Page 28 of Sven

“How’s it going?” Coach asked, since he was one of the few people who knew what was going on.

“It’s going. I think I have things a little more under control, so I shouldn’t have to miss anything else.”

“Good to hear,” Coach said with a nod.

“I was wondering if I could talk to the team. I kind of what to tell them what’s going on,” Sven said, trying to shove down his nerves.

Coach Wagner clapped him on the back. “Of course, and if there’s anything else we can do for you, let me know.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Sven took his usual seat as the last few players filtered in. He kept his head buried in his phone; he wasn’t sure what to do. How do you act normal when you were about to drop the bomb he was about to drop? So far, the only people who knew were his sister, his housekeeper, Sasha, Hillary, and a handful of coaches. And of course, Natalie knew.

Something about thinking about her brought a smile to his face. He knew all too well her expression when he was wiping off his chest from Winnie’s baby food incident. He gave his head a little shake. She was his nanny. Even though he was attracted to her, and she seemed to be attracted to him, they could have a professional working relationship, right? People did it all the time.

As the room filled and the coaching staff came in, Coach Wagner stood to start the meeting. Sven wiped his sweaty palms down his shorts. Why was he so nervous?

“Okay, boys, before we get started, I know some of you were curious why Sven wasn’t with us on the road trip. He’s asked to come talk to you guys.”

All the guys turned and watched him as he made his way to the front. His heart was pounding away.

He took a deep breath and tilted his head to pop his neck. “I’m sorry I missed the road trip. I had some family stuff come up.”

All eyes were on him. It was like each set of eyes were judging him.

Fuck. He hated this.

“A few weeks ago, I received a surprise... Fuck...” he said, swiping his hand through his hair. The sea of faces had gone from neutral to showing concern the more flustered he got. “I’m just going to come right out and say it. I have a daughter.”

Cash’s mouth had dropped, and Conner’s eyebrows were tightly drawn. He glanced over to Coach Wagner, who gave him an encouraging nod.

“She’s maybe six months old, and she’s staying with me. I needed to take some time to figure out how to make it all work and find a nanny, and all that. That’s why I needed to stay here. I’ve hired a nanny, who’ll be able to watch her on all upcoming road trips... but, yeah... so now you know.”

He was pleasantly surprised to see encouraging faces.

“Thank you, Sven. Let us know if you need anything else,” said Coach, clasping his shoulder as he stepped forward to take over the meeting.

Sven took his seat and tried to stay focused on the meeting and game videos, but his mind kept wandering. Getting out on the ice would help with that.

“Okay, boys, go suit up and meet me out on the ice. We are going to run some drills before a scrimmage.”

As he made his way into the locker room, everyone was quiet.

Finally, Conner came in. “So, you’re a dad, huh?”

Sven sat on the bench next to his locker and nodded.

“When did you find out?” asked Ethan.

“A couple weeks ago,” Sven answered.

“How did you find out?” asked Wes.

“A woman showed up at my door with a baby and said it was mine. And I could tell just by looking at her that she wasn’t lying.”

“How’s it all going?” Conner asked as he put on his skates.

“Well . . .”

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