Downstairs, I plug my phone in and wonder what to do about dinner. I’ve been the primary cook for our entire relationship. Hadley can, of course, but I like doing it and my food is better, if I say so myself. The first time I cooked for Hadley, I took a risk and wasn’t sure she would even taste the meal. I knew it was good because it was one of my mother’s recipes, but I wasn’t sure Hadley would go for something that wasn’t junk food or unhealthy.
She sat on the counter and watched me. She’d make a frown every now and then when I’d add an ingredient she wasn’t sure of. At one point, she even said, “You know I love our delicious American food. Are you sure I’ll like this?”
“Yes,” I nodded.
“What is it called again?”
“Golubtsy.”
“What the hell is it?”
“Stuffed cabbage basically.”
“Stuffed cabbage? I’m more of a potato chip girl, if you hadn’t noticed.”
“I had. That’s why I’m fixing this. To broaden your tastes. You’ll like it, Hadley. No one has ever been able to resist one of Mama’s recipes.”
“Well, I trust you, but if I don’t like it, you’re buying the pizza I’ll have to order.”
“Hadley, baby,” I stopped and gave her a look. “You’ll like it, probably love it, so be quiet.”
I wasn’t wrong either. She liked it and has eaten it every time I’ve fixed it since then. I don’t feel like fixing it tonight though. With a glance at the clock, I realize I should have enough time to run and pick something up before she gets here. She’s stopped complaining about the healthier meals I’ve been feeding her for the most part. Tonight, I’ll let her have her junk food again.
After running into town and buying burgers and enough fries to feed an army, or a pregnant Hadley, I come back home. I’m in the kitchen, taking it out of the bags when I hear Hadley come in.
“Luca, please tell me I’m not delusional and I really smell french fries.”
I laugh and look over my shoulder. “You can’t smell the burger, too?”
She comes over to see the food for herself. I watch as she grins. Her eyes flick up to mine. Hadley grabs my face, tugs me down, and kisses me. “God, do I love you right now. I was starving and thinking how nice it would be to eat the only true vegetable there is, fries. And here it is.” She takes our plates and begins to walk to the table.
As I fix us a glass of water, I call over my shoulder, “Hey, one of those is mine, and I’m hungry too, so don’t get carried away.”
“Then you better hurry the hell up, Oh Captain, My Captain.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Hadley
And so it begins...
My heart is pounding. My hands are shaking, and damn it, I have to pee, but I’m not moving from this chair until the fifteen blue screens in front of me have turned to the live picture of THN’s anchors ready to launch the greatest sports station in the history of sports news.
Okay, that part might be a bit dramatic, but I’m going to make it into the top five. That’s a guarantee. It’s the opening season of the hockey league and games are set. Since September first, we have been running old games, special features, updates of training camps, trades, and everything in between that, but today is the day.
The screens switch from blue to a live shot of the anchors and it’s the beginning of THN. Mr. York pats me on my shoulder as he walks away from me. He did it. I did it. We did it. The crazy scheduling, the budget fixes, the hiring and replacing until we had the perfect staff all brought us to this moment.
My eyes flick to the top right screen and I see Luca skating. The Bucks home opener is tonight, and even though I’m not going to be there, Luca understands. I rub my belly, which seems to keep growing and has no end in sight.
This morning, I spent ten minutes crying over some stretch marks I found. That fucking cocoa butter shit didn’t work. Luca couldn’t figure out what I was crying about, but he did try to console me. If these hormones don’t get in check soon, he may toss my pregnant ass into a rubber room. I think that’s another reason why he’s happy the season’s started; he can get away from me.
Amy rushes over to me; a crisis as already begun. The film crew in Alabama can’t stream live shots to us. Ugh! Fucking technology. I jump on the phone and get the tech department to get their heads out of their asses and fix this. After a several minutes of me shouting and the techs trying to tell me what’s wrong, it’s finally fixed.
“Are you heading to the game?” Amy asks as I pack up for the night.
“As much as I want to, I’m too damn tired.” I rub my belly. Little Valeria is all over the place and it actually hurts a bit. “Don’t forget I have a OB/GYN appointment and I’ll be a few minutes late in the morning.”
“We’re fine. Um, but you need to put five dollars in the swear jar.” She holds out her hand. I give her a dirty look. “You told me that no matter what, you weren’t going to cuss anymore, and not to back down until you gave me the money,” Amy pales as she repeats my words.