Fix... (Frederik Andersen)
When I finally got home from work, Fred was sitting on the couch, our son Oliver sitting in his lap. We had just recently celebrated Oliver’s six months, almost the whole Maple Leafs team coming over, some of my family as well to celebrate, Oliver not having... well, any friends yet. I quietly set my bag down, walking over to the living room, sitting on one of the chairs just beside the couch. I smiled over at him, seeing how happy he was looking down at Oliver.
“Hi.” He whispered, looking up at me before looking down at Oliver, fixing his blanket slightly.
“Hey. How was your day?” I asked, sitting back into the chair, really feeling the day hit me.
“It was really chill. We didn’t have anything to do today so dad just watched some tv while Oli slept for most of the day.” He said, looking down at Oli once more, holding onto his tiny hand.
“Well that sounds delightful. I’m going to have to take a day off soon so we can all hang out together.” I said, getting up from the chair and sitting down next to them on the couch, leaning my head onto his shoulder, looking down at our boy. I could feel some tears forming in my eyes, feeling a rush of pure joy course through my veins.
“Hey, are you okay?” Fred asked, looking over at me, moving one of his hands to wipe one of the stray tears running down my face.
“Of course I am, I just, I can’t remember the last time the three of us were together... I honestly can’t remember the last time the two of us talked other than when you crawl into to bed and even then, I’m always half asleep so I don’t even remember what we talk about.” I said, leaning up slightly and kissed his cheek.
“Well, I think Oli might be down for the count right now so how about I go put him into his crib, and we can have a little movie night... I’ll get the snacks, and you can order the take out.” He stood up, kissing me quick before disappearing down the hall.
I took out my phone and quickly called our favourite Chinese take out and ordered our usual. I stood up, grabbing my purse from the ground and placing it onto the kitchen counter, digging through to grab my debit card, knowing it won’t be long before the food would arrive. Now any girl will tell you that her purse is basically a bottomless pit or a black hole. If things aren’t put in a specific place, there’s little to no hope of finding it unless completely dumping it out. As I was about to completely overturn my bag, I could feel Fred’s arms wrap around my waist and his chin rest on my shoulder.
“What do you think you’re doing?” He whispered, turning his head slightly, kissing my neck as I tilted my head over, giving him more room.
“I am getting my card out so that we can pay for the food I just ordered. I don’t know about you but I’m pretty sure restaurants would want to be paid for their food.” I said, turning to him quickly to kiss him once more and then turned back to my bag, to continue looking for my card.
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that.” He said, grabbing my hands and pulling them out of my bag. “I have everything ready, my cards by the door. Let’s go cuddle.” He said, acting like a child.
Pulling me towards the living room and sitting me down on the couch, pulling me into his chest, re positioning us both into a way that we were both so used to. We had put one of our favourite movies on, snacking lightly as we waited for our food. When the doorbell finally went off, Fred picked me up slightly, moving me to the other end of the couch before getting up, paying for our food and then coming back with the food and utensils. We set everything up on the coffee table, grabbing our shares of the food as I slid over towards him and cuddled into his side. I could hear him mumbling to himself as the end of the movie was closely approaching.
“Penny for your thoughts?” I asked, looking up at him, seeing him shovel another large forkful of food into his mouth.
“I uh. I’ve been thinking, about what you were saying... It’s true, we haven’t been able to see each other, at all. I thought that when Oliver was born, we would feel even closer but for some reason, I feel like we’re drifting further apart and I can’t help but feel like it’s all my fault. I’ve been putting the guys, my career first but I know, you and Oli are the ones I need to be putting first. When I get back from the next road trip, we can get one of the guys to watch over Oli and we’ll have date night. I know I owe you greatly and this will just be the beginning... but I promise, I will make it up to you.” He said, leaning down, grabbing my food out of my hands and placing it onto the table in front of us, as well as his food too, grabbing my waist and pulling me on top of him. “I promise, I will fix this...” He said, finally kissing me.
Before we could get too far, the baby monitor went off, signalling that Oli was up. I rested my forehead on his, before getting up and running to the nursery, picking him up and rocking him back and forth, turning slightly towards the door to see Fred leaning against the door frame, smiling at the two of us. He walked towards us, standing behind us, rocking with us as well. When Oli finally calmed down, I put him back into the crib and then walked back out to the living room with Fred, sitting back down again, setting back into our previous positions.
“I love you, Mr. Andersen.” I said, looking up at him.
“And I love you, Mrs. Andersen.” I curled back into his side, closing my eyes as the day was finally catching up to me. I ended up falling asleep in his arms, feeling completely safe and sound, knowing this is how it should be, knowing that if anything was wrong, we will be able to fix it. I know it...
