“Anytime between twenty and thirty weeks gestation. It’s a wide range and depends entirely on the pregnancy.” Penny then spoke to us about Carina feeling movement regularly and it not being a cause for concern if we didn’t feel anything for weeks to come.
I didn’t want to stop the ultrasound, but Penny wiped Carina’s belly, and then Jacques helped her off the examination chair. It was the most incredible thing I’d ever experienced. I was overwhelmed and filled with a joyous wonder that I couldn’t explain. I wanted to jump up and down and celebrate. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. I wanted to kiss all of them and dance until we were too tired to stand.
We were going to be parents.
We were going to have a baby.
I couldn’t fucking wait.
***
Two hours later, we were sitting with our knees practically touching the boards in the front row of the Seal’s training rink. It was an all-out skirmish, the friendly game igniting the team’s competitive spirit. It was black vests against purples, with Jacques captaining the purple team and Rune, the alternate captain, leading the blacks.
Jacques lost the puck drop, but Hewitt sliced in front, snatching the puck from Wilson as he passed. Hewitt flicked a wrister in Jacques’s direction, and I was on my feet, whistling. Carina and Rusty were on either side of me, both of them on their feet and screaming Jacques’s name. Rusty, Cara, and Roe were right there with us, screaming just as loudly. The small crowd of family and friends were as rowdy during a friendly skirmish as on any game night.
If hockey players were competitive, their families were loud.
The puck found the center of Jacques’s stick, and he effortlessly slung it to Hux in a move I’d seen them practicing until they could do it blindfolded. They instinctively knew where the other was on the ice even with the addition of the other players.
Hux barreled through the gap formed by the new first line D-men—a rookie mistake on their part. The lines had been shaken up after Minns announced he was going on the player assistance program and Mironov was demoted to the third line for his antics with Hux. He’d likely be back on the first line before the beginning of the season, but it must have stung knowing how badly he’d pissed off Coach.
Just like they’d practiced, Hux slapped it back to Jacques. They were moving so fast, the puck was a blur. But Jacques was faster. He shot it lightning quick at the net.
Rune’s reflexes were on point. He clearly hadn’t slouched during the off-season either. He dropped into the splits, stretched his arm out, and slapped the puck away. No lamplighter.
“You’ve got this, Jacques, baby,” Carina yelled.
Jacques shot her a grin as he dug hard into the tight turn behind goal and shot out the other side, chasing after the puck.
Jacques moved at warp speed, catching up, then shouldering past Wilson to steal the puck again. Wilson was sluggish and definitely not playing his finest game. He was in for a world of pain before the season starter.
Jacques passed to Hewitt.
Cohen intercepted.
With a few pumps of his legs, Cohen was in our defensive zone. I should have been watching the puck, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Jacques. He was on fire.
The D-men on Jacques’s team worked their magic, squeezing Cohen and forcing a pass. Hux was there in the only open spot and scooped it up. Cara whooped and Monroe whistled and cheered for him. We did the same.
Hux shot it straight to Hewitt, and he screamed up the ice in a breakaway. Stick to puck, he flew along. He passed it to Jacques.
Jacques flew toward the goal, drawing Rune forward.
I held my breath. There was a sliver of unprotected space on the net.
Jacques slung the puck to Hux.
Hux took the shot. It sailed straight for the net.
Rune reacted.
Like it was in slow motion, I watched as he reached out.
His stick connected with the puck.
But it wasn’t enough.
It hit the net, and the buzzer sounded.
