Forever (Empire High Book 8)

Chapter 17

Saturday

Matt

I looked back up at Brooklyn in the stands. She was on her feet cheering like everyone around her. There were just a few seconds left on the clock and we’d demolished the other team. Normally, that would be enough to make me happy. But I was a hell of a lot happier now that I could look up in the stands and see the real Brooklyn instead of a ghost of the past.

Tanner had Jacob on his shoulders and they both looked almost as happy as Brooklyn did. Almost. It felt like a lifetime since I’d seen Brooklyn so…present in the moment.

“Nice game, Coach,” Kennedy said. And then she waved up to the stands at Felix. He was standing up there with Brooklyn too, and I was relieved that I didn’t feel jealous at all. The four of us really could be just friends. Finally.

“You too,” I said.

She laughed. “I don’t really do much now that Jefferson can kick. And I’m especially not helpful when I have a hangover.” She rubbed her forehead.

I hadn’t had much to drink at all at the party last night. And I wasn’t sure Brooklyn had anything to drink. Maybe that’s why she looked the happiest in the crowd.

“I’m glad you were able to get Brooklyn out of the house again,” said Kennedy. “I’ve been so worried.”

I thought about what she’d said to her father last night. “She just needed some time.”

“But everything’s okay now?”

I stared at her smiling. “Yeah, everything’s okay now.” Telling Jacob the news last night hadn’t exactly been smooth. I knew Brooklyn was still grieving. She’d gone outside for a bit after we’d told Jacob, but when she came back in, she was all smiles. We were ready to move forward. And I was okay with waiting to get married. As long as she was wearing my ring, we were good. And my old varsity jacket. I smiled up at her again. The jacket was way too big for her. But I’d never seen her look sexier.

The ref blew the whistle, signaling the end of the game.

“Victory is ours!” Nigel yelled. “We slayed the beasts!” He sprinted out onto the field.

Kennedy laughed. “He does know that team we’re playing is the tigers, not the beasts, right?”

“I have no idea what goes through Nigel’s head.” I high fived all the players and smiled as they enjoyed some of the cookies Brooklyn had made for them.

The stadium slowly emptied out.

“I’m going to cut out early from cleanup,” Kennedy said. “I need some Tylenol and a nap. I’m pretty sure Nigel has it covered anyway.”

Nigel was currently removing fingerprints from his water glasses with a towel.

I wasn’t sure why he kept bringing fancy glasses instead of paper cups.

“See you later,” I said.

“Coach! Coach!” Jacob yelled as he sprinted toward me. “We won!”

“Yeah we did.” I lifted him into my arms and balanced him on my hip. “Where’d you get this?” I tapped the Eagle in the middle of his long-sleeved shirt. He hadn’t been wearing this when we left the house. And I didn’t even realize that Empire High made clothes in children’s sizes.

“My abuelo gave it to me.”

“Thanks, Tanner,” I said as he joined us on the field.

“Young Jacob and I have the same taste in fashion. Don’t we, my boy?” He put his fist out.

Jacob fist-bumped him.

“How about we go help out Nigel with…whatever he’s doing,” Tanner said and lifted Jacob out of my arms. The second Jacob’s feet hit the ground he ran over to Nigel.

“Brooklyn wants a word,” Tanner whispered to me.

I looked up at the stands. She was still sitting there. But instead of smiling down at us she was staring off in the distance. “Is everything okay?”

“Oh, I think everything is more than okay,” Tanner said.

“What’s going on?”

“She didn’t tell me.”

“Then how do you know it’s fine?”

“Because I can read people like the back of my hand.”

“So…what does she want to talk about?”

“I’m going to let her fill you in. Congrats, Matt. I’m really happy for you.” His smile faltered. “Truly. You’re living the dream.” His smile was gone now. He patted my back and then joined Jacob and Nigel.

What the hell was going on? Tanner looking serious was never a good thing. He’d been congratulating me but looked sad as fuck. I walked up the steps.

Brooklyn turned toward me at the sound of my steps. And her smile was back now.

I sat down next to her. “I like seeing you this happy.” I gently nudged her with my shoulder.

Her smile just grew. “I am so happy.”

“I can see that.”

She laughed.

“I didn’t realize how invested you were in the Eagles winning.”

“So invested.”

I laughed. “Tanner said you wanted to talk?”

“I do want to do that.”

I just stared at her.

She took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling slowly. “You know, I always pictured a big family.” She stared out at the field.

I swallowed hard. We hadn’t spoken about this since she told me about her miscarriage. She hadn’t liked the way I’d responded. I’d wanted her to see a specialist. But she just wanted to know if that was okay. If we could move forward just the three of us. Of course we could.

“We do have a big family.” I placed my hand on her knee and stared out at Tanner, Nigel, and Jacob tossing the ball around. “All our friends. All our nieces and nephews.”

She didn’t respond.

“And there’s more than one way to have children.”

She still didn’t respond.

When Brooklyn’s mother died, she’d been an orphan. She was lucky that she’d had such a kind, caring uncle to take her in. But if she hadn’t? There were lots of kids out there that didn’t. “I’m happy just the three of us,” I said. I tried to think about my words before I said them out loud. “I know you’re scared of trying again. And I just want you to know that I’m open to talking about adoption.”

“Hmm.”

“Is that a good hmm or a bad hmm?”

She laughed. “I didn’t realize how much you’d been thinking about this. I’ve been thinking about it a lot too.”

“Yeah?”

She nodded. “I actually can’t stop thinking about it.” Her smile was back now. “And I have something for you.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a jewelry box. The kind you’d find a fancy necklace in. It wasn’t wrapped, but there was a white bow tied around it to keep it closed.

I wasn’t a big jewelry person. And I had no idea what this had to do with our discussion.

“I have so much respect for people who adopt,” she said.

I smiled. “Me too.”

“But I…I want a little you.”

Yeah.I wanted a little her too. “Have you thought more about maybe going to see a specialist?”

“I think maybe you should open this.” She placed the jewelry box in my hands.

I had no idea what this had to do with our conversation. But she nodded at the box. I was about to pull on the bow, but she grabbed my hand to stop me.

“I love you.” It suddenly looked like she was going to burst into tears. “So much.”

“I love you too.” All I wanted to do was pull her into my arms. “We don’t need to talk about this right now if you don’t…”

She shook her head. “No. I can’t think of a better time to talk about this. Here, you know?” She gestured toward the field. “I wanted to give this to you here.”

I had no idea what she was talking about.

“But just don’t get too excited.” She shook her head. “No, be excited. Positive vibes, you know?”

What the hell was going on?

She let go of my hand. “Open it.”

I pulled on the bow and then lifted the lid. It was not jewelry. I’d never actually seen one of these up close. But the big positive sign in the middle definitely gave it away. “You’re…you’re pregnant?” I lifted my eyes from the pregnancy test.

Tears were streaming down her cheeks now. “Yes. I took like five different tests this morning.”

“We’re going to have a baby?”

She nodded.

Holy shit.I pulled her onto my lap. I buried my face in the side of her neck, holding her tight. I didn’t even know what to say. So I just said the same thing again. But this time it wasn’t a question. “We’re going to have a baby.” I couldn’t believe it.

She kept crying. “I’m so hopeful. But I’m so scared, Matt. What if…” her voice trailed off.

“Don’t go there,” I said. She didn’t need to voice her fears. I knew what she was worried about. “Positive vibes, right?”

“Positive vibes.”

I held her tighter. And then realized I probably shouldn’t be holding her so tight. Or maybe it was okay? I had no fucking clue. But I pulled back so I could stare at her. “We’ve got this,” I said firmly. I’d take her to whatever doctors we needed. I’d travel across the world to make sure this baby was okay. Brooklyn had experienced enough pain in her life. She’d earned this win. And I hated that she was worried. This moment was perfect. She was perfect. “We’ve got this,” I said again. “I promise.”

She wiped the tears from her cheeks and nodded. “We’ve got this.”

I moved one of my hands to her stomach.

She laughed. “You can’t feel anything yet, Matt.”

“Oh, I know he’s in there.”

“A boy, huh?” She smiled up at me.

I dropped my forehead to hers. “Nah, I take it back. It’s a girl. I can’t wait to have a little you running around.” I kept my hand on her stomach. “You’re pregnant.” It came out as a whisper. I couldn’t believe it.

“I’m pregnant,” she said and laughed.

God, I wanted to freeze time.

“I think maybe we should go ahead and plan that wedding for next month,” she said.

I lifted my head. Fuck freezing time. I wanted that wedding. “Really?”

“Really. Before I get huge.”

“You’re going to look beautiful with my baby inside of you.”

She shook her head. “No, I definitely will not.”

“You definitely will.” I cradled her face in my hands. “I should have known we’d have a shotgun wedding.”

She laughed. “We have a lot to plan in a very short amount of time. But we know just the person to help.”

“Justin.”

“Justin,” she agreed with a nod.

I smiled. “We’re getting married. And we’re having a baby. I don’t think I could possibly be any happier.”

“Me either.”

I dropped my forehead back against hers. This was what I’d pictured back in high school. Our wedding. Children. I’d waited half of my life for my dreams to come true. I felt the tears falling down my cheeks. “Us against the world. The four of us.”

She leaned back, wiping away my tears with her fingers. “The four of us. I really like the sound of that.”

I pressed my lips against hers. I really liked the sound of that too.