all american | lance tucker

ch. 18 • parenting 101

For the next few days, I did as Lance said, and didn't get myself in trouble, spending time at home with the kids and getting back in the habit of never sleeping. Ah, the joys of parenthood.

On day five, Lance called me and informed me that he would be staying another week due to a huge scouting opportunity for a second team, and that he was sorry he couldn't be at home. Bullshit.

Well, that meant I wasn't staying at home tonight. I called Leah, arranged for her to stay overnight, and left promptly at seven thirty with my sisters for the bar. Well, sisters minutes Thea. She wasn't old enough, nor did I want her there in the first place.
Steve was our designated driver, and we had arranged for him to come pick us up at eleven thirty. We hadn't all gone out together in a long time, and it felt good to spend some time with them.

"I just think you should get laid tonight. Kids are taken care of, Lance is out of state, it's the perfect opportunity." Harley reasoned as we drank at our table. I rolled my eyes.

"You're just trying to get rid of me." I teased. Kaylee shook her head.

"Harls is right. Good way to get over whatever his name is." I had told them about Roman.

"No way. I'm not trying to catch an STD tonight." I sighed, taking another swig of my beer. Harley groaned.

"You're no fun." She complained, downing the remaining beer in her bottle. Kaylee gave her a wary look.

"Careful, Harley. We've only been here an hour." She warned, motioning to Harley's growing pile of beer bottles. Harley rolled her eyes.
"Oh whatever. I haven't been to a bar in almost two years. Give me a break." She snapped.

As of late, I wondered if Kaylee should be more worried about my alcoholism compared to my sister's.

"Come on, guys! Have some fun once in a while!" I cheered, holding up my bottle. Thankfully, they shut their mouths and joined in, cheering with me.
Queens. Never stopped arguing.

We enjoyed our night, getting respectively trashed out of our minds, and ended up pleading with Steve to pick us up an hour later than originally planned. He obliged, and at twelve thirty he was taking care of three drunk five year olds. Harley was all over him, and he was not having any of it.

"Harls, touch me one more time and I'm making you walk home." He teased, holding her at bay by her shoulders. I was regrettably the first one to be dropped off, and I made Steve even more annoyed when I announced I had no idea how to unlock my door. He grumbled under his breath and got out of the car, holding me up by my arm to keep me from flat out falling over.

"I thought you girls were past this stage." He grumbled, taking my keys out of my hand as we made it to my door.

"Thanks, Stevie. Love youuuu." I sang, patting his face. He unlocked the door and patted mine back.

"Don't fall over on your way to bed. And no more drinks." He said sternly. I saluted him, nodding my head curtly. He just shook his head at me and shut the door, his footsteps echoing down the hall as he went back to the car. I threw my keys in the direction of the counter, having no idea if I actually made it or not. Heels off, pants off, and I was ready to go to bed. I walked into my room, only to stumble over something on the floor and almost take a nosedive into my bed frame. I immediately recognized it as Roman's black thrasher hoodie, bunched up on the floor from the last night he had slept at my house. I had slowly been finding things of his, such as a to-go bottle of his cologne, his clothes (mostly underwear), and even a pair of his shoes.

It made me realize once again how much I missed him. The drinking tonight had just been a coverup for how depressed I had been feeling lately, and all those feelings came back to me at once as I picked his hoodie up off the floor. Despite being in my apartment for two weeks, it still smelled like him. I stared at it for a second, then walked over to my bed and got in, putting the sweatshirt on and laying down. I missed him so goddamn much.