Page 32 of Rushing Her: Seattle, Westerners
“Don’t worry, I’m fine with that. I’m also an attorney.”
“If you give me my phone for a moment, I’ll send you one.” Briar passes it back to me, and sure enough, it’s already unlocked.
I enter my cloud storage, find the basic NDA form, and forward it to her email once she gives it to me. She uses herphone to sign it without reading it thoroughly, and I return my phone to her.
“Okay, we’ll see you in a couple days. Until then, I’ve set your old phone to forward to the office, where your assistant will send you anything business-related or from known persons.”
“Thank you, Briar.”
The four of us visit for a bit, getting to know each other better. I learn that they have two boys, one who’s eight and the other is two. Briar offers help with getting a triplet nursery together, and I take her up on it. You can never have too much help with three babies coming.
Later, my parents and even Brea call to check on me, but Raven stops by to make sure I’m okay. I promise them all, especially Brayden, that I will remember to eat and drink. The doctor agrees that we should wait another week or two until fully entering the second trimester before she prescribes anything for the nausea.
Chapter 14
Alexandra
The December wind blows across the lake, chilling me as it hits my legs, even with leggings on under my maxi dress. Warner walks behind me, giving me some space to be alone for a bit, while Brayden travels to an away game tonight, and I thought it would be the perfect time to take a walk and make this call.
I’m now at nineteen weeks, and so far, the nausea has decreased. At last week’s appointment, we found out I was carrying three little boys. I was hopeful that one would be a girl, but all boys would be wonderful, too.
Brayden is excited but still worried about the stalker, as well as the added concern that I’m developing gestational diabetes. My routine has become eating several small meals throughout the day. They plan to test me at my next appointment, just in case, and Dr. Grands has cautioned us that this condition is common in a multi-pregnancy and doesn’t necessarily reflect on being overweight or not before the pregnancy—something about the amount of placental tissue in my body from each baby.
Rubbing my hand across my belly, my wish is for them to be healthy and safe. We haven’t settled on names yet, but during our video chat tonight, we intend to talk about it.
Brayden has been playing so well that some of the sportscasters are saying this could be his best season. He still insists that he won’t decide about his upcoming plans until the end of the season, but I know. We’ve discussed it, and he’ll retire at the end of the season. The more I think about it, I might step back a bit, too. My children need to be my focus.
The stalker has gone quiet, but she’s likely not gone. Sometimes, I swear she’s following me.
Briar and I went to the secured room at her office a few days after I was released from the hospital. She was able to transfer every contact that I knew from my old phone to the new one. She did locate some tracking and mirroring software, but so far, when she tries to backtrace it, it always leads to burner phones with no distinguishing contacts. She’s developed a new theory and has been working on it lately. Briar won’t tell me about it because she says I don’t need the added stress.
It’s too hard covering up my pregnancy now, and Brayden is tired of hiding our relationship. I do so only because I fear it will impact him more than me.
We don’t go out in public together very often. But I’m at every home game in a private box with Thor and Briar, who have also talked us into going to hockey games with them. They have become close friends and only live a few houses down from us, so I visit Briar when I take my daily walks.
Raven misses me being able to go out and about, but she comes to the house to hang out with me. She can’t tonight because she’s busy with another case.
I can’t run anymore, but walking fills that time, and some workouts are still doable, so that afterward, I’ll hopefully get my pre-pregnancy body back.
While walking through one of the parks near the house, I sit on a bench and dial the number for the one person I know can help me set my latest plan into motion. Making Brayden’s every dream come true is important to me, and this is one he’s had since he went pro.
“Hello.” This man’s voice sounds so much like his brother’s.
“Brent, it’s Alexandra.”
“Alex, how nice to hear from you. If you want help burying my brother’s body, just say the word,” he jokes, and I chuckle.
“I want to ask you a favor.”
“Name it.”
“I’ve gotten permission to send the company jet to Montana to pick you all up. The Christmas game is in two weeks. My condo downtown is ready and waiting for you and your family. Your parents can stay with Brayden and me. It’s important they attend what could possibly be one of Brayden’s last holiday games. Plus, we plan to reveal the genders of the babies with the families afterward.”
Brent chuckles across the line. “You added that last part to get Mom there. You know she’ll want to know what her newest grandbabies are going to be.”
“Yeah, but we are also getting my parents to join us all. My sister and T.K. will be at the dinner but can’t make the game. T.K. doesn’t want to give it away that we are dating.”
“I have to tell you, Alex, I think it’s time you both come out of hiding. I understand your reasoning, but it’s stressing out Brayden.”
