Page 100 of Pucked and Pregnant

“I love you guys,” I say as I look at each of them, and I mean it with all of my heart and soul.

“And we all love you,” Aiden replies.

“Visiting hours are over,” a voice says softly from the doorway.

We all glance over and see a nurse poking her head in with a warm smile.

“Okay, I’ll shoo them away in a moment.”

She vanishes, and Max appears in her place.

“You guys want to go get a beer?” he asks them.

They all look a bit more relaxed. Connor strides over to Max. “We owe you an apology,” he says.

Max smiles shyly then looks down at his feet. “Yeah, you do. We can talk about stuff over food. I’m starving.”

As if on cue, Aiden’s stomach grumbles and I giggle.

“Go on, get some food you guys,” I tell them. “Have a pint for me.” I place a hand on my belly and rub it, thinking about all the months I have to go without being able to have a beer.

“Love you,” Dimitri says, pressing a sweet kiss to my lips. “Feel better.”

Aiden and Connor come over to kiss me as well, but before they leave, Dimitri hesitates in the doorway.

“By the way,” he says offhandedly, “Travis shouldn’t be bothering you anymore. But if he does, you tell us, and we’ll take care of it.”

I laugh out loud then clap a hand over my mouth. “You guys didn’t hurt him too badly, did you?”

Connor shrugs. “Let’s just say he won’t be ready for his close-up for a couple of weeks, but he’ll be alright.”

“He was trying to record us talking about being in love with you. We smashed his phone so he can’t take it to the press,” Aiden adds.

Max’s eyes are wide as he looks at them. “Add that topic to the list of things we’ll be discussing over pizza and brews,” he says with a shake of his head.

I laugh again and wave at them as they leave the room. I slump back against the pillows, allowing myself to ponder the huge changes that have taken place in my life over the past forty-eight hours.

I might not be able to continue pushing forward in my career as I had hoped, but I know now that the men I have loved since I was a teenager not only love me back, but are completely on board with raising these babies with me. I know that my brother loves me and is willing to help out in any way that he can.

And I know that I can choose to be happy, even if that happiness is considered unconventional. That alone is a huge step for me, considering I am someone who has always pressured myself to be perfect, and to check all the right boxes.

I think about the fact that the boys and my brother are almost certainly going to get a chance to play for the Stanley Cup, and I feel tingly with excitement. I know how much this means to them, hell, how much it means to me. I know that I won’t be able to do the coverage for that game, but hopefully I will be well enough to be sitting in the stands, watching them play for the coveted cup.

I wonder how I’m going to tell my parents about everything. While traveling throughout Europe, they fell in love with Scotland, and decided to extend their stay. They don’t have any plans to return any time soon, and I really don’t want them coming home only to breathe down my neck and pester me about making good decisions.

Maybe I can give them the abbreviated version of the truth.

I sigh and pick up my phone, ready to go back to work on collecting data for the blog entry that I need to post tonight, when the nurse comes back in the room.

“You’re supposed to be resting,” she chides as she takes my vitals.

“I know but I have a blog entry to put out tonight.”

“That’s why you’re so good at your job,” she says, patting my shoulder. “You love what you do.”

I smile at her and nod. “I try really hard to do the job justice. Especially seeing as it’s primarily a man’s occupation. Women have to bust their ass twice as hard in this field.”

She grins at me. “It’s really nice to hear a lady calling out all those exciting plays for a change. I enjoy listening to you talk us through the highs and lows of the game.”

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