I close the door and make my way down the front steps as quickly as I my legs will carry me—yes, all three of them. Of course, Adam happens to be outside with the kids this afternoon. Just my luck.

“Hey, man, you need some help getting those tiles inside,” Adam calls out as he walks my way.

I throw my hand up in protest and keep moving to my truck. “Nope. Later. Gotta go.”

“Dude, don’t you wanna unload that shit? Come on, I’ll help you.”

I fumble with my keys and keep my head down as I unlock the door. “Somewhere to be,” I reply in a clipped tone.

“What the hell is so important it can’t wait for ten minutes, Cain? We’ll knock this out in no time.” Adam holds my door open, blocking my escape.

Fucker.

“Shower, dude. I need a shower … now,” I mutter through clenched teeth as I tug the door out of his grasp and turn the ignition.

As I reverse out of the driveway, I see the exact moment when realization washes over his face, and he points and laughs at my harrowing situation.

Balls as blue as those little smurf fuckers … that’s my wish for you, Adam.

“Sweet and Low” by Augustana

Present Day

THE UMPIRE BLOWS his whistle with a puffed chest and an overly exaggerated sense of authority, seeing as this is a peewee soccer game. Gage lets loose a battle cry, beats his little chest, and bounds across the field to meet his team. Lily’s tiny fingers stay tightly wrapped around Adam’s lawn chair as she pouts.

“But I’m a princess, Daddy. I don’t want to get dirty. And I don’t want to play with boys,” she whines.

Adam shakes his head and frowns at her. I don’t know how he does it. One glimpse at her puppy dog eyes and wild curls, and I’m restraining myself from scooping her up for an impromptu tea party in the parking lot. I’m with the munchkin—princesses shouldn’t have to play soccer.

“I want you to try, Lily Pad. Can you do that for Daddy? Please?” He smooths her hair and rubs a thumb over her cheek.

She thinks on it for a minute, pursing her lips and looking to the sky. “No, Daddy. I can’t do that.”

“I’m here, I’m here,” Celia calls out while running toward the field waving her arms. “Whew! I’m so glad you didn’t go on the field without your special gear, Lily.”

Celia swipes her forehead in exaggerated relief and kneels in front of the self-proclaimed princess. Lily loosens her hold on Adam’s chair and clasps her hands together in excitement.

“What did you bring, Aunt Cece?”

Celia claps and bites her lip. “I can’t wait to show you,” she says as she digs in her purse. “I brought the perfect accessories for a butterfly soccer princess.”

I lean closer to Adam without taking my eyes off the girls. “What the hell is a butterfly soccer princess?” I mutter through the side of my mouth.

“No clue, but just go with it, man,” Adam mumbles back.

Celia pulls out two strands of sparkly silver ribbon, and gathers one of Lily’s jersey sleeves into a bunch at her shoulder. She threads the ribbon underneath the shirt and ties it into a bow, effectively making the jersey sleeveless. Lily watches her every move in complete awe.

“I bought silver ribbon so it would match your blue uniform. Butterfly soccer princesses must always match,” Celia explains with a serious tone.

“Yes,” Lily whispers as her fingers toy with the ribbon, pure magic playing on her lips.

Celia finishes tying the second bow. She peers back into her purse and squeals with excitement. “And now for the final touch.”

Her hand slowly emerges from her purse, holding two tiny pink butterflies with glittered wings. Each has a clip on the bottom, and Celia attaches a butterfly to the center of each of Lily’s silver bows.

Lily’s hands shoot up to cover her “o” shaped mouth, and her little body vibrates with excitement.

“These are where butterfly soccer princesses get their power, Lily,” Celia explains. “Now, can you show me your sparkly wings?”

Celia holds up her hands on either side of her head, and wiggles her fingers. Lily giggles and copies her hand motions.

“Like this?” Lily asks.

“Exactly! But your wings can only sparkle when you make a goal. Are you gonna try your best to give me sparkly wings today?”

“She’s a damn genius,” Adam mutters, shaking his head.

“I’m gonna do it!” Lily screeches right before she darts across the field to meet her teammates.

“Will you marry me?” Adam asks as he wraps an arm around Celia’s neck and plants a kiss on top of her head.

“Quit manhandling her, dude,” I say as I pull Celia away from his grasp and park her in the lawn chair next to mine. I saved her the one with the pillow attached to the back. What can I say? I’m a gentleman.

Celia lets out a giggle as she settles into her chair and crosses her legs. I give a quick mental “thank you” to Mother Nature for the warm weather as Celia’s shorts creep up her hot, little legs. “I had a feeling our little princess would be obstinate. Sparkles and glitter make soccer a whole lot more fun for princesses.”

Adam lets out a sigh of relief. “Look, I don’t care how you did it. I had no idea how I was going to get her on that field. I was two ‘pleases’ away from giving up. I only wanted her to try something new, and it turned into a huge stand off. Seriously, thank you for saving the day.”

“No problem,” Celia says with a smile. She puts on her sunglasses and tips her head to the sun. “You should have invited Sara to join us, Adam. She would have enjoyed seeing Lily and Gage play, and I would have enjoyed the extra dose of estrogen. With Audrey away at the pharmaceutical rep training for the last couple months, I could have used her girl power against you two knuckleheads.”

“Don’t go there,” Adam warns.

“I’m just saying. You let Cain, Audrey, and me come to the games, so I don’t see why Sara should be any different.” Celia turns to me for reinforcement, but I throw my hands up on this one. Double-teaming him will only piss him off more.

“You don’t have to understand it, Celia. It doesn’t concern you.” Adam pushes forward in his chair and props his elbows on his knees, giving his full attention to the game.

Celia takes a deep breath, and I can tell she’s about to beat the Sara horse to death, and then drag it down the street. Luckily for all of us, her phone starts chirping, distracting her. After looking at the caller ID, she stands and squeezes my shoulder.

“I have to take this. Be right back,” she whispers as she places the phone to her ear and walks away.

I refocus on the game just in time to see Gage kick the ball into the goal. Adam and I both jump out of our chairs, clapping and cheering for little man. His tiny fist pumps the air and he whips around to find us. When he realizes his dad saw the whole things, his smile nearly splits his face. That’s pure gold right there.

We both take our seats as the cheering settles down. I grab a bottle of water from the ice chest behind me and get one for Adam as well.

“I hope you know what you’re doing with her. I have a feeling someone’s gonna get hurt in this scenario, and I don’t mean Celia,” Adam warns as he twists the cap off his water.

“I’m a big boy. I know what I’m doing.” I flick my bottle in his direction, splashing him with drops of freezing cold water.

“Do you really? Because from where I’m sitting, I see a girl hung on a guy from her past. And when I say hung up, I mean in the truest sense of the word. And I don’t think he left for college, okay? I’m pretty fucking sure he died, and that shit isn’t gonna disappear because you want it to.” Adam’s voice is low, but there’s no mistaking his serious tone. Don’t get me wrong, it’s appreciated, but he’s not saying anything I haven’t thought of myself.