“It’s okay. I don’t mind. Here, I’ll put her on.” I pulled the phone away and told Carrie, “It’s your dad.”

Snatching the phone out of my hand, she squealed, “Daddy!”

His reply was just as enthusiastic, and my heart swelled as I listened to them chatter happily with each other. Finally, I heard Carrie say, “Okay, do good at football tomorrow.” A pause. “Yes, sir, I’ll be good for Mommy.” Then a giggle. “I love you so much too, Daddy.”

Carrie handed me the phone, let out a big yawn, and fell promptly asleep against my side. I looked down at the phone and saw that Ax had already disconnected the call, but it didn’t bother me in the least. I was too touched by the sweetness of him thinking to call his little girl to say goodnight and that he loved her. Axel may be new to this parenting thing, but so far, he was killing it.

I woke up early the next morning and got ready for the trip to Houston, putting on the red jersey Axel had given me with white shorts and Converse. I dug through the bags from Axel and pulled out the red jersey and white shorts for Carrie, as well as the white boots. She would think it was fun that we were dressed similarly.

While we were getting her dressed, she stared at the back of the jersey. “Broxton. That’s Daddy’s last name?” I nodded, and she touched each letter. “B-R-O-X-T-O-N.” Then she closed her eyes and tried to spell it on her own. “B-R-O-T-”

“B-R-O-X-” I corrected.

“B-R-O-X-” she repeated, and I made an encouraging noise. “T-O-N,” she finished and then spelled it again.

“Good girl! And what does it say here below his number?”

She giggled as she read, “DADDY’S GIRL.”

“That’s a very special jersey, Care Bear. You make sure to thank Daddy for it.” She nodded, but her little face looked pensive, her eyebrows smooshing together just like Axel’s did when he was deep in thought. “What are you thinking about, Care?”

“Why isn’t my last name Broxton like Daddy’s?” Oh boy!

I had planned to have this talk with her while Axel was present, but I thought I would test the waters a bit. “Well, it could be, if you wanted. What would you think about that?”

She tilted her tiny head in that way she did when she was thinking hard. “I like it. All my friends have the same last names as their daddies.”

“Well, it’s totally up to you. He will always be your daddy, no matter what your last name is.”

“Why isn’t your name Broxton?” she asked innocently. “Don’t you love Daddy?”

“Oh, uh, of course, I do. I will always love your daddy.”

“Can you marry him?” Oh jeez.