Chapter 8 #2
“Yep.” I smack my lips together. “On the Monday night before Halloween, as it was a no-practice day, so the coach actually had a normal dinner out, and that matters because the father of this baby has a schedule from hell that I really don’t like right now, but I need to deal with it.
Throw in Chrismukkah and we can add to my level of crazy right now.
” I’m a little feisty today, and the poor doctor is on the receiving end of my rant.
She raises her brows at me. “Everything okay? It’s important to keep stress levels down.”
I rub the back of my neck and exhale a long breath. “Yeah, it’s fine. Sleep has just been funny lately.” My mind can’t seem to stop reeling.
“That is perfectly normal,” she assures me. “Anyhow, I’ll put you at a July 18th estimated due date.”
I sit up on my elbows because there is a bright side. “Oh, that’s good. The off-season. Even if the Spinners make it to the championship, then they are finished by then.”
“Happy to hear. This also means you just entered about nine weeks, and we can do an ultrasound.”
My cheeks hurt from how big the smile is on my face. “I was hoping you would say that.” Then my face falls. “I guess Asher can come next time.”
She rolls over the cart with the machine. “Look at it this way. There will be many moments that just you and the baby will experience together. It’s biology, after all. This is one of those moments, and it is a great way to start your journey.”
I think about it for a beat, and she’s right. “Yeah, it is.”
A minute later with everything set, I’m staring at the screen as the doctor searches the screen and moves around the wand. For a second, I worry, but then the little pulsing dot appears, and then the small form of a baby.
“There you are. He or she is right there.” She points with her finger then presses a few buttons on her keyboard and the room fills with the sound of the heartbeat. A swooshing wave on repeat.
The tingle in my eyes is from the happy tears pooling and beginning to fall. My hand covers my mouth because I’m overwhelmed, and I think my cry might turn into a full-on waterfall.
“That’s a baby.” My own heart is pattering fast from the mixture of nerves and excitement.
She pinches her lips together, amused by my word choice, but she must have heard far worse. “A healthy baby.” Her mouse on the screen begins to take measurements. “I’ll print a few pictures, and I can record a video to put in the app that lists your appointments.”
“Yes, please do,” I respond eagerly.
This is all too real now. The final confirmation. A baby is on the way, and I have a million things to figure out.
Maybe that is why I’m stuck in a daze of awe as I walk out of the doctor’s office. Staring at my phone, the video of the ultrasound causes the corner of my mouth to kick up. My thumb swipes the screen to pull up Asher’s name, and I attach the video.
I guess we need to start investigating skates for babies, if that’s a thing. ;)
Asher is busy between practice, media, and games, but he told me that he checks his messages spontaneously. I’m pleasantly surprised when I return home and my phone pings. One look at my screen, and I gush.
Asher
So, this is happening.
I frown because that wasn’t the response that I was expecting. It’s difficult to read emotions through text, but his reply doesn’t feel right, and I can’t seem to shake it off.
My eyes meet Asher’s, and it is intense, he is completely unreadable. It’s almost unnerving. He doesn’t break our locked gaze as I follow him into his house. He walks backwards and I walk forward, and my heart races.
Maybe I shouldn’t have sent the video, as it’s better to see it in person together, but I was too excited and couldn’t wait.
But now?
Maybe it’s all too real for him.
We end up in his living room, and I can’t help but let my eyes wander around the room. I’m pleasantly surprised. It’s a big and modern lake house that actually has warmth, with mostly cream-colored furniture.
I sit down on the L-shaped couch and set my purse next to me. He stays standing, and it has me slightly freaking out.
“Do you resent me?” It bursts out of my mouth.
He is taken aback, and his face squinches from severe confusion. “What?”
“Well, you seem… just if the video was too confronting and you resent me for screwing up your career or you are having doubts, then say it now, because I just want to rip that bandage off and leave.”
He scratches his cheek right above his day-old stubble.
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that sentence, and yeah, I probably look like shit, and I’m pretty pissed off that we lost a talented rookie due to a concussion, but…
” Quickly, he sits on the coffee table in front of me to ensure that our bodies are squared to one another.
“You have nothing to do with any of that, and the best part of last night was seeing that video.”
Lines form on my forehead because I’m confused. “You just seem a little out of sorts.”
He rubs his face with both of his hands. “Most say I’m aloof, others say I’m approachable, depending on the day. I’m just, wow… overwhelmed.” The faintest of smiles appears, and all of my worries disappear. “I mean, this is real. That heartbeat is real.”
I smile widely. “It is.”
He scoops up my hands to hold them in his palms which feels comforting. “Which is why you are moving in here.”
His adamant tone and serious face throw me off. “Wait, what?” My eyes flutter as I double-check that I heard him right.
“You’re moving in here. It’s simple.”
My mouth opens but goes dry, and my eyes remain the size of saucers. “Ha-ha.”
“I’m serious.”
Geez, no wonder he is a coach. He’s demanding, and his penetrating gaze… damn, his eyes are making me melt in places that will not help us in this moment.
“I get that now.”
I yank my hands away from his and dig into my bag next to me on the couch to pull out his tin of cookies.
Opening the tin, I throw a cookie into my mouth to deal with my bewilderment of this conversation.
Then I stuff another cookie in, only to drop the half-eaten baked treat back into the tin because my stomach doesn’t like this method of dealing with important decisions.
“I mean, there is going to be a baby, and we would eventually have to address the living situation for the little living human, but now? It’s a little fast.” I wipe a crumb from the corner of my mouth.
“In regards to the living situation. You’re right. Your address is here. Now.” He smiles, confidentially contrite.
I shake my head once because I’m still in disbelief of this change of events. “Humor me, how does that work?”
Sinking back into the sofa, I cross my arms, but he rests his hands on my thighs and it’s rewiring my body. A pulsing sensation forms between my legs, too.
“Gracie, we have a hell of a lot to figure out, but our time and schedule are not on our side. We need to be ready. Live with me, and then it is easier to get to know one another more and prepare for the baby. I have plenty of space. Plus, over my dead body are you staying in your apartment where you keep a key under a plant.”
“Okay, I just move in and then…” He looks at me as though I’m asking a stupid question. I feel the need to clarify. “I sleep…” It draws out of me, as I’m hoping he finishes the sentence.
“In my bed.”
I swallow because he’s blunt, and I am not complaining about that answer, even if it probably isn’t that smart.
He bounces his shoulders. “It’s not crazy. We made a baby.”
But are we together or is it just physical or am I literally sleeping in a bed? Questions, questions, questions.
His hands squeeze my thighs near my knees, and it’s firmness that causes a sensitive sensation to run up my spine to my nipples.
“Gracie, it’s better to navigate this closer together. You know I’m right.”
Logic floats into my brain for a second, and it makes sense. “I get it.”
“Before we know it, hiding a baby secret won’t work. Let’s not make it more complicated.”
My lips purse, and I try to steady my breathing because he is taking over my body and he has no clue.
My nose tips up as I look at him with skepticism. “We only know one another’s body. We barely know one another.”
His lips are terse and his face turns neutral. “Fine. Ask me some questions.”
I drop my arms. “Thoughts on hot chocolate?” Yeah, because that’s very critical info right now. Geez.
“Disgusting.” But a good answer.
“Mistletoe?” Not exactly not body related.
“Not needed unless used as foreplay when I already have you naked and we are going into another round,” he volleys back.
I attempt to shake away the image, but my body is already liquid. “Soup?”
“For weaklings. Cheesy popcorn?” he counters.
We both shudder from the thought.
“Fine. We have the basics. What about something with substance. We both have ambition, that we have in common. But for me, I’m not on the road nor have an agonizing schedule. How did you see yourself in a year before all of this and how do you see it now?”
He sighs and glances to the side before driving his sight back to me. I sense that he wants to answer with only honesty. “I’ll adapt. Maybe this is a challenge, but we have to be in it together. We are more alike than we think, and we don’t say anything because it’s obvious.”
“So navigating is something we can agree on, right?”
“It is,” he promises.
I tap my nails on the sofa cushion as a few thoughts float in and out of my head. I’m invested in learning about him. “For my research purposes. After a bad game, do you need space, someone to listen, or need a distraction?”
A smirk begins to draw on his face. “You forgot an option.” My brows knit together, as I’m clueless.
“I’m always thinking about the next one.
I’m driven by the future. And I’m beginning to realize in the last few days that my drive to thrive also applies to this kid.
When it comes to us…” My body straightens, and I think it is due to the anticipation of the end of that sentence.
“I’m not yet sure my response method when it comes to us.
You throw me off. Not necessarily in a bad way. ”
The corner of my mouth pulls into a warm smile. All of his words would ace a test if I had one. “Fine. I’ll start moving things in after Christmas and Hanukkah. It’s already going to be eight crazy nights, so let’s not add a move to the equation.”
His smirk is full of satisfaction that he won.
And I’m totally screwed because he swoops up my wrist and his thumb is now brushing along my pulse point, while his eyes pull me in.
“It’s kind of depressing that you don’t have a Christmas tree or menorah here,” I say blankly, and I have no clue why that flew out of my mouth, but I’m truly mesmerized and can’t even blink.
“That is the least of our worries right now but feel free to fix that.”
“Right. Because we’re having a baby and I just agreed to move in with you, so that is clearly the pressing matter in this moment.”
His eyes dip down, and his two long fingers on his right hand drift to my stomach. The feeling of his fingers touching my belly is pure affection on his part, but I can’t help feeling that this is the man that will be so much more than a baby daddy.
The holidays suddenly feel extra magical.
And the room is getting very warm.
Burning-hot warm.
“Are you okay?” Asher looks at me concerned, and he must notice.
Warm. Painful. Aching.
I struggle to relax my body, because I’m tense with arousal. I attempt to scoot away to distance myself. “You know… just a little warm.” I’m clenching my thighs together to control my frustration.
“Shit. What’s wrong? Let me get you a cloth.” Is he that oblivious?
I grab his arm to stop him from leaving. “I’ll be fine. It will pass,” I lie. “My body has just been notifying me that your touch does strange things to me. So why don’t you eat a goddamn snowman cookie while I come to terms with that challenge.”
He bubbles a laugh then rolls his lips in to observe me for a few seconds. His tongue glides along his teeth, only to reveal an almost a cocky grin before he listens and grabs a cookie from the tin.
A peanut butter blossom with red and green sprinkles.
Good choice.