I wake up, mid-morning, to distant knocking at the front doorandmy phone ringing off the hook.
Scrambling to my feet, disoriented and panicking that I’ve missed a shift at the hospital, I’m deeply surprised to see my father’s name on the screen.
Definitely not answering that call. I shove my phone aside and scramble for the door, because the knocking isn’t stopping, and it doesn’t sound like Sloane and Liz are home.
When I glance through the little window, all I see is the top of a nondescript baseball hat, but I still know the shape of Logan’s body.
Gasping, I yank the door open. “What are you doing here?”
He lifts his head, his face stricken. “You’re pregnant.”
I stare at him.
He stares back.
“Logan, you have a game in Boston tonight.”
He laughs in disbelief. “Yeah, I’m not going to make that.”
“What the fuck?”
“You’repregnant.”
“I’maware.”
“That’s not a conversation we have by text message.”
“We live on opposite sides of the continent.”
“Really need to do something about that,” he mutters as he yanks his hat off and turns it around before he sweeps in and takes my face in his hands, exhaling in relief so profound it hits me like a sound wave before he kisses me firmly.
His lips soften immediately, one kiss turning into two and then three. And then he stops, abruptly, and takes a step back. “I didn’t fly all this way to lose myself in kissing you. You’re having an emergency.”
“That feels like a stretch. I mean, it’s…certainly dramatic, but it’s a slow-moving drama.”
“Well, I only have a couple of options for telling the team I need some time off, so I went with family emergency.”
“You didn’t.” I stare at him, stricken.
“It was that or answer questions about whether I need the Player Assistance Program.”
Outrage flares on his behalf. “They can’t ask you questions?—”
“I know. Baby, I know, but I haven’t talked to my agent yet. I’ll get it all straightened out, but last night, I just needed to tell the teamsomething. Because figuring out how much time I need to take here felt like an in-person conversation.”
“Time for what?”
“You said you’re exploring your options.” He searches my face. “If you don’t want to be pregnant, there would be a procedure, right? An abortion? I don’t know when you would do that, but I’ll be here for it. I know you have your friends, and they’re lovely, but this is the kind of thing I get on a plane for, no questions asked.”
Of course it is. It was just twenty-four hours ago that he threatened to get on a plane because my bike got mangled. I should have seen this coming. “Oh Logan…I didn’t want you to think I was keeping anything from you. But I didn’t mean tocreate a problem for you that dragged you away from the team. I?—”
“Frankie, there are going to be a lot of moments in our lives where we’re far apart, and it needs to be that way by necessity. This isn’t one of them. I’ll rejoin the team in a few days. Right now, my wife needs me. Even if she’s tough and strong and is trying her best to pretend that she doesn’t.” He pulls me close, and his voice goes ragged. “And even if you don’t need me, I think I need this. We’ve been thrust into the deep end of marriage. If I can’t protect you now, then I’m not a good enough husband, and?—”
“I love you.” I know I’m interrupting him while he says the nicest things, but this is important. “You’re the best husband I could ever ask for. Better than I ever hoped for, actually, and?—”
“Say it again.” He caresses my cheek with his thumb as his eyes bore into me, wildly intense and perfectly safe. “I love you, too, Frankie. Please say it again.”
“I love you.” I laugh and trip over a sob, because it was hard to pretend that I was fine, and now that he’s here and I’ve finally said the three words I’ve carried in my heart for so long, I’m not actually fine at all. “I love you so much. I’m so scared. And I hate being scared.”
