Chapter Seven
"I'm letting you guys have this house, so you both have to be very responsible," Lamia said.
Lamia hands her son, Lisardo, the keys to the house that he and his brother would be staying in while they play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"Of course, you know we'll be responsible just make sure you put food in the house that's all," Laredo said.
Lamia rolls her eyes.
"Mhmm, of course," Lamia said.
Lisardo and Laredo look at each other before Laredo lays his head on his mother's lap.
"Ma, we need to talk to you about something," Laredo said.
"What is it?" Lamia asked as she plays with Laredo's curls.
"It's about our football jersey," Laredo responded.
"What about them?" She asked.
She was confused about them wanting to talk about their football jersey with her.
"Our last name on it, we want to change it," Lisardo answered.
"Change to what?" She asked.
"To Anoa'i," Lisardo answered.
It's only been two weeks and a couple of days since Joe and the kids met. And the kids have taken to Joe like he's been there from the start. Lamia was happy for her kids to finally have their father in their lives. But she was a little bit worried about this last name change. She felt like the boys were moving too fast.
What if Joe didn't want them using his last name?
"I think you should talk to Joe about this, it's not my last name so I can't tell you it's okay to use it, but why do you want to change it to Anoa'i all of sudden?" She asked her sons.
Without answering her question, Laredo pulls out his phone and FaceTime calls Joe. Joe immediately answers with a silly grin on his face.
"What's up, Laredo," Joe says.
Lisardo moves next to Lamia.
Laredo holds up the phone so Lamia and Lisardo can be on the screen too.
"Hi, Lisardo, Lamia," Joe said.
"Hi, we just wanted to talk to you about something," Lisardo said.
"Okay, what is it?" Joe asked.
"We were thinking about using the Anoa'i last name on our jersey," Laredo answered.
"I thought your last name was Sewell," Joe said.
"Legally it's Anoa'i-Sewell, we can drop Sewell if that's okay with you," Lisardo told Joe.
"You guys had my last name this whole time?" Joe asked, shocked.
Lamia decided to answer Joe's question.
"I thought they would never get a chance to meet you so I fought hard for them to have your last name as a way of them having a connection to you," Lamia explained to Joe.
Joe smiled.
"Then you guys can use it. It's an honor," Joe told the boys.
"Great because I've been wanting to drop Sewell for years," Laredo said.
Joe was so happy that the boys wanted to use the Anoa'i last name. It's crazy how in a short amount of time, he has come to love his kids. He thought it would be a difficult time getting to know them but instead, he felt like they'd been a part of his life and family from the beginning.
"I'm happy, I can't wait to see how you guys play this season," Joe said, making a mental note to order some of the boys' jerseys to wear to the games.
"Oh yeah, we're going hard for our first season in the NFL, baby!" Lisardo exclaimed.
Lamia smiles as the boys continue talking to Joe about their plans for the season and how they're getting him tickets to come to their games.
"Then you guys should come and see me," Joe said, inviting the kids to see him in action.
"That would be cool," Laredo said.
"You too, Lamia," Joe said.
Lamia raised an eyebrow.
"Me?" Lamia asked.
"Yeah, you have to come too," Joe told her.
"Yeah, sure," Lamia said.
Lamia tunes out the rest of the conversation until Laredo ends the call.
"You know my inner child is screaming that you two should get together," Lisardo said.
Laredo chuckled.
Lamia scrunched up her face.
"Your inner child? Okay, Lisardo, it looks like you need a nap," Lamia said.
"I'm so serious," Lisardo said.
"Okay, I'm leaving," Lamia said.
"You can't run from this," Lisardo said.
"Watch me," Lamia said.