“Okay,” Doug says, “Matthew is off for the next two games. The press release went out the second we left the jail. I have to say those detectives didn’t waste time in clearing Matthew’s name. The investigation is still ongoing and now there are charges pending on the woman who started all this.”
“Bitch,” Vivienne says under her breath.
“Okay, that settles that.” Doug continues, “The news stations have stopped talking about it for now. Now the only thing we have to talk about is what we will tell the team when Karrie is no longer your chaperone.”
Karrie sits up straight. “Wait a second. Why am I not his chaperone anymore?”
Doug looks at me and then at Cooper. “Honey, the traveling alone will tire you out. You need to stay put.”
Karrie’s eyes open wide as saucers. “You know this is discrimination, right? You’re firing me because I’m pregnant.”
Vivienne smiles at Karrie. “Not exactly, cheri.” She rubs her back.
“I don’t want to tell anyone about the baby till I’m at least three months along,” she says, looking at me. I nod at her, agreeing with this. “But I will not be giving up my job of watching Matthew.”
“Well,” Vivienne says, laughing. “You were really watching him pretty fucking close to get that baby in there.”
Cooper throws his head back and laughs and I try to hide a laugh when I see Karrie turn and look at her with her eyes into slits.
“Oh, vraiment.” Really, she says. “C’est une blague.” It’s a joke, she says.
“Babe, your father is right. You need to be home and off your feet,” I speak up, trying to not piss her off.
She gets up to her feet. “No, I will not cop out just because this one”—she points at me—“shot and scored on my goalie.”
“Oh, dear,” Mom says while Cooper covers his mouth. “Honey, don’t get upset. It’s not good for the baby. Matthew, you need to not get on her nerves and stress isn’t good.”
“Great, then take him home with you,” Karrie says. “I’m not giving up this job, and you”—she points at me—“you will support me and my decision.” And then at her father. “And you, you hold my hand and tell me that everything is okay.” She storms out of the room, going to the kitchen. Mom and Vivienne get up, following her, leaving the guys to look at each other.
“What just happened?” I ask the two guys left with me.
“She just got her way,” Doug says. “What do we tell the team about you two?”
“No fucking way am I hiding this bullshit anymore. I didn’t want to hide it in the beginning, but she wouldn’t let me tell you. Man to man, I’m sorry that you found out this way.”
“Wasn’t exactly the best way to find out your little girl is not only in love finally, but that she is going to have a baby. With that said, you hurt her.” He moves his head from side to side and looks at Cooper. “I’ll make sure they never find you.”
“My boy will never do anything to hurt her on purpose. He’s going to make a great dad and an even better husband,” Cooper says while I nod.
“Can we just slow down and get used to us being parents and then do the whole marriage thing?” Karrie says from the doorway with my mother and Vivienne, who stand behind her with two thumbs up.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Karrie
It’s been two days since I last threw up. To some that might not mean anything, but to someone who spent the last seven weeks throwing up every single time I finished eating this is huge. Monumental.
I’m sitting in the hotel room, waiting for Matthew to come back from the morning skate while I check my emails. My inbox is full of emails that Matthew forwarded me. They come from every single parenting website on the web. They send him daily tidbits, and let’s not talk about the twenty-five parenting books that got delivered to the house the night after we got home. He is actually reading them and highlighting certain things. He’s also become the biggest pain in my ass I have ever encountered.
I love him as many times during the day as I want to kill him. He acts like I’m the first woman to ever have a baby. When we got back on the road, there was no one asking if we were together since he held my hand to the plane, walked in holding it, and then kissed me. The guys did what guys did, high-fived each other and then someone won twelve thousand dollars on a bet. Gone were the two rooms. In their place was one room.
I look down at my belly that’s starting to get a little bit of a pouch. The biggest change in my body is my breasts. They are swollen and my nipples hurt so much. That’s another thing I had to do—talk him into sex. I still can’t believe he wasn’t going to have sex with me for the rest of my pregnancy.