Page 95 of Break Out

“Come on boys. Clear it.”

It’s weird being on this side of the glass. I glance over at the woman beside me and know I made the right decision. I squeeze her hand, and she squeezes mine back, shooting me a smile. We spent the last year in Hawaii, and while it was weird not to be on the ice, I found other things to occupy my time. Including starting a youth hockey league.

We only had two teams, but it’s a start. I’ve discovered that I love coaching almost as much as I love skating. At least coaching kids, that is. Not sure how I’d feel doing it at the professional level. Although the missed call from Coach Weaver last night makes me wonder if I should change my mind about that. Maybe I’m not entirely done with hockey.

Aubrey turned down a third year at the Eclipse Observatory. She said two years was long enough and it was time to come back to Florida and our family. We packed up our house in Hilo and flew in two nights ago. Just in time for the Storm’s first game of the preseason against the Miami Mockingbirds.

“That’s Hunter’s brother, right?” Aubrey asks, pointing to number twenty-two.

“Yeah.” Elias was an unrestricted free agent the summer after we won the Cup. The Storm scooped him up to replace me on the team. This is the second season he’s played with them, and from what I’ve heard, he’s fit in well. I watch him and Hunter buzz down the ice together with a player I don’t recognize.

“Are you going to teach our kid to skate?”

My heart catches in my throat. Did I hear right? Is she asking a hypothetical or real question? Having kids was one of the things we talked about during one of our long calls the year we spent apart. We both agreed that we’d like kids, but we also would be okay if that wasn’t in the cards for us.

“Yeah of course,” I answer, turning to look at my fiancée next to me. We got engaged last year on the anniversary of when we started fake dating. We haven’t set a wedding date—Aubrey wanted to wait until we were back in Florida and could work with the guys’ schedule.

“Good.”

“What’s going on Aubrey?” I ask, turning to her the game forgotten.

Her hand lands on her stomach, and the rest of the world stops existing when she says, “You’re gonna be a dad, Brod.”

Holy shit.

Holy shit.

I stare at her, unblinking, for so long that her smile begins to fall and that’s all I need to snap out of my daze.

“Seriously, Aubs?” I reach out a hand and place it over hers, wondering if it’s too soon to feel movement. “How far along?”

“Not very. I took a pregnancy test, multiple actually, this morning when you were at the gym. My period is a week late, but I wasn’t sure if it was because I’m older now and my cycle was changing. It wasn’t. I’ll call the doctor’s office in the morning.”

“We’re gonna be parents.”

“Shhhh,” Aubrey says, glancing around, but everyone else is too focused on the game. “It’s early yet. Plus, we still need the doctor to confirm it.”

I’m suddenly very aware of how close we are to the ice. We should move because sometimes pucks come flying over the glass.

“Are you warm enough?” I ask. She’s wearing jeans and a long-sleeve Storm shirt with my last name and number on the back. I’m sure there’s a sweatshirt in the car, maybe I should go grab it for her. Or grab one for her at the arena store.

“I’m fine, Brody,” Aubrey says, laying a hand on my arm. I nod as the game moves our way, and players slam into the boards.

“I think we should move,” I say, getting to my feet.

“Brod,” Aubrey says, tugging on my arm. “Sit down. We’re fine.”

I heave out a breath and stare down at her for a second before retaking my seat. “I—“

“Brody, relax. I know that look. You are not going to confine me to our house for this whole pregnancy. There’s no need to go all caveman protective of me.”

I open my mouth to protest. Of course there’s a need for me to protect her and our baby. This is a crazy world we live in. Anything could happen. And if anything happens to either one of them, I won’t survive. I thought it was hard enough worrying about her when she was in Hawaii and I was here. This is going to be even worse. I scrub a hand over my face, another idea forming in my head.

“Brod,” Aubrey warns. “Don’t even think about it. I love you, and I know you love me and our baby. But I do not need you to follow me around for the next nine months. Please. You need to trust me on this.”

I stare at her, at my best friend. The woman who is wearing my ring. The mother of my child. “I want to get married soon. Let’s stop trying to find the perfect day. How about we pick a date when the team is off and in town and get married. We could have it at our house in the backyard, on the lake.”

We decided that we wanted to move back to Orlando. It’s where our family is. Aubrey took a teaching job at the university part-time. It gives her time to work on the book she’s writing. We bought a house in the same neighborhood as Caleb. Which worked out perfectly since he and Jenna decided to stay here after he retired. Now our kids can grow up together. Cole and Hannah don’t live that far away either. And Hunter and Madison are looking to buy a home nearby too.