Chapter 11
ELEVEN
I stared down at Aurora, my phone clutched in my hand, thumb hovering over the group text. What the hell was I supposed to say? Hey guys, found a baby in my room. Please advise. No way. They’d think I was fucking around.
Aurora made a different sound than her earlier whimpering and her face scrunched up like she was about to cry.
“Oh, please, for the love of all things hockey, don’t cry,” I whispered.
I needed backup.
SOS. Need you guys in my room NOW.
I hit send and within a couple of minutes, I heard footsteps pounding up the stairs. I’d never been so thankful for my friends in all my life.
Liam burst through my door first, followed by Gordy, and then Foster. “What’s wrong?”
I pointed to the baby carrier. That’s what it was called, right? Or was that a bassinet? What was the difference? Fuck, I was out of my depth on this one.
“What the—” Liam started.
“Is that a baby?” Gordy interrupted, his usual stoic expression replaced by complete bewilderment.
Foster stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. “Drew, what the hell’s going on?”
I looked down at Aurora, who was staring up at me so innocently, completely oblivious to the chaos she’d just created in my life.
“I found her,” I said quietly. “Just like that. Someone left her here with a note.”
“You found a baby,” Liam repeated slowly. “In your room.”
“Yes.”
“During our party.”
“Yes.”
Liam shook his head. “Okay, I have to ask—could this be a really awful prank?”
The thought had crossed my mind, but the more I looked at Aurora, the more I believed the letter. She had the Dumontier nose and cheekbones. Honestly, she kind of reminded me of pictures I’d seen of Ava as a baby.
“This is next-level diabolical if it is,” Gordy said, moving closer to get a better look.
Foster still stood by the door, his face the picture of shock. “You said there’s a note?”
I handed the envelope to him. Hell, I practically had the whole thing memorized by now.
Foster read it silently, his expression growing more serious with each line.
“Should you do a paternity test or something to confirm?” he asked when he’d finished reading it.
Before I could answer, Aurora let out a soft cry from her carrier. We all froze.
“What do we do?” Liam asked.
Her crying got louder. “Uh…” I had no fucking clue.
“Pick her up,” Gordy said, his voice calm but his eyes glued to the baby like she was a bomb about to explode.
I crouched down and carefully lifted her out, my hands awkward and uncertain as I settled her against my chest. I’d never held a baby before. She was so small and fragile, and I was terrified I was going to break her.
“Look, forget about the paternity test for right now,” Foster said, and I could hear that captain voice kicking in—the one he used when we needed to get our shit together on the ice. “Have you called your parents? Your sister?”
The question hit me like a fucking truck. My parents. Jesus. How was I supposed to tell them they were grandparents? How was I supposed to explain that their son—who they thought was finally getting his act together—had somehow managed to become a father without even knowing it?
“I…” I started, then stopped. “No. The only people who know are in this room.”
“Damn, man,” Liam said, running his hands through his hair. “Your mom’s going to completely lose her shit. At the very least, you need to call Ava. She’ll figure out a way to help soften the news.”
“What about immediate stuff?” Gordy asked, because of course he was thinking practically. “What does she need right now? Have you ever cared for a baby before?”
I looked down at Aurora, who had settled back into that alert-but-calm state once I’d picked her up. “I don’t know.”
Gordy moved over to the carrier and grabbed a large bag behind it that I hadn’t even seen. He pulled out some diapers and wipes and set them on my bed. Then he pulled out a small tub of formula, a couple of bottles, and a few outfits.
“That’s all that’s in here.”
“That’s not going to last long, is it? Babies have to eat all the time, don’t they?” Foster pressed.
“Fuck if I know.”
I was about to panic, but instead I carefully repositioned Aurora—I was going to need to shorten that name—and reached into my pocket to grab my phone. “Hey Siri, how often do six-week-old babies need to eat?”
“Oh, yeah, you’re gonna be a great dad,” Liam said, biting his lip like he was fighting back a smile.
“Fuck you, Li. How else are we supposed to figure this shit out? None of us know anything about babies.”
“Hold on. I’ve got an idea,” Gordy said before he walked out the door.
“What are you going to do with her during your classes and practice?” Foster asked.
The reality of it crashed over me like ice water. I couldn’t exactly strap Aurora to my chest and skate drills. I couldn’t take her to lecture halls. I had commitments, responsibilities that wouldn’t just disappear because my entire life had been turned upside down.
“I don’t know,” I admitted, and the words tasted like panic. “I haven’t thought that far ahead.”
“Okay,” Liam said, and I could practically see his brain switching into problem-solving mode. “Let’s figure this out. You need help, and we’re here.”
“You guys don’t have to—”
“Don’t even start. You know we’re going to help you. That’s what family does. You’d do the same for any one of us.”
Aurora made a small sound, almost like she was agreeing with him, and despite everything, I felt warmth spread through my chest as my panic receded.
These guys were more than just my friends and teammates.
They were my brothers. They weren’t running for the hills or treating this like some disaster that wasn’t their problem.
I wasn’t going to have to figure this all out alone.
Gordy barged back into the room, dragging Sam right behind him. “Seriously, what the fuck, Harry?”
She glared at him and then looked at me and her jaw dropped. “Why the hell do you have a baby?”
“So…long story short, apparently she’s mine and we have no idea what to do.”
She turned back to Gordy with the most unimpressed look on her face and her hands planted firmly on her hips. “So you thought because I had a vagina, I would know what to do with a baby? I’m disappointed in you, Harry. I thought you were less misogynistic than that.”
He gave her a look that said she knew him better than that. “I brought you here because you’re our roommate and therefore this impacts you too. These walls aren’t that thick.”
She dropped her hands and faced me again. “Well, in that case, you’re in luck because I babysat all through high school.” She turned back to Gordy and threw him a wink that had him shaking his head at her, but I didn’t miss the small lift at the corner of his lips.
“Alright,” Foster said, taking charge the way he always did.
“Here’s what we’re going to do. Liam, you’re good with research.
You find out everything we need to know about taking care of a six-week-old baby.
What she needs, when she needs it, how to tell if something’s wrong.
Sam, can you help since you already know about kids? ”
“Sure,” she said, moving closer to Liam who had already pulled out his phone.
“Gordy, you’re the most responsible one here. Can you handle getting supplies tomorrow? Whatever Drew doesn’t already have?”
“Sure,” Gordy said. “We can make a list tonight and hit the store first thing.”
Foster turned to me. “And you need to call Ava. Tonight. And then your parents in the morning. They’re going to want to know, and honestly, you’re going to need their help.”
The thought of calling my parents still made my stomach churn, but Foster was right. I couldn’t do this alone, and I was going to need all the support I could get.
“What about right now, though?” I asked, looking down at Aurora. “I mean, she’s been pretty good so far, but what if she starts crying again? What if something happens?”
“Then we figure it out,” Foster said simply. “None of us knows what we’re doing, but there are six of us and one of her. We’ve got decent odds.”
“Six?”
“Abby’s coming now. She was using Sam’s bathroom. I just texted her that we were in here,” he clarified. And of course, I should’ve known his girlfriend would help too.
Plus I knew my sister would help. Our personalities were wildly different, but there was no one I trusted to have my back more than my twin sister.
While everyone got to work, looking on their phones and making lists, I stood there, feeling immensely grateful that I’d managed to get so lucky to have friends who jumped right in to help, no questions asked.
And no judgment about how I’d ended up in this situation. Just instant, unwavering support.
Aurora chose that moment to yawn, and it was the cutest fucking thing I’d ever seen in my life. I couldn’t believe she was my daughter.
I had a daughter.
I was a fucking dad.
That was so weird and would definitely take some getting used to, but I would do my best—nothing less was acceptable, even if I had no fucking clue what I was doing.
I looked down at her cute little face and the way her fingers were curled into tiny fists. She nestled against me as if she already trusted me completely.
“Alright,” Liam announced, looking up from his phone. “According to the Internet, babies this age eat every two to three hours, sleep like sixteen to twenty hours a day, and cry for basically any reason or no reason at all. So…we’re in for an adventure.”
“Great,” I muttered, but I was smiling despite myself.
“Also,” Liam continued with that grin of his, “it says here that the most important thing is to make sure she feels safe and loved. And looking at you right now, man, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”
The tightness that had been in my chest since I laid eyes on the baby loosened just a little at his words. Maybe I didn’t know what I was doing. Maybe I was terrified out of my mind. But Aurora was mine, and I was going to figure out how to be what she needed.
And fortunately, I wasn’t going to have to figure it out alone.