“Are you sure that’s all? I can go to the store and get you whatever you need…”
“No? I think that’s all. Thank you, though.”
“Alright, tesoro, well…let me know if you need anything else…”
“Will do! Thank you!” I yell back to her, hoping that she will finally leave me to throw up in peace.
Weirdo. What could I possibly need that would require her to make a trip to the store?
I catch a glimpse of a half-empty box of tampons that I must have left behind my toilet, and it hits me…I was supposed to start my period a week ago. With the playoffs in full swing, my whole schedule has been thrown off.Oh god. There’s no way I’m fucking pregnant…right?I stopped taking my birth control the last day Teddy and I were together, which would’ve been…
I run to my room to grab my phone, searching like a maniac for my cycle tracker app. Lo and behold, that weekend lines up perfectly with my ovulation.
That would put me at…five weeks pregnant…
Taking a deep breath, I look down at the stick and almost faint when I see two pink lines. I toss it down and pick up a second test to see the same two lines, then a third, then a fourth, until I reach the digital one that flat out reads “Pregnant.”
“Holy. Fuck.”
I spin around with a racing heart to see a pale-faced Leo, looking just as stunned as I feel right now. If it were either of my other brothers, I might be scared, but I’m in too much shock as it is to worry about Leo’s judgment.
“Ellie, are those…Are those real? Are you pregnant?”
All I can do is nod as I turn back around to look at the collection of tests laid out before me.
“Fuck,” he says, running his hand through his hair. “Does anyone else know?”
The thought of my other brothers or Papa finding out finally scares my voice back into order. “No!” My shout startles Leo, and I lower my voice to a whisper. “No, nobody knows, and you can’t tellanyone.Okay?”
Leo looks between the tests, my belly, and finally meets my eyes, “Okay, I won’t say anything…”
“Promise?” I hold my pinky out for him to take, a secret pact between us that has always held the utmost importance.
“Only on one condition. You have to tell me who the father is.”
I shake my head, causing him to grab my shoulders. “I swear to God if the man has done something to hurt you, you’d better tell me right now. I’ll kill him. I don’t care what Papa says, I’ll take some men with me.”
“No! No, Leo, I’ll tell you! It’s…It’s nothing like that, I promise.” I take his hand and lead us from my bathroom to my sofa, then pull him down to sit with me. “Mama and Nonna already know about him, but you have to swear you won’t say anything to Papa, Gabri, or Nikki.”
He holds his pinky out to finally seal our promise so I loop mine through his and take a deep breath.
“It’s Teddy.”
“Teddy?”
“Theodore.”
He blinks.
“Theodore Williams…”
“The fucking goalie?”
“Yep. The one and only.”
Leo and I sit in silence for what seems like an eternity. I’m sure he doesn’t know what to say, because what does a guy say when he finds out his sister is knocked up by the forbidden goalie of his brothers’ hockey team?
“How?”
