Chapter ten Aubrey #2
He frowns, pulling away and taking my face in his hands. “Of course, I want to be there. You’re my girlfriend, and this is our baby. There’s nowhere else I’d want to be.” He presses his lips to mine. “We’re in this together, Angel.”
I sigh, my nerves settling at his words and touch. “Thank you… I don’t think I could do this without you.”
“You’ll never have to do anything without me.”
~ One Week Later ~
Today is the day we’re planning on telling everyone. My family and friends are already all gathered at my brother’s house for dinner; the only ones left to show up are Shane and me.
I had a few things to do at the bakery this afternoon, since I took the night off for this occasion. Which means Shane and I are arriving in different cars, and I happen to arrive first. Although that might be for the best, rather than walking in together.
Honestly, I’m not sure what is better anymore.
Parking on the street, I pull out my phone and send a quick text to Shane asking how far out he is.
He answers immediately, saying he should be here in fifteen minutes.
I take a few calming breaths, then step out of the car and head inside, praying no one saw me arrive in the Porsche because I’m not ready to answer questions without Shane being here.
Once inside and having removed my jacket and boots, I make my way toward the noise in the open kitchen and living room, where everyone seems to be gathered. Gracie comes running toward me with open arms.
“An Bey!” Her arms wrap around my legs, squeezing tight as Dante runs not far behind her. With his chestnut-colored hair bouncing around and green eyes, he’s an exact replica of his father.
I pick up the little cutie who looks identically like me and my mother with her ashy-blonde hair and pale brown eyes. She even has the dusting of freckles over her nose like I do. “Hey, princess. God, you’re getting so big!” I kiss her cute little cheeks and rub my nose against hers.
Emotions swirl inside my heart as I watch her. To think that by the end of the year, I’ll be holding my own baby. I wonder if he or she will take after me or Shane—I just hope he or she has his eyes. I love his eyes.
“There’s my beautiful daughter.” My mother strolls over and hugs me once I’ve set Gracie down, letting her return to her play session with Dante.
“Hi, Mom.” I smile at her as she holds me by the arms.
“How are you, sweetie? You seem different, happy.” She watches me closely.
“I am happy,” I tell her honestly. I can’t lie to my mom.
“And is there a reason behind this happiness? Something you might not be telling us?” She’s always been good at figuring me out. I’m sure one of the girls has told her about Shane and me, but I haven’t voiced it myself yet, and I’d rather wait until he’s here to do it.
“I’m just… happy. You don’t need to worry about me.” I take a step back, smiling as I walk around her and toward the rest of the girls in the kitchen.
“Oh, I’m never worried about you, Aubrey. If there’s one child I never had to worry about, it was you.” My mom laughs as I come up to the island beside Ronnie and Cecilia.
Morgan is seated on one of the stools in front of me, looking exhausted and ready to get this pregnancy over with. “Are you okay?” I ask her as I reach across the counter to take her hand.
“Yeah, I’m just really tired and everything hurts.” She laughs, but it sounds weak. “I’ve been having Braxton Hicks contractions all week, and even though they’re considered fake, they hurt like hell.”
Hmm, I didn’t know you had fake contractions before labor. I’ll need to do some research on all that. “I can only imagine. Hang in there, you’re almost done.” I smile tenderly and release her hand as she offers one back.
“I can’t wait to see those beautiful babies.” Cecilia sighs with dreamy eyes. “It’s crazy how much our little family has grown in such a short amount of time. Dante just turned two, Gracie’s going to be two in four months. And by the beginning of March, we’ll have four new little munchkins around.”
“We can say goodbye to normal dinner nights.” Ronnie laughs. “Two toddlers are easy to control, but two toddlers and four babies?” Her eyes widen. “Yeah, I’m really not ready for kids.”
“Ha! Maybe you should pass the message along to your men.” Emma wobbles over. “They’ve both been staring at my belly with big googly eyes since they arrived, and I’m pretty sure I heard Gabe telling Noah they’d try to convince you again soon.”
“Ugh! Those two, I swear.” Ronnie looks up at the ceiling with exasperation before refocusing on us. “If anyone is going to be pregnant next, it’s Cecilia, not me. I’m too young for a baby.”
I start to feel uneasy with the route this conversation is taking. Ronnie’s a few months older than I am, yet she thinks twenty-four is too young for a child. How will she feel about me having one?
“Well, we finally got the go-ahead from my doctor to start trying again.” Cecilia smiles with a slight blush on her cheeks. “So, who knows.”
“Yeah well, if you are, good for you. But me? After these babies, I’m taking at least a five-year break.
I miss alcohol way too much. Do you know how much it sucks not being able to drink at your own wedding, or Christmas, or New Year!
? Never again!” She sighs with frustration.
She then picks up the wine bottle from the counter, filling a wineglass to the top, and thrusts it toward me.
“Here, drink this for me. I need to watch you drink it and pretend it’s me. ”
I instinctively push the glass back toward her. “Oh no, I can’t.” My eyes widen as I realize the mistake I’ve just made. I quickly search my brain for a reason why I can’t drink, but Emma’s too quick to figure things out.
“Oh my God, you’re pregnant…” She watches me with shock and fear in her eyes, realizing how much worse this will be to break to her husband.
Greyson comes up beside her laughing. “Don’t be ridiculous, Bunny. You need to have intercourse to get pregnant. My sister isn’t the next Virgin Mary.” When I don’t respond right away, a frown forms over his face. “Aubrey?”
“I… I…” My heart begins to pound loudly in my ears as I start to sweat.
“Jesus Christ, Aubrey! Are you serious right now? I didn’t even know you had a boyfriend.” He looks confused. “Oh hell, please tell me it isn’t from a one-night stand!”
My mother slaps him in the arm. “Don’t be ridiculous, it’s obviously Shane’s.” Her eyes widen as she slaps a hand over her mouth.
A few gasps sound around the room as everyone stops talking. I can feel the color draining from my face at my mother’s words. This isn’t how they were supposed to find out; Shane was supposed to be here. We were supposed to do this together.
Bile rises in my throat as my head begins to spin and I feel lightheaded. I grab onto the counter for support as Ronnie quickly takes my other arm, noticing that I’m seconds away from having a panic attack or passing out.
My brother frowns. “Shane? Who’s Sh—” He stops himself when the puzzle pieces click together. His frown turns into a murderous glare directed at me. “Coach!? Are you fucking kidding me, Aubrey!? You’ve been screwing around with my coach!? What the hell is wrong with you!?” he roars in my face.
“Wolf, calm down, okay? It’s not like that.” Emma holds on to his arm, trying to calm him down. I watch as Cecilia quickly exits the room, bringing the children along with her. Good, they don’t need to witness this.
“Not like that?! How else is it then!?” he barks at her, but then something flickers in his eyes.
“Wait. You knew? You’re my fucking wife and you knew, but you didn’t tell me!
?” He then looks around the room at all the guilty faces.
“You all knew that he was fucking my sister this whole time, and not one of you assholes thought about telling me!?”
“Greyson, please, just let me explain,” I beg him with a weak, trembling voice.
“Explain what, exactly? That you’ve been sneaking around behind my back with my coach? That both of you have been lying to my face for God knows how long!?” he shouts louder, taking a step toward me.
But Ronnie, being the tough girl, steps between us, blocking his path to me. I know my brother would never hurt me, but when his temper rises, he tends to lose control.
“Son, I think you need to calm down a little. Your sister isn’t a child anymore, and I’m sure it will all make sense if you let her explain.” My father comes up behind him, placing his hands on his shoulders.
Greyson shakes him off with anger blazing in his eyes. “NO! Fuck this!” He picks up the wine glass that started this whole shit show and throws it at the wall. “Fuck all of you!”
Tears begin to fall from my eyes, a sob breaking free as I watch my brother turn his back to me and walks away. Emma tries to stop him by grabbing his arm. “Grey, wait.”
He rips his arm away from her. “Don’t fucking touch me right now, Emma. I’m not in the mood,” he growls at her as he walks to the front door and slams it shut behind him.
“I’m so sorry, Em… This wasn’t supposed to happen like this,” I cry, wiping my tears away.
“It’s okay, baby Brey. He’ll cool down, don’t worry about me.” She smiles but there’s a touch of sadness in it. “I just hope he doesn’t go do anything crazy out there.”
“Oh no!” It then hits me that it has to have made at least fifteen minutes by now. “Oh God, Shane’s supposed to be here any minute! We… we were planning on telling everyone tonight.”
“Fucking hell,” Clay mutters beside his wife as he rushes off toward the door.
SHANE
I pull up behind my Porsche, happy to see my girl but also a bit nervous. I’m not sure how tonight will play out, but I know it won’t go down smoothly. I’ve seen Ford’s temper a few times on the ice, and that boy can lose it quickly.
Leaving my car, I start for the front door when it flies open and Greyson steps out, slamming it behind him. It doesn’t take a genius to notice how angry he is, and the only reason I can think of him being angry right now is that he already figured it out.