Page 46

Chloe

“Can you call Stephanie?” he asks.

I immediately pull her up on speakerphone.

“Chloe?” she says anxiously.

“Did you get Aiden? I don’t know how much longer she has.”

“He’s here; we’re on our way.”

“Let me talk to Brielle,” he says in his low, don’t mess with me voice .

“She’s in a contraction Aiden, but she can hear you,” Stephanie says.

“Hey, Baby, I’m almost there. You’re doing so great.” We both hear a small sound, and his hands tighten on the steering wheel.

“Breathe, Baby. You’ve got this.” The sign for the hospital comes into view.

I wave him towards the entrance.

“I’ll park. You go.” He pulls up right in front of the door and slams the car into park.

“Take my phone,” I wave him off.

He jumps out of the car and runs inside, disappearing out of sight.

I walk around to the other side of the car and go park and then wonder what to do next.

They’re going to need all this stuff but not yet, and I can’t really go anywhere because he has my phone.

I head inside the hospital.

After asking at the front desk, I’m directed to the waiting room for the maternity ward.

I drop into a chair to wait.

Not five minutes later, the door opens and Stephanie walks out.

She sees me and immediately walks my way before dropping into the seat next to me.

“That was traumatic,” she mutters.

I smile and pat her hand.

“Just think. You’ll be next.” She tries to smile but fails, and I laugh.

She just announced her pregnancy, with my help, at a Green Thunder game a few weeks ago.

It was really sweet.

“How’s she doing?”

“They’re preparing for her to push soon.” She puts her head back against the chair.

“I’m so glad Aiden got here in time.” She faces me.

“Thank you. Nobody else would have been able to get to him.”

“I’m glad it worked out.”

“Oh, here’s your phone. Aiden passed it off to me.”

I take my phone in hand and immediately check the game.

It finished, but we won.

I breathe a sigh of relief and wonder who scored the last goal.

I’ll have to get all the details soon.

My phone rings, startling me.

Stephanie’s rings not a second later.

She grins.

“The game’s done.”

“Yeah.” I answer.

“Hey, Gunner. Good game.”

“Thanks. So, I guess there’s a reason you stole our best player.” I can hear the humor in his voice.

“First off, he’s not the best; you are.” The words come out of my mouth before I even think about it, but I don’t regret them.

I believe he is the best player on the team; I always have.

“Second, yeah, Bri’s in labor, close to delivering.”

“Did Aiden get there in time?”

I smile.

“Yeah, he’s back with her.”

“Are you still at the hospital?”

“I am. I will have to be for a little while because I have all their stuff in my car. The car seat, their bags, and everything else. Aiden didn’t have time to get it; he had to run in.”

“Okay. I’ll come sit with you.”

“Stephanie’s here too,” I tell him.

The door to the waiting room opens, and Amber blows in.

“Is the baby here?”

I shake my head.

“Amber’s here too.”

“Okay. I’m guessing Rico and Sebastian will be heading there too then.”

“It will be a party,” I say dryly.

He chuckles.

“I’ll see you soon. Do you need anything?”

“No, I’m good; but I’m sure you’re starving. Grab something before you come; I’m not sure how long of a wait it will be.”

“Okay. I’ll see you soon, Love.”

The endearment knocks the air from my lungs, and I end up not saying anything before we hang up.

I stare at my phone a moment, trying to process what just happened.

“Sebastian’s on his way,” Stephanie says as soon as she hangs up.

“So is Ricco,” Amber adds.

“How is she?”

“Contractions were less than a minute apart, and they were preparing her for delivery,” Stephanie fills her in.

Amber shakes her head.

“I can’t believe it’s going so fast.”

“Me neither.” But I’m pretty sure we’re thinking about two different things.

Amber drops into the seat next to Stephanie.

It doesn’t take long for Rico and Sebastian to show up.

Rico is first.

Amber’s out of her seat the moment he walks through the door.

He smiles when he sees her and pulls her into his arms and kisses her.

They converse quietly for a moment, and Stephanie and I give them their privacy.

Sebastain comes next, a big grin on his face as he pulls Stephanie out of her chair and into his arms.

When he finishes mauling her, he turns to me.

“Cap is coming. He got pulled in for an interview.”

Disappointment fills me, but I shouldn’t be surprised.

They all settle in chairs, and I smirk at the guys trying to fit in the small waiting room chairs.

“Who scored the last goal?” I haven’t had a chance to look it up yet.

“Travis,” Rico says with an easy smile.

My eyebrows rise.

“Really?”

Seb grins.

“Right? Who knew the boy had it in him.”

“Gunner set it up beautifully for him, though,” Rico says.

I smile because of course he did.

The conversation flows easily, and I’m surprised to not feel like an outsider.

Although, it shouldn’t surprise me.

I’ve been working with these guys for a few years now.

When the conversation dies down, I look at Amber.

“Shouldn’t we hear something by now?”

“It just depends how long the last stage takes.” I can tell she’s nervous because her knee is bouncing up and down.

Rico must know as well because he puts his hand on her leg.

The door opens again, and finally, he’s here.

The moment he steps into the room, I feel my heart settle.

His eyes scan the room and land on me.

He starts towards me, and I stand to my feet and walk to him.

I don’t hesitate and I step right into him.

His arms come around me and hold me against that amazing chest, and I wrap my arms around him.

I close my eyes and let him center me.

I’m not sure how long we stay that way, but I finally pull back and look into those gorgeous bright blue eyes.

“Good game.”

His eyes scan my face, landing on my cheek.

I’d actually completely forgotten about it.

It was nice of the girls not to bring it up today.

His thumb gently strokes my wounded cheek.

“How are you?”

“I’m good now that you’re here,” I tell him honestly.

His smile gentles, and his large hand runs up and down my spine, sending a shiver through me.

“Did you get to eat?”

He shakes his head.

“I’ll grab something later.”

I wish I'd had time to grab something for the guys; they have to be starving. Gunner takes my hand in his and leads me over to the rest of the crew. Every single person takes notice of our joined hands. I’m ready for them to tease us, but nobody mentions it. Gunner sits, and I sit in the chair next to him. “Any news?” he asks.

“No, and I’m going to kill Aiden if my niece or nephew is here and he’s just keeping it private,” Amber spouts off.

“Heaven forbid he wants a few minutes with his wife and newborn,” Rico says with a pointed look. Amber scowls and crosses her arms. “We didn’t get that, remember?” He glances pointedly at Gunner and Sebastian.

“Hey, it’s not our fault you decided to start cross-country running during the birth of your child,” Seb says. I laugh in spite of myself because I've heard the story of how they got stuck in traffic trying to get Rico to the hospital for the birth of Riley.

Apparently, he gave up waiting and started running.

Gunner, Seb, and Aiden, being the good friends that they are, ran with him.

It ended up being like five miles or something.

They all still tease Rico about it.

Amber squeals suddenly, startling everybody.

“He’s here.” We all turn to her.

She shows her phone to Rico, and he wraps an arm around her and pulls her close.

She wipes her eyes before turning to us.

“He said we can come see the baby, two at a time.”

“You two go,” Gunner says, taking the lead.

“You’re family.”

“We’re all family,” Amber corrects but stands to her feet.

She and Rico disappear, and I feel like I can breathe for the first time tonight.

Gunner wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me to his side.

“You okay?”

I sigh again.

“Yeah. It’s been a crazy few hours.”

“Thanks for all you did,” he says quietly.

“I’m just glad I was able to help. It helped to take my mind off...everything.” He knows exactly what I’m talking about.

His thumb rubs a circle on my upper arm.

“Did I throw you with the endearment on the phone?”

I turn to him.

His eyes are on mine.

“Yeah, but it was good.”

He gives me a small smile.

“I didn’t mean to throw you off; it just sort of slipped out. I could tell when you went quiet that I threw you for a loop.” His thumb never stops moving on my arm.

“I mean, you did surprise me.”

He watches me carefully.

“A good surprise or a bad one?”

“A good one.”

His smile matches mine.

“Good.”

“Do you mind helping me get everything from the car for them?” I ask, glancing at my phone.

It’s getting late, and they’re going to want to settle for the night.

“Sure.”

He stands to his feet.

“We’re going to get their stuff,” he says to Seb and Stephanie who are talking quietly.

“Need help?” Sebastian asks.

Gunner looks to me.

“No. We can get it all.” Gunner takes the lead, and we walk through the hospital back down to the ground floor.

“How’d your interview go after the game?”

“It was fine. Hopefully, everything I said made sense. I was trying to hurry through it, so I could get to you.”

“To the hospital,” I mindlessly correct.

“No.” He looks down at me and squeezes my hand gently.

“To you.”

We head back up to the waiting room a little bit later with everything Aiden and Bri need.

Rico and Amber are back, and Sebastian and Stephanie are gone now.

“How is everybody doing?” I ask as we settle back in our chairs.

“Oh, my word. He's adorable,” Amber says with big eyes.

“And Brielle?” I ask.

“She did amazing,” Amber says with a proud smile. It’s not long before Stephanie and Sebastian come back, both smiling widely.

“Your turn,” Stephanie says as she sits next to us.

“Oh, I don’t know,” I start.

“We have to take them all their stuff anyway,” Gunner reminds me. We gather everything and head to the room that Amber tells us. When we get there, Gunner knocks softly before opening the door. Aiden sees us coming and lets go of Bri’s hand and stands to his feet. Gunner sets the car seat down and gives him a bro hug. “Congrats, Dad.”

Aiden smiles and turns to me. I give him a quick hug. “Congratulations.” I put the bags on the floor next to the car seat before turning to face Bri, who is absolutely beaming as she holds a tiny bundle in a blanket. I walk over to the bed, and she turns that smile on me. I can see how tired she is, but she is glowing with happiness. “Chloe, meet Archie, named after Aiden’s grandpa.”

I stare down at the tiny, but perfect baby. “He’s beautiful,” I say softly.

“Want to hold him?” she asks.

I hesitate only a moment. “Yes.” I lean forward, so that she doesn’t have to lift him to me. I stare down at the tiny bundle. He’s got his father’s dark hair. “He’s perfect,” I tell Bri. She blinks back tears.

“I know.”

I turn to Gunner, and he smiles down at him. “Hey, Archie,” he says softly. “You gonna be good at hockey, like your dad?”

I hear Aiden chuckle from the other side of the bed. I stare at him a moment longer before lowering him gently back into his mama’s waiting arms.

“Congrats, Guys. He’s so precious,” I tell both of them.

Bri reaches up and grabs my hand. “Thank you. For everything.”

“I’m just glad we finally convinced you to get to the hospital.”

Her smile widens. “Me too.”

With a final word of congratulations, Gunner and I head out. Aiden follows us. “Thank you, Chloe.” He doesn’t say more than that, but from Aiden; that’s everything.

“You’re welcome.”

Gunner and Aiden shake hands one last time. “See you on the ice, Dad.”

With a last smirk, Aiden heads back into the room with his wife and baby. Gunner takes my hand again and leads me out to the waiting room.