Page 78 of Don't Puck Up

Kam laughed happily, cheers rose up, and the guys congratulated them with slaps on the back and fist bumps. I held back on the sidelines, not willing to get into the fray and Kam slipped her hand into mine, squeezing it gently. She was ecstatic for her friend, as was I.

“Who won?” Rusty asked when the noise level died down, and Travis snorted out a laugh.

“We did,” Hux scoffed.

Rusty’s question was ridiculous. The Seals had dominated on the ice.

“Carina going into labor lit a fire under Gauthier’s ass. I’ve never seen him skate faster. He got the W, then pushed us to get on the plane as quickly as we could.”

Coach added, “His post-game interview consisted of Gauthier walking in and announcing he couldn’t answer questions because his wife was in labor and that he needed to get home for his baby’s birth.”

I huffed out a quiet laugh. Coach wasn’t kidding. That was exactly what he’d done. There were news crews pulling up when we’d arrived, and we’d had to enter the hospital from the back entrance.

“All right, y’all,” Coach said. “Let’s leave these good people in peace.” He shook Travis’s and Rusty’s hands and nodded. “Pass on my congratulations to Gauthier.”

“Thanks, sir,” Travis answered. “We will.”

“Coach, I’ll stay,” Hux said. “Cara will want to see her mom before we go.”

“Y’all be safe,” he responded. He turned to me and added, “My office, first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, sir,” I answered with a nod, studiously ignoring the glances my teammates were casting my way as they filed out after him.

Cara, Monroe, and Hux were joking with Rusty and Travis. When there was a break in the conversation, Rusty said, “Carina’s about to move to her room. We can go and wait there if you like.”

We followed them up the corridor, Kam and I hanging back far enough that she looped her arm though mine and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just don’t want this to be about us.”

She squeezed my arm, and we walked in to see Carina sitting on the bed, holding a sleeping baby while Jacques was drying her hair with a towel. Travis was looking at the baby with a love that squeezed my heart so tight, it was difficult to breathe. Had my parents loved me like that once? Travis was gazing at her with so much unconditional and heartfelt love that it was as if the baby had hung the moon and he had laid his heart at her adorable little feet.

Kamirah handed Jacques the gift basket of every different-colored pastel terrycloth jumpsuit that we’d been able to find.

“Different-sized rompers all the way to fitting a two-year-old,” she explained. “I’ll take it home with me so you don’t have to carry it around, and I’ll bring it over with the other gifts I have once you’re settled in at home.”

Without missing a beat, she then prompted, “Now let me see this little bundle of joy.” Kam sat down on the edge of the bed and peered over the swaddling to get a look at the baby. “She’s so precious,” she breathed.

While everyone was focused on Kamirah, Carina, and the baby, I shifted to the corner of the room and leaned against the wall. I moved slowly, a mixture of wanting to be quiet and trying to avoid the searing pain if I twisted the wrong way. I’d come off the painkillers already—I hated taking them—but without them, I did have to be more careful. It was probably a good thing for my healing anyway.

They were all oohing and aahing over the baby, talking as if the baby daddy could be any three of the men in front of me. Kamirah shifted away and gestured for Cara to get closer. While Cara was climbing onto the bed, I curled into Kam, wrapping my arms around her waist from behind and leaning my cheek against her hair.

Cara was holding a battered old teddy bear, one that looked like she’d recovered it from the trash. Its pale green-and-grey fur was patchy, rubbed down to bare material in a few places. There were rough stitch marks in faded multicolored wool along a few joins, and it was missing a glass eye too.

When Cara held it up, she said, “I bought Rupert.”

Carina choked out a laugh and brought the teddy to her chest, hugging it with her free hand. “How did you get him?” she asked softly, her voice filled with wonder.

“Dad pulled him out of storage for me and shipped him over.” She turned to us and explained, “Rupert was Mum’s teddy when she was a baby. Oh, my goodness gracious.” She gasped. “What happened to your face?”

I froze, instantly knowing my hoodie had moved.

“What the fuck?” Hux asked, shoving past Rusty to get to me. He pushed my hood back and growled. “Who did this to you?”

“It’s nothing,” I mumbled. “Just leave it, Hux.”

“No.”

“Hey,” Monroe said gently to Hux, wrapping an arm around his waist. “This is about the new family. Perhaps we should take it outside.”