Page 82 of Decidedly With Baby
And forget the typical fine of twenty-five cents per swear word. Holly had decided I needed a stiffer penalty because a quarter was nothing compared to my annualincome.
Now, each swear word garnered Noah a nice hefty ten-dollar fine toward his collegefund.
So fire truck itwas.
Overtime went well—as in we won. The Rock players rushed onto the ice tocelebrate.
“Fucking great job,” I told Mark, who had scored the overtime goal. I gave him an enthusiastic one-armedhug.
He laughed. “So when Holly’s not around, you’re allowed toswear?”
“Damnstraight.”
Did Becca know about the ten-dollar-a-cuss-word fine leveled on me? No, which was why Mark would never tattle-tale to Holly. The consequence was too great when it came to me “accidentally” mentioning it tohiswife.
Back in the locker room, I was getting ready to strip off my hockey gear and head for the shower when the assistant coach nabbed me. “Media’s asking foryou.”
“Of course they are,” I grumbled. “It’s not like they’re standing around, dripping withsweat.”
But maybe I could stand in front of them and shake my body like a wet dog after a swim in the ocean. Think that would impressthem?
He slapped me on the back in a sympathetic gesture. “You only have to go out for a fewminutes.”
At least no one would be asking about my impending fatherhood. Other than within the team, I hadn’t gone public with the news. As far as I was concerned, it wasn’t anyone’sbusiness.
I returned to the dressing room, where the reporters were waiting. “Good game tonight,” one said to me. Then after I answered a question about Jyri’s trade, he said, “You’ll be a free agent in July. Any ideas on what you can expect?” In other words, did I think I would get traded beforethen.
That was the billion-dollarquestion.
A question I’d asked myself at least a thousand times. I got paid well, but I wasn’t a star player and would never be. I’d already been traded once before. And to be honest, as much as I loved the game, the constant uncertainty about my future in the league wastiring.
But what else would Ido?
I guess when it came down to it—thatwas the real billion-dollarquestion.
I BS’d my way through the answer, reminding them it was the GM’s call and he would do what was best for the team. After a few more questions, the assistant coach signaled the interview wasover.
I could have almost kissedhim.
Once I’d finished showering and had changed into my suit for our flight back to San Francisco, I entered the secured room where the team had kept our cellphones.
How did people get ahold of us prior to game-time and during games? They had to contact the team and in turn, the news was passed on to us. This way the team could determine what was an emergency or what wasn’t. Like when Travis’s grandmother once phoned, wondering where he had put the jar of pickles last time he was at herhouse.
The woman loved herpickles.
Why was I telling you this? Because now you’ll see why when I checked my texts, I was surprised to see one from Trent—telling me Holly had gone into labor…several hoursago.
Shit.
26
Holly
Fuck.Me. Dead!That was the last thought to go through my head as the contraction hit. I stopped walking and braced my hands on my bed—breathing through thepain.
Whoowhoo.
Heehee.
