For the first time in our relationship, something was planned. We’d set out to extend our family, have a summer baby, and in the final days of 2016 we learned it was going to happen.

It was a Tuesday morning, December 20th and with my second period over a week late I’d finally given myself permission to take a test. Although I’d been back to a somewhat regular cycle for some time, I knew that breastfeeding could cause some skipped periods and I hated the idea of seeing a negative. So I put it off, just in case the Red Army showed up in my pants. The night before, I’d sent Sidney on a mission to acquire three home pregnancy tests without being recognized. The last thing I wanted was to find speculation of our sex life in the gossip columns. I could have taken them when he walked through the door just past midnight after the game, but I wanted to do everything right this time and everything I’d read said to take it first thing in the morning. Which is how I ended up in our ensuite bathroom, still in the shirt I’d slept in, with Sidney on the other side of the door trying to entertain Lachlan.
"What does it say?" He pestered and I could hear Lachlan jumping on our bed.
"It says I haven't taken it yet!" I called back, sitting on the toilet with my chin resting in my hands.
"Well are you going to?" in the background Lachlan was giggling and singing something about rocks and a duck, still jumping on our bed.
“I’m trying,” I growled, the once urgent need to pee having faded into an anxious tingle.

“Try turning the taps on?” Sidney suggested sweetly then groaned loudly at what I could only assume was Lachlan’s body colliding with his stomach.
“Go get him breakfast,” I called, trying to hide my frustration. “I can’t go with you two out there. It’s too much pressure.”
“Okay, okay, we’re going,” he grumbled back and I heard the door close shortly after.

With the audience gone I was finally able to get my answer and five minutes later I had the three tests in a line on the counter. One was digital, one used two pink lines and an indicator, and the other used the plus/minus sign, my husband had really gone for variety. Within minutes they all had the same answer and after doing a private dance that involved a series of high kicks and fist pumps I gathered my urine soaked happy sticks and raced down the stairs.

"Lach, hands out of your pants," I heard Sidney remind him as I approached the kitchen. "Not at the table, save it for nap time." It was a phrase repeated in our house daily. The first time we noticed his hands shoved down his drawers he was barely talking and I was mortified, quickly turning to the internet for answers while Sidney howled with laughter. I was comforted to hear that it was perfectly normal, and he'd hopefully grow out of it by the time he started school... hopefully.

“Sidney!!” I screeched running into the room where he was supervising Lachlan eat scrambled eggs--hands now above his waist-- and skidding to halt. Beau sat with them, distracting Lach from his meal, and for a brief moment I was aware that I had just run into the kitchen without pants on. But even the fact that Beau was once again seeing me in a state of undress didn’t damper my enthusiasm. In most situations I think I would have kept this moment private between Sidney and I, but we’d wanted this so badly I couldn’t keep the news to myself for another second.

“Well?” he stood up to greet me.

“We done made ourselves a baby, Paw!” I giggled, giddy with delight, jumping up and down and holding the tests out to him.

“Whooo!” he cheered, grabbing the tests to see for himself then high fiving me. “Way to go Maw!” he pulled me into him and hugged me tightly, kissing the side of my head and rocking side to side.

“You’re pregnant?” Beau asked when Sidney and I broke apart, getting up from his seat beside Lachlan.

“That or someone has been adding human chorionic gonadotropin hormone to my food,” I grinned.

“I have no idea what that means, but congratulations!” he hugged me, disregarding my attire, then turned to clap Sidney on the back. This spurred another jolt of excitement in me and I danced around the kitchen and over to Lachlan who was watching us with egg on his face.

“You’re going to be a big brother,” I told him, lifting him off the chair. He had absolutely no idea what I was talking about and that was okay. Most of the blogs I read suggested not telling anyone until after the first trimester, but if god forbid something happened to this baby, I didn’t want to hide it.

“No,” he looked at me bewildered then giggled. “Noooo.”

“Yess,” I tickled his tummy. “Mummy and Daddy are having a baby.”

“No,” he got serious and glared at me. “Why?”

I turned to Sid looking for back up, I didn’t have a response for him, not one that was appropriate for a two and a half year old.

“I don’t want to sleep on the floor,” Lachlan continued, pouting and crossing his arms.

“Why would you have to sleep on the floor, Bud?” Sidney asked him, the three of us trying to hide our amusement.

“Luna and my brother will take my room, I don’t want to sleep on the floor.”

“I promise you won’t have to sleep on the floor,” I snorted. “No one is taking your room, especially not Luna.”

“It’s mine,” his face softened slightly and he put one hand on my shoulder. “Luna’s mine.”

“Yeah, Spud. Luna’s yours,” Sid reassured him, earning a smile and a nod. With the news delivered to him, Lachlan struggled out of my arms and went back to eating his eggs as if nothing had happened.

Lachlan was disappointed when the baby didn’t show up for Christmas dinner five days later. And again when he or she missed his third birthday. By then everyone knew. I was in the second trimester and there was no use hiding the impending arrival of baby K.C #2. Serena, like our parents, was ecstatic and had taken to calling me “Fertile Myrtle.”

“Look, Spud. It’s Daddy,” Serena pointed to Sidney who was at centre ice. A month or so after his third birthday we were sitting in a suite at Consol with Serena, Colbie, and Mario’s family. We didn’t go to as many games as people assumed we would, especially not night games that in the past had led to more than one overtired meltdown in the wives room—Lachlan, not me. That night however, I wanted to go, because for the first time that season they were playing the Flyers and even after four years with Sidney, I wasn’t willing to give up my orange and black roots.

“Who are we cheering for Lachlan?” Colbie asked him, taking the seat beside Serena, who had Lachlan on her lap.

“Daddy! And Uncle Geno! Uncle Boo! And Claw! And Jake!” he listed all the players in the game whose jersey he had in his closet. After winning gold at the men’s worlds in 2015, Sidney’s off ice relationship with Giroux had improved immensely. It was a relief to me when he’d come home from Europe and announced casually that Claude Giroux had invited us for dinner next time we were in Philly, finally I was able to use my hockey connections for good. That dinner happened a few weeks later when we’d gone to see Andy before flying home for the summer, and since then we’d been on good term. So good that Lachlan was on a first name basis with a good chunk of the team, and had taken a particular liking to Jake Voracek in addition to Claude.

“So no matter what the score is you’re happy right?” Colbie chuckled.

“GO DADDY!!” he screeched when the puck was dropped.

It was a typical Pens-Flyers game. Fisticuffs galore, start and stop every few minutes, and more penalties that I’d seen in months. The first few fights were mild, mostly rookies and guys who Lachlan wasn’t familiar with. But when Geno dropped the gloves in the second period I saw Serena’s breath hitch, and Lachlan look back at her confused.

“Hey bud, do you have to pee?” I quickly distracted him.

“No,” his attention went back to the ice.

“Okay, well Auntie Serena is going to take you anyway,” I told him, moving to let them out of their seat. She gave me a thankful look and they walked hand in hand to the concourse, despite there being a bathroom in the suite.

Things between Serena and Geno were as complicated as ever. After a brief stint with Andy, they’d gotten back together but still weren’t sure how serious it was. They were both hesitant to get involved again, and after everything that had happened she was finally starting to have more good days than bad. For once I didn’t have an opinion on it. I liked her with my brother and I liked her with Geno, most of all I liked seeing her happy, and they both did that. But the distance between Philly and Pittsburgh made it hard for Andy and Serena, and the past made it hard for her and Geno. Either way it was going to be complicated.

Geno and Wayne Simmonds both got five for fighting and were in their respective penalty boxes when Serena and Lachlan returned. “Did you go?” I asked him. I never imagined there would be a day when I would casually—for non-medical reasons— ask another person if they had urinated, but before him I’d never been a mother.

He nodded and I held up my hand for a high five, our positive potty training reinforcement. Ditching Serena, he climbed up on Colbie’s lap and settled in to watch the rest of the period. I was only sixteen or so weeks along but already he’d decided my lap wasn’t comfortable enough for him.

The second period was coming to a close when all hell broke loose. The Flyers were up 4-2 and despite the already rough game, Sidney decided to take it upon himself to get in the tight fist tango with Brayden Schenn.

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” I cried when the two grown men began circling each other with their gloves off. Schenn got in the first punch before I could grab Lachlan from Colbie and to him out of the room. I had no real issues with him seeing the rough games, but I did object to letting him see his father in a fight, especially when there was a chance he’d lose that fight. I had a hard enough time watching Sidney get physical, I wasn’t prepared to submit Lachlan to that.

“I’ll take him,” Mario offered, holding out his arms to Lachlan who seemed to have no idea what was going on. “Let’s go see who we can find in my office.” Mario and I had never been particularly close, largely because after humiliating myself a number of times in his presence, I was incredibly intimidated by him, but he was beyond good to Lachlan. Just like he’d taken Sidney under his wing in 2005 he’d established himself as a constant support in Lachlan’s life, and for that I was I couldn’t be anything but grateful.

“Thanks,” I handed over my still oblivious baby followed by his stuffed daddy bleacher creature that he insisted on taking and making me hold.

“I know it’s part of the game, but I’m going to kill him,” I hissed when they’d left, my jaw clenched and fists tight.

“Does he know you guys are here?” Colbie asked, trying to distract me from the penalties that were being handed out.

“Yes, he told me to bring Lachlan downstairs after the game if he was still awake so he could say hi to Jake Voracek and G. This wasn’t a big deal when he was a baby, but he understands now. I don’t want to emotionally scar my kid because his dad decides to be a tough guy once every two years.” I missed the days when I was behind the bench and could subtly knee him in the back when this kind of thing happened, although back then I didn’t so much mind the occasional macho pissing contest he got himself into. But those where the days when our lives were our own and didn’t directly impact this little vulnerable person who probably wouldn’t understand why the guy who had once bought him a lollypop the size of his head was now knuckle chucking with his dad.

Lachlan spent the rest of the game downstairs with Mario, colouring and watching the game on the TV in his office. Serena and I made our way downstairs to find them after the team meeting, the Flyers had won 6-3 and I was anticipating a grumpy husband, maybe even being asked to leave. Sid and Geno came out to see us, still wearing their sweaty base layer, their wet hair pushed back and feet stuffed into shower shoes, Sidney of course wearing the yellow crocs I’d spent four years trying to throw away.

“Spud!” Geno grinned when they rounded the corner and Lachlan struggled out of my arms to greet them. In his innocence he ran to Geno and wrapped his arms around his uncle’s sweaty legs, he had so much to learn. Sid then picked him up and ruffled his hair, carrying him as they closed the gap between us.

“Good thing it’s bath day tomorrow,” I rolled my eyes at my sweaty husband who leaned in to kiss me but was met with my rejection. Usually I could deal with the smell. It wasn’t the most attractive thing in the world, but I’d learned to cope, this pregnancy however was making it unbearable. Even the slightest whiff of gear smell made my stomach turn and my gag reflex kick in. Sidney didn’t quite understand the severity of it and chose to stand in front of me. I tried to hold my breath and be civil.

“You have some explaining to do,” Serena gave them both the side eye. She was far better at confrontation than I was. “I didn’t come to watch you get hurt,” she pointed at Geno’s slightly swollen nose that had been packed with gauze and Sidney’s split eyebrow that was already bandaged and likely had three or four stitches.

“All in good fun,” Geno tried to charm her but she gave him a disgusted look and wrinkled her nose. He kissed her anyway and unlike Sidney wasn’t rejected at all.

“Do you want to go out for a bit?” Sid asked, both of us trying to ignore the mini make out session that was happening beside us.

“And do what with our three year old?” I was useless at hiding my frustration with him. “Y’know the three year old I told you was coming to the game tonight. The one who was so excited but had to spend half of the game in Mario’s office because I didn’t want him to see you get your old ass beat.”

“I’m not old,” he scoffed.

“You’re old enough to know better than to fight, let alone fight Brayden Schenn.”

“Sorry,” he shrugged. “Did you have fun buddy?” he turned his attention to Lachlan, who had his head resting on his dad’s shoulder.

“Yup,” he nodded without moving his head, the plush doll still in his hands.

“So do you want to go out, Beatrice? Beau said he’d take him home.” Sid adjusted Lachlan in his arms. I could tell he Lachlan was tired, barely able to keep his eyes open.

“I guess,” I sighed. I felt bad saying no, I’d said no every game this season. “Who are we going with? And where are we going?”

“I’m not sure, and I think they wanted to get dinner.”

“Fine,” I was struggling to find enthusiasm then held out my arms for Lachlan. “I told him we could go see G if he’s around still.”

“Just meet me back here,” he handed over Lach who had perked up at the idea of going to the enemy locker room. He’d only been in his dad’s arms for a few minutes but I could smell the sweat on him and decided he was old enough to walk.

“Oh hello young superstar,” Claude called when he saw us coming. “And Bea.”

“Someone wanted to say hi,” I smiled. He was already showered and dressed, probably not having had to sit through a team meeting.

“How’s it going?” G asked Lachlan, picking him up to hug him.

“You won!” Lachlan screeched, having no concept that they won and daddy lost.

“Don’t say that too loudly,” Claude teased. “You might be mistaken for a fan of the right team like your Momma.”

“Excuse me, I am completely neutral,” I interjected. “I am a fan of everyone, unless they hurt my husband. And on that note tell B.Schenn he’s on my shit list.”

I was aware that most WAGs didn’t have this kind of interaction with players on the opposing teams, and to be honest I wasn’t quite sure how I had developed such a rapport with them. Sidney credited my personality, but I credited his last name and the access it gave me. I didn’t hear no very often when someone mentioned our last name and that could be both a blessing and a curse. I felt arrogant using it to my advantage but it had come in handy more than once.

“I’ll pass along that message,” he laughed. “It was a good fight though.” He put Lachlan down and shoved his hands in his pocket

“I wouldn’t know, I was too busy trying to distract him to actually watching it,” I nodded to Lachlan. “Just wait until yours is born, it will never be able to go to a game for fear you get into it with someone,” I laughed. His girlfriend was pregnant with their first, due a few weeks before me.

“Yeah I don’t think the baby will be allowed to leave the house before it’s 10 by the way it looks,” he shook his head an smiled. “She’s already baby proofing and talking about birth plans.”

“Tell her to call me, we can discuss the pros and cons of placenta smoothies,” I chuckled.

He shuddered and turned back to Lachlan who was leaning against my leg talking gibberish to the doll. “Are you coming to visit us soon?” he asked, pulling the attention away from the doll. We’d already discussed the trip to Philly for the game next weekend but hadn’t told Lachlan yet.

“Yeah?” Lach looked up at me with wide eyes. “No?” he looked disappointed when I didn’t reply immediately.

“Yeah,” I told him smoothing his flyaway hairs. “four more sleeps.”

“Four sleeps!” Lachlan told Claude excitedly.

We didn’t stay out late that night, after a round of drinks for everyone else and a quick dinner I was struggling to keep my eyes open, slowly nodding off at the table. It was amazing how much I’d forgotten about being pregnant since Lachlan was born. My patience was lower, my sense of smell was higher, and I could sleep for days. I dozed in and out of sleep on the drive home, the radio was low and the streetlights shining through the window as we passed. I was watching the world outside with my head tilted to the side.

“Are you okay?” Sidney asked putting his hand on my knee gently. He could tell I was awake by my fidgeting.

“Yeah,” I turned my head to him, watching his shadowed profile. He had a few days worth of scruff along his jaw and there were wrinkles around his eyes that hadn’t been there four years ago. “Are you?”

“I’ll be fine,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “I’ve had worse.”

“I know, but doesn’t it scare you?” I moved his hand and took it in mine.

“Not really,” he shrugged then looked at me briefly. “But I know it scares you doesn’t it?”

“Maybe a little.”

“Just a little?” we stopped at a red light and he looked at me again, trying to coax more of an answer out.

“It’s just not the same anymore,” I sighed. “It’s not just about us anymore. If something happens to you we have two other people to think about.”

“Nothing’s going to happen to me.” He was smiling, trying to pacify me and I was willing to let him.

“Just remember that we have two kids now, next time someone asks you to fight, remember that Lachlan can see that and it’s not your job.”

“I will,” he appease me. “But I do think about you guys, all the time. I just got into the game, which is my job. I need you to trust that I know what I’m doing though.”

“I know,” I smiled, too tired to argue. “You’re good at your job. I just worry.”

“You always have,” he winked. “But don’t pretend you don’t kind of like it.”

“I don’t,” I scowled at him, not quite sure what he was insinuating.

“So you’re telling me if I was a business analyst or a carpet salesman you would leave my office as turned on as you leave most games,” he was giving me that suggestive side eye that led to pregnancy.

“Who said I leave games turned on?” I balked defensively.

“Your panties are usually a pretty good indicator," he smirked.

"Oh yeah? How do you know I didn’t just pee myself out of frustration?"

"Because Lachlan is the only one in this family who actually does that."

Maybe we were both too tired to argue now, but that was how most of our disagreements went. He knew I was more frustrated than I had the energy to show, and I knew he understood more than it seemed. Those discussions were more about what wasn’t said, it was the way they started and ended that mattered. We still had blowouts that involved yelling and screaming, but when if they ended before the end of the say with both of us somewhat calm it was considered productive. It didn’t always work, there would always be nights he’d sleep in the guest room, but it was never for more than one night. Our most important rule was that neither of us was allowed to leave in anger. This meant that I couldn’t storm out to Serena’s apartment and he couldn’t go on those long drives, not unless we both agreed on it. And for the most part it worked.

They made the playoffs with a few games left in the season and for the first time I think Lachlan understood the excitement. When Sidney got home after that game that cinched it, they danced in the living room, holding Lachlan’s mini sticks and laughing.

“I still don’t understand how he ended up so… blonde,” Serena ran her hand through Lachlan’s thick straight hair. It was a day off before the second last game of the season and our house was once again the place to be. Lachlan sat on her lap at the dining room table clutching a yellow crayon in his hand and colouring a piece of white printer paper.

“Oh you don’t know the story?” James looked at her then turned to me an smirked. The Predators had come up a day early for their game in Pittsburgh and like old times he was spending the day tormenting me.

“Oh god, not this again,” I groaned and rolled my eyes, which only encouraged him.

“You see…” he began dramatically. “When Bea and Sid moved in together, there was another young, attractive male living in this very home.” He pointed to Beau who waved to the audience.
“And fortunately, Bea and this very attractive man got along, so well in fact that at times Beau completely replaced Sidney as her companion.”

He wasn’t completely off, Beau and I were close and he had filled in for Sidney as entertainment, but companion was pushing it. “That was mostly after I got pregnant,” I corrected him.

“Yeah, because you were having his baby!” Geno cried exuberantly and I scowled at him.

“Exactly!” James pointed to Geno and grinned. “So you see Serena, that boy you’re holding is not actually a crosby, he is in fact the son of non-other than Mr. Beau Bennett!” he presented his theory as if he’d just revealed the true identity of Jack the Ripper.

“For crying out loud!” I sighed.

Serena laughed and let Lachlan down from her lap. “That is amazing!”

“It’s ridiculous,” I corrected her. “And it’s going to start another media scandal.”

“But a really good one,” Sidney threw his arm over my shoulders. His reaction always surprised me. Of all the people I would expect Mr. “Keep My Personal Life Private” to cringe at the idea that Lachlan wasn’t his, never mind that the media find out about it. Not to mention that the entire theory hinged on me, his wife, cheating on him. But for some reason he was just as amused by it as James and Olli, the two idiots who had made it up.

“If he comes crying to me when he’s ten because for some reason he believes that this doofus is his ‘real’ father, I’m putting him on a plane to wherever your sorry ass has ended up so Uncle James can explain everything.” I smacked my hand down on the table dramatically and reached for another piece of pizza.

“Sure,” James shrugged. “But I’m not paying for the paternity test.”

“So, have you been staying at Colbie’s?” I asked, pulling up some of his own dirty laundry.

“Hey, does he know?” James changed the subject motioning to my stomach. “Better yet, is it his full sibling or his half sibling?”

“Shut up,” I smacked him with my free hand. “He knows,’ I beamed. “Hey Lachy,” I called for him and he joined us from the living room, a random hockey puck in his hand. “Where’s our baby?” I asked and he ran towards me full speed, pressing his face against my shirt and wrapping his little arms around me.

“Hello baby,” he said with his face smushed against my abdomen. “Do you like pizza?” he asked, then leaving a wet mark on my shirt ran off back to his toys.

With playoffs in full swing, and my body really packing on weight, Lachlan was spending more and more time with Serena while Sidney and I prepared for our respective roles. We knew the baby would be born in Canada, and because of that needed to have everything in order here before we left, which depended entirely on their playoff run. I couldn’t tell if I was hoping they’d go deep because I wanted I'm to get as close to the cup as he could, or because I wanted more time to plan. So far I didn’t have any instinctual feelings about the sex. Clem had offered to do an ultrasound to tell us but it didn’t seem like that big a deal. We had a list of names, were planning on painting the room cream, and would be happy either way.

It was game day, and Serena and Colbie had taken Lachlan to the indoor playground, leaving me some time to plan and Sidney the afternoon to get his head ready for round two. I was only twenty six or so weeks pregnant but already I had began the same pacing and rocking routine I had with Lachlan. Maybe my memory was foggy but I didn’t remember Lachlan being as active as this baby was. It hadn’t seemed to stop moving since it started ten weeks before, and since then I’d been on a mission to distract myself from the constant and often uncomfortable beating my internal organs were getting.

“Honey, What are you listening to?” Sidney walked into the room drenched with sweat and nearly screaming over the noise of the music coming through the main floor speakers.

“It’s Kendrick Lamar,” I rolled my eyes dramatically as if he should know the answer to his own question. I was siting on the floor rocking back and forth with the laptop beside me and the Pottery Barn Kids catalogue open on my lap.

“Right. Okay. Now I think the better question is Honey why are you listening to this fellow so loudly at nine in the morning?” He perched himself on the arm of the couch as if he was preparing for a heart to heart.

“Because the beat feels good, the baby and I like it. Bitch don’t kill my vibe, please.” I stated then went back to my catalogue and rocking routine.

He watched me for a second then got to his feet. “I hate to break it to you, but you’re not even close to being cool enough to say that. You really should stick with One Direction.”

“Don’t you put me in a box! I am who I am Sidney.” I hollered back at him

“And you’re fucking nuts,” he said as he walked back towards the basement gym. “But I guess I love you.”

“Well, you’re stuck with me now, big boy!”

I’m sure most people watching our daily interactions would think we hated each other, I mean I had once throw a dirty diaper at him, and he’d never grown out of wiping his sweat on me. After nearly five years together it was just as hard to take each other seriously as ever. We’d seen too much of each other to be able to. It confused me how the more I saw his fallibility and humanness the more I loved him. The week he had the stomach flu in the August heat and I found him asleep on the bathroom floor, or when he accidentally called his mother by my name, those embarrassing moments that illuminated how real he was. I saw them everyday, when he left the bathroom door unlocked, or asked me to help him pick out a tie to go with his suit because he truly had no idea how to wear colours. He was more himself in those moments and I almost felt bad for anyone who didn't get to see him in that light. He was known as a hockey player, a stand up strong man with a strict schedule and a friendly demeanour but they didn't get to see him nervous before a big game or dancing around the living room to One Direction with Lachlan-- not even pretending to dislike the music. It was the late night phone calls where his voice was thick with exhaustion and need, when he'd allude to what he wanted but never came out and say it that reminded me how lucky I was to have his name appearing on my caller ID so regularly.

“This was a stupid idea,” I whined laying flat on my back on the bed with my legs dangling off the end. My feet and legs were swollen, my boobs were so big they almost suffocated me when I lay down, and was over 30 degrees Celsius outside or 93.2 Fahrenheit according to the sign on the Las Vegas strip outside our window.

“What was? The coming to Vegas or the getting you pregnant?” Sidney stepped out of the bathroom rubbing a towel through his hair and short beard. He was already in tight black boxer briefs and I could see his body was still a little wet when I tilted my head back to look at him.

“Getting pregnant and being this pregnant in the summer then coming to Vegas,” I grumbled, now distracted by his body. I’d seen him in all states of undress and generally didn’t give it a second thought, but this afternoon was different. We were about to don our expensive evening wear and sit in a theatre with a bunch of other people in evening wear who were also part of the “NHL community.” I would smile and pretend I wasn’t fifty pounds heavier than I’d once been and that my innards weren’t being crushed. I’d picked out a floor length dusty purple gown that did nothing to hide my ginormous boobs or colossal bump but it was soft and shiny.

"Well we can keep that in mind for next time," he opened the closet where his linen suit was hanging, freshly pressed and delivered by the bell hop a few hours earlier while we were walking the strip. We'd been to Vegas a few times now and it was starting to lose its sparkle, then again being as hot and uncomfortable as I was everything felt lacking.

"Uhm excuse me," I pulled myself up so I was sitting. "Can we please focus on this child before you start talking about more. Unless you have a uterus you haven't told me about that is going to carry these next ones you speak of."

"Sorry babe, fresh out of spare uteri, it's all you." He looked over and winked at me, barely acknowledging the sass I'd just laid down for him.

"Sometimes I want to hit you, y'know that?"

"Well thank you for not. But I guess you and Claude Giroux have a lot more in common than you think." He pulled his pants up over his thick thighs, ending half of the show.

“Why’d you have to go put pants on?” I whined. “I was enjoying that!”

He ignored my complaining and pushed his belt through the loops. “You should probably get ready, eh? I told Nathan we’d meet for drinks before the awards.”

“Oh yes, drinks, how inclusive,” I grimaced.

He shimmied into his shirt and began doing the buttons, eyeing me as if he was waiting for me to continue.

“I still don’t know why that man couldn’t have made me a virgin slush in one of those giant Eiffel Tower cups. I mean it’s not like everyone who comes to Vegas gets shitfaced. And he was so rude about it too. I had half a mind to ask him if he knew who he was talking to, for someone in the service industry—“

“Beatrice,” he took a few steps towards me, now standing with his hands on my shoulders.

“Yes?” I looked up at him as if I was completely unaware of what I was doing.

“Stop talking and go get gussied up please, so I don’t have to listen to you complain for the rest of our lives that you didn’t look good at the 2017 NHL awards, even though we both know you always look good.”

“I don’t always look good, Sidney. Did you see me when we got off the plane? My hair was all frizzy from the fake air and my limbs are still deflating after being so puffy it’s amazing I didn’t rip my pants. I do not always look good, I am not Sidney Crosby.”

“No, you’re Beatrice Crosby, and if you don’t go get ready you’re going to be Beatrice AloneInTheHotelRoomAllNight.”

“Keller-Crosby,” I corrected him.

“GO!” he took a step back and pointed to the bathroom.

I sat there watching him for a few minutes trying not to laugh, he was trying so hard to look stern but it worked about as well on me as it did Lachlan.
“Well you’re going to have to help me up, this bed is soft,” I spoke up when I could tell he was losing his patience. "Please."

He rolled his eyes then pulled me to my feet and helping me gather my balance. "We have twenty minutes," he smacked my butt playfully after pointing me in the direction of the bathroom. "Hop to it. You can't be arm candy if you're a hot mess."

I flipped him off behind my back and continued to waddle to the bathroom, leaving him laughing while he got the rest of his suit on.

While I didn't have the statistical evidence to back me up, it was highly possible that having a second baby was harder than having the first. Not the actual birthing process, no the baby was born in the same manner it was conceived, the same manner that would follow it throughout its life, calm, organized, and incredibly well planned.

Real labour began at approximately 7 am on the morning of August 20th. Ten days after our fourth wedding anniversary I knew it was coming, I’d spent the past two feeling restless and fidgety, more than was normal, something was off and I knew it. I’d woken up with Sidney at six that morning and was making Lachlan breakfast when the first real contraction hit. I dropped the spatula I’d been using to scramble the eggs and gripped the counter. I’d had pains on and off the night before when we'd gathered around the camp fire with Taylor and Nathan, but they didn't seem like a big deal, these pains could last for days-- just little ripples and spasms across my dome like torso. I’d been in the kitchen then too when I first noticed onset of tiny contractions, tiny compared to what was coming.

“Was that necessary?” I muttered to myself with my eyes downcast on my bump. “I mean really, I’m going to bring you into the world either way, do you really need to hurt me in the meantime?” I was slowly losing my mind and this wasn’t news to anyone.

“Are you okay?” Taylor startled me and I quickly looked up at her pretending nothing had happened.

“Mhm,” I pressed my lips together and nodded. "Just uh... discussing the importance of not kicking people in the ribs with your niece or nephew." I didn't want to mention that I was noticing signs of early labour and cause the night to end early.

"How's that working for you?" she pulled out three beers from the fridge and grabbed a bag of marshmallows off of the counter.

"I'm not sure listening skills are developed this early," I laughed and followed her out to the backyard.

They were on and off for the rest of the night, every so often I'd have to grip the chair under me just a little tighter and zone out of the conversation. If anyone noticed they didn't mention it. I told Sidney as we crawled into bed after saying goodnight to Taylor and Nate who only lived a few kilometres away.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he jumped out of bed and scrambled to find his phone."

I shrugged and adjusted the pillow under my head. "I guess because it's really not that big of a deal."

"Beatrice!" he screeched. "This is a huge deal, you're in labour! Our child is coming and you're laying in bed as if we were just expecting a package or something in the mail." The prominent wrinkles on his forehead had returned and his eyebrows were knitted tightly together, I could feel the energy radiating off of him.

"Calling this labour is like calling a trickle a hurricane. This is nothing. Just get some sleep and we'll worry about it in the morning."

"I'm still calling the midwife," he scrolled through the contacts on his phone impatiently, shooting me an annoyed look when he finally found it and pressed the call button. “I don’t understand how you can be so calm about this when you freak out about everything else in our lives,” he hissed before she picked up. I began my prenatal care with Clem in Pittsburgh, but because we were home for the summer she’s transferred my care to a local practitioner who we’d seen a few times since arriving in June.

“How long has this been going on?” he covered the end of the phone and directed the question to me.

“I don’t know, like three hours maybe?”

“Three hours!?” he repeated in a harsh whisper. “She says three about three hours,” he uncovered the phone to tell the midwife who I’m sure we’d woken up. “Jesus, three hours and you didn’t tell me?” he turned back to me.

“Sidney, relax!” I sat up and threw off the blankets then held my hand out for the phone.
“I’m fine,” I told her. “They’re mild, every fifteen to twenty minutes maybe, more of a little cramp than anything. If I notice any change I’ll call you, but I’m a thousand percent sure I’ll still be pregnant in the morning.”

“I’ll keep my phone beside me just in case,” she laughed. “Call me as soon as they pick up.”

“See?” I told him hanging up the phone and tossing it onto the chair on the other side of the room.

“You’re so fucking stubborn,” he mumbled and crawled into bed beside me.

I’m almost certain that I got more sleep than he did that night, in fact it was his tossing and turning that woke me up more than the itty bitty contractions. Go figure I was the one experiencing labour pains but he was the one losing sleep over it. By the time six rolled around he could no longer force himself to stay in bed and I reluctantly followed him to the living room. I was lazing on the couch, timing the little spasms while he ran around nervously tidying the already spotless room, spotless because I’d already gone through the neurotic nesting phase a few days prior. It was almost a relief when Lachlan woke up and I could focus my attention on his breakfast rather than shitty morning television.

“I think you need to call your mother,” I said through gritted teeth, trying to hide my pain from Lachlan who was sitting at the table a few feet away waiting for his eggs.

He was at my side before I could elaborate, dropping the pile of books he’d been moving around for the past five minutes and pulling the pan off of the heat. “It’s happening? Okay, okay, don’t worry, just relax, we’re going to be okay. You’re going to be okay. I’ll call my parents, and the midwife, just sit down and don’t panic.”

“Oh yes, I need to relax,” I glared at him and transferred the eggs to a plate. “Do you remember what I told you about being a big brother?” I asked Lachlan after putting the food in front of him.

He nodded, stuffing a spoonful into his mouth, little bits of egg slipping out of the corners of his mouth.

“Well you’re going to go stay with Grammy and Grampy and when you come back we’ll have a new baby, how does that sound?” Behind me, Sidney was on the phone, babbling a mile a minute and pacing.

“Eggs first,” Lachlan replied then took another bite. “Eggs then Grammy.” It was nice to know I only had to worry about one panicking Keller-Crosby guy.

We traded his parents two breakfast casseroles and a pie for Lachlan and all the dirty laundry I hadn’t gotten to. Many things could be said about my mother-in-law, but that she was stupid was not one of them. In fact, I sometimes wondered if she didn’t possess psychic qualities because just as she was pulling up, I’d been thinking how hungry is was.

By noon I was in full blown labour, the contractions were strong and seven minutes apart, the midwife had arrived and I was walking laps around the house. The pool was inflated and ready for me but I couldn’t stop moving, when I stopped everything felt heavy and tight. It wasn’t entirely different than my labour with Lachlan, but at the same time it felt like nothing I’d ever experienced.

I reached full dilation at half past six in the evening and with that came the need to push. I tried the pool for about an hour, but found the feeling of the water on my skin was making my claustrophobic and instead switched to our bed. When being on my back didn’t work I went back to pacing.

“If it’s a boy I’m naming him August,” I proclaimed between contractions, gripping the corner of the wall and bearing down.

“Okay?” Sid questioned, standing a few feet away from me at my request. I didn’t want anyone touching me, nothing could touch me, which is why I was standing in our hallway completely naked and holding a wall.

“Just agree with me! It’s August,” I bellowed. There was no need to discuss a name at that exact moment but I needed something to distract me just enough to take me out of my own mind and save me from potential insanity.

“Yes, okay. August. I can live with that.”

“I don’t care what you can live with, it’s coming out of me,” I screeched, bearing down to push again. Somehow a collection of absorbent pads had appeared under me.

“It is,” Sid beamed at me, his eyes were focused on the head that had slowly emerged from inside of me.

“Reach down and feel your baby, Beatrice,” the midwife spoke softly and crouched underneath me to catch the creature that was only a few pushes away from tumbling out of me.

“And if it’s a girl I want Mary— no, Gloria— no, Piper,” I screamed as I entered another strong push.

“We can name it whatever you want, it’s almost here,” suddenly Sidney was beside the midwife, both of them waiting in anticipation for the final push that would send him or her into the world.

And then she was here. Wet and pink, crying as soon as they handed her to me. Her scrunched up face still waxy with vernix caseosa and her lips pouty. I had a daughter and she was perfect, all 7 lbs 4 oz of her. Sidney cried when she was placed in his arms so I could deliver the afterbirth. I hadn’t seen him cry since holding Lachlan for the first time, but his eyes were red rimmed and damp when we finally sat together as a family on the plastic sheets that covered our bed, our backs resting against the headboard and pillows surrounding us.

“So?” Sid brushed his ring finger over her forehead. “What are we going to call her?”

“I told you,” I said softly, a sleepy daze beginning to slip over me. “Piper. Piper Elizabeth Keller-Crosby.”

“Hi, Piper,” he whispered, his smile widening. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Notes

I really didn't mean for that to be so long!! I just got so excited and didn't want to break it up into chapters.
As you can see these are all flash forward chapters so like I said in the last note these are snips of their lives. I wish I could write fluidly all the way till their dying day, but I have a feeling it would get old fast.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Keep those comments coming :D

Also, I randomly saw One Direction a few weeks ago, so y'know that's why they're mentioned so often. I'm 23 and I went to the 1D concert solo and by golly it felt good!!
xx-T