Part One Hundred and Nine

The next few weeks were a mixture of strange occurrences as I started getting phone calls from prominent people with regard to the youth program. Jaleel had gotten the go-ahead for the fundraiser and Alexander was on the front lines, helping me organize this thing.

I’d started keeping a list of people that had pledged money, and they all went on the guest list. The media had gotten hold of the story too, and I was called a few times for an interview but I hadn’t said yes yet. I would talk to them closer to the date of the gala.

I knew all these things were happening because of that MC I had visited and they were really coming through for me. We had opened a bank account for the youth program and Jaleel was ecstatic at the feedback I’d given him.

Alexander had booked a hall, organized music and the catering and we were busy with the design of the invitations. Word was spreading like wildfire and the guest list was nearing the one thousand mark. All my brothers would attend as well and then the nerves hit me.

What if people didn’t show up? What if the night was one huge disaster? So much planning and money had already gone into the night that I was really worried. I struggled to sleep and between training, away games and trying to keep on top of this gala, I was exhausted.

Katiya had gotten involved as well and she was helping Alexander with the final touches, making sure that everything was perfect. She was great at it really and she was in her element, taking over things from Alexander, talking to caterers, decorators and finalizing ideas.

The gala loomed closer and closer and Katiya had gotten Kalen a beautiful little dress with a bow on her hip that matched my tie. I felt more nervous than I had with the NHL draft. I wanted to make a difference, I wanted to do something.

“You’re going to walk a path right through those tiles,” Katiya said.

“Sorry, but I don’t want to blow this,” I said.

“Why are you so nervous, everybody’s RSVP’d, nothing’s going to go wrong, we already have pledges of donations,” she said to me.

“Jaleel asked me to speak,” I said.

“You’re a Ranger, Kage, the media loves you, all this was your idea, of course he wants you to speak,” she said.

“I don’t know what to say,” I admitted.

“First you welcome everyone to the evening and tell them what it’s all about and you ask nicely that they donate time and money,” she said.

“That easy, huh?” I said and she laughed.

“Don’t think too hard about it, speak from your heart,” she said.

“Does it make you uncomfortable that Kalen calls you mommy?” I asked her.

“I’m not her mother, Kage,” she said, not once breaking eye contact with me.

“You could be, you might not be biologically, but in every other sense of the word you are,” I said.

“It’s just a lot, at this point we’re just sleeping together,” she said.

“That’s just because you haven’t said the words,” I said.

“What words?” she asked.

“That you quit being Kalen’s nanny and marry me instead,” I said.

“You’re so full of yourself,” she said as she kissed me in the kitchen.

“You could be full of me too.” She laughed as I picked her up onto the counter and wedged myself between her legs.

“You just want to get laid.”

“Though I’d never say no to that, I mean it in a more permanent way. We have a good thing going here, Katiya. Short of going on camera and telling the whole world that I love you, I don’t really know what more to do,” I said.

“Can you understand that it scares me? You scare me, Kage. You’re talking about a permanent commitment.”

I pulled her closer to the counter’s edge. “We’ve been sharing a bed for weeks. What are you so afraid of?”

“I’m scared that you’ll get tired of me and I’ll end up with a broken heart and when I lose you, I lose Kalen too,” she said and looked down.

I lifted her chin with my forefinger and I kissed her softly. “Adopt Kalen.”

Her breath hitched in her throat and her eyes bored into mine. “What?”

“Adopt Kalen and be her mother. I want this with you, Katiya. I’ll always want you here with me. I want to put a ring on your finger and be able to hold your hand in public. I want to introduce you to people as mine, and as Kalen’s. I want to come home after a game or even just practice and know that my two favorite girls are here waiting for me.”

“You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Hawthorne,” she said.

“Put me out of my misery, Katiya,” I said as she wrapped her legs around my waist.

“It’s a big commitment, Kage, and right now, we don’t have time for this. We need to start getting ready for tonight,” she said.

“We can shower together and save time,” I said as I lifted her off the counter and headed to the stairs.

“How do you know I’m not a gold digger or playing hard to get so you’ll fall for me?”

I laughed as we headed upstairs and I put her down on her feet in the bathroom. “If you were, you wouldn’t have been so worried about losing Kalen rather than losing me.”

She kissed me hard and I knew that it could last forever if she gave it a chance. I’d loved Madison for many years but it was a childish love that I’d clung to as an adult because I didn’t know any better. Madison and I were never meant to be, but Katiya and I, I knew it was right because I was willing to give hockey up for her, and that was the scariest thought I’d ever had.