Page 25

Five months later

We’ve been settling into a fairly normal routine since the season came to an end. Once I decided to resign, it didn’t take long to find a new head coach for the Falcons to take control of the team once the season came to an end. The team played their asses off and we pulled off a winning season, even with all the drama happening on and off the ice. Now, I’m starting a new chapter in my life with my wife and soulmate. The best one yet.

Carlie had been debating her options when Tate Grimes offered her a part-time position in his office. It took my wife a while to come around to the idea, but she finally decided to take the job. Next week is her last week at the hospital, then she plans to take a couple of months off to spend time with the baby before she starts her new job.

I’m sitting at my desk, checking the stock market, when there’s a loud knock on the front door. I rush into the hall and pull the door open. “What?”

“Gray?” My heart drops when I see Dillon standing on my front porch with a worried look on his face. “I’m here to take you to the hospital.”

“What happened?” My breath seizes in my throat, and I barely get the words past my dry lips.

“Come on. I’ll explain on the way to town.” He turns and rushes to his car with me on his heels. Once I slam my door shut, he turns on the sirens and roars out of my driveway.

“Is my wife okay?” Please, let her be okay. I know there’s no way I’d survive without her.

“She was injured when an unruly patient fought restraints and ended up kicking her in the stomach.” Fuck. I slam my hand down on the dashboard. I should’ve fucking wrapped her in cotton and kept her safe.

“Carlie is okay.” I’m able to draw in a deep breath as he continues. “But she started having contractions and the doctors are deciding if they are going to try to stop them.” I hold on as he takes a corner at full speed.

“And if they can’t stop them?” I can’t believe this is happening. “She’s only thirty-five weeks.”

“It will all work out.” My palms begin to sweat as the hospital comes into sight. “You need to pull up your big boy pants and get your ass in there to support your wife.” Dillon screeches to a halt in the circular drive in front of the hospital.

I open the door and hop out, calling behind me, “You missed your calling as a motivational speaker.”

I don’t even pause at the front desk. “Excuse me,” the receptionist calls behind me, but I ignore her and rush into an open elevator. I know right where I’m going since they gave us a tour when we had our childbirth classes a few weeks ago.

“Sir.” A huge bastard steps onto the elevator with me. “I need you to step off the elevator and give your information to the front desk.”

I open my mouth to tell him to fuck off when Dillon walks up behind him. “I can vouch for him, Dennis.” He slaps the guard on the shoulder. “And I’ll make sure he signs in the next time he comes to the hospital.”

“Okay.” The guard glares at me as he steps off the elevator. “But don’t let it happen again.”

After the doors close, Dillon turns to me and smirks. “Can you try to keep your cool?”

“Once I know my wife and child are okay, I’ll be cool as a cucumber,” I tell him and push the button for the fourth floor again, trying to make the elevator go faster.

“Now, that I want to see.” We step off the elevator, and he stops at the locked doors to speak with the receptionist.

I’m not sure what my friend tells the woman about us not having visitor tags, but it works. A few minutes later, he comes back and points down the hall. “She’s in room four-twenty-seven, the last room on the left. I’ll be in the waiting room if you need me.”

“Thanks,” I call and rush down the hall, looking for my wife’s room.

When I find the room, I take a deep breath to get myself under control before I push the door open. I sag with relief when I find her sitting up in the hospital bed with wires hooked up to her and the monitor beeping in the background.

“Thank God you got here.” Carlie sniffles as I walk over and sit on the edge of the bed.

“Are you okay, Tigress?” I gently run my hand over her tummy and feel our child move under my touch.

“I think so.” She leans back against the pillow and blows out her breath. “I can’t believe this happened.”

“What happened?”

“We had a frequent flyer who has dementia and a ton of other issues come in. Everyone in the ER knows to watch him because you never know what he’s going to do, but I got busy and didn’t pay close enough attention. The next thing I knew, he was fighting and kicking. I tried to get out of his way, but my huge belly slowed me down. He kicked me in the chest and upper abdomen, but I don’t think he kicked my stomach directly.”

“What are the doctors saying?” I hold my breath and wait for her answer.

“They think the baby should be fine if he comes now, but they’d like me to hang on to him at least one more week.” She reaches down and covers my hand with hers. “We’ll just have to see if our stubborn little one is willing to wait.”

There’s a knock at the door before a young, cheery nurse comes strolling in. “How are you doing, Carlie?”

“Better.” My wife glances over at the monitor next to the bed. “I think the contractions are spreading out.”

“Great. I’m going to check your vitals really quick, then you can get some rest while we wait to see what your little one wants to do.”

Our little one decides he likes the accommodations and stays put for three more weeks. I’m working in my new home office, attempting to organize everything that I let slide for the last few months of the season, when my phone buzzes. “Hello.”

“It’s time.” My heart accelerates at my wife’s words. “I’m walking over to the hospital now.” Hell fucking yes. We’re finally going to meet our little one.

“Are you okay? Did someone go with you?” She’s my first concern. While I love our child with all my heart, I couldn’t survive without my wife, and I’ll kick Tate Grimes’ ass if he let my pregnant wife leave his office in labor without anyone going along to make sure she gets to the hospital.

I hold the phone against my shoulder and rush through the house looking for my keys. “I’m excited to meet our little guy. Eek.” She gasps loudly in my ear before I hear rustling on the other side of the line. “That was a big one.” I’m not sure if she’s talking to me or someone else. “We’re walking into the hospital now. I’m going to get checked in.”

“I’m on my way,” I tell her when I find them on the key rack. “Love you,” I add, but she’s already hung up.

I make it to the hospital in record time by ignoring the speed limits. After parking in the emergency lot, I rush through the lobby and right into the elevator. The doors are closing when a large hand slips in and smacks them open. “Good God. Not you again.”

Fuck me. The same burly middle-aged security guard steps on and glares at me. “My wife is in labor this time.”

“And you need a visitor badge to get to labor and delivery,” he grumbles and points at the front desk. “I’ll hold the elevator while you step over to the desk to get one.” From his crossed-arm stance and the no-nonsense set of his shoulders, I can tell he isn’t going to let me slide a second time so I rush over to the desk, pulling out my wallet as I go.

A minute or so later, I step back into the elevator with the irritated guard. “You know they don’t pay me enough to deal with half-crazed idiots who have no reason to rush since they aren’t going to be any help in the delivery room anyway,” he grumbles under his breath loud enough for me to hear.

“I appreciate your help,” I tell him when the elevator stops on the fourth floor. “What’s your name?” I hold the door open to get the information from him.

His eyes narrow before he answers. “Dennis Collins and my boss’ name is George Stills if you’d like to lodge a complaint.”

“I’m not going to complain. I wanted to send you some hockey tickets for your help,” I tell him and move my hand, letting the doors close.

I make a mental note to ask Jordan’s secretary to send the guard tickets and head down the hall toward my wife’s room.

“She’s beautiful.” I hug my daughter against my chest and feel my heart settle into a normal rhythm. It was a tough two hours, but my wife handled it like a champ. Carlie actually did much better than me. Seeing her in pain cut me in two, and I’m not sure I can watch her go through it again so our gorgeous little Emilia might be an only child.

When the doctor announced we have a beautiful baby girl, not the boy we’d been expecting, my knees turned to jelly, and I almost fell on my ass. For the entire pregnancy, both of us were convinced our little one was a boy. We were so certain, we decided not to find out the sex.

My wife turns to the side and winces while trying to get comfortable. “Are you okay?” I hold Emilia close and walk over to sit on the edge of Carlie’s hospital bed.

“I’m sore and tired but insanely happy.” My wife smiles at me as her eyes droop. “I can’t believe our daughter is almost ten pounds.”

I’m still shocked my wife managed to deliver our big girl without any help or drugs.

When she yawns for the fifth time in two minutes, I tell her, “Get some rest. I’ll take care of Emilia.”

“I love you,” she whispers as her eyes drift closed.

“I love you and Emilia so much.” I lean over and kiss her soft cheek. “You did good, Mommy.”

“We did good.”