Page 86 of My Pucking Perfect Goalie

“Two minutes!” Leila calls, checking his harness. They stand together on the precipice, and I can’t stop myself from thinking about that first time up here, when I watched him back away from the jump.

I think about sitting in his dad’s hospital room with him, holding his hand while we listened to the doctor, explaining what would happen next. The expression on Sam’s face, something disbelieving, like peace and surprise, all at once.

“Sam,” I say now, catching him looking at me now, his eyes dark. He grins back, his eyes wandering my body. I have one hand on my belly when I say, “I love you.”

He smiles back, looking like his heart is soaring in his chest. Even with the wind roaring around us, he looks calm. Ready.

“I love you, too,” he says, and then to Leila, “Let’s do this.”

They jump.

I press my forehead to the window, watching them as they fall. The baby kicks in my stomach, as though aware that their dad is doing something spectacular right now. When the parachute deploys, I let out a breath. Through my binoculars, I can see him laughing.

“Well, would you look at that,” the pilot says, chuckling. “Your guy did it.”

“Yes,” I say, smiling to myself as the plane rounds, preparing to land, my hand settling back on my stomach. “He sure did.”

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