Chapter 20
Silas
Elliot marched out of the bathroom and pushed an item into my hands.
“You look at it. I can’t. I’m too nervous.”
“Okay,” I said slowly, and turned over the item.
Of course I knew what it was, but this was the first time I’d held one in my hands.
Elliot and I had always been so careful.
We still were, but sharing a heat together came with a certain amount of risk.
It seemed we were going to find out if those risks resulted in anything more permanent.
“I guess when I thought about how I was feeling, I had been expecting it or halfway expecting it anyway, since I have been overly tired and feeling just a bit off for a while. But still, pregnant was not something I have ever let myself think about. The two of us having a child together…”
“It’s positive,” I said. My words didn’t even sound like my own. This was amazing, but terrifying. We’d only just decided to be together for real, and Elliot had his career. Of course I would stay home. I loved the idea of staying home with children. But was Elliot ready?
Elliot snatched it from my hands and looked at it. “Holy fuck,” he said. “It’s positive. It’s positive. It’s positive, Silas.”
“I know,” I said. This complicated everything. He had the final game. They had been destroying everyone throughout the playoffs, and I had been with him throughout it all. I was in the stands every game, cheering like a madman, finally able to wear Elliot’s jersey with pride.
And now he had a test telling him he was pregnant.
“The league rules state you can play until you’re twelve weeks along.
Right now, you’d only be at eight. You can still play in the final game.
” I didn’t know if that was helpful information or not, but it was all I could offer.
I held myself still. Elliot sat next to me on the bed now.
Both of us stared at the piece of plastic in my hands.
“The finals? Okay. That’s good. I should probably talk to a doctor, though, right? Silas, fuck. We have never discussed children! You want kids. I know you do.”
There were so many things in our relationship we hadn’t discussed. Most things, actually. In a lot of ways, we were new to this, still in that perfect honeymoon phase.
“This is crazy, right? My mom is going to flip out. She’s going to be so excited. Oh, my goodness.” Elliot put his face in his hands. Smiling? Crying? I couldn’t tell.
“How do you feel?” I asked. “Whatever you need, I’m here for you.”
He finally slowed down enough that I could get a good look at him.
His face was bright, freshly washed. It was early morning, and we’d both just woken up and he’d decided today was the day to take a test. Just to be sure.
Sometimes the league would require a surprise test for the omegas before final games.
“I’m happy,” he said. “I mean, it’s terrifying, right? And then nine months from now puts us well into next season, which means I’ll miss an entire season or make a very late season return.”
I let out a sigh. “And you’re okay with that?”
He nodded. “After winning the cup, I think I can secure a few sponsorships, and I doubt I’ll lose my spot on the team.”
“That’s a whole year without hockey, Elliot.”
“But we’ll have a baby, Silas. A tiny little future hockey player.” He grinned. “I bet they’ll let me travel with the team and still participate a little. Rowan brings his son all the time.”
“That’s great. I’m glad to hear it.” I wanted to shout for joy, jump up and down, and whoop and holler with elation. For some reason, all I could do was sit still and stare at the positive test.
“Why were you worried that I wouldn’t be happy?” Elliot put his hand over mine, lacing our fingers together.
“I didn’t know how you’d feel,” I said.
“Silas, I know we haven’t talked about kids before, but I want yours. I never really thought about anyone else’s. Could you imagine a child that’s a mix of the two of us? What if they’re a rule-follower like you? And they rock at hockey. They would be unstoppable.”
I couldn’t help but grin. “They really would. A player who follows every rule but also kicks ass. We’d have to buy a separate house to keep all the trophies in.”
“And if they don’t like hockey, that’s fine too. Just as long as they are happy and healthy and ours.”
Elliot landed himself in my lap and wrapped his arms around my neck.
“They could have curls like yours.” He threaded his fingers into my hair. “I like the silly hair you do when you let it get too long during the off-season.”
“Yeah, I only do that because I know you like to touch it.” And pull it while we had sex, but I didn’t mention that part.
“All your time is off season now. You can bring our baby traveling to games with us.”
“You’d like that?” I was smiling now, close to crying with happiness.
“Yeah, of course I would. Why do you think I’m allowing you to mooch off of me? There will be perks. Like you traveling with me and bringing our child to all the games. You being in my bed every night, and we can talk about all the violations the refs missed during my games.”
I loved that the two of us could joke about how this all worked.
It was a dream come true for me. And yeah, I might return to work sometime, but until then, I was more than happy to do what I was doing currently.
I lined up some volunteer work with the local beer league, organizing their rosters and doing paperwork.
I’d ref a few local games. I was going to be a sub for the lower league again.
But nothing as consuming as what I had done before.
“Do you think we can get me an appointment with the doctor? I just want to clear everything with them before I am cleared to play.”
“Yeah, let’s do that. Then tomorrow you can win that cup, and we can start the rest of our lives.”
Elliot smiled and kissed my lips. He was fully in my lap now, and I held him. “I like the sound of that.”