Page 39 of Clear Shot (Lauderdale Knights #9)

Aiden

Hana’s co-ed baby shower is on a beautiful day in April—the day after the last game of the regular season.

We’re headed to the playoffs, which is great, but that’s why the ladies decided to do it now, so none of us guys are any more distracted than necessary.

I’m always distracted by my gorgeous wife, that’s a given, but the baby isn’t due until mid-July, so this is a good time for us to have a celebration.

The event itself isn’t a surprise but I was given very strict instructions about what time to arrive.

I guess Claudia and Sloane want to surprise Hana with the details.

From what I understand, there’s a chocolate fountain, some kind of photo booth, and a bunch of games that supposedly won’t embarrass us.

I figure I deserve a little embarrassment now and then, and if it makes my wife happy, that’s all that matters.

We’ve been in therapy, both for me individually and for us as a couple, and it’s been incredibly helpful. She understands my depression a lot better and is learning what I need when it flares up. And I’m learning how to keep it at bay, or at least not to let it overwhelm me when it hits.

I managed to get back in everyone’s good graces on the team too, thanks to my wonderful wife giving me the freedom to focus on hockey.

Not that I don’t pay attention to her—she’ll always be my priority but I have to earn a living and I don’t know how else I’d support us if I couldn’t play.

I didn’t go to college, so this is how I prepare for our future.

Hana wants to go back to school too, but we’ll see how she feels after the baby gets here.

“Hi!” Claudia and Sloane look incredibly proud of themselves and I have to admit they did a wonderful job. They rented out an event venue and everything is beautiful. The colors we chose for the baby are shades of green and purple, so that’s what they used to decorate.

“You guys are amazing!” Hana gushes, hugging them both.

The girls wander off to look at everything so I make my way to where Johan, Decker, Felix, and Jordan are standing.

“What’s going on?” I ask. “Is it time to eat?”

“Soon,” Johan says. “The caterers are finishing now.”

I look over to a buffet table where waiters are putting out steaming trays of food.

“What’s the menu?” I ask.

“Italian. You didn’t think anyone but Cicero’s would cater.”

I’d forgotten about that.

“Right.” And it smells great.

I spy the garlic knots I love so much but figure I’d better wait until I have permission.

“Everyone, please start eating!” Claudia calls out. “And thank you for coming.”

The guys and I make a beeline for the buffet table since the ladies seem to be too busy talking.

“I have to talk to you when we get a sec,” Jordan murmurs in my ear.

I turn at the seriousness in his voice.

“You okay?”

He shakes his head. “Later. And I don’t know yet.”

“What did you do?” I ask quietly. Jordan has worked hard to get where he is now, both in life and on the team. Coach warned him if he screwed up again, he’d trade him, so he’s been on the straight and narrow for two years. But something in his voice worries me.

“Later.” He emphasizes the word and then scoops a bunch of veal parmesan on his plate, moving down the line away from me.

Jesus.

I look at Felix. “You know what’s going on with Jordan?”

He shakes his head. “He is in the grumpy mood today.”

“Shit.” I’ll make time to talk to him, but not now.

This is Hana’s day and I don’t want anything to upset her.

We sit at a big table with Johan and Sloane, Decker and Eden, Anders and Claudia, and Slava and Zoe. The ladies have become close and I’m happy to see Hana with her own life and a good support system, so I don’t worry as much when I’m gone.

“Have you decided on names yet?” Anders asks us.

Hana and I glance at each other and grin.

“We’re struggling with that,” I say, leaning back in my chair. “It’ll help once we find out what it is.”

It’s a cliché, but I really want a boy and Hana wants a girl. Yes, of course we just want a healthy baby, but we’re still having a little fun with the details.

“That’ll cut down your choices by fifty percent,” Johan agrees.

“Names are hard,” Anders adds. “We had some options but we didn’t know for sure what his name would be until we saw him. Then we knew right away he was an Anderson. Well, Claudia did.”

She smiles. “I was pretty sure I wanted some version of his father’s name but like he said, we needed to meet him first.”

“It won’t be long now,” Hana says, rubbing her tiny little bump.

She hasn’t gained much weight, which delights her, and the doctor says they’re both healthy.

Thankfully, the morning sickness passed after the first trimester and she’s been the Energizer Bunny lately, buzzing around setting up the nursery and decorating the house.

That part has been fun for both of us. Furniture shopping, hiring a decorator to make certain rooms of the house what we consider perfect, and creating an outdoor space that’s been a great place to entertain.

“Okay, everyone!” Claudia stands up at one point and moves to the middle of the room. “We have a surprise for the expectant parents.”

Johan and Jordan disappeared a few minutes ago, and now I see they’ve brought in what looks like a piece of plywood, but it’s been painted with a 3D hockey net. Jordan has a handful of sticks decorated with blue and pink ribbons, and Johan is carrying a bucket.

“Gentlemen, line up!” Johan calls out. “Each of you will take a puck from the bucket and shoot it into the net. Obviously, it’s not a real net because they will charge us a fortune if we damage the walls, so please shoot accurately.”

Everyone laughs.

“What’s the point of the game?” Coach Petrov calls out.

“Most of the pucks have white powder in them, and they will explode when they hit the net. But one of the pucks has either pink or blue powder.”

A cheer goes up and all the men in the room line up, grinning and joking with each other.

“You too,” Johan says to me. “Father of the baby goes first.”

I amble to the front of the room and stare into the bucket. I grab a random puck from the bottom and realize they’re not really pucks—they’re made of something more like thick paper.

“Hit it hard,” Anders stage whispers. “This is like the puck version of a pinata. They don’t break as easily as we anticipated—I tried one last night.”

I nod, drop the puck and gear up.

Wham!

A cloud of white powder litters the floor, which is covered in plastic, and everyone boos.

“Sorry,” I mumble, laughing. I hand the stick to Felix, who shoots with the same result.

“Winner gets a bottle of champagne,” Johan calls out.

The guys all shoot and it’s all just more and more white powder.

“Come on,” Hana whispers, standing next to me.

I wrap my arm around her waist as Mr. Knight fires off a shot.

White powder.

“Damn.” He shakes his head, laughing.

A few more guys shoot and then Coach Petrov grabs a stick. He had a mean slap shot in his day and I know he still has it. He fires off the shot and?—

More white powder.

Dammit.

“It’s a boy,” Hana whispers to me. “I don’t know how I know that but I just do.”

I smile. “Either way, he or she will be beautiful. And ours.”

“You sure you’re happy?” she whispers in my ear. “About the baby.”

“I’m happy, period. With you, the baby, our life.”

“Guys, this is so fun!” Daphne grins as she walks over to us.

Hana has gotten friendly with our neighbors, and it turns out they’re pretty cool. I’ve met their husbands too, and it’s nice to have neighbors we can talk to and spend time with.

We also brought my old neighbor, Mrs. Moskowitz, to live with us for half the year.

She lost her apartment in the hurricane, and she can’t afford to move into another one, so we offered to let her have the downstairs guest room.

She’ll spend November through May with us—she has no interest in ever living through another hurricane—and the rest of the year with her kids in Michigan.

She’s gotten friendly with everyone in the neighborhood too, telling them she’s my great aunt.

And she’s probably as excited about the baby as we are. It’s pretty sweet. She’s a great roommate, and it’s been good to have her with Hana when I travel.

If we’re honest, it also feels good to give back in a small way. We fared so much better than others in the hurricane, and we can afford to do this.

“I can’t believe we still don’t know the baby’s sex,” Hana says as more and more white powder covers the floor.

“Why do just the guys get to shoot?” Mrs. Moskowitz—whom we now call Aunt Millie—yells. “I need a turn!”

“You want to go next?” Jordan asks politely, since he was about to shoot. He turns and proffers the stick in his hand.

“Thank you.” She takes the stick and walks up to where everyone has been shooting from. She winds up like she’s been playing hockey her whole life and slams the puck into the wall.

There’s an explosion of color this time and everyone whoops with excitement.

Hana turns to me with a grin.

“Congratulations, Daddy.”

“Congratulations, Mommy.” I lean down and kiss her.

It’s a girl—and I couldn’t be happier.

Thank you for reading Aiden and Hana’s story—Jordan and Victoria are up next and you’re not going to want to miss the exciting finale to the Lauderdale Knights series!