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My alarm goes off way too early, and I’m tempted to turn the fucker off and stay in bed with my woman. But today is our first doctor’s appointment, and I’m dying to make sure everything is okay with the baby.

“Good morning.” Carlie rolls over and lays her soft arm across my chest. “What time is it?”

“Good morning, Tigress. We have to get moving soon if we want to make it to our appointment on time.” I can’t remember the last time I slept this late.

“Darn.” She drops back against the pillow and groans, “If your child didn’t like to torture me first thing in the morning, we could have a quickie before we get up.”

“Once we find out everything is okay with the little one, I plan to spend the rest of the evening celebrating by making love to you.”

“I love your idea, but don’t forget I have to work, and you also have to pack and get ready for tomorrow,” she reminds me, causing my heart to squeeze in my chest. Tomorrow, I leave for six days straight, and I’m already dreading the time away from Carlie. The team has a game in New York on Friday night, then we fly to Toronto for a Sunday game. If everything goes according to plan, I’ll make it home sometime Monday night.

“Can I have a rain check on the celebration?” I kiss her soft lips before rolling out of bed.

“Definitely.” She smiles and I notice the slight green tinge to her complexion.

“Lie back and rest while I fix your toast. Once you eat, you can get up and get ready.”

“You take such good care of me.” Carlie sighs and snuggles under the covers.

“I love you.” I kiss her forehead before heading to the kitchen.

Three hours later, we leave Dr. Thomas’ office with a folder full of instructions, a prescription for prenatal vitamins, and his assurance that everything looks great with our child. “Do you want to go straight home so you can rest, or do you want to grab lunch on our way home?” I ask as I help Carlie into the SUV.

“Can we just head home?” I fucking love hearing her call my place home .

“Anything for you.”

Friday night, I rush back to my hotel after the game, hoping to call Carlie before she goes to bed. “Hi,” she answers on the first ring. “I watched the game on TV. You guys kicked ass tonight.”

We did but the victory was hollow since my girl isn’t here with me. Halfway through the game, I decided to make some major changes in my life. Now that I’ve found Carlie, I dread the time away from her and know there’s no way I’ll be able to survive leaving my girl for days at a time every month, but now isn’t the time to discuss this. “The guys played hard.” My passion for the game has been replaced by my love for Carlie. “How was your day?” I sit back on the hotel bed and kick off my shoes while her soft voice soothes my soul.

“The ER was dead so I got to go home early.” I can hear rustling on the other end of the phone and wonder what my girl’s doing. “Oh, and I actually made it through the day without puking,” she gushes and I’m happy she’s feeling better.

“I’m glad to hear that my child is taking it easy on you.”

“Me too.” I stare out the window and see all the activity on the busy New York street below, wishing I was back in Silver Spoon Falls with my girl. “I was starting to think I was going to puke every morning for the next six months.”

“Dr. Thomas told us the morning sickness would get better at some point.” I close the curtains and lie back on the bed.

“I know, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up in case our child decided to play hardball.”

The rest of my trip drags by at a snail’s pace. By the time Monday comes around, I’m dying to get home to my girl. Our flight is late taking off, and I’m tempted to rent my own private charter just to get home.

“What’s going on with you?” Aaron Harris, my assistant coach, drops down in the airplane seat next to me.

“I’m done.” I can’t lie to my friend. “I’m going to resign when we get home.”

His mouth falls open and he stares at me silently for several moments. “I wasn’t expecting that. What happened?”

“I met my soulmate, and I don’t want to spend the next twenty years traveling half of the year while she stays home and raises our kids without me.” I’ve seen the stress that this life puts on families, and I don’t want that for us.

“I had no idea.” He’s probably the only person in Silver Spoon Falls who hasn’t heard about my relationship with Carlie. “I’m fucking happy for you, but I’m going to miss you.” He glances around the plane at the players in their seats. Most of them have headphones on and the rest are sleeping. “When are you going to tell the guys?”

“I want to talk to Jordan first.” I don’t want to waste another day without giving the majority owner my resignation, but I owe it to him to do it in person. “I texted him and asked him to meet me at the office early tomorrow morning. Once I tell him, we can decide how to proceed from there.”

“Let me know if you need anything. I’m here for you.”

“Thank you,” I tell him, knowing the only thing I need is my girl.

After spending the night with my girl wrapped in my arms, I get up before dawn and head to the arena to get our meeting over with. If I hurry, I can make it back in time to wake her up and we can spend the rest of the day in bed.

“This better be life or death.” Jordan comes strolling into my office with a cup of coffee in his hand and drops down in the chair across from my desk. “I don’t get up at the ass crack of dawn for just anybody.”

“I’m resigning.” No use beating around the bush. “I’ll stay on until the end of the season. so that should give you plenty of time to find a replacement.”

He sets the coffee on the edge of my desk and stands. “Did you accept an offer from another team?” His body tenses, waiting for my answer. “Because it will piss me the fuck off if you’re stabbing me in the back.”

“I’m not going to another team. I’m going to become a stay-at-home father to my kids.” When he drops back into the chair and stares at me silently for several minutes, I realize I managed to shock him.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He shakes his head and reaches for his cup. “I can’t believe it fucking happened to you, too.”

“What do you mean?” I’m not following him.

“The water in this goddamn town is turning every man into a lovesick fool.” I’d forgotten about the rumor I heard when I moved to Silver Spoon Falls. Evidently, most of the residents really do believe the town’s water causes love at first sight.

“I don’t care if it’s the water, fate, or Cupid’s arrow, I’ll be forever grateful for whatever brought my girl into my life.” I might sound like a lovesick fool, but I don’t care.

“God. I need to get out of town before my old ass falls victim to the goddamn water,” Jordan mutters and heads for the door. “I need you to prepare a proposal for who you think should replace you.” He stops at the door and glares at me. “I hope you know I’m going to spend the rest of the season trying to change your mind.”