44. Noah #2
“It’s fine.” I wave him off and go to Greyson next.
“We’ve missed you on the ice, man. It’s not the same without you.”
“Yeah, well, it’s going to be a while before I can get back on it.” I give him a tight smile, hating the feeling in my stomach at the thought of not playing.
“Just take all the time you need and come back to us when you’re even better than before,” Clay says, hugging me delicately compared to the other two.
“That’s the plan. And thanks for letting us crash out back.”
“No need to thank me. You guys are welcome here as long as you’d like.” He steps to the side, making way for the last one of my friends, the most important one that I’ve been dying to see most.
Gabe stands back, looking uncertain and emotional. So, I take the few steps toward him and wrap my arms around him as he drops his head against my shoulder. “I’ve missed you, brother.”
“Fuck, man,” he croaks out. “I thought… I thought we were gonna lose you.”
“Never.” I rub my hand up and down his back. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He pulls back, wiping the evidence of his tears away. “You better fucking not, because I’m not ready for another funeral. That shit’s depressing as fuck.” Everyone chuckles at his comment, and the mood is instantly lightened.
We all wander over to the living room, and I take one of the armchairs, using the armrests to lower myself slowly into it. Everyone watches me carefully, and I hate the pitiful look in their eyes, but I get it. They’re worried about me, and I love them for that.
Morgan comes up to me, rubbing her belly. I swear she’s getting bigger by the day. “Can I get you anything? Water? Juice? Soda? Beer?”
“No soda or beer,” Veronica answers before I can, and I narrow my eyes at her. “What? You can’t.”
I chuckle and turn back to Morgan. “I’m good.”
“Okay, are you hungry? I can make you something.”
“Not at the moment, thank you.” I smile as she nods and goes to settle at her husband’s side while I look around the room, searching for the two toddlers. “Where are the kids?”
“Sam kept them at our place. We were afraid they might try to jump on you or something like that, and we didn’t want to cause you any more pain,” Cecilia says as she sits down on the couch beside Silas.
“It would have been okay. I miss the little buggers.” I shrug with a smile.
“They miss their Uncle Noah too.” Em smiles back. “We’ll do something next week with them. Give you some time to adjust being back home.” I nod in response.
“Hey, Morg. How come you guys didn’t decorate for Halloween this year? I was told it was the thing to see every year. And it just hit me that Halloween is in a few days, and I don’t see any decorations,” Veronica asks, as she stands beside my armchair, her hand on my shoulder.
She’s right; Morgan is the queen of holidays. She always goes all out and decorates her house from top to bottom on the first of October. Same with Christmas. Then we usually have a huge Halloween party with the whole team and whoever else has been invited.
And for Christmas, we always have a team Christmas dinner before everyone heads off to spend the holiday with their families. Although I’m guessing with Greyson and Emma’s wedding being the twenty-third, we won’t be doing that either this year.
“Oh, honestly, my mind was so busy focusing on the babies that I didn’t even see the time go by.
When my brain finally caught on at the beginning of the month, I was still pretty nauseated, and Clay didn’t think it was a good idea to put myself through that kind of stress,” she answers her with a sad shrug.
“So, there won’t be any celebration at all?” Gabe asks while frowning.
“Well, we’re still going to have the usual party. I was planning on asking you boys to decorate the place tomorrow. Just a bit, nothing extreme. Noah, you’re off the hook.” She giggles when the rest of the guys whine.
“Fuck, yeah. Never been happier to be injured,” I joke with a laugh.
Veronica smiles as she leans in, sliding her fingers along my jaw and pressing her soft lips against mine. “I love you.” She’s been saying it a lot since I woke up from surgery, at least ten times a day. And I am not complaining.
“I love you, too, Veronica.” She pulls away with a beaming grin, then heads over to Gabe, who sits in the other armchair next to mine.
She climbs onto his lap and wraps her arms around his neck. “Hi, baby. I’ve missed you.” Since she’s been with me all night and morning, this is the first time she’s seen him in person since he left.
Gabe fists her hair and devours her mouth. “Fuck, you have no idea how much I’ve missed you. I can’t wait to show you just how much later.” He bites her bottom lip, giving it a tug as they pull away.
“Umm…” She chews on her lip.
“What?” He frowns, confused.
“Six-week sex restriction.” I snicker when his eyes bug out of his head and his jaw drops.
“No…” He gapes, then looks back at Veronica with a nervous look. “Oh, no… please tell me I’m not included in that restriction. Please say I’m not, Vixen. Don’t make me suffer like that! I’ll do anything!” he pleads with her as everyone around us laughs.
“We’ll see.” She smiles and pats his chest.
“So, since everyone is here. We have an announcement to make,” Emma says, sitting beside Greyson with her hand on his thigh. “We had a doctor’s appointment early this morning and found out what we’re having.”
We all wait in anticipation for them to tell us what’s about to be added to our rapidly growing family.
Greyson beams down at his fiancée with such pride. “We’re having two boys.”
A chorus of cheers erupts around the room as Aubrey gets up and hugs them both. “Congrats, you two. I can’t wait to meet my nephews.”
“Have you picked out names already?” Morgan asks with an excited grin but then drops it and points a finger at them. “No Theo, though, that name’s taken already.”
“You guys decided on Theo for your boy?” I ask Morgan, unaware that they had finally made a decision between the three names they had.
“Yes, just yesterday. It’s weird, but I was napping and had a dream that I was chasing my kids in the backyard, and I called him Theo. I think it was a sign.” She takes her husband’s hand as they grin at each other, then turns back to Emma. “So? Names?”
“We’re naming them Maddox and Parker,” Greyson tells us.
“For Maddison Parker Ellery,” Emma finishes as tears rise in her eyes.
“Aww…” Cecilia gets up and quickly hugs her friend. “Have you told Bryan?”
Em nods, wiping at her tears. “We called him right after finding out. He was happy and couldn’t stop crying and thanking us. It was a lot of emotions in one morning.” She lets out a sad laugh.
“How is he doing?” I ask them.
“As best as a parent can do after losing a child.” Em sighs. “He started going to therapy to help cope with it all, and he’s taking the rest of the year off from work to deal with everything and get back on his feet.”
“We try to help him out wherever we can and see him regularly, but it’s not easy with hockey, and it’s a lot of emotions for Emma every time. I don’t want her stressing too much with the babies,” Greyson adds with a defeated look.
“That makes perfect sense, and I’m sure Bryan understands,” Gabe tries to reassure them.
“Yeah, he does. He’s always telling me to stop worrying, but it’s in my nature to worry about others. I can’t help it, and it’s even worse since I became pregnant.” Emma chuckles.
The doorbell rings and we all look at each other with a curious gaze. “Are we expecting more people?” I laugh when no one gets up right away.
“Not that I’m aware of.” Clay finally stands and heads over to the front door as we wait for him to come back with whoever is there.
Suddenly a tiny little guy I’ve actually missed enormously jumps onto my legs and rubs his head against my hand when I start to pet him. “Hey, little Blubs. Missed you, boy.” He purrs louder, a little meow at hearing his name, then finally lies down and rolls into a ball on my lap.
“Hm, I see that thing is still in your possession.” Julian’s voice pulls my gaze up to where he stands behind the couch with Shane and Clay.
“Yes, and he’s not going anywhere until he’s lived out all his cat days,” Gabe tells him. “What are you doing here, Julian?”
“If you would all remember correctly, I informed you of having some things to discuss regarding Victor. I thought it would be best to wait until Mr. Adler was well enough to be present for this conversation.”
“How did you know we were here?” I ask him next.
“I know you may not believe me when I say this, given the recent situation, but I do know everything.” He walks around the couch and takes a seat facing us, beside Silas and Cecilia, while unbuttoning his suit jacket.
Clay returns to his seat on the second couch with his wife at his side, and Shane comes over and grabs my shoulder, squeezing lightly.
“It’s good to see you back on your feet and healing, Adler.
I know it’s got to be tough not playing this season, but we just want to make sure you’re good before trying anything. ”
“Thanks, Coach. It definitely sucks, but I get it.” I nod and swallow past the thickness in my throat.
He nods and straightens, looking around the room at everyone. “Yeah, I was just with Julian when he said he was coming over here and thought I’d tag along to see how you were all doing.” He scratches at the back of his head, eyes falling on Aubrey.
Yeah, nice excuse to see your girl, Coach.
Veronica scoffs from her spot in Gabe’s arms. Clearly, I’m not the only one who doesn’t buy his excuse.
“Well, not that we just spent the last eight days with you, Coach. But we’re doing pretty great. We actually found out we’re having boys this morning,” Greyson says with pride, placing his hand on Emma’s baby bump.
“That’s awesome! Congrats again. You planning on making a hockey team or what?” Shane jokes.
“Something like that,” Greyson agrees with a laugh.
“Absolutely fucking not! I wasn’t joking about getting your balls chopped, Wolf!” Emma barks out, making us all laugh.