Chapter 13
Dean
My heart has been beating a mile a minute ever since I left practice.
Sure, consuming two cans of my favorite energy drink in less than six hours probably wasn’t the brightest decision.
I fully intended to only drink the first one, to help make up for the fact that I barely slept last night.
It was the much-needed caffeine boost before practice.
Then, by the time we were finished, I was in such a rush to get home and shower before dropping Cora off with Lilly for the afternoon that I completely forgot about my first can, so I chugged another.
Now both drinks are working overtime in my system, mixing with my nerves to make a neurotic cocktail that is leaving me on edge.
Just as I pull into Arianna’s driveway, my phone vibrates in the cupholder. After putting the car in park, I quickly open the picture Lilly sent of Cora sprawled out on her balcony. The image is enough to finally make me smile and helps soothe some of the anxiety that has been building up.
Shit. Did I unintentionally turn my dog into an emotional support animal?
Knocking on the car window makes me jump.
My phone slips from my hands and lands on the floor with a soft thud.
Leaving it where it is, I turn to find Arianna standing there with a nervous smile on her lips while she waves at me.
In an instant, my erratic heartbeat finally slows to a normal pace for a fraction of a second before taking off once more.
I scramble to shut off my car and open my door, not once taking my eyes off her.
The green sundress she has on clings to her chest before billowing around her waist and down her luscious thighs. My eyes catch on the hem of the dress. Ideas of how easy it would be to push the fabric up around her thighs skip through my mind.
Thank you, Florida heat, for providing us with sundress weather all year round.
Her fiery red curls are pulled into a messy bun on top of her head, with a few strays framing her face. Freckles dot her cheeks, drawing my attention to those hypnotic green eyes that glimmer in the sunlight, providing me with a glimpse at the depth of emotions she’s feeling.
She’s absolutely breathtaking.
“Hi.” Ari flashes me a sheepish grin and a little wave before dropping her hand back to her side.
Closing the distance between us, I wrap an arm around her waist and pull her into my embrace. The second she’s in my arms, a relieved breath spills from my lips. All the tension that had been boiling beneath the surface dulls.
Arianna sinks into the hug, burying her face into my chest as she clings to me. Neither of us makes any move to either head back inside or get into one of our cars.
“Was traffic bad on your way over?” she mumbles, resting her cheek against my chest.
Bending down, I press my lips to the top of her head.
“Not that I noticed. I was too focused on a audiobook.”
Her head pops back so she can stare up at me with a raised eyebrow.
“Since when do you listen to audiobooks?” she questions and for the first time since I was a teenager, I feel my cheeks heat.
Avoiding her gaze, I focus on the decorations that are sprinkled through her front garden as I answer.
“Since last week. When you told me you are pregnant.”
“Wait.” Ari’s hands drop from my back, only to move to my shoulders, where she grips me tightly. Unable to resist, I finally cave and look down at her.
Her eyes are wide, that delectable mouth dropped open in shock.
“What do you mean? What exactly are you reading?”
Smiling softly, I reach up to push a curl from falling into her eye and shrug before finally responding. “Found a couple highly recommended pregnancy and birthing books. I also downloaded some newborn baby books and a parenting guide.”
“You’re listening to…baby books?” She sounds so baffled that it makes my stomach flip.
“Yeah. Although the one I started with is what to expect during the pregnancy. Figured that was the best place to start so that I can focus on helping you through the pregnancy and after birth instead of just watching you go through it all.” I cup her cheek in my palm, admiring the way her green eyes shine as she stares up at me.
“I know it’s still early, and you haven’t even seen a doctor yet, but I realized I know absolutely nothing.
About pregnancy and what your body is doing, about childbirth and keeping a baby alive.
So I figured I’d start learning while I work out, while we’re traveling for games, or when I’m driving to come see you. ”
She blinks once, then again. I keep her in my arms, gently stroking her cheek with my thumb.
I like to know everything there is about things I’m interested in.
Even more so, it’s more difficult not to fixate on things that pique my interest or capture my attention.
When I was learning hockey, I spent every free second I had watching old games and reading every book possible about the sport.
By the time I made the team in middle school, while most of the kids were learning how to skate, to me it was just a way to get my first hands-on experience.
My fixation and need to know everything are borderline uncontrollable. On the one hand, my focus is normally aimed at hockey, Pokémon cards, or Cora. Now it’s on pregnancy.
“I’m both surprised and not shocked at the same time,” she finally says, her eyes swirling with a mix of emotions.
With one last kiss to her forehead, I reluctantly let her go. “Why don’t we go get this little bean confirmed?”
Ari nods, her hands falling to straighten out her dress before she turns back to her house.
“Let me go get my purse.”
Resting against my car, I watch her walk away. The entire time she’s inside, I stare at her front door, waiting on bated breath for her to appear again. I try to remember the last time I felt this nervous, only to come up blank.
All I know is that there are two things that seem to silence my worries. Hockey has always been my outlet, my way to forget everything and anything that wasn’t the game.
Now Ari has the same effect.
“Do you want me to drive?” she asks as she approaches.
I shake my head. “Not unless you need to drive so you don’t get motion sick.”
Pushing from the car, I round the hood and meet her by the passenger side door. As I open the door for her, Ari laughs.
“You will never find me fighting to be the one to drive.”
I grin down at her, my hand resting on top of the door as she buckles herself in.
“So it’s the passenger princess life for you?”
She groans, dropping her head back against the seat, and levels me with a serious look.
“That is literally my dream.”
Bending down, I steal a quick kiss from her lips before whispering, “Good thing it’s my goal to make all your dreams come true.”
“And that right there”—the doctor pauses to point to a blob that looks remarkably like a really tiny kidney bean—“is the baby.”
“Wait, we can actually see it?” Ari gasps, staring at the screen with tears in her eyes. “I didn’t think we’d be able to see anything since it’s so early.”
I reach for her hand, which she immediately holds tightly.
The doctor chuckles lightly. “Yes, we can see it. And if I do this…”
She taps a couple buttons and the sound that plays through the room changes my entire life. I stare at the ultrasound, listening to the heartbeat of our baby while clinging to Arianna.
“Holy shit. It’s actually there,” Ari whispers, tears free-falling down her cheeks. “I took like four tests, yet even with all those positives I still…”
She trails off and I don’t need her to finish her sentence to understand what she means. For as much as I’ve spent the past week diving into everything baby related, having the pregnancy confirmed makes it real.
“I just need a couple different angles for measurements to confirm how far along you are, then I can print out some copies for you to take with you.” The doctor continues to tap away on the keypad, adjusting the ultrasound wand with practiced ease, while Ari and I stare at the screen in awe.
“We’re having a baby,” I whisper.
Arianna squeezes my hand, finally drawing my attention back to her just as she tilts her head in my direction. “I might need you to pinch me. It definitely feels like I’m dreaming.”
Leaning forward, I press my lips to her forehead before resting mine against hers.
“Not a dream, Freckles.”
We stay like that for a few more minutes while the doctor finishes up. Once she’s done, she hands us a strip of stills, each one showing a slightly different angle of the ultrasound. She confirms Arianna is about seven weeks pregnant.
Both of us are silent as they wrap up the appointment. It isn’t until we’re in the car and heading back to her place that I finally speak.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but this means that Thanksgiving was…”
“Yup.” Ari laughs and from the corner of my eye, I see her turn to me. “You took the term ‘jealousy bang’ to a whole new level. Got so jealous you hit that one percent chance of getting pregnant while on birth control and using a condom.”
I can’t help but grin at that. The idea of that day being the one that got us here makes my chest fill with pride.
“Oh, don’t look so smug,” she sasses, weakly whacking my arm.
“Can’t help it that I’m not sorry, baby.” I grab her hand before she can take it back and tangle our fingers together. Tugging her hand to my lips, I kiss the back of her hand with a grin before resting our joined hands on the center console.
Arianna relaxes back into the seat. Her gaze burns on the side of my face, but I refuse to look away from the road. After all, I’m driving with double precious cargo now.
“Thank you for coming with me today,” Ari whispers.
“I wouldn’t have missed it for anything,” I tell her, tightening my grip on her hand. “I’d like to be there for every appointment you’ll let me come to. I don’t want to miss anything.”
When she doesn’t respond right away, nerves gather in my stomach. Luckily, I ease the car to stop at a red light and am finally able to look at her.
She’s still watching me, only now she’s chewing on her bottom lip and her eyebrows are pinched together.
“What’s wrong?” I ask immediately, wondering if I overstepped. “If you don’t want me to go—”
Arianna shakes her head, silencing my words before they’re even fully out.
“No. It’s not that. I would love for you to come whenever you can,” she says, and from the corner of my eye, I see the light switch to green and curse.
“Then what’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Do you have to go home right away?” She deflects my question, but I decide to follow her lead instead of pushing.
“No, Cora is with Lilly.”
“So maybe you could stay for dinner and…” Her voice trails off, but the worry that was etched into her tone makes my skin crawl with the need to fix whatever has her spiraling.
“And what, Freckles? Yes, I can stay, but what’s got you all twisted up over there?”
Ari sighs and pulls her hand from mine as I turn onto her street. “There’s a lot we should probably talk about. You know? Before now, we’ve only been fuck buddies at best…now there’s a baby.”
My teeth grind at her calling us fuck buddies, even though I know she’s not wrong.
Pulling into her driveway, I wait until the car is in park to answer her.
“I can stay,” I repeat. “We can talk about anything and everything on your mind. If we miss something tonight, I’ll come back tomorrow and every day after that if needed, to make sure we go over it all.”
Her shoulders relax a bit as she exhales a sigh of relief. As she twists to unbuckle her seat belt, I decide I will do whatever I can to help keep the weight off her shoulders.