A Very Merry Hockey Holiday
Page 9

“Oh yes, those shoes I do need.”
Wrapping his arms around her, he chuckled before kissing her cheek, and then they were off to hand out cupcakes. As they spent the rest of the afternoon at the hospital, she would have been lying if she’d said she hadn’t thought of the following day. But instead of the feeling of dread and nervousness in her belly, she pushed to be positive. She wasn’t going to stress anymore. She wasn’t going to worry. If it happened, then she would be elated. If it didn’t, then she would accept that and move on.
She had everything she needed.
But as she sat in the chair the next day, a needle in one arm and her other hand clutching Tate’s, her stomach was back to knots. She tried so hard to be positive, but her emotions were everywhere. She wanted to be excited for the possibility, but she also wanted to be realistic. This probably wasn’t going to happen. Also, her pregnancy test was faint—not a no, but not a yes—and that was a disappointment. She had read that when people were pregnant, their tests were bright and happy, but hers wasn’t sure. It was as if her body wasn’t sure if it wanted to be pregnant or not.
“We’ll know in a couple hours. Why don’t y’all go to lunch?” the nurse suggested, and Audrey nodded as she looked over at Tate.
“Sounds like a plan,” he agreed, and soon they were at the closest steakhouse. They ate in silence. Well, Tate ate; Audrey picked at her salad.
“I thought we said we weren’t going to stress?”
She let out a breath as she nodded. “I’m not stressing, really. It’s more I’m nervous.”
He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Don’t. Either way, we are happy. Right?”
She laced her fingers with his and looked deep in his eyes. She could see her whole future in his eyes. The two of them raising Pennyloo, going on trips, watching Daddy win, and building Audrey Jane’s into something that maybe Penny would want. Even though Audrey was pretty sure her baby was going to grow up to help people. Maybe as a doctor or a missionary. They would send her to college, and one day Tate would walk her down the aisle. It was all there, and the whole time she would be completely and entirely in love with him.
“Right,” she agreed. “I love you, Tate Ooooooodder.”
He smiled at his nickname from her and leaned across the table, his lips only a breath away. “And I love you a hell of a lot more than that, Mrs. Ooooooodder.”
As he pressed his lips to hers, Audrey’s eyes fell shut as her mouth moved with his. She felt completely whole. As if nothing else could touch her.
That was, until her phone rang.
Slowly they parted and looked down at her phone to see that it was the doctor. Sucking in a deep breath, she looked at Tate but he was staring at the phone. Reaching for it, his hand still cupping her face, he hit answer and then the speaker button.
Looking at her, he said, “Hello?”
“Can I please speak with Audrey Odder?”
“This is she,” she said breathlessly, and Tate moved his thumb along her jaw soothingly.
“Oh, hey! Okay, so your levels are well past five hundred! You’re pregnant!”
Tears were streaming down her face before the doctor even finished talking. Her heart felt as if it was pounding so hard it was going to break her ribs. She felt as if she were flying or dreaming. Was this really happening?
“Really?”
“Yes! Congratulations!”
A sob left her lips as she covered her face, crying into her hands. She was pregnant. She was going to have a baby. Tate’s baby. Dropping her hands, she looked across the table and met Tate’s tearful gaze.
“We are having a baby.”
Dropping the phone, Tate pushed the chair back and came around, pulling her out of her chair. Wrapping his arms tightly around her, he kissed her hard as he picked her up off the ground, holding her as his mouth moved with hers. Pulling back, his eyes bored into hers as his lips curved in the biggest smile she had ever seen. She knew her smile was probably bigger.
She had prayed and wished for a baby for the last four Christmases, and finally, she was pregnant. She decided she didn’t need anything else on that list because she was loved by the two most amazing people in the world and was also pregnant.
What more could she ever want?
“Audrey is pregnant!”
Erik Titov looked over at his wife and smiled. She looked gorgeous, as always. Wearing black tights with a long purple sweater, her dirty-blond hair was down along her shoulders, her makeup done nicely, while her purple lipstick shone on her lips. She looked delectable, and he couldn’t wait to get her home. Yeah, his family was in town, but surely they wouldn’t hear too much.
They were on their way to his benefit where they would give over one hundred disadvantaged kids hockey equipment and Christmas presents. It was one of his favorite benefits, and he was excited to see the faces of the kids as they opened all the things that he and Piper had personally picked out for each of them. Hearing that his best bud and his wife were expecting, though, took his excitement up another level.
“Really?”
“Yup!” she basically cheered as she typed wildly on her phone. “She is nervous she might miscarry, but surely she’ll be good, right?”
He nodded. “Let’s hope so. They both want this really bad.”
“They do,” she said with a nod. “Even though yesterday we were talking, and I told her she was being selfish. I was worried she would be mad, but she wasn’t. Thank God. I really need to get a filter sometimes.”