Chapter 6: Trade-Off
The first scrimmage against the Dominators was a pivotal moment for the Ducks. As they sat on the visitors' bench, the atmosphere was electric. The crowd, though not large, was filled with other teams, coaches, and scouts from various colleges, all keenly observing every move.
Evan Morrow felt a lump forming in his throat as he watched the Dominators warm up on the ice, especially as he noticed scouts from Notre Dame, Cornell, Michigan State, Princeton, and Yale. He knew they were scouts based on the suits they were wearing and the way they were shaking Coach Cole's hand as Coach Cole pointed out whom he thought were the best players. His finger pointed to Evan and Sofi, as well as a few players from the New York and Iceland teams, as well as kids from his own team, especially his son, Jace, who, surprisingly enough, wasn't the starting center, it was A.J Lawrence.
Evan wondered why Cole wasn't sending in his own son to be the starter, but as he looked out across the ice, he noticed the nervous expression on Jace's face as he skated around to warm up. Not that he could blame the guy. The fact that scouts from the best of the best colleges were here to watch them left his stomach in knots. In fact, he could hardly eat his lunch that afternoon, and it wasn't helped by the fact that their scrimmage against the Dominators was at four o'clock, meaning they were the first ones to play that night; after that, Iceland would play Trinidad and Tobago at six-fifteen.
They still had to go through plenty of more scrimmages, with two different sets of four teams playing on scrimmage days.
The top two got to go to the finals. And it was determined by wins. Not by goals. Evan still didn't completely understand why. But he figured part of it was because Cole was looking to push them toward what he thought was excellence.
Sighing, he turned to glance at his co-captain, but Teddi wouldn't even look at him. He guessed she was still mad about last night. But she just didn't get it. Sure, her mother died. But she never had to deal with an absentee dad who always promised he'd try to come around, but never came around, but this time, his dad sounded like he really meant it, and Evan wanted so badly for his dad to see him score a hundred goals, for his dad to know that he was trying hard for him and that he wanted his dad to be proud, even though his dad constantly called to ask him for money. Evan sometimes thought it was sick how he constantly sought his dad's approval like that. But given for years it had been just him and his mom, he wanted a real dad, somebody he could depend upon.
His eyes burned at the thought as he gripped his hand around his stick tightly. He glanced down at his skates, which were extremely worn and not at all in the best condition; he'd been meaning to use his allowance to buy a new pair of ice skates before he left for camp, but there just hadn't been any time. Plus, it didn't help that he'd gone up in shoe size in the past month. But he was determined to suck it up and just play through it, even though his skates sucked.
He tried glancing at Nick, but his best friend wouldn't look at him either. He guessed he still wasn't forgiven for his attitude yesterday during practice. He knew Logan was still hurt, and that Billy and Koob were upset with him, too. This meant he had the whole team on his ass. And all because he was doing whatever it took to earn one sincere "Good job, son" out of his lying, cheating, womanizing, wannabe rockstar father.
Yeah, maybe he was pathetic, if he was seeking approval from a man like that.
Still, he halfheartedly joined the team's quacking before Charlie decided who he wanted.
"Evan, I want you starting. Teddi, you're on his left, Nick, you're on his right. Maya, Lauren, remember: defense. Billy, play your best," Charlie said. "Go get 'em, kids! Show me you want it!"
Evan nodded, determined. "Sure thing, Coach." He hopped over the guardrail, only for Teddi and Nick to give him the cold shoulder as they took their positions on the ice. Evan skated to center ice and faced A.J. Lawrence, gripping his stick tightly. He just hoped Teddi and Nick would be able to put any hurt feelings aside for the sake of the game.
But he also knew Nick. He knew Nick could hold a grudge and could be a downright passive-aggressive ass when he felt indignant. And he also knew Teddi had a bit of a hothead.
The ref dropped the puck, and Evan won the faceoff against Lawrence. He skated as hard as he could, fighting to get the breakaway before clearing the puck past the blue line in Teddi's direction. Teddi nodded back at him in thanks before taking control of the puck. She then faked the puck back over to Evan as they neared the goalpost, but before Evan could think about taking his shot, he was viciously checked by one of the Dominators' enforcers, who stole the puck away and cleared it out of the zone. Nonetheless, Evan skated after them as Maya and Lauren skated backward toward the goalpost to protect Billy, who had his eyes trained on the puck and was moving back and forth steadily in the goalpost. The enforcer passed the puck over to one of the wingers, Romano, who took the shot, but before the puck could go in, Billy swiftly caught the puck in his glove and sent it back out.
"Nice save, Banksy," Evan said, skating up to his friend.
Billy nodded. "But they're really good. That was close. I could barely follow the puck," he panted as he watched Teddi take control of the puck, moving it out of the Ducks' zone. "Go get 'em!"
Evan nodded in response, skating after Teddi and watching as she faked it with her triple deke until she faked it again, passing it off to Nick, who wrapped around the goalpost and took his shot, only for the goalie to block the shot. The puck cleared out of the zone and the Dominators regained control, moving into the Ducks' zone, and before Lauren and Maya could do much to help defend the zone, A.J. Lawrence shouldered his way past them, shoving them to the ice fiercely before he took his second shot, taking the aim right between Billy's legs.
Evan swore silently. If these guys could get past the Cheetah, they were really screwed.
"CHANGE IT!" Evan heard Charlie yelling.
It went this way for the remainder of the first and second periods. They were at the beginning of the third period, and so far, only Evan, Teddi, and Sofi had managed to score for the past two periods. They were losing badly: eight to three. The Dominators had far better defense, and it was only growing stronger. Their forwards were very efficient scorers, especially Jace Cole, who, along with A.J. Lawrence, managed to rack up the most goals throughout the entire game.
Evan shook his head as he looked up at the scoreboard. Unless they could pull some miracle, they were going to lose miserably.
But Charlie wasn't having any pessimism from anyone. He stood there with his clipboard, sighing, but still looking determined. "Guys, we've got one more period to go. We've got to stay fired up and we've got to stay focused!" He turned to Koob. "Koobler, you're in. Evan, Sam, Sofi, give it your best shot. Billy, keep doing your best. I know you guys can do this. Now go!"
The kids nodded, hopping over the guardrail and moving out to the ice. Evan took center ice while Sam went to his left, Sofi went to his right, and Koob and Lauren lined up behind them while Billy went into the goalpost. Billy was determined to not let in any more goals today; he'd been holding on significantly better during the second period after the Dominators scored so many times against him. Whatever hot streak he was on, Evan just hoped Banks stayed on it long enough for them to rack up more goals. At this point, he'd take a tie over a loss.
The ref dropped the puck again, and this time, he had the faster stick. He skated as hard as he could across the ice into the Dominators' zone and faked it to Sofi, who iced her way toward the goalie's net and took her shot right between his legs. It was now four for the Ducks and eight for the Dominators.
This went on for the remainder of the third period. But when the clock reached ten minutes, Evan had control over the puck and was nearing the Dominators' blue line when one of the enforcers knocked into him, hard, slamming him into the plexiglass. Luckily, before the other team could get too far with the puck, Koob and Lauren retaliated by going in hard with defense, with Koob using his massive body to flip the other guy over, causing him to crash to the ice, hard. Koob cleared the puck out of the zone just as Evan got back to his feet, and he pushed his way through, getting the puck away from the wall and quickly passing to Sam, who wrapped around the goalpost and fought to take his shot. The goalie caught it once and sent it bouncing back, but Sofi caught the puck and took her shot, sending the puck sailing into the net. They were up one more point. It was eight to five. Not great. But better than what it had been before.
They continued with this lineup for the rest of the game, because it was working in their favor. Still, even though Evan was racking up the most goals, they were still behind by the time they reached the final minute. They were two goals behind. He knew the loss was coming their way. But at least he was playing hard and he was partially the reason why they weren't miserably losing. If it weren't for him, Sofi, and Teddi, they'd really be screwed.
Finally, Evan took the final faceoff with Jace Cole, who stared at him from behind his visor with an unreadable expression on his face. Still, when the ref dropped the puck, they fought for it, but this time, Jace won the faceoff and got the breakaway with the puck, entering the Ducks' blue line. He even managed to dodge Lauren and Koob, something that surprised Evan immensely. Seeing how fast Jace was, why wasn't he starting in the game? And why was his dad putting someone else in over him so often if he supposedly was the best player for the Dominators? But Evan had no time to think about Jace Cole's daddy issues when they had a game they needed to play. He got his head in the game and raced after Jace, who was nearing the goalpost.
Billy's eyes were trained intently on the puck, but even so, Jace's puck handling was very swift; he was constantly faking it, volleying it back and forth so fast that even Evan couldn't keep his eye on it. When Jace went in to take his shot, though, Lauren and Koob collectively piled near the goalpost to help protect Billy. But even their combined efforts weren't enough, because even though Jace missed the first time, they ended up with an empty net the second time, and before Billy could get back up on his feet, the puck sailed into the net, and the Dominators finished the game nine to five.
Evan felt the burn of the loss settling in as he watched the Dominators cheer loudly in celebration. He and his teammates walked off to the visitors' locker room, shoulders slumped, especially as Evan noticed the scouts shaking their heads. He was really hoping they'd be impressed if he won, not if he just racked up enough goals to only get them so far.
The Ducks walked into the locker room, with Sam and Evan throwing their sticks down on the ground in frustration. Teddi looked infuriated, even shrugging off Logan's attempts at comforting her.
"That was embarrassing," Nick commented. He then shifted his voice to imitate a sports commentator. "And the biggest losers at Camp EPIC are the Mighty Ducks! Nine to five! What a way to end it!"
"Shut up, Nick!" spat Sofi, already sick of his pessimism.
"I can't believe we let that one get away from us!" said Lauren, shaking her head.
"I just know I played hard," Evan said angrily. "I don't know what you guys were doing out there."
"Evan, stop it!" Teddi spat. "We did everything that we could and we all went hard. But that doesn't mean it's over. We've got lots of more scrimmages left until we reach the finals next month."
"Like any of that matters. Did you see what we looked like out there?" Evan rounded on her, glaring at her. "The scouts from Notre Dame and Yale were out there! Two schools from the Ivy League! Do you even know how bad that looks?"
"Oh, please, stop thinking about college, Evan!" yelled Maya. "We're not even in high school yet and here you are worrying about what a bunch of snot-nosed Ivy League scouts think of you! What's wrong with you?"
"Oh, I don't know, Maya. Maybe I'm here thinking about my future and what comes next! Maybe I want better for myself and maybe I want to go for bigger things!"
"You sound like Coach Cole!" Nick spat. "If you wanna win so bad, why don't you go run away and join him?"
"Shut up, Nick!" Evan slammed his shoulder into Nick, sending his best friend crashing to the floor.
"Nice move there, Morrow! If you did that on the ice, you'd be in the box!"
"Go cry to your moms! You know, since you don't have a dad!"
That was uncalled for. His comments elicited a few gasps from his teammates, especially Koob, Logan, and Teddi, who knew how sensitive Nick was about not having a dad. Yes, he was happy; he loved his two gay moms very much, even though they both went overboard with mothering him from time to time with their overprotectiveness – they didn't even allow him to have an Instagram account; they claimed he'd be allowed to have it when he turned sixteen – but Teddi knew deep down, Nick yearned for a father figure in his life. The closest he had was her dad. But it just wasn't the same. For Evan to point out how Nick didn't have a father, that really was a major diss and one of the worst things anybody could ever say to Nick.
"Fine!" Nick jumped to his feet and shoved Evan. Evan, who fell to the tile ground of the locker room floor and heard the harsh cracking sound of the blade from his right ice skate as he fell, got back up and shoved Nick right back. Nick nearly would've punched Evan if it weren't for Logan and Koob, who raced in to hold him back while Lauren and Sam held Evan back. But before the fistfight could escalate even more, Charlie, Alex, and Ted came storming into the locker room, and Charlie's whistle cut through the air shrilly.
"That's ENOUGH!" he yelled. "SIT DOWN NOW! ALL OF YOU!"
They quickly scrambled to take their seats on the benches, most of them looking down in shame. But Evan had the audacity to still look mad. Nick was blinking back tears, and Koob and Billy were going white-faced with fear. They'd never seen Charlie so angry before. Teddi flinched hard.
"Look, I don't care about wins," Charlie said, his voice a little calmer, but it remained stern, no less. "You kids did all that you could. They were a tough team, but you persevered, and you gave it everything you had." He turned his gaze to Evan. "And I don't want to hear anything out of you, Evan. It's a team effort. It's not just on you. Fix your attitude and clean up your act."
Evan's face went scarlet with anger as he glared at his coach, the man he idolized his whole life, the very man whom he remembered asking for his autograph from when he'd been in first grade after he realized Teddi Conway's father was the Charlie Conway.
"Ev, you were out of line," Alex said angrily, "and consider yourself quite unlucky that I'm both your coach and your mother. Your behavior right now is juvenile. Not to mention your attitude sucks! If you're going to continue like this, consider yourself grounded! You'll have plenty of time to fix your attitude when I put you on third line!"
That was a major diss. Evan or Teddi were normally the starters for all their games. And Evan's shot was invaluable to the team. For Alex to bench him as a way to ground him, Evan exploded.
"YOU CAN'T DO THAT! I'VE GOTTA PLAY!" Evan jumped to his feet in indignation and broke his stick over the bench, causing everyone in the room to flinch harshly. But before Evan could continue his pissed-off rant, they heard a knock at the locker room door, and Coach Cole stepped into the room.
Maya glowered at him. "Yeah, we know. We lost. And we suck. You don't need to tell us what we already know. And by the way, your sneakers are from 2018."
Lauren had to stifle a giggle; she bit hard on her tongue to keep herself from smirking. Maya knew all the clothing trends, and for her to point out that the head coach had clothes dating back to pre-2020 was to show that the man wasn't what he thought he was, even though he liked to think that way.
Coach Cole ignored her. "I'm not here to bring that up," he said. "Look, I know you lost today. But there were standouts among you and I really think that those are the ones who should consider joining my team for the summer."
"Count me out," sneered Teddi. "I'm not ditching my dad."
"That's your decision, Conway. It would be a shame for you to pass up the opportunity because I think you've got the potential to fit right in," Cole said. He turned his gaze in Evan's direction. "You were the one that got noticed the most. You'd have better chances at getting noticed if you're on the winning side."
"Oh, hell no!" Maya snapped.
"He made us, he's stuck with us!" snapped Logan said. "Or at least, he should be since ducks fly together!"
"And if you take him from us, you leave us one player short. How the hell is that fair?" demanded Sam indignantly.
"That's why I am here to propose a trade-off," said Coach Cole, but the way he said it, he sounded like he was talking to a bunch of five-year-olds. "Your co-captain for my son."
That wasn't something any of them were expecting to hear. Jace Cole was supposed to be one of Colin Cole's best, but maybe, even Coach Cole thought very little of his own son if he was thinking of putting him on the Ducks in exchange for Evan. But if that was what Cole was looking to do, none of the Ducks wanted what he was proposing, because it came to show Cole was easily ready to cast aside his own family if it meant he had a chance at having a real winner on his team, or at least somebody that really wanted to win.
"Jace Cole?" demanded Koob.
"You can keep him! He's your kid; he should stay on your team," piped up Nick, glowering at Evan as if daring him to get up and run away and join the Dominators.
"Maybe you all should ask Evan what he wants," shrugged Coach Cole. Charlie and Ted glowered at him furiously, while Alex turned her piercing gaze on her son.
"Ev," she said, "you know I won't keep you from pursuing other opportunities. But think about your friends. I'd hate for you to leave them just because you want to win."
"It's more than that, Mom. You don't get it," Evan whispered.
Silence filled the air when he said that. Of course, none of the Ducks understood why Evan was so obsessed all of a sudden with college. Of course, they also heard of his dad looking to come and see him play. But they knew it had to be a lot more than him seeking his dad's approval. It had to run so much deeper than that. And even though she was pissed at Evan for the thought of him looking to ditch them, Teddi felt a slight pang of sympathy. She knew Evan fantasized about wanting to play pro. She also knew how much he idolized the Ducks that had gone on to do just that. And he really wanted to pursue that. He wanted to have a chance for something better in the future. And for some twisted reason, he thought that being on the Dominators would mean he'd get a jumpstart at that chance. Still, it didn't make it hurt any less knowing he was even thinking about leaving.
Teddi angrily blinked her tears out of her eyes as she glared at Evan. "If that's what you want, then why don't you just go?" she sobbed.
"Teddi," Charlie began.
"No, Dad! He was the one who convinced me to join the Ducks when we were in Squirts together. He helped form this team with me. But if he wants to run away, I'm not stopping him. Let him do what he wants. I don't care anymore." She brushed the tears out of her eyes as she noticed Alex starting to cry.
"Evan, you know I can't make your choices for you," Alex whispered.
Evan sighed. "I have to think about it."
"Well, this room reeks of betrayal," sneered Lauren, tears staining her eyes.
"Tell me about it," Logan piped up, clenching his hands into fists before he reached over and high-fived her.
"I didn't say I'm doing anything yet!" Evan defended.
"You don't have to!" snapped Sofi, looking hurt, and Evan flinched. Never once did he ever want to hurt Sofi, the girl that had always believed in him and loyally stuck by him, the girl that he'd been crazy about since fifth grade.
Evan rounded on her. "You left the original Ducks for us!"
"Because you, Teddi, Gordy, and Billy are my friends!" Sofi growled. "Or least, that's true for three of them! I left the Ducks because they cared more about winning and I hated seeing how Tingman, Cole, and Riley threw you, Teddi, and Gordy out! Billy and I did all of this for you, Evan! And this is how you repay us?"
"Sofi –!" Evan went to grab her hand, but she yanked away from him.
"Don't touch me!"
"Guys, please!"
But nobody on the Ducks wanted to hear anymore. The girls excused themselves to go shower first while the boys began packing their stuff away.
Later that night, up on the floor where the girls were staying, Alex Morrow couldn't seem to stop crying. Her heart actually ached the longer she sat there, thinking about Evan considering leaving the Ducks for the Dominators. She was convinced if he did leave, she'd die. In fact, she felt as though she were dying inside the longer she sat on the couch in her apartment, glancing down at her cell phone. Charlie was too busy trying to console Teddi, Sofi, Nick, and Logan, who were taking Evan's potential departure from the team the hardest out of everyone.
There was a large part of her that wanted to pack her bags and just leave. But she also knew she was the assistant coach and that that wasn't an option, and that Charlie wasn't going to just let her leave, either, not when he needed her there with him to help with the kids. Still, Alex felt sick; she recalled the way Evan looked when he'd sat in the locker room after the Ducks-Dominators scrimmage and the expression he'd held on his face when they watched Iceland play Trinidad and Tobago. Just the expression on Evan's face alone, his body language, how he now carried himself, she no longer saw the sweet, heart-of-gold leader of the Ducks who'd loyally stood by Gordy, Billy, Teddi, and Sofi when they were too sick or injured to play in the championship, the boy that she raised to be respectful and compassionate. She now saw a boy who was just cynical, obsessed with wanting to be the best, a boy who no longer trusted his mom anymore.
But she also knew she couldn't keep him from doing what he wanted. As much as it killed her, if Evan wanted to join the Dominators and go through with Cole's trade-off, then she had to let him go.
After an awkward take-out dinner with Evan that night, she beckoned him to his apartment, which he was sharing with Koob and Nick. But from the looks of it, if Evan decided he wanted to join the Dominators for the rest of the summer, Nick and Koob would most likely be dorming with Jace Cole. And Alex felt they weren't going to take well to that.
She glanced down at her iPhone. There was one person she'd consider calling right now. She really wanted to just hear his voice. But she also knew she didn't want to interrupt anything that Casey and Gordon were doing right now. Still, she desperately needed that reassurance that she was doing the right thing by accepting the invitation to come here in the first place. Even though Gordon could be a grumpy pessimist who often thought she was a pain in the ass, she also knew him to be a huge softie and that he cared enough.
Sighing, she wiped her eyes before unlocking her phone and dialing Gordon's number. She pressed her phone to her ear, listening as the phone rang until finally, she heard his voice on the other end.
"Hey, Alex."
"Am I interrupting anything?"
"No, we just got back from seeing the fireworks in Disneyland," said Gordon. "Are you okay? What's going on?"
"It was a mistake coming here," Alex choked out, feeling more tears rolling down her face.
"You already complained about that at the end of day one," said Gordon dryly.
"I'm serious this time!"
"What's changed?"
Alex sniffled. "The kids lost their first scrimmage. And Evan, I don't know what's gone into him! I don't know what to do with him. God, Gordon, you should've seen him today after that scrimmage, how he was acting, the things he was saying, how he fought with Nick and all his teammates. And Coach Cole . . . he claimed he was so impressed by Evan's talent; he wants him on his team, and he wants to trade his son for Evan! And . . ."
"What do you mean trade-off his son for Evan? If the Ducks lost, why would he want Evan?"
"I don't know! But I do know he drives me insane! And even Charlie and Ted think he's unreasonable. God! The things he says to the kids, putting them down all the time, having these insane workout regiments where he's setting them up to fail because he knows they're incapable of doing all he's demanding. Not to mention yesterday, he went out of his way to embarrass them; he fat-shamed Koob, and he called Lauren 'spineless.' He's . . . He's worse than Tingman; I don't think I've seen anyone more abusive in my life!"
She could almost see Gordon wincing. "I can't judge anything because I'm not there. But Alex, you and Charlie have got to do your part in helping them. You guys are coaches for a reason. You've got to believe in yourselves or else, the team won't believe in themselves. As for Evan, he needs to make his own decisions."
"But . . . But you don't understand. When I looked at him today, it was like he didn't trust his own mom anymore." Alex closed her eyes, unable to get any more words out as she just sobbed.
"Listen, Alex, I can't tell you what to do," Gordon whispered, his voice gentle. "But can I speak from experience? Casey, Ted, and I dealt with something like this from Charlie. It was during his freshman year at Eden Hall Academy. He felt abandoned because I went off to work with the Junior Goodwill Games committee. I left him and the Ducks in the hands of Ted, who was preparing them for real life, and Charlie wasn't ready to accept that yet. And on top of all that, he was a total hotshot; he thought he was the best, he thought he didn't need any help, and Casey told me his attitude was horrible, that he was angry about a lot of things. But Casey also knew that all she could do was continue to love him even though she was disappointed in the way he was acting. That's all you can do, Alex. Just give him some time to come around. Because Evan has to eventually realize what it is he'll be missing."
"But I don't want him to learn the hard way."
"Sometimes, it has to happen that way." Gordon sighed deeply in sympathy; she could almost see his face twisting into a frown. "Listen, just keep your head up. And don't let Cole get you down for long. Tell the kids the same thing."
"But what about Koob? And Nick? And Billy? Gordy, too. Because I'm seeing how this is taking a toll on them. Yesterday, Koob tried starving himself. And Cole said he expected more from the sons of Adam and Julie Banks and Connie and Guy Germaine. His expectations are ridiculous! I think the only person Charlie, Ted, and I have on our sides is the team's tutor, Ms. Vaughn."
"I can't tell you what to do with that, either," Gordon said softly. "But I'm going to stop by sometime before my honeymoon is over. Just be there for them. And if you have to, then I suggest you put Cole in his place. Because from the sounds of it, he's singling you guys out because he wants to prove you don't belong. You're a lawyer, Alex. Think like one."
"I'm just a legal assistant."
"It doesn't matter. If you feel you've had enough and that he's taken things too far, if you think his actions border on abuse and that he doesn't have the temperament for working with children, be their advocate and stand up for them. Be that woman, Alex. I know you can do this. You can do anything."
Despite the situation, Alex managed a smile. "Thanks, Gordon."
"Any time. And you know I'm always here for you. If you guys need anything, call me, and I'll take care of it. I mean it, all right?"
Alex sighed. "Okay." With that, she hung up just as she heard a knock on her apartment door. She walked over and opened it to see her son, who had his bags with him, a torn expression on his face.
"You're leaving us?" Alex asked him, unable to hide how hurt she felt.
Evan nodded. "I just wanna have a better shot. I want a chance at something better, Mom. And Coach Cole's offering me that. I can't pass this up."
Alex sighed, more tears filling her eyes. "I know. And I'm not going to tell you what to do. If this is what you want, I won't stop you, honey."
"I'm sorry, Mom. About all of this. I didn't mean to say all that to Nick and Teddi and the others. And . . ."
"Did you tell your friends that?"
"They won't listen to me."
"I'll talk to them, then."
"No, Mom. Don't. I hope they come around and understand why."
"They're pretty mad about it still. Even if they do understand, they're gonna be hurt over it for a while. But honey, what is this really about? Because I know it's about more than just a bunch of scouts watching you."
Evan nodded, looking down at his shoes. "Dad called me the night we got here. He said he might stop by to see me play."
"And you think by being on the team that wins, you can make him proud of you?"
"Partially," Evan admitted sheepishly. "But I also wanna show him that I'm making it without him, that even though he left, I'm doing well in spite of all that."
"You shouldn't have to prove anything to your dad, Ev. Ever. But I also know when he left, that hurt you. And I also know how much it hurts you that he calls to ask for money. And that when he does visit, there are times he shows up drunk. But this isn't the way to get his attention."
"Can you blame me for trying?" Evan's voice broke as his eyes filled.
Alex shook her head. "I don't." She sighed, pulling her son into a tight hug. "Just don't be a stranger, all right? Promise me we'll have dinner together every night. And don't forget your family."
Evan nodded. "I promise, Mom."
She kissed him on the top of the head, sighing again. Despite understanding Evan's reasons why, it didn't make his decision to leave hurt any less. But she was glad that things between them were still good, and that they were always going to be okay.
"I love you," she said thickly.
"I love you, too."