34. Roman
Chapter 34
Roman
“ H ey, Coach, can we chat?” I knocked on the doorframe to Coach Hicks’ office.
“Roman, my boy! Of course, come take a seat.” Putting his papers down and greeting me with a warm smile, he gestured to the empty chair in front of him.
He had been my coach since I was twelve years old, and the man felt like a family member. As well as being the university coach, he had volunteered his time to coach my youth league, which was how we met.
Sitting in the small, plastic seat, I took a deep breath. My life had changed significantly in so many ways over the two months, and I had yet to share any of it with him. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve got an offer from another university. I swear, those poaching?—”
“No! It’s not that.” I laughed. I had received several offers in the past to move teams, and every time, Coach had been adamant that Avalon was the best place for me. I didn’t disagree and had no plans on going anywhere else. Avalon University was amazing, and my pack was there… well, most of my pack.
“What is it, then?” Coach asked, concerned.
“I guess there are two things I should probably tell you. The first being, my pack found an omega, and she’s pregnant. Soon enough, I’ll be a father.”
The coach’s face lit up, and he jumped out of his seat, walking around the desk to pull me into a crushing hug. “That’s amazing, Roman. Congratulations! What’s her name?”
For a man more than twice my age, he sure had a vise-like grip. My shoulders stung with the intensity of it, but I didn’t care.
I could ask Duchess to kiss it better later.
“Her name is Hazel.” I beamed, hugging the man back.
“You’ll bring her by next week for the home game, right? Introduce her to the family?” he asked, pulling back and returning to his seat. His excitement for me was clear on his face, and it made me feel elated in turn.
“If she’s feeling up to it. The early days of her pregnancy were a bit rough.”
Coach winced. “My wife had a horrific time with her pregnancies. I hope you boys are taking good care of her.”
“We are. I wanted to give you a heads up because I imagine, around the time she gives birth, we may miss a game or two.”
“You’d better miss a game or two! Your omega is going to need plenty of care and attention after giving birth. Family is more important than playing hockey.”
I snorted. “As my coach, I don’t think you’re supposed to say that.”
He waved off my concern. “Family first. Always.”
“That brings me to the second part of this conversation. Hazel is from Hawking University, and she came with a best friend who had been in love with her for years. He’s a good man but a bit of an idiot for not realizing he was in love with her until she was pregnant with our baby.”
I was probably oversharing, but it was nice to talk to someone about it. With everything that had happened since Hazel had walked back into my life, I’d hardly had time to take it all in.
“We’ve been working things out the last couple of months, and he’s officially joining our pack.”
“That sounds like a marvelous thing. If the poor kid can put up with Cormac, he’s all right in my book.”
“It’s Sebastian Coombs.”
The coach’s brow furrowed before a look of shock crossed his face. “The defenseman from the Hawking Hawks?”
“The very same.”
“If memory serves, last time you two were on the ice together, you almost broke each other’s noses! How the hell did you work out your differences?”
I shrugged. “We all love the same omega, so we had incentive to make it work. Other than his abysmal choice of university, he is a good guy.”
Coach scratched his beard as he chuckled absentmindedly. “He’s a damn fine player, I’ve never denied that. If he wants to play with his new pack, he’s more than welcome to join us here on the Knights.”
“Do you mean that?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. I hadn’t admitted it out loud, but I had been concerned about what would happen when we had to go up against each other in a game. Pack mates tended to play together. I had never heard of pack mates playing against each other. It would be impossible to ensure a player’s loyalty to his team if his pack mate was on an enemy team.
“I do. I can put in a good word with the university to get him transferred. They’re always looking to add more athletes to the student body. And we could use a player like that here, especially if you guys won’t beat each other up on the ice.”
I smirked. “No promises there. We are brothers now, after all.”
“Well, you’ve scuffled with Cormac several times, and you’re strong as ever.”
“We are.” I nodded. “Anyway, I can’t stay too long. I’ve got to stop by a store on the way home and get a very specific kind of potato chip for Hazel. Last week, Cormac made the mistake of getting her salted chips, instead of salt and vinegar, and she nearly castrated him.”
The coach hissed in pain at the idea. “Yeah, that’s a rookie mistake. You’ve got to get the pregnant lady exactly what they want, or they will become a demon from the depths of hell. I once bought my wife the wrong kind of chocolate, and I slept on the couch for a week.”
“We’re learning. Hopefully by the time we have the second kid, we’ll know what we’re doing.”
“That’s the secret, kid—you’ll never know what you’re doing. The moment you think you’ve got that stuff down, something will come along and throw you for a loop. Also, maybe don’t mention a second kid until your omega heals from the first, or she may maim you.”
“I can’t wait.” The grin plastered across my face probably looked somewhat like a serial killer’s, but I didn’t care. I was just so damn happy.
By the time I got home, I had a bounce in my step. Opening the door, I strode into the den, where Seb was sitting on one of the overstuffed armchairs my mother had picked out to decorate the place, an open textbook in his lap.
“Where’s Hazel?” I asked.
Seb closed the textbook. “Asleep. I tried studying next to her, but she’s something of a violent sleeper right now. She kept kicking me.”
“She has been, hasn’t she? I’ve got several bruises on my ribs from her bony little elbows.” I laughed. “Hopefully it’s the pregnancy, and this isn’t going to be a forever thing.”
Sebastian nodded as I sank onto the sofa, grabbing the remote and flicking through the channels until I landed on a history documentary.
“Before she was pregnant, she’d sleep like the dead,” he said. “There were times I could literally pick her up and move her around, and she wouldn’t even stir. Once, when she was so dead to the world and I was bored, I made a game out of seeing just how many household items I could balance on her before she woke up.”
“How long did she last?”
“I gave up once I realized I could balance an entire saucepan on her forehead, and she wouldn’t even flinch.”
We both laughed and fell into an easy silence, both of us watching the screen.
“Have you thought about how we’re going to deal with games against the Knights and Hawks? News that we’re a pack is going to get out pretty fast, after that little scene we made at Hazel’s shitty engagement party.”
Seb snorted. “I still have no idea who the slimy fuck they tried to marry her off to was.”
“A nobody who she’s never going to see again.”
“Amen. As for the games… I don’t know, honestly.”
I turned to look at him, trying to keep my voice casual. The last thing I wanted was for him to feel pressured into changing his team, but I wanted him to know that the option was there.
“I actually spoke to my coach about it today. He said, if you want to move, there’s a slot open for you on the Knights.”
Seb did a double take, looking back at the textbook before his eyes quickly snapped back to me. “What?”
“I told him everything… that we are part of a pack now, that Hazel is pregnant, and he said if you wanted to join the team, you could. He’s seen you play before and knows you’re good on the ice.”
“But what about classes? The university has to accept me, not just the team.”
“You’re always studying,” I said. “You get decent grades, and I’m sure, with Coach Hicks’ recommendation, we could get you transferred over to Avalon. It’s totally up to you, though. I don’t want you to change anything if you don’t want to. If you want to stay on the Hawks, then we’ll figure it out.”
“You really mean that, don’t you?”
“I do.” I nodded.
Seb laughed, shaking his head. “Thought you were such an asshole. Turns out, you’re the opposite. No wonder Hazel fell in love with you.”
I beamed at him. “What can I say? I’m just an amazing ray of sunshine like that.”
“But what about Hazel? It would be weird if I went to Avalon and she stayed at Hawking.”
“That’s the conversation we really need to have with her. It makes sense for us all to be on the same hockey team, but Hazel is a free agent in that regard and can easily study wherever her heart desires. I’ll admit, I’m just a selfish ass and want her near.”
Seb chuckled. “I feel that.”
“She could easily transfer to Avalon next semester, if that’s what she wants, but I don’t know what her plans are for taking time off after the baby. I’m happy to support her whatever she wants to do. If she wants to take a year off, then go back to school, then that’s what we’ll do. If she wants to go straight back to classes, either in person or online, we’ll make that happen. She’ll be giving birth in May so she’ll have all summer to recover.”
“It’s a conversation we should probably have soon.” Sebastian grimaced. “I’m not sure how much longer her parents will continue paying for her tuition and living expenses, given recent events.”
“Oh no,” I said in my most sarcastic voice, unable to contain my laughter. “Whatever shall we do? I have millionaire parents, Seb. I’m not worried one fucking bit that the social-climbing assholes don’t support us!”