“Eh, I don’t know. I might forget to put the toilet seat down or fall asleep when you’re talking or something else, no telling,” he teased and she giggled as she got up, feeling more in love with him than ever before.

“I’ll still love you, no speech needed.”

“I’m gonna hold that one for later,” he said with a wink and her heart soared.

Hell, she loved this man.

So damn much it hurt.

“So you think it’s a boy?”

Jordie looked over at Karson as they walked down the streets of Chicago, heading toward lunch with some of the guys. Karl was back at the hotel, sleeping since they’d had a late-night flight in. It was the season’s Fathers’ Trip and Karl was there for both Jordie and Karson. It was nice with him there, especially when he was wearing a shirt with both their names and numbers. Everyone teased him that he looked like a Little League dad, but he didn’t care. He was proud of his boys, as he said.

And it really meant a lot to Jordie that Karl was there for him too.

He hadn’t spoken to his mother since the parking lot when he found Kacey screaming at her. He was completely okay with that too. She had made a few Facebook posts, but he didn’t see them because he deleted her. Karl had though, and after cussing her out good one time, he deleted her too and cut off all contact. Jordie wanted to say he missed her, but he didn’t. He was too consumed with Kacey, the pregnancy, hockey, and his road to sobriety.

And everything was going the way he wanted it to.

“I know it is,” Jordie said confidently. “According to some of the books I’ve been reading, if the woman is carrying low, it’s a boy, high, a girl, and Kacey’s got a little gut at the bottom,” he added, his hand moving along the bottom of his stomach. “Hell, even Ma agrees.”

Karson laughed. “Ma just wants a boy to balance us out.”

“Can’t blame her.” Jordie grinned, feeling complete. “We find out next week though.”

“Gosh, that’s going quick,” Karson said, tucking his hands into his pockets, and Jordie couldn’t agree more. It felt like they were on the fast track to having this baby. It seemed like only yesterday they were in the ER for her bleeding, but everything had been fine since. They did have one other episode, but unlike the first, Kacey was a champ. She only cried a little, while he was sure he was having a panic attack. Now though, she was picking out colors for the nursery, names, and wanting to buy everything she saw. It was great, and he couldn’t be happier, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous. The books said that it was normal for dads to feel nervous, but he felt like it was more.

He was just so scared to let not only Kacey down, but also now his child.

He hadn’t had any cravings lately, not that he had time for them. Between hockey, Kacey, and looking at spots for her gym that was close by the house, it had been a little crazy. But he felt great. He had even gone out with the guys to dinner and to the bar, but he didn’t drink. He went for the interaction with his friends, and the people at AA were really proud. So was Kacey. She sounded really nervous when he told her though, but when he promised he hadn’t drunk, she was elated.

“Is she still wanting to open that gym?”

Jordie nodded. “Yeah, she’s driving me crazy with that. I wish she’d just wait. Do it after the baby comes. But she thinks if she does it now, it will be easier. You know how headstrong she is.”

Karson scoffed. “Yeah, she’s a pain in the ass.”

“But we love her,” Jordie supplied and Karson shrugged.

“Depends on the week,” he said with a wink and Jordie grinned. “But since we are on the subject of loving my sister, you gonna marry her sometime soon?”

Laughing, Jordie shrugged. “We haven’t talked about it.”

Which was surprising, but he figured since they were both so busy, and neither was going anywhere, why rush getting married? They were already in it for at least eighteen years since they were having a baby together.

“Well, do you want to marry her?”

Jordie rolled his eyes. “Duh, dude.”

“Then marry her,” he demanded. “Stop pussyfooting around.”

Jordie feigned shock, pointing to himself. “Are you calling me a pussy?”

“I am if you don’t go into that store right there and buy my sister a ring so you can make an honest woman out of her before my niece or nephew gets here,” he said, cocking his head to the Tiffany’s across the street.

Jordie raised a brow. “Isn’t that the Tiffany’s you got Lacey’s ring at?”

Karson grinned. “It is, and I think I remember this convo the same as one a little over a year ago, but you were calling me a pussy.”

Jordie shot a grin back. “I think you’re right.”

“I am. So what you going to do?”

Jordie looked back at the Tiffany’s that sparkled in the sun and then back at Karson before tucking his hands in his pockets to keep them from the chill. It was colder than he thought it would be in November in Chicago. Glancing back at the store, he smiled.

Really, what was he waiting for?

“All right, let’s go,” Jordie said, looking both ways before taking off across the street. Karson laughed as he followed him, but once they entered the store, Jordie’s heart was in his throat.

She wouldn’t say no, would she?

“Welcome! What are we shopping for?”