I slid him one of his favourite juices with a soft smile on my face.

"Hey Cam, how was practice baby?" and he grinned, sipping his juice probably tired after a Triple A Atom practice. "Mom, Mom you'll never guess! I got moved to the starting centreman! I get to start first game after the break with this," as he pulled the jersey out of his bag with a C emblazoned on the front, and in that moment I may have become the proudest mom in the universe. "I'm the new captain!"

He hopped off his stool and ran into my open arms where I closed them in a tight hug, trying to absorb all the kid that I had left with him being my youngest. "I'm so proud of you baby, you're gonna be an amazing captain just like your dad," and I smiled before kissing his head and sending him off upstairs to change for the annual Matthews family Christmas Eve dinner. We've hosted the dinner ever since my husband of almost sixteen and a half years got drafted to the Maple Leafs. Slowly every year, the amount of people at the dinner has grown, but it's still a storied tradition.

Coming back upstairs after I shoved Cam's hockey gear in the wash, I look over to the couch to see my 10 year old daughter Alexa (please though, call her Lexi she might actually kill you). She had a giant solar system display all over the coffee table and was rubbing her head like a mad person. "Baby come on take a break from that," and I rubbed her back, which was known to calm her down when she got like this. She looked up at me and pushed her glasses up to the brink of her nose before sticking the last label on the project and standing back impressed by herself. "I am so winning the best solar system in the fifth grade," and I chuckled before helping her put it upstairs in her room, next to all her dance and gymnastic medals, before turning to her as I walked out the door.

"Soon, we're gonna have no more space to put any of those babygirl," and I laughed before almost getting run over by my other son who was running through the house on his rollerblades. "Logan! You're almost seventeen babe come on what have I told you about running through the house like that!" I ran my hands through my hair and sighed, silently wondering how my lovely (and sometimes frustrating) husband hadn't heard a single word of any of the craziness. "Sorry Ma, new issue of Sportsnet came out they're talking about the OHL All Star Game in April!" and he ran into his room shutting the door.

Both of my sons were almost exactly like their father, playing the highest level of hockey they possibly could. Logan, who turns seventeen in about a month, along with his twin sisters was a member of the London Knights, like his Uncle Mitch was, and he had been named captain at the beginning of the season. My heart hurt at the thought of my baby always being so far away from me, but I knew it was best for him and what he wanted to do. I mean, to be fair I was lucky  that I had his twin sisters on the road with me. Of course, the second I let my thoughts wander I heard the girls run through and attack me in hugs. Callie, one of the girls was only about ten minutes older than her sister Savannah and twenty minutes than her brother Logan, but honestly, you wouldn't know.

"Mama! We missed you on the loop, we had those awesome donuts you love at that place in Savannah!" and I smiled, kissing both of their heads before telling them it was okay and that we would go out the next time the company passed through the town. We spent the next little bit talking about what their next couple months looked like with school and work before they went upstairs, looking at their merchandise or doing whatever almost seventeen year old girls did. Before I could head downstairs though, I heard Emmy, our other daughter who was seventeen yell up the stairs, "Ma, I can't figure out what to wear! I have like nothing!" I chuckled, knowing she was just exaggerating and smiled when I remembered how scared she was when Auston met her at Sick Kids when she was two.

I went downstairs, flopping on the couch before feeling my oldest flop on top of me. "Oof, Elena get off of me you like crush me," and she smiled, rolling herself off me. "So mama, I um I wanted to talk to you about something, and it's kind of important. So, Kanon and I wanted to um maybe buy an apartment together, but I wanted to ask you first."

Kanon was her boyfriend, and he was also Tyler and Molly's son. Tyler plays with Auston, which meant they had grown up with each other almost their whole lives, or since we found Elena in a luggage at the airport when she was nine days old. Even though she wasn't our daughter biologically, she had always been ours. I mean, she's the first woman that was drafted in the OHL and the NHL, though her and Kanon both now play for the Marlies, Toronto's AHL team.

"I mean, baby does he make you happy?" and looking in her eyes, I could see the same look I gave Auston, the same look I still do. "Yes, baby if you guys really wanna do this, I am perfectly okay with that," and she leaped off the couch to hug me before running off to probably talk to her boyfriend of almost five years now. She sure was a handful, but I guess all the kids are,*incessant motherly cries* Yes, Elena has 3 older siblings, Hailee and Ryan who were Auston's biological kids, and Kane who we had together before my seventeenth birthday.  While Elena wanted to be like her dad, Hailee was the brainiac baby, and so was Ryan, both at the UFT's Pre-Med or Pre-Law program in the 2nd year. Kane was smart too and even though him and Elena were born on the same day,and just one was our biological baby, both we love more than anything. Kane  just he wanted to be a manager of a sports team, so he was in his first year of Brock University's Sports Management program.

I walked into the kitchen pouring myself a glass of wine, before grabbing a shawl and going to sit on the balcony, turning on the fire pit we had installed for the winter months. Before long, I felt the door open, and looked up to see the love of my life sitting across from me. He pulled me close and I could feel his arms snake around me before he pressed a soft kiss to my collarbone.

"Remember when we first got this house, and we used to do the exact same thing?" I smiled and nodded my head, sipping the wine before turning my head to kiss him. It's funny, after being with him for now over two decades, he still gives me the same butterflies he did all those years ago when I was a kid and we met at that stupid park with the red sandbox.

Over all those years, sure we've been through a lot. I mean, we have ten kids, we have to be some semblance of strong to stick through it and all the other stuff that was thrown at us.

But, I would never ever trade him or any of my kids for anything else. We've lead a pretty interesting life, and now I'm telling it all to you.

AUTHORS NOTE!: WOW OMG IM ACTUALLY BACK AND IM WRITING? I KNOW BUT HONESTLY, IM REALLY EXCITED FOR YOU GUYS TO READ THIS AUSTON STORY