Page 114 of Best Man
She paced back and forth, her hands glued to her lower back, which had been chronically aching for what felt likeyearsnow.She’d had such high hopes that the baby would pop out just in time for Sasha to play with a clear head in the Final—but she’d zoomed past her due date a week and a half ago and was starting to wonder if this baby wasevergoing to come. Now, all she hoped was that the baby could wait one more day. Or even just a few more hours.
Just grant me that, okay, little one?she thought, silently pleading with her baby.
Because tonight was the end. Tonight was Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, at home in Dallas. If there was ever a time for the baby to come—nowwas simply not it.
Paulina was gathered with the rest of the WAGs in the wives’ lounge at the arena. The girls all wore their denim jackets with their husbands’ names and numbers sewn on the back. The back of Paulina’s jacket read#71 NIKOLAEV.
“Can I get you anything, Mama?” Austen asked, noticing her restless pacing.
Paulina shook her head. “No, thank you. Just nervous.”
And achy and fat and sore and bloated and tired of this,she thought, mentally adding to the list.
“How about you, Piper? You good?” Austen asked.
Piper, equally as miserably pregnant, also shambled about the room in a futile effort to get comfortable. She gave a defeated thumbs-up. “All good. Thanks, Austen.”
To be fair, the other girls didn’t look much better. With hours to go before the game, nerves were running high. You could cut the tension with a knife.
“I’m so nervous,” Katerina said. Sasha’s sister had a baby bump of her own, but she and Derek had wisely planned the birth of their first to coincide with the actual off-season. Her bun still needed another six weeks in the oven.
“I can’t even imagine how our boys must feel right now,” Emma said, rocking back and forth in her seat.
“I know, right?” Ainsley said, shaking her head. “I feel like I’m going to be sick.”
So did Paulina—but then again, that was nothing new.
She was still pacing the room when she felt a popping sensation, almost like the crack of a knuckle, from deep inside her. She wasn’t sure what, exactly, that pop was—but it almost felt like a burst of relief. After months of aches and pains, any kind of relief was very, very welcome indeed.
But then, a mere split second later, she noticed the warm trickle of water running down her thighs. Her first thought was pregnancy incontinence; this wouldn’t be the first time a tiny bit of pee had escaped her, after all. Sure, it’d be a little embarrassing to wet her pants in front of all the girls, but this was a great group of gals; they’d understand. And she was prepared to deal with a little accident—these days, her hospital go-bag came with her anywhere she went, and it was stocked with a change of clothes and extra pads, too.
She clamped down, trying to stop any more pee from trickling out … only to realize it wouldn’t stop. That tiny trickle wasn’t so tiny, after all—it was more of a small gush of fluid that kept coming. She looked down and was horrified to see the wet spot in her crotch slowly grow and spread to her thighs.
“Oh no,” she muttered beneath her breath, fearing thiswasn’tpee, after all.
This can’t be happening. Not now!
The other girls were beginning to catch on that something wasn’t right.
“What’s up, sis?” Piper asked, a sliver of urgency sneaking into her voice.
An embarrassed heat swirled in her cheeks. “Either I just peed myself big time … or my water just broke?”
The traumatized look on Piper’s face said it all. This was the exact scenario they’dbothfeared. The other girls froze in terror, too, not knowing what to do or say.
Thankfully, Molly Cooper—seasoned hockey wife, mother of five, andde facto“captain” of the WAGs if there ever was one—calmly hopped into action with a cool confidence.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” she said. “Do you have a change of clothes with you?”
“I do.” She pointed at her go-bag. “But thiscan’tbe happening. Not now! It’s Game 7!”
“Shh, shh, don’t panic,” Molly soothed her. “If it’s truly your water, then this is just the start. The baby probably won’t be here for quite a while, okay?” Molly comforted as she whisked her to the bathroom. “Let’s clean you up. If it’s your water, we’ll call your midwife and head to the hospital. Everything’s going to be okay.”
Molly and Piper tended to her in the bathroom. Paulina unzipped and wiggled out of her jeans, sarcastically noting that this was the first time in her life she would’ve beenthrilledto piss her pants—but, once the jeans came off and she had a look, she knew it wasn’t pee.
Molly noted the time of day and that the fluid was clear and odorless. Piper, on the phone with the midwife that the sisters shared, passed this information on. Then she called their parents, who were in town to be here when their grandchildren were born.
“Hi, Momma,” Piper said. “So, just thought you should know that Paulina’s water broke just now—”
