Chapter Two ☽︎ Hey, Mom

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"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive."
-- Unknown

H U D S O N

"STOP STARING AT me," I growl at Zac, who sits on the bench, looking at me like I ate his breakfast.

"Come on man," Nick skates behind me. "He's here to watch, and frankly, I don't see him bothering you, or anyone in particular,"

"I'm just having a shitty morning," I groan, slamming my hockey stick against the ice.

"You're always having a shitty morning," He chuckles, skating back to the guys on the other side of the rink. I toss my helmet to the ice and then I take a sit next to Zac. He looks at me for a second, and then I give in, by rubbing his back.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you buddy," I say more to myself than him. "I'm just really stressed out, and I didn't get a lot of sleep last night," I'm talking even though I know he's not listening to me. And to be honest, it's a lot better than talking to Nick. Dude literally dissects you as you speak. I sometimes wonder how Brittany puts up with him.

"Don't need anymore ice time?" I hear Coach behind me, when I turn, I see him walking with Anderson. I really need to learn how to call this dude his first name.

"No, no, I actually need more ice time," I skate to my feet. "I'm good, I'm good, just having a good chat with my buddy Zac here," I look to Zac for help, but he walks back into the hockey facility building. Yep, I definitely offended him.

"Well then get back to the game, you don't want to be a bad left winger, do you?" Coach cocks his head to the side.

"What's the hell is that supposed to mean?" I raise a brow.

"Anderson here is now training and practicing as a left winger, that is, a substitute just in case you do something bad in the rink, during our next game," Coach shakes his head and Anderson looks excited. He's always been on the sidelines, and now he's finally getting ice time, he's going to be my replacement if I fuck up. Perfect.

Well, personally I totally understand Coach Mike. I've been playing like shit lately, I just wish he wouldn't rub it in my face by bringing Anderson to the party. My life officially sucks.

"Welcome then," I salute Anderson before I give a quick nod to Coach and skate my way towards the guys. I fucking hate every moment of this morning. From yesterday's Hollywood Reporter interview to T, waking me up with really loud music, to Anderson next in line to taking my fucking place on the team. Today's a mess. And now I doubt the who "better days are coming crap", because that's not happening for someone like me.

"You look stressed out," Terence skates towards me with the puck rolling around his hockey stick.

"Says the guy who woke me up with the Imagine Dragons screaming fucking Radioactive," I growl at him.

"Dude, I hate to," he raises his hands in mock surrender. "You sure your stress has nothing to do with a certain Miss Summers?" He cocks his head to the side and I almost freeze, and I'm so late to pretend I have no idea what he's talking about.

Because every fucking body knows Kimberly Summers.

"She's Aaron's Sister-in-law okay?" He whisper-yells. "And in case you've forgotten, he's our Captain, and you do not want to pick a fight with him," He says in that warning tone of his. I'm busy pondering on how the hell he knows about Kimmie and I, and then he says, "I usually come to check on you before I go to bed," he continues in his skates. "Because contrary to what you might think, I actually care about you're lazy whinny ass,"

That earns him a chuckle from me, a chuckle he returns. That means he found Kimmie's Instagram on my phone, when I passed out while looking at her pictures. That means he only thinks that I see her as a fling.

It's a lot more than a fling.

It's a ton of 'forever and ever's exchanged between two people madly in love.

But T doesn't need to know that I'm a whipped asshole playing hockey playboy. No one needs to know. I deserve every shit I get.

"Yeah yeah, I get it, stay out of Aaron's Sister-in-law's pants to prevent a beef with the captain, got it," I fake salute him and he laughs, tossing the puck to my corner.

"You and Alex doing okay?" He asks and I nod.

"As long as he doesn't put his dick in my sister," I cock my head to the side. "Yeah, yeah, we'll be okay, we'll get there,"

"Well, how do you think married life is treating him?" T asks as my eyes find Alex, who sits on the bench alone, stoic, lost in thought as always.

"I don't know, man," I sigh. "I just know that it's not the same way marriage is treating Cap," We then look at Aaron, who is exchanging shots with a hyperactive Nick.

"Get back in the game everyone! And stop behaving like college hockey players," Coach yells at us as we get back to business. Our next game is next week Saturday, and we don't get to mess it up. Coach Mike is hard on us from Ice time to gym sessions, and more ice time and more ice time.

By the time we're done for the day, you can probably guess how I feel.

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"Thanks for coming over, and cooking this, seriously," I tell Jodie as I fill my mouth with her delicious samosas.

"Oh come on, you're my big brother after all," she smiles as she dishes more food into my plates. "And I need to make sure you eat healthy," she chuckles. "You're hockey player after all, I won't forgive myself if you collapse in the rink, due to lack of actual food," she winks.

"Are you implying that I don't eat?" I grin at her.

"No, I'm implying that you love junk, now eat," she commands and I nod in agreement.

"Junk huh?" I wink at her and she playfully shoves me in the chest.

"You're so dirty minded," she groans.

"Hey, how's pregnancy treating Brittany?" I can't believe I'm asking that, but well, yeah.

"She's showing already, twins you know," she smiles. "I'm so excited to be an aunt," she smiles sheepishly.

"You're already an Aunt," I say and she nods.

"So many people want to carry Junior, I never get enough time with him, he's so cute and he makes people smile, a lot,"

"Couldn't agree more," T pipes up as she steps into the kitchen. "What you making?" He looks over her shoulder.

"Zayn's favorite, Samosas," she says.

"Ahh, I love samosas too," T grins, rubbing his palms together as he steals a peek from my plate. I give him a "don't fucking think about it" look and he chuckles.

"Okay, here you go," Jodie dishes for T who smiles as he takes a seat next to me.

"Thanks, Jo," He smiles. T gives me a look, and I know it's exactly the look he gives me when he wants to talk about Alex. I silently mouth a "fuck no" and then he pretends to zip his lips. But that doesn't mean I don't think about Alex and Jo. I just wonder how easy it was for him to get married to some fucking princess and--

"Stop it," Jo says.

"Stop what?" I look between T and her.

"That look," Jo folds her arms.

"What look?" I act dumb.

"The look you have on your face when you think about killing Lex, um.....I mean, Alex," She rambles. "I told you I'm okay," she smiles, it doesn't meet her eyes though. And I know she's not fucking okay, another reason why I don't think I may ever be friends with Alex again.

"Of course I wanna kill him, it's the whole teammate and sportsmanship shit that's stopping me," I grin at her.

"Like I said, I've moved on from all that, that was like, three years ago, I'm fine," Jo says at the same time the doorbell rings. "You guys expecting someone?" She glances between T and I.

"Might be the paparazzi, I'll check it out," T says as he heads towards the living room.

"Big T!" I hear an all too familiar voice from the direction of the front door and I stand to my feet.

Mom?

"Aunt Marissa?" I hear T's voice and I jump to my feet. Mom? What is she doing here?

I walk to the living room where I finally see her, and a couple of luggages. She hugs To who freezes before he hugs her back. Mom's a sucker for hugs from anyone she meets. I'm not aware of Jo's presence until Mom says.....

"Oh my, Lee, is she your girlfriend?" Mom gushes.

"Lee huh?" T folds his arms as he stifles a laugh. I'll get him for that later.

"Yes, Lee is my son's middle name," Mom smiles proudly.

"Mom, this is Jo," I gesture to Jo who freezes and pins me with a "what the actual fuck, dude?" look. "One of Dad's illegitimate children, and I mean that in the nicest way possible," I grin at Jo, who looks at my mom in an attempt to say hi.

"Lee, how many times do I have to tell you that, I didn't love your Dad, I just needed the sperm, and now, look at you," she smiles proudly and then she faces Jo.

"Did you Mother love Adam?"

"Seeing as she barely talks about him, nope, I don't think she did," Jo answers nervously.

"It's really nice to meet you, Jo, I'm Marissa," she pulls Jo in for a hug and Jo relaxes. "Don't ever feel weird about this okay, it's all part of life," My mom says and Jo forces a smile, while glaring at me.

"Okay, Jo and I are gonna go for a.......," T looks to Jo for assistance, "a quick evening jog," Jo says and T smiles.

"Awww, you guys dating then?" Mom asks and I throw a hand on my face.

"No, no, no, Jo is like a sister to me," T answers, throwing an arm around Jo as then begin to leave.

"You guys catch up okay?" Jo grins at me as they leave.

Catch up. Right. With Marissa James, we're going to do a lot more than catch up.

"Mom what are you doing here?" I groan.

"Said the son who didn't come home for Christmas," she retorts. "And so I decided to take matters into my hands," she glances at her endless luggages and then back at me.

"Take matters into your hands?" My voice is barely a whisper.

"Yeah, I'm moving in with you until further notice, and don't try to argue with me," she folds her arms.

"No, you're going to disrupt my hyperactive sex life!" I yell.

"And so what? You have a condo, you can continue your sex life there," she begins moving her things further into the house. I bury my head in my hands, and then I stand to my feet to help her. But then she slaps my hands as I try to.

"No, Lee, we're beefing until you explain why you ditched me last Christmas," She glares at me. "You're gonna show me my room or what?"

"Come on, Mom, I'm a grown man--"

"Grown man? That's exactly what you said in college and then you went ahead and threw away the one person that made you so so happy, and I know you don't want to talk about that, so just show me my room," She sighs. "I don't want to fight with you, you're all I've got,"

"Yeah, come on, I'll show you," I groan. This is going to be a long evening. "I don't want to fight with you too,"

"You sure got a damn good way of showing it," she nods.

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"I wanna tell you guys a story," Mom sing-songs and Jo rubs her palms together, to get rid of the cold I think. We've been having minuses since Christmas. It's nighttime now, and we're seated at my enormous backyard, while T makes marshmallows and barbecues and Mom decides now as the best time to tell one of my most embarrassing childhood stories.

"I can't believe your name is Hudson Lee James," Jo whispers and I playfully glare at her.

"A story about how Hudson pooped his pants?" T grins and Jo throws her head back in laughter.

This is exactly why I didn't want Mom to stay here.

"Something close to that," Mom grins at T. "Okay so listen up," T and Jo grin like kids and I throw a pillow over my face. "When Lee was in sixth grade, there was this girl he really really liked,"

No, not this story. I groan internally.

"I mean, they had so many cute moments together," Mom gushes.

"But she was playing me!" I groan, the pillow still on my face.

"Hudson, let your Mom do the storytelling!" Jo yells. "Go on Aunt Marissa," I hear her say.

"Anyway, this girl really liked Hudson--"

"Or so he thought!" I groan loudly.

"And then I planned a playdate, and her Mom was supposed to bring her to our home,"

Yeah, this is where it gets interesting.

"And on that fateful day, her Mom showed up with Hudson's dream girl and another kid that Hudson's dream girl really really liked,"

"Oh shit," T says.

"Oh my god that sucks," Jo says.

"Anyway, the night ended with Lee crying to sleep in my bed," Mom says as I toss the pillow off my face.

"There's nothing wrong with being a Mama's boy, Hudson, my mom calls me every night just to be sure I ate dinner and I took of my hearing aid," T says, pointing to the hearing aid in his left ear and Jo smiles.

"Aww that's really sweet," Jo says.

Yeah, the hearing aid. Game injury, last year, don't want to think about it.

"Yeah yeah, take your barbecues and go to your rooms!" I yell at both them.

"You're okay with me spending the night? I promise I'll get an apartment soon," Jo rambles.

"You're my sister, now go pick a room before I change my mind," I smirk and she laughs.

"Goodnight Aunt Marissa," Jo grins at my mom who hugs her yet again. T says goodnight to Mom too, playfully shoving my shoulder as he leaves.

I've Mom so much, and the Hockey life makes it difficult to see her whenever I want, so just like she said earlier today, she took matters into her own hands. And looking at her right now, I know she misses cheering for me from the stands.

Mom was my first fan. When she found out how much I loved hockey, she bought me skates with her last cash, and always took me to skate with other kids, so as to challenge myself. In highschool, she came for every one of my games, screaming Lee from the stands. Other parents thought she was embarrassing, but I didn't care, I just wanted her to cheer for me. Even when I lost a game, she'd make me watch Friends and go to sleep on the couch with her. She's my sounding board, and she's been there to pick me up when I fuck things up.

"You okay?" Her warm voice interrupts my thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm great," I smile at her. "I didn't come home for Christmas because, you know......." I say and she nods in understanding. "And I'm sorry,"

"Saw Kim on TV the other day," she says and I wince. "Think she's dating some designer guy," she sighs.

"Yeah, she's happy," I sigh. "she's happy," I say, this time, more to myself than her.

"You don't like talking about it," She sighs, taking my hand in hers. "The breakup,"

"Yeah, I don't," I sigh before she can say anything. "You good out here? I gotta sleep, T and I have a meeting with our agent tomorrow,"

"Yeah I'm good," she smiles. "Goodnight Baby,"

"Night, Mom," I kiss her head.

I'm about to open the door that goes back into the house when she says,

"It's never too late, Baby,"

It is, Mom.

A U T H O R ' S N O T E

Hey guys!

We've met Hudson's Mom, what do you think of her?

And how are we loving the sibling relationship between Hudson and Jo?

How did you like the chapter?

Updates are now Tuesdays and Fridays!

See you next update!

Xoxo, M.


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