Knocked Up

“You going to tell me what’s affecting your game because we go to Toronto and suddenly you start playing like shit.” Jake looked up to see his Captain walking into his kitchen he had no idea Claude was still there.

“I saw Kimberly Krantzberg…”

“Kimmy was in Toronto?” Claude cut him across sounding shocked and Jake had to remember Kimberly was Claude’s friend first they had known each other for years, for her to be at a Flyers match and not have told him must have come as a shock to Claude.

“She and Eli had driven up from Buffalo for a Supie reunion and then she and the guys decided to come to the match.” He explained and Claude seemed to except it.

“So you saw Kimmy big wow I get it you hit it off over the summer but so what it was a one off you said you both agreed.” Hit it off was one way off putting what they’d done over the summer, fucked on every surface of his hotel room was more like it and true they’d agreed it had been great but it was a one of thing hell they’d never expected to really see each other again, so they just decided to leave at great sex or a least they had decided to.

“She is pregnant…”

Jake looked at Claude waiting for him to say something but when the older guy just started at him.

“The babies mine G…” Jake ran his hands over his face before reaching for his beer again, “and I don’t know what the fuck to do.” Once again he picked up his iPad and looked at the same picture he’d been staring at since he’d got back to his hotel room in Toronto three nights ago. It was also the only picture of them together that had been taken that night she was sat on his knee in a tiny pair of shorts and a little crop top with British flag converse he was laughing at her pronunciation of some word he couldn’t remember what exactly but she’d got it terribly wrong and he’d found it cute but in general her Czech had been great it was one of the things he’d liked about her, she could talk to him in his language.

“What did Kimmy say?” Claude asked him and he looked back up to notice the Captain had helped himself to a beer and sat down at the other side of breakfast bar.

“She didn’t expect anything from me, she wants to keep the baby and it’s up to me what I do.” Her lack of expectations made making a decision so much harder it would be so easy to just walk away from this focus on the game and pretend it wasn’t happening but it was she was having his baby and he couldn’t just ignore that, that baby was a little part of him. “I don’t even know her; I spoke to her for like five seconds.”

“And fucked her for like twenty hours straight.” He let out a small laugh that was true he’d known her for three days and then she was gone but those three days had been long enough to get her pregnant. “Kimmy is a great girl, clever, kind and great with kids… seeing her in action at camp she was so good with the kids they clearly loved her, she will make a great mom.”

“But I know nothing about her apart from she is English, she is a kayaker, she understand hockey, studied some kind of engineering that I think had something to do with cars and speaks at least three languages.”

“Kimmy is an Automotive engineering graduate and it sounds like you know more about her than you think.” He guessed it was true as he’d been lifting them he’d realized he knew even more than he though, and that was only the tip of the iceberg he knew she has an irrational fear of fish to the point she won’t even eat it, that she loved tattoo’s, she was impulsive when it came to traveling and yet took five days to decide whether to buy a purse she liked, she was an enigma - a stunningly beautiful enigma with big blonde curls and the strangest eyes he’d ever seen. “But maybe you should get to know her invite her down here, for a while?”

“I wanted to be settled down and married before I became a Dad… I wanted my kid to be born back home, I thought the mother of my child would be Czech.”

“So you guys are doing things a bit backwards but give Kimmy a chance invite her down her and get to know her but even if you don’t like her I think you’ve already made up your mind about been there for this baby Jake.” Claude was right without even realizing himself he’d made his decision he could never walk away from this baby, that baby was his son or daughter. “What I will say is you must have some super sperm!” Jake looked up at Claude for clarification, “Kimmy was in a car accident about two years ago just after I met her for the first time back home in England she was heartbroken when the doctor told her the injuries she’d suffered would significantly lower her chances of ever getting pregnant you managed to beat that and a condom that’s impressive man.”

“The scar down her lower spine?” He remember it the thick angry red scar down her lower back he’d run his fingers over it and asked about it she’d said it was a stupid accident .

“She was driving back from a kayaking trip a lorry driver fell asleep veered into her car she was trapped but he friends pulled her out in time before the car went up in flames, they think it was been pulled out of the car that did the most damage but life above limb and Kimmy proved the doctors wrong everything they said she wouldn’t be able to do she’s gone and done since.” That sounded like the Kimmy he’d met she seemed determined and stubborn as hell to prove everyone who ever doubted her wrong something he could admire a lot of people told him the NHL was a stupid dream.

“Do you think she’d come down if I ask?”

“A free trip to Philly she’d properly kiss you I was going to do it myself soon anyway to see us play in the Wells Fargo is her dream she’s been a flyers fan longer than either of us have been flyers.” Claude laughed and Jake nodded he knew she loved the Flyers she’d told him she was six the first time she saw them, she’d been in Montreal with her dad and they’d gone to watch a game she’d fallen in love with the team in Orange.

“I’ll ask then. I guess talking about the baby properly best in person anyway.”

“Now are you going to get your head back in the game for the season opener because I know Kimmy and she won’t like you blaming her for playing like shit…?” One of the first things she’d told him before blurting out she was pregnant was she was impressed by how he was playing and Claude was right he’d played like shit in the last game he needed to get his head back in the game when he was on the ice.

“Don’t you have a girlfriend to piss off?”

“She has been reading shit that says I’ve been cheating again.” Briefly Jake wondered who his friend was cheating on his girlfriend with this week, it’s like people forgot Claude was best friends with Danny a victim of cheating and he despised cheaters.

“Another beer?”

“Oui and once you’re done getting beer you should call Kimmy…”

“It’s late she’ll be sleeping she looked really tired when I saw her.”

“She’s awake; she just got in from the Sabres game.” Jake looked over to Claude from the fridge confused until he saw the cell in Claude’s hand he’d been texting her? “Stop looking at me like that and call her I am going to find the highlights.”

Jake watched as Claude walked out of the room before picking up his phone from the breakfast bar and heading to his phone book, he had her number from the first time he’d met her just after she’d finished camp he’d flown over to Ottawa to meet Claude for a few days and she was staying in Ottawa for a bit. Hitting dial he lifted the phone to his ear and waited for her to answer over the dialing tone he could just about here Claude had found the TV remote and found the nights hockey highlights.

“Kimberly Krantzberg.” She sounded so formal and very English as she answered the phone not what Jake was expecting normally she just answered with Sup.

“Hi Kimmy its Jake.”

“Oh god sorry, I didn’t look at the caller id so just went with formal greeting… what can I do for you?” It sounded like she was walking rushing around as she was talking to him and judging by the sound of pots and pans she was either cooking or tidying her kitchen.

“I actually wanted to talk to you and thought it would be best in person so I was wondering if you could get some time off and come down to Philly maybe come see a game spend some time with me?”

“I’ll have to check with my boss but I don’t see a problem in making next weekend a long weekend if that works for you?”

“It would be perfect, are you sure you don’t mind traveling down here?”

“I’ve always wanted to come to Philly so no I don’t mind. I’ll talk to my boss and then drop you a text with my train info.”

“Sounds great I’ll see you next weekend then?”

“Yeah, see you soon.” She hung up straight away and he let his phone drop from his ear before heading through to the living room and sitting down next to Claude, “She’ll be here next weekend for a long weekend.” Jake told him throwing his phone forward on to the coffee table before putting his feet up.

“You going to tell her you want to be in the babies’ life?”

“Yeah I mean that’s what I want so properly a good thing to tell her that, been the babies mom and all.”

“So we know when baby was conceived so it’ll be due?”

“May I guess that’s nine months from August so it must be sometime in May.”

“Middle of the play offs.” Claude pointed out and Jake just took a drink of his beer it was miles too early to be dealing with that shit. “Oh shit yeah… ITS ALL GOOD YOU CAN COME OUT NOW WAYNE?!” Claude suddenly shouted and Jake finally understood how the captain had got into the apartment he’d come in with Wayne who must have been camping out in his room so they could have that conversation.

“Fina-fucking-ly!” Wayne sighed flopping down in to the lazy boy next to couch, “Where’s my beer?”

Notes