Epilogue
Elliot
I had been injured before. Pain wasn’t anything new.
All throughout my career — playing in the youth leagues, the high school team, the nationals team, eventually going pro — injuries happened.
I’d had fingers broken, shoulders dislocated, twisted ankles, pulled muscles.
All the things. There was the time I hyperextended my knee and was pretty sure that my toe had touched my forehead when that happened.
But nothing prepared me for the absolute agony of having my body split in half as a baby entered the world.
The pregnancy itself had been smooth. I wasn’t allowed to play hockey, but the doctor had no concerns about me skating carefully and doing various practices with no contact from other players, so I kept in shape.
I kept active. I even kept running. The whole pregnancy had been an amazing experience of Silas and me finally beginning our lives together.
We found a house just outside of Port City with a yard.
Our teammates were close by. Colin, who was still an official for the league and a close friend of Silas’s, had moved to the city along with his surprise omega — that one had floored all of us.
Coach and Rowan were just a few miles away.
There were several times that we had cookouts together.
It was great. Soon, though, once this baby was born, I would be going back to work.
I couldn’t wait, but also, I was terrified.
I knew that Silas would do a fantastic job as a stay-at-home alpha, and I knew I would spend every moment not on the ice with my baby.
I couldn’t believe we were about to be a family.
A cry that pierced the air on the last push I gave made all of the pain disappear. Nothing else mattered but that beautiful screeching cry that told me my baby was here.
“It’s a boy,” the doctor said.
We had already known the gender. Neither Silas nor I wanted any surprises, and we needed to prepare the nursery in the new house.
Of course, we had gone with a gender-neutral color anyway, and we’d gone with a sports theme, which could go for either gender or designation as well.
I didn’t want to overwhelm the child with hockey, so we did some soccer balls, volleyballs, tennis racquets — all of the sports.
“He’s perfect,” Silas said.
The baby was in Silas’s arms. It was a sight that had me losing my breath. Tears came to my eyes. The whole day had been an emotional roller coaster, and I thought I was prepared for the sheer amazingness of it all, but I was not. This was my family. My beautiful, amazing family.
Silas came to my side. The baby settled once he got close to me, and Silas placed him on my chest. According to our very detailed birth plan that Silas had mostly worked on, I would spend the next several hours doing skin-to-skin with Silas at my side.
It would help us both to bond with our child and help him to adjust to the outside world.
Sitting with my new family was fine with me.
I was ready to rest. Having Silas at my side would help me to heal as well.
“He’s beautiful,” I said, and I brushed my lips over his forehead. The doctors and nurses did their thing. I hardly noticed that they were in the room. All I could see was me and Silas, and our little boy.
“I think I would do this again,” I said.
Silas laughed, throwing his head back. “Don’t you want to recover from this one?”
“Yes, and I want to win another cup, but I would do this again in a heartbeat.”
Silas felt the question I was asking. “We don’t have to decide anything today. I’m happy, you’re happy. We have a healthy, beautiful boy. Lincoln Shaw-Grant.”
“He is beautiful, isn’t he?”
The team had been doing fine without me. Martin, my counterpart, had stepped into my position, and I knew that there was a possibility that he and I would have more equal ice time when I came back, but that was fine with me. This was a team sport. I’d learned that more than anything else this year.
Several hours later I had been resting peacefully. My body didn’t feel too bad, although I was sure I’d be sore later. The door opened, and Coach and Rowan came in holding a couple of balloons and some flowers.
“Hey, we didn’t want to disturb you, but we wanted to check in,” Coach said. He kept his voice low. He had his own child at home, so he knew how this worked.
“Come on in,” I said. Silas was in the rocking chair with Lincoln in his arms. I don’t think the baby had been put down for more than two seconds since he had been born.
“This is from the team,” Coach said, setting the massive flowers he carried down on the windowsill. “Or rather, it’s from Rowan, who picked it out, but all the guys signed the card. And we left a little something at your house.”
“Good things, I hope,” I said.
Silas’s eyes went wide. “I knew we never should have let your team know where we lived. We’re going to come home and find a zebra in the yard.”
The team had accepted that Silas had been official. He wasn’t viewed as the enemy, but that didn’t stop them from making fun as often as they could.
“It was only a matter of time before they pranked the old ref’s house,” Rowan said.
“Nah, I think they’ve mostly forgotten that you were a zebra. You’re a badger now,” I said.
Rowan held out his hands. “Let me see the little guy.”
Silas placed the child in Rowan’s arms and came to my side. “Do you need anything?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I’m fine. I was able to sleep a little bit. I should probably get up and walk around.”
“Sit down and do nothing while you can. You’ll be moving around plenty in two years when they get mobile,” Rowan said, never looking away from the baby in his arms. He swayed side to side.
Now that I looked, Rowan had tears in his own eyes. “Is everything all right?” I asked.
Silas and I exchanged a look.
“Yes, everything’s fine. I’m just —" Rowan exchanged a panicked glance with Coach. “Well, we’re expecting again. And it turns out when you’re pregnant a second time and you have to take care of a toddler, it’s a little harder.
But we timed this one right — he’ll be born more toward the preseason.
And I’m so much more emotional this time around.
I practically begged Reid to bring me here so I could see the baby. ”
I couldn’t help but smile. I wasn’t the only one on an emotional roller coaster. “Congratulations,” I said.
“Thank you.”
“See, Silas, having two is not so bad.” I nudged his arm.
Silas laughed. “We’re not even home with this one yet.”
“Yeah, but I think we’re going to do just fine,” I said. We were going to face this challenge the same way we faced every challenge now—together.
Fingers entwined, he kissed my temple.
“We absolutely will.”