“Ostie, fais attention, Nguyen!”

Ashton fumbled the puck, hastily passing it off to his teammate And watching him shoot it before the whistle blew. There was only a minute remaining in the first home game of the season, and he was completely out of it.

Why? Because his usual babysitter called out sick at the last minute. Never had Ashton ever felt so off of his game, his mind plagued with worries about his daughter, Charlotte. She’d never been to one of his games before— would the late night be hard on her? What about the noise?

Lost in his thoughts, Ashton nearly missed the faint tapping on the glass behind him as he lined up for the final face off. He whirled around to see a tiny hand pressed up against the clear surface, with fingernails sloppily painted a glittery pink hue. Not his best work.

A grin crept onto Ashton’s face as he saw his daughter lifted up so she could see her daddy by you. He didn’t recognize you nor your tired, if not annoyed expression– likely at being put on babysitting duty despite your lanyard clearly reading “MEDIA INTERN”. But it was clear to him that none of your exasperation was directed toward Charlotte. As she turned to babble at you, though he couldn’t hear the interaction through the glass, he saw your expression soften, your free hand coming up to brush her hair from her face.

Ashton could feel himself going weak in the knees, his heart beating wildly in his chest. It was a relief to see that his daughter had been in good hands for the evening, but beyond that, he realized he’d never seen anyone besides his mother around his daughter. Charlotte was his best kept secret, under the guise of not wanting to expose her to the media, when in reality it was entirely selfish. He’d never wanted to give up his lifestyle. Ashton enjoyed casual flings, he liked the chase and the thrill, never the commitment and the settling down. But seeing someone, seeing you handling his daughter with such care made him doubt himself for the first time in his life.

And then the puck dropped.