Standalone

Let it be Me

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“Babe.”

“Hm?

“Hey, can you scoot over?”

“I’m on the edge.”

His brows coming in, Jayden Sinclair looked over his shoulder, right into the face of his sleeping wife. “Babe, I find that hard to believe.”

“Huh?”

“There is no way you’re on the edge when your knee is up under my balls, the other leg is over my hip, and your nose is in my shoulder—while our child is kicking me to death in my back.”

Grumbling, Baylor said, “But I am.”

“You’re not.”

“You scoot over.”

“Bay, I’m on the edge of our California King bed that you said we had to have so we didn’t touch during the night because you always get so hot, and I’m a furnace. But yet, you’re basically on top of me.”

“I am not,” she complained, nuzzling closer, as if that were possible. “Shh, go to sleep.”

Sighing loudly, he glared at the wall. “I can’t because, this time, you’re the furnace, and like I said, our child is kicking me.”

“You’re welcome for giving you a preview of my life,” she said in his ear on an exhale. “Can you stop talking? I’m tired.”

Usually, he wouldn’t care. He’d deal with it because he loved her and wanted her to be comfortable. Lord knew, this pregnancy hadn’t been easy. At first, Baylor had been recovering from her painful knee surgery without pain meds once they found out she was carrying. The surprise of a child was a little more than they had been ready for. He had been knee-deep in hockey, working hard for the final prize, while Baylor was dealing with the fact that her career was over. After becoming the first woman in the NHL, Baylor hadn’t expected ever to quit, but injury led to that. She was ready to start working, at what she wasn’t sure since she had never had any plans beyond hockey, but then the surprise of a child rattled their world.

Especially when neither of them had discussed ever having kids.

It wasn’t in the cards. Hockey was in the cards, and that was it. But Jayden’s mom, Autumn, had always said, “The best surprises are those that knock you on your ass.” Well, hearing Baylor was pregnant sure knocked him on his ass. And her on hers.

But after the initial shock, they both became beyond excited.

Or so they thought. Because weeks after she started feeling like a person again and not an invalid, then she got godawful sick. Baylor had lost over ten pounds, and for a while there, Jayden was nervous because of how skinny she looked. She couldn’t eat without throwing up, and she wouldn’t take medicine because she was so nervous for the health of the baby. She was still nervous that the pain meds she had taken when she was injured could have hurt the baby, and she didn’t want to cause any more problems for their child. While he agreed with the doctors, there was no arguing with a passionate Baylor. So instead, she puked her brains out, and he couldn’t do anything but watch and hand her crackers.

But then, by the grace of God, she started eating again without throwing up. He hadn’t realized he could get so excited or turned on watching his wife eat two slabs of steak, a hot dog, two portions of potato salad, and beans. He was just thankful, happy, and optimistic for their future. Hockey was going great, the Assassins were playing the best he had seen them play in a while, but nothing could compare to the moment their child started to show itself in his wife’s belly.

Jayden was convinced he had fallen in love with her all over again.

Months passed, the baby grew, and they decided not to find out what it was when the time came. They had decided since the baby was a surprise from the beginning, it should stay that way. He was thrilled. Though, he felt in his heart it was a boy. Jayden couldn’t explain it, but he just felt it and that filled him with all the excitement imaginable. He already had two nieces, and he knew he would have the first grandson. Just knew it.

Baylor was doing well too. She wasn’t sick, she was walking well, and she actually felt normal again. She had gone to work with her dad as the assistant coach for the boys hockey team over at Bellevue University, where she and Jayden had both graduated from. They were happy, things were good. But then the baby moved onto Baylor’s sciatic nerve. While he loved watching his baby grow, he hated seeing Baylor in pain. It would paralyze her—to the point where she would need to sit down and wait for the baby to move.

Jayden was convinced Baylor hated life, but when he asked, she assured him she had never been happier.

He was now always two seconds from a panic attack.

His constant worry for her was maddening, but then he had the Assassins to worry for too. They were in the play-offs, kicking ass, but they couldn’t close. Losing at the end. It was heartbreaking. He wanted more than anything to hold that Cup up. But then he realized he was about to hold his baby, and that was an even greater prize.

That was, if he didn’t kill Baylor first.

Turning over, she glared at him as he sat up on his arm, looking over her to the amount of space beside her. “Baylor, we could fit the whole team beside you.”

Her brows came in even more. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying, scoot the hell over!” he said, his voice rising. “You’re burning me up!”

“I want to sleep with you.”

“You are, but give me some space so I don’t die of heatstroke!”

With a grunt of annoyance, she rolled over. “Ugh, whatever.”

Shaking his head, Jayden lay down once more, cuddling into his pillow. He could breathe. But just as he started to fall asleep, though, she said, “I just think it’s messed up that you won’t cuddle with me and I’m carrying your child, which is the reason I’m burning up.”

Opening his eyes, he stared at the wall.

And here they went.

“Babe, I love cuddling with you. But I have to be up early to clean out my locker and do press. I can’t sleep through that, and I definitely can’t sleep with you burning me up and our child kicking the hell out of me.” He looked over his shoulder at her and smiled. “I love you, though. You know that, right?”