Page 38 of Clear Shot (Lauderdale Knights #9)

Aiden

It’s probably only a few seconds, but it feels like an eternity while I wait for Hana to answer.

We’ve drawn a crowd, and I know someone is recording, but I don’t care.

I don’t have anything to hide. Well, maybe a few things that should stay just between the two of us, but in the grand scheme of our entire future, who cares?

Anyone watching this play out in the airport will see a married couple who had a fight.

There was some talk about the baby but that’s not a secret.

If people want to draw their own conclusions, I don’t give a shit either way.

All I care about is Hana.

Bringing her home.

Fixing what I broke.

Taking care of her.

Making sure she knows how much I love and cherish her.

“Yes,” she whispers.

And the whole area around us breaks out in applause, cheering like we just won the Stanley Cup or something.

Good grief.

But that’s all just background noise.

Because Hana just put my ring back on her finger and now she’s in my arms, whispering against my ear, “don’t you dare stick your tongue in my mouth until I can brush my teeth.”

I laugh and lightly press my lips against hers. “Deal.”

We kiss—without tongue—long and hard and then I stare into her eyes. “Ready to go home?”

“Yes.”

“Have a wonderful life, you two.” The older woman who followed Hana into the bathroom gives us both a quick little hug and winks. “And I’ll see you at the games after Christmas.”

“What’s your name?” I call to her.

“Loretta Banks.”

“You’ll find a ticket waiting for you at every game, starting after Christmas.”

She waves a hand. “Thank you but I’m good—I have season tickets.”

Then she’s gone and after a few handshakes and congratulations, the crowd starts to disburse.

“Let’s get you home,” I say. “Once your stomach settles, we can talk.”

“Aiden.” She looks into my eyes. “Are you sure? I feel like there was a lot of pressure just now and?—”

I cut her off, pressing my lips to hers again.

“I love you,” I say firmly. “None of that other stuff matters. Do you hear me? Yes, we have some stuff to work through, and I’m going to start therapy again, but as long as we’re together, we can get through anything.”

“I know your depression can be difficult to manage, but you can’t turn on me when you have an episode or whatever. You can’t accuse me of things because you’re scared or go into some dark place.”

“I’ll try not to,” I promise. “That’s why I want to go back to therapy. New coping mechanisms for the new changes in my life. And maybe you can come sometimes too so you can understand a little more about how my brain works. I can’t promise I’ll be perfect, but I can promise to try.”

“I don’t need perfect. I just need to know you won’t ever accuse me of cheating on you because you’re scared or insecure or whatever.”

“That will never happen again.” I put a hand on the side of her face.

“I love you so much. I think I always have. And it scared the crap out of me. That’s why, when Jordan said he’d marry you if you needed him to, I knew I had to step in.

If you were going to marry someone, even if it was just for a visa, it was going to be me.

Somewhere deep in my subconscious, I knew that was the only clear shot I’d have at making you fall in love with me. ”

“And look how wrong you were.” She shakes her head.

“I was wrong?” I ask in confusion.

“I was already in love with you. I just thought you couldn’t love me back so I pretended like we were better as friends.”

“We have some work to do,” I say softly. “I’m just really glad you’re forgiving me.”

“You hurt me,” she admits sadly. “So much. I didn’t know how we could ever fix things.”

“Can we?” I ask, momentarily worried. “I mean, you just said you love me too and?—”

“We have to,” she says simply. “Because I don’t know how to live without you either. I was running away to Slovakia because staying here and not being with you might have destroyed me.”

“I asked for a trade,” I say slowly. “So I wouldn’t have been here.”

“Did you get traded?” she asks, eyes widening in alarm.

“I don’t think so but I didn’t have time to get into the details when I talked with Mr. Knight.” I pause. “He called this morning and wasn’t happy with me.”

“Yeah, he told me he was going to, but I didn’t believe anything would change.”

“He gave me some tough love, said some things I needed to hear. But mostly, he reminded me to fight for what I want. And what I want is you.”

“We’re going to have a baby,” she says, searching my face. “A biological child. Are you prepared for that?”

“About as prepared as any first-time father can be.”

“Did you go to the doctor?”

“I did.” I explain about the vas deferens growing back as best as I can.

“So God or fate or some other mystical thing we can’t explain took the decision out of your hands.”

“I guess so.”

“Just to be clear, I wasn’t thrilled about getting pregnant at this stage of my life either. It wasn’t in my five-year plan.”

“I know. I guess I owe you an apology about that too.”

“You had no way of knowing your vasectomy failed.”

“Yeah, but I still feel bad because I know you had plans.”

“I still do. Instead of a job, I want to go back to school.” She hesitates. “As long as it’s okay with you?”

“Babe, whatever you want to do is fine with me. We can afford help with the baby. And we both know damn well your grandmother is going to make a nuisance of herself when it’s born, just like she did with Joanna.”

I chuckle. “For sure.”

“You ready to go home?”

“I am. I better call my family, though, and tell them I’m not coming.”

“And we really need to buy a couch,” I say.

She laughs. “You realize three suitcases full of everything I own are on their way to Slovakia.”

“Not everything.” I wiggle my eyebrows. “There’s a really sexy pair of shoes on the shelf in our closet.”

She laughs. “I don’t know how often I’ll be wearing those in the next year…”

“I don’t care if you ever wear them out, but I kind of like seeing them on you when I’m inside you.”

“I’m looking forward to that.” She squeezes my hand.

“Me too. But first you need to feel better.”

“I will. But can we stop at the desk and see if there’s a way to send my luggage back?”

“I can buy you a whole new wardrobe,” I offer.

“It’s about more than clothes. I have other things in there too. Things I need.”

“All right.” We head toward one of the airline counters.

“You realize most of our exchange was probably recorded and is already on social media?”

I shrug. “I have nothing to hide. We didn’t say anything about visas, and other than that, I don’t care what people know.”

“What about the team?”

“Hopefully, Mr. Knight wasn’t joking when he said he wasn’t trading me, but I’m going to have to focus on hockey for a bit. I’m on the outs with Coach and Mr. Knight. Probably my teammates too.”

“You do what you have to do. I’ll be okay.”

“I love you, Hana.”

“I love you too.”

“I’m going to spend the rest of my life being the man you deserve.”

“I know.”

“Yeah? How do you know?”

“I think I always knew. I just had to wait for you to figure it out.”

I chuckle. “I guess that makes sense. I can be slow sometimes.”

“The baby will be here before you know it so you can’t be slow in getting ready for that.”

“I’ll never be slow again when it comes to you and our family.”

Our family.

I love the sound of that.

My genetics still make me nervous but there’s nothing to be done except be the very best father I can be, and make sure our child—or children, if she wants more—have the help and the tools they need if they do end up with mental health or any other issues.

“You’re going to be a great dad,” she whispers, as if she can read my mind.

“Thank you,” I reply quietly. “And you’re going to be a great mom.”

“I was really scared at first,” she says, “but then I started to get excited. Not about being a single mom but about the idea of bringing our child into the world.”

“I have no doubt you would have owned parenthood, even if I turned out to be a dud.”

“You’re not a dud, Aiden Barbeau. You never were.”

I tug her close to my side. “Thank you for bringing out the best in me.”

“Thank you for loving me.”