Chapter 40
Julia
2 weeks later
We walk into the OBGYN office, Kai and Mikey squeeze my hands just a little tighter. I look down, then smile up at them.
“You guys okay?” I ask.
“Yeah…” They both say at the same time, hesitantly.
I shake my head and laugh. “Who would have thought NHL stars are scared of a doctor's office?”
“I’m not scared.” Kai huffs out, like he is big and bad.
We walk up to the front desk, and the receptionist smiles up at us.
“Welcome in, can I get your name please?”
“Yeah, it's Julia De Luca,” Kai growls, and Mikey scoffs at me using my maiden name. The paperwork hasn’t fully processed my name change yet. The receptionist looks at the guys with concern in her eyes and then hands me a clipboard.
“Please fill this out and give it to the nurse when she calls you back.” I grab the clipboard and almost drop it from its weight. Damn, did they need my left kidney also?
“Thank you,” I say politely, even though my stomach is twisting from the nerves.
We move to the row of chairs along the wall. Kai sits first, legs spread, and his shoulders squared like he is guarding a door and not waiting for an appointment. Mikey sits on my other side, close enough that our thighs press together.
I balance the clipboard on my knee and start filling out the paperwork.
Name.
Date of birth.
Emergency contact.
I pause as my pen hovers over that question.
My brain starts screaming at all the what-ifs— what if something happens to me? What if I hemorrhage? What if they regret this?
Kai notices immediately. “Put me down,” he says without hesitation.
Mikey snorts. “Like hell, I’m older.”
“By four minutes,” Kai shoots back.
“Still older.”
I chuckle a little bit and write both their names down, squeezing them into the space.
A nurse calls another name. A door opens and closes. Somewhere down the hall, I hear a baby cry… the sounds slice straight through me.
My chest tightens, and I freeze. Everything is becoming too real. That sound is going to be mine. I am responsible for an entire human being.
Mikey shifts even closer, keeping his voice low. “You okay, Princess?”
I nod, but can feel the burning in my throat. “Yeah. It's just… a lot.”
Kai leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and looks at me like the rest of the room doesn’t exist. “Hey. Whatever happens in there, good news, bad news, scary news, we’re not going anywhere.”
