Chapter 17
Rowan
Receiving a text from my boss wasn’t new. It wasn’t even anything to worry about. Except this text.
Rowan, you’re due for post-heat testing. Come to my office when you arrive at the arena today.
We had a game today, which usually meant we were slammed with activity and things to prepare for. Apparently determining if I was pregnant after spending my heat with the coach was more important. Not that my bosses knew that I had spent my heat with Reid, but they were aware that I had a heat.
Post-heat testing was the normal protocol for all omegas in the LIcK organization.
Nix and Elliot also had to do regular testing to make sure they weren’t playing hockey while pregnant.
Technically the rules allowed for omegas to play up until twelve weeks.
They could play while pregnant as long as they were in their first trimester.
I’d never had to worry about the results before.
Until today.
It had been six weeks since my heat. I didn’t notice anything different.
I mean, my stomach did this funny swooping thing a lot and I got dizzy more often, but also, I was falling in love with my boyfriend and that was terrifying.
What if Reid realized he could do so much better than me?
What if the world found out that I was just a mascot?
I didn’t want Reid to be embarrassed by me.
That would be awful. Coaches were in the public eye a lot. So was I, but not as myself.
If the media found out about us, they wouldn’t be so kind. He would be, but I knew what the media would say.
I was beneath him. I wasn’t worthy. I was no better than a clown.
“Everything all right?” Reid asked. He was wearing his game-day suit. He pulled open the fridge and grabbed out the pre-made smoothie that he put together before his shower. I had his game-day ritual memorized.
Somehow, I had become a part of it in the past six weeks. Even when we were traveling, I spent my time with him. Now that the team knew about us, Nix and Elliot didn’t care or comment when I didn’t share a hotel room with them.
“Yeah, everything’s fine.”
Reid grinned around the glass as he sipped his smoothie. “Then why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost and you’re strangling your phone? Hold it any tighter and you’ll break it.”
I loosened my grip, and the phone fell from my hand, landing on the tiled floor. I winced when it hit the ground, but thankfully I had a good case on it.
“Are you worried about your routine today? They have you doing that flip again, right? You’ll do great. You’ve been practicing so hard.”
There went my stomach doing that swoopy thing again. Why did he have to be so perfect? He was the epitome of positive encouragement and support.
“It’s not that. I, um, I have to go to the marketing office before the game. I’m due for my post-heat testing.”
Reid stilled. He was familiar with what that entailed, since he had omega players and he knew the league rules.
“Do you...” He cleared his throat. “Do you know what the results might be?”
My shoulders tightened, and I wished like hell I had something to hold on to, to distract me, ground me, anything.
I shrugged, trying for nonchalant but feeling anything but. “We were careful, so the chances are slim. I mean, there’s always a risk, we knew that. But no matter what, I don’t expect—”
“Kitten, I’m going to stop you right there because I have a feeling I know what you’re going to say, and I don’t want to hear it.”
My mouth slammed shut. I stared at him; I couldn’t look away. This wasn’t the end, was it? I knew I didn’t deserve him, but we were building something. We were, well, at least I was… in love.
“You should expect everything from me. You deserve everything from me. No matter what the results are today, it won’t change how I feel about you. I love you, Rowan.”
The breath whooshed from my lungs so fast I was dizzy with it. Reid moved quickly, setting his cup down and then grasping my biceps to hold me upright.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded. I met his gaze, staring into the deep pools of his brown eyes. “I love you, too. I thought I was imagining it. I never thought I deserved you or this, I still don’t think—”
He silenced me with a kiss. His lips landed hard on mine, and I softened into him like my limbs no longer worked correctly and I needed him to support me.
“You deserve everything.”
I melted. In that moment, the world stood still, and I believed him. I believed that I was worthy of him, of this life, of this amazing job and my friends.
“I know,” I said.
“I don’t want you to take a pregnancy test in the marketing office. Let’s do one now. I just... if the results are positive, or even if they are negative, I want you to be home when you read them.”
“Home?”
“Yes, here. With me.”
I pinched my lips closed to keep from smiling so wide. “This is home?”
Reid chuckled. “Yes, kitten. This is your home. We can make that official anytime you want.”
“I want,” I whispered.
“First, let’s get you a pregnancy test. Oh, and also go to our game today. Then we can work on moving you in.”
I took a mental inventory of all the things I had here. “My heat kit might have one.”
Heat kits generally had anything I might need if a heat came on suddenly, but mine might also have a basic pregnancy test. I went to the bedroom closet where I’d set the bag all those weeks ago and hadn’t yet moved it.
I pulled out the first-aid like bag inside it and found what I was looking for.
It was a basic test strip like what you might get at a doctor’s office rather than a fancy test you’d get at the store, but it would work.
Reid was sitting on the bed when I came out of the closet.
“Do you want to...”
“I can wait here, just don’t peek so we can look at it together. I want to find out the results with you.”
I grinned. Together. I liked the sound of that.
After I was finished in the bathroom, I came out holding the test strip between two fingers. I avoided looking at it.
I sat down next to Reid.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Not really. I don’t want to be disappointed if it’s...”
We hadn’t really talked about what results we wanted out of this test. But if I was being honest, I wanted Reid’s child. He was it for me, and I had a feeling—if I was trusting what he was saying—that I was it for him as well.
“I will be happy either way, I know that we can handle either scenario.”
“True,” I said. Being near him and being with him meant that I could handle just about anything.
“Let’s take a look then.”
I lifted the strip up, and we both leaned in.
Two blue lines were obvious against the thin white strip.
“Holy shit,” I said
“We’re going to be dads,” he said. “That’s a positive, right?”
“It is. We are.”
“Guess you won’t be doing that flip tonight,” he said. “But the rest of the routine is safe?”
“I think so. I never really thought about it. Oh fuck, what if they fire me?”
“They won’t. In fact, let’s go now. We can talk to them before the game, and I will make it clear that we’re together and we’re a package deal. We’re in this together, kitten. We’ll have this little badger together.”
I snorted out a laugh, and tears came to my eyes. “Thank you. I love you too. I’m so… I’m just so happy.”
“Good. And this doesn’t mean you can’t work. You can work or not work for as long as you want. I will be there for you every step of the way.”
I leaned against him, resting my head on his shoulder. “Thank you. You’re an amazing alpha. Amazing coach. Amazing lover.”
He laughed at that. “List that one first next time.”
“And you’re going to be an amazing dad.”
“You will, too.”