Page 75 of The Sweet Spot

“Hey guys,” I clear my throat as we walk over and wait for the talking to stop.

“Ahh, hell. Are you pregnant too?” Lindy asks. “Someone get Kenzie on FaceTime because I can’t deal with Everly, Gracie, and Brynlee all pregnant at the same time. I’m going to need reinforcements.”

No sooner has she said it than Gracie holds up her phone with Kenzie’s face, half asleep on the screen. “Got her.”

“Umm... what?” Kenzie asks from what looks like behind a desk somewhere in the hospital.

“Brynlee’s pregnant, Doc,” Callen groans.

“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” Kenzie asks, clearly concerned.

“I’m not pregnant,” I reassure everyone but especially Kenzie, since she’s the only one besides Deacon and I who knows the potential complications that would come with that. “But I do need to tell you something.”

The group quiets until all we hear is the kids’ laughter as Cross and Everly’s daughter chases her brother and Lindy and Easton’s son.

“So... I took a test this week,” I tell them, while I try desperately to control the trembling in my voice. “I should have the results back in a few days. But I wanted you to know now. I wanted you all to be prepared for whatever the results are.”

Callen moves to say something, but Gracie rests her hand on his, stopping him.

“I love you all so much, and I hate that I haven’t told you before, but I had to come to terms with it on my own first,” I tell them all, fighting back tears. “A few months ago, I found out my biological mother died from complications of Huntington’s disease.” I put my hand up and stop everyone from asking questions all at once. “In case you’re not familiar with it, because lord knows I wasn’t before all of this, yes, it’s hereditary, and no, there’s no cure.”

I stop before I start to cry, and Deacon wraps his arms around me.

“If you’ve got questions, call me, and we’ll talk later,” Kenzie offers. “I’m proud of you for getting tested, Brynn.”

“Now what?” Maddox asks, having not moved from his spot at the back of the group. “What can we do, Brynn?”

“Now, nothing. We get ready for a wedding ten days from now. Now Everly tailors my wedding dress tomorrow. Now we watch those beautiful babies smile while they make a mess of the cupcakes I picked up from Sweet Temptations earlier. Now we live, and we love, and we don’t waste a single second—because life is too damn short.”

I kiss Deacon’s cheek and pull away, then make my way down to where Kerrigan is chasing Jax and Griffin and join in on the chase, needing a little bit of their beautiful innocence to wash away some of my grief right now.

Deacon

It feels like half my damn team is watching me once the girls close ranks around Brynn after her announcement. Easton Hayes, both Wilder brothers, and Nixon Sinclair all stand around with Brynn’s cousin Maddox and Callen Sinclair rounding the group out. And right now, I don’t give a shit about talking with any of them.

“You need anything, Coach?” Nix asks while the others give me space.

“A crystal ball would be nice,” I tell him because what else am I supposed to say?

Yeah. I need my wife to be healthy.

I need her not to die.

I need a long lifetime with her.

But I don’t tell him any of that. Brynlee is the only person who gets those words, so I settle for, “I need to know she’s going to be okay, no matter what that test says.”

“She will be,” Easton Hayes, Lindy’s husband and I think Brynn’s cousin, if I’m following her fucked up family tree correctly, tells me. “You don’t know that group of women yet, Coach. Individually, they’re so fucking strong. But together... they’re a sight to be seen.”

Callen laughs a dry, emotionless sound. “Wait until you see them pissed off as a unit. I’ve never seen anything like it. They’ve got our girl.”

“My girl,” I correct him with a fucking scary note of possession in my voice that this motherfucker better hear.

“Your wife, Kane. But we all love her. She’s been my friend since we were three years old. That doesn’t change because she’s married. She’ll always be my friend. They’re all like sisters to us,” he tells me, and I’m not sure if I want to hit him or not.

“Thank God, you’re a good athlete, Callen, because you’re a fucking shit communicator,” Cross tells him as he watches his wife and kids down by the lake.

“Dude, you weren’t there, Wilder. Maddox, Nix, and I were. Our whole lives have been intertwined with those women. Even Easton didn’t come into the picture until middle school. I love them all like they’re my damn sisters. That’s all I’m trying to say.”

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