“Yeah.”
“My baby is having a baby.” She grabs my wrists to yank me closer so she can hug me. “I knew it.”
I retreat my head back, bewildered. “How?”
She lifts a shoulder. “A sixth sense.”
“Okay, well, now you know, and I’m due in July,” I intone.
She brushes my hair with her fingers as though I’m still a child. “How are you feeling?”
“Not too bad. A little extra tired and nauseous sometimes. Maybe it’s my withdrawal from holiday cookie dough, though.”
She bops my nose with her long finger. “But still, you seem happy, and that means that I’m happy.”
I smile at her. “I’m excited, and Asher is too.”
Her face sours for a second. “So,you might want to explain that aspect of this equation.”
Shrugging, I step out of her embrace and begin to wander around the high-top table. “It happened, and we are just… figuring things out.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” She is letting me off that easy?
My mom walks to her table and picks up her pencil. “Yep. I’m not going to press. As long as he is a stand-up guy then I’ll let you two figure things out.”
Phew, I feel lighter. “Thank you.”
“I guess I’m designing some baby onesie pajamas with little hockey pucks.”
I begin to twist the ends of my sleeves around my fingers. “There is just one thing.” She looks up at me. “Can you not tell Dad? I need a little time on that front. I’m trying to figure out the right approach.”
My mom sighs and pinches the bridge of nose. “Why am I not surprised?”
My stomp back to her must look like a child complaining. “Come on, you know him.”
“I don’t like keeping secrets… but it is your news to share.”
I launch forward and wrap my arms around her for a big hug. “Thanks, Mom.”
She backs away and gives me a firm look that she is struggling to give because she just wants to smile. “But you have to tell him ASAP.”
“I promise.”
She pastes on a bright smile. “Good. How about you invite the father of my grandchild to Chrismukkah?” She holds a finger up before I can protest. “I know Asher is free because they have a three-day break over Christmas.”
My face falls because she is right. “But Dad always makes us wear Santa hats, and he wears that apron that has an elf holding a dreidel that saysthis elf’s favorite drinking game.”
“A great icebreaker, huh.”
She’s standing her ground, and deep down, I know she’s right. Everyone in the family has already discovered my news, and my dad has to be next.
Waitingat the entrance of the practice rink, I’m banking on the fact that a winger went down in practice, so they are taking a break early. Asher spots me right away as he exits the ice and does a double take before he motions to his watch at one of the assistant coaches at the benches. Grabbing his blade guards, he pops them onto his skates before he walks to me.
“Hey, what are youdoing here?”
I search around his back to ensure nobody is taking notice of us. “I just wanted to apologize in person about letting everything slip out to your parents. Nice win yesterday, by the way.”
