Chapter 20
I t was late before the guests had all left, the kitchen was cleaned up and Emilie put Simone to bed. Misty did it most nights and she would continue doing it when Emilie went back to work, but Emilie had wanted to do it tonight. She was exhausted, the pregnancy, the long flight and jet lag kicking her ass, but she needed to talk with Jamie .
The three men were in the living room watching a baseball game when she came in. “Where’s Misty ?”
“Told her we needed some privacy,” Jamie said. “She went to watch TV in her room .”
“Okay.” Emilie sat on the sofa next to Chains and couldn’t help but smile when Viggo slid his arm around Jamie’s shoulders. They were so incredibly in love; it was obvious to anyone who spent any time with them .
“Enough with the suspense,” Viggo said gently. “You know Jamie’s in knots about everything .”
“I know, and I’m sorry.” Emilie handed Jamie the brown bag she’d brought with her. “But I did a terrible thing hiding Simone from you, so I’m not depriving either of you of enjoying it this time .”
Jamie’s eyes widened when he pulled out a pregnancy test, first looking at Viggo and then at Emilie. “This is a plus sign—that means positive? You’re pregnant? Really?!” He dumped out the rest of the contents and there were six tests, all different, all positive .
“Yes.”
“When are you due? How are you feeling? Oh my God, I’m going to be a dad! Viggo!” He looked at his husband, waving the tests in his hand. “ Viggo !”
“I know, lover, I can see.” Viggo was smiling .
“I mean, Simone is great, but — ”
“You don’t have to explain,” Viggo interrupted. “We’re having another kid—there’s no lack of excitement just because we already have one .”
“So, when and what and tell me everything!” Jamie’s eyes glittered .
“I don’t know anything,” she smiled. “Aside from the pregnancy tests and starting prenatal vitamins, I haven’t even seen a doctor. I’m not doing any of that without you. You’ll be there to hear the due date, see it on the ultrasound screen for the first time—everything. I didn’t allow Viggo that pleasure, so this time you’ll be as involved as you want to be .”
“Emilie. Oh my God.” Jamie was just staring at her. “I, I don’t even know what to say. I thought …”
“I didn’t give it away because I wanted it to be special when you found out. I’m sorry if that caused you stress all this time, thinking it hadn’t happened and that I had a new boyfriend so now it probably wouldn’t .”
“Yeah, I…I didn’t know what to think .”
“You all right with this, mate?” Viggo looked at Chains knowingly. “If we’re going to be a family, you need to weigh in .”
Chains nodded. “Yeah, I’m good. I’m not thrilled with the idea of you three being intimate, but the part about being a family, well, that’s all good .”
“I think the sexual part of the intimacy is over,” Jamie said quietly, glancing at his husband. “Viggo and I have strong feelings about monogamy, despite our mutual attraction to the occasional woman .”
“Our friendship goes deep, though,” Viggo cut in. “We should talk about all of that .”
Noting Chains’ discomfort, Emilie squeezed his hand and spoke for him, hoping he wouldn’t mind. “Chains has never been in love like this before, so we’re taking it one day at a time. No long-term commitments just yet, until we’ve worked through my very complicated life and relationships .”
“It’s not that complicated,” Jamie said, looking at Chains. “Maybe to the outside world, and I suppose when the kids are older we’ll have to be a bit discreet for their sake, but here? In our home, it’s not complicated. We all care for each other and Emilie is doing something for me I couldn’t even imagine asking anyone else to do—even though she offered, I never asked .”
“Jamie and I are in love, completely monogamous,” Viggo added. “There won’t be a third—not Emilie or anyone else—in our marriage. Sexually, there are things we’ve discussed about threesomes and such, but if that happens, it will be at the club, and most likely only with strangers. We’re not even sure we want to do that, but if we do, it will be no different than the threesome Jamie had with Becca and Dante—there was no relationship other than friendship .”
“We will be parenting together,” Emilie said, her chest tightening a little as she watched Chains soak in all the information. “Most likely we’ll be sharing holidays and vacations, sending the kids to the same schools …”
“What if Viggo or Jamie is traded?” Chains asked a question that they’d all had in the back of their minds .
“I guess it would depend on when and where,” Emilie said slowly. “If it’s a Canadian team, the logistics would get extremely complicated for us because you and I are neither U.S. nor Canadian citizens and our jobs are here .”
“I’m not getting traded,” Jamie said quietly. “My contract with the Sidewinders includes a no-trade clause. Because of the attack and my injuries, we don’t even know if I’ll play again, so Lonnie pretty much secured my ability to play here until I’m done. And he knows with Viggo and me being married, moving Viggo would be complicated. It could happen, but if they were even considering it, they would come to us first. I don’t think that’s going to be an issue. If it comes up, I think the best move would be for Viggo to go and leave the kids here with either you or you and me both. He’d be traveling all the time anyway, so we’d have to work out a schedule to see them. If I’m not playing, I’d go back and forth to be with him but we’d keep this house and rent a small apartment wherever we are .”
Chains nodded. “Is the plan to live together ?”
Viggo, Jamie and Emilie looked at each other. “Uh, I never thought about it,” she admitted .
“I think short-term, while she’s pregnant and you two are still navigating this new relationship, it might be best for us to keep living here together.” Jamie glanced at Viggo, who nodded. “But if you two decide this is forever, you’ll want your own place .”
“Absolutely,” Emilie said .
“Yeah.”
“Short-term, you could live here…” Viggo said slowly. “It’s a big house and with us, Emilie, Simone and Misty, there would be seven people living here, but it’s not like you’d need another bedroom .”
Chains laughed. “Definitely not.” His head swirled with all the details and information, but the thought of not sleeping next to Emilie every night made him realize that being apart wasn’t even an option .
“You could get rid of your apartment,” Emilie said, “and move in here. Since we’d only be paying some utilities and for food, we could start putting away money to buy our own place nearby. If things don’t work out between us, it’s not like you’ll have trouble finding another apartment and that saved money wouldn’t be touched .”
“Not worried about money, love.” He kissed the side of her face. “Just don’t want to muck things up for any of us. If there was something between the three of you — ”
“No.” Viggo held up a hand. “Friendship, co-parenting and platonic love, absolutely. Romantic or sexual? No. That’s done. We continued our sexual relations because Jamie wanted a child .”
“What if…” Chains swallowed, hating himself for what he was about to say. “Please forgive me—” He superstitiously knocked on the wooden coffee table. “I’m only being realistic. What if something happens to this child—during the pregnancy ?”
Viggo sighed and Emilie bit her lip .
“Then we move on to Plan B,” Jamie said firmly. Emilie started to say something but he cut her off. “No, really. You’re putting off your life, to an extent, for almost a year to do this for me. I wouldn’t dream of asking you to do it again. I, um…” He felt a flush creeping up his neck. “I already spoke to Misty about it .”
“You did what?” Viggo stared at him .
“I figured Emilie wasn’t pregnant and at this point wouldn’t want to do it, so I mentioned it to her and Misty said she would consider it. Having a child born in the U.S. would help her immigration status as well .”
“You did this behind my back?” Viggo looked pissed .
“Babe. I mentioned it to her to see if she was even interested. There was no point in talking about it if she said no .”
“Jamie, you can’t make unilateral decisions like this!” Viggo grunted .
“Can we talk about this in private?” Jamie gave him a look and Viggo scowled but closed his mouth .
“Look, let’s not worry about that,” Emilie interjected. “I’m going to be fine, we’re going to have a beautiful baby together and all of us are going to be a family. Bad things happen, but let’s not think about them or invite trouble, okay ?”
“She’s right,” Chains said. “Let’s take things one day at a time. I’m on board. Let’s give it a whirl and see how things go. To be honest, I’m beat and Emilie must be dead on her feet .”
“Tomorrow I’ll make an appointment to see my doctor, and we’ll find out all about our little bundle of joy .”
“One question,” Jamie said, looking at Chains .
“Yeah?”
“I’m going to need permission to touch her stomach on a regular basis—’cause if my kid is kicking, I might lose my mind if you say no .”
Chains smiled and shook his head. “Naw, mate, that’s ridiculous. My concern was about any ongoing romantic feelings between you—not whether or not you touch her stomach or get a glimpse of her breasts when she’s feeding the baby or whatnot. I’m a bit possessive, but not an idiot .”
“I know,” Jamie nodded. “But I had to make sure .”
“Yeah, all good, mate .”
“Fuckin’ A!” Jamie threw his arms around Viggo’s neck. “We’re gonna be dads again, babe !”
“Yeah.” Viggo kissed the underside of Jamie’s chin. “Are you happy ?”
“Are you kidding?!” Jamie looked at him as if his husband had lost his mind. “I’m fucking ecstatic !”
“Don’t tell anyone until we’ve seen the doctor,” Emilie said gently. “Although there’s no reason to think anything is wrong, there could be. We have yet to hear a heartbeat or anything …”
Jamie sobered. “Yeah. You’re going to make an appointment for soon, right ?”
“As soon as she can get me in. Promise .”
T wo days later, Chains and Emilie got to Club Inferno early in the afternoon for a meeting with Dante, Becca, Jamie, Joe and Franny. They needed to get up to speed on everything going on at the club, including new members, the incidents since they’d been away, and upcoming shipments and events. Jamie had become part owner of the club and since he wasn’t playing hockey right now, he spent more and more time participating in the business side of things both to stave off boredom and learn the ins and outs of daily operations .
“It’s about time you two came back!” Franny chortled, shaking her head. “Joe’s good at his job, but he blushes too much !”
Joe turned red, making them all laugh .
“Sorry,” Emilie said. “I’m back now and won’t be taking any time off until March, I believe .”
Franny frowned. “What’s happening in March ?”
Becca grinned. “One thing at a time. Let’s get out our calendars right now and discuss all that. I’m due at the end of October and will most likely stay out until New Year’s, although I’ll be doing things from home like signing paychecks and making sure everything is running smoothly of course.” She glanced at Emilie with a smile .
“And I’m due in early March,” she said, squeezing Chains’ hand .
“You two are…” Franny’s eyes grew round .
“Well, yes, but it’s not my baby,” Chains said .
“I’m having a baby for Viggo and Jamie,” Emilie added. “Technically it’s Jamie’s baby, and we knew before Chains and I started dating.” She paused, waiting for reactions .
“That’s fabulous,” Joe said, his eyes twinkling. “Congratulations!” He shook Jamie’s hand and leaned over to kiss Emilie’s cheek .
“That’s different,” Franny murmured, leaning back and shrugging. “But, you know, to each their own. I wouldn’t have a baby for someone else—no offense—I hated being pregnant .”
“I didn’t even know I was pregnant with Simone until I was…” she frowned. “Almost four months? The only thing I noticed was being tired .”
“I was sick all the time,” Franny muttered. “And Gary was deployed for our first baby. He didn’t meet him until he was three months old .”
“Being a military spouse is hard,” Chains nodded. “Big part of the reason I stayed single all those years .”
Franny raised her eyebrows. “I suppose that’s the easy way out .”
He glanced at her with a frown. “What’s that mean ?”
“Nothing.” She shrugged. “It seems like a cop-out to me. But I’m probably just jaded because I lost my husband and I don’t think I’ll ever find anyone else. Don’t mind me… I’m grumpy .”
“There’s someone out there,” Becca said softly. “You’ll see .”
Franny managed a smile and picked up her calendar. “All right, so how long will you be out, Emilie ?”
“Assuming there are no complications, probably a few weeks before I start doing some work in the office, but at least six weeks before I start working in the evenings .”
“Eight weeks,” Becca eyed her. “No arguments .”
“Can’t we just hire someone else?” Dante asked dryly, leaning back in his chair. “We’re making money hand over fist—why do you ladies have to rush back to work ?”
“Control,” Chains said with a grin. “Hard to give up control of something you’re invested in .”
“If I’m not back at hockey,” Jamie said, “I can take over managing at night. I’ve gotten to know how this place works pretty well, so you ladies don’t have to worry about that .”
“You’ll be back at hockey,” Becca said firmly. “So that’s not an option .”
He winked at her. “Thanks, doll. Let’s hope so .”
“However, I think hiring an assistant manager is going to be necessary with all the births and Jamie going back to hockey .”
“Why not Chains?” Joe asked, leaning back. “I can find someone else to head up security and when you ladies are back to full-time, he can go back to that .”
Emilie glanced at Chains. “What do you think ?”
He looked torn. “Part of me wants to say yes, but managing and making sure security doesn’t suffer could be a huge undertaking .”
“If you’d prefer, I could stay for a while,” Joe spoke up. “There’s nothing for me in New York I can’t do from here and it’s been nice to get away .”
Chains squinted slightly. “You’re serious ?”
Joe laughed. “Yeah. I’m not seeing anyone and — ”
“You’re not?” Jamie interrupted, frowning. Joe had hooked up with Jamie’s friend Josh in Ottawa during the trial but he didn’t know if they were still seeing each other .
Joe shrugged. “He has a successful practice in Canada and my company is here. There’s nowhere for us to go with this, so we decided to be friends. At least for now, anyway .”
Talk turned back to business and it was almost dinnertime before they finished. Everyone dispersed to get ready for the evening. Emilie had been hoping to get in a nap but there was no time for that now. She had a ton of paperwork to go through and Becca was exhausted so she’d told her to go home. Sebastian had promised to come by and hang out for the evening—without Misty—so they could spend time together and she was looking forward to it. Chains and Joe disappeared to do a security sweep—once a month they went through the club to ensure no one had set up any type of recording devices—so she had quiet time in her office to get back in the swing of things. Though she was a little tired, it felt good to be home and back at work. For the first time in her life as an adult, she was truly happy .