Do I Dream Again

Sadie stared at the computer screen in the dark bedroom, waiting on the page to load. She hadn’t been able to get what Kristina and Kyra had said about people saying horrible things about players’ girlfriends off of her mind, and she had finally cracked and decided to look at what people were saying about her.

As the page came up, she quickly skimmed the message boards, not seeing one nice thing written about her. “Oh my God,” she spoke, causing Jonathan, who was sleeping in the bed next to her, to stir awake.

“What’s the matter?” Jonathan mumbled as he sat up, glancing at the clock next to him to see it was 5:15 in the morning.

“It’s nothing,” she assured him. “Go back to sleep.”

“Why don’t you come back to bed?” he asked.

“I will,” she said, continuing to stare at the screen. Having had enough of reading horrible things about herself, she decided to see what she could find about Kyra. She clicked on the first link and started reading the message board posts. “What the fuck?!” she screamed, causing Jonathan to bolt up.

“What?” he asked, staring at her.

“They found out. I’ve got to call Kyra. She’s going to freak out. How did they find out?” she questioned all in one breath.

“What?” Jonathan repeated, confused, but Sadie ignored him as she grabbed her cell phone. “Sadie, it’s five in the morning. Are you really going to call her right now?” he asked but stopped when he heard Sadie start talking on the phone.

“Hank?” she asked, having heard a man’s voice pick up Kyra’s apartment phone.

“Sadie?” he questioned, tiredly looking over at the clock. “Why are you calling this early? Is everything alright?”

“I need to talk to Kyra. Now,” she added, and Henrik gently shook Kyra awake.

“It’s Sadie,” he told her, handing her the phone.

“What?” Kyra groaned.

“Kyra, you need to get on the internet and look at those message boards that talk about players’ girlfriends right now,” Sadie told her.

“Sadie, I know they say horrible things. I really don’t want to read them right now,” she told her.

“They found out that you’re pregnant,” Sadie blurted out. “They were talking about it online,” she added, and Kyra immediately sat up in bed. Henrik glanced over at her as she hurriedly got out of bed and walked to her living room and opened up her laptop, trying to find the message boards.

She finally found the right one, and she began scanning what they were saying. “No, no, no!” Kyra cried. “Sadie, I’ll call you back later,” she said, hanging up the phone, and letting it drop next to her on the couch. “Why is this happening?” she questioned aloud as Henrik walked out of the bedroom, rubbing his eyes.

“What’s going on?” he asked, sitting down on the couch next to her.

“They found out,” she said.

“Who found out what?” he asked, confused by her statement.

“Your fans found out about me being pregnant,” she explained, shoving the computer towards him, allowing him to read for himself. “God, Hank, why does everything seem to go wrong?” she asked, leaning against him as he set the computer on the couch on the other side of him and wrapped his arms around Kyra.

“It’s going to be fine,” he assured her, kissing the top of her head. “Don’t worry about what a few women think about you.”

“Hank, you don’t get it,” Kyra began, turning around and looking up into his eyes. “They know! Everyone knows! And soon everyone’s going to be asking you about it. And, what are you going to say? That you knocked up some random chick that already has a five year old daughter?” she questioned.

“No,” he said calmly. “I’m going to tell them that my girlfriend and I are excited for this baby. And, I’m sure everyone else will be happy for us. Or at the very least, the people that matter will be happy for us.”

“Hank,” she began.

“No,” Henrik interrupted. “Everything will be fine,” he assured her. “You need to stop worrying about this. Why don’t you go back to bed?” he suggested.

“No,” Kyra told him after glancing at the clock on the wall. “Sophia will be up soon, and I need to get everything ready for her to go to school. Are you staying for breakfast?” she asked him, trying to forget all about the message board.

“No,” he replied. “I’ve got to get home and shower and get ready for practice.”

“Okay, it’s your lost. I’m making French toast,” she said with a smile.

“I can’t stay,” he told her. “What are you doing for dinner though? You and Sophia can come over and I can cook,” he suggested.

“Sounds perfect,” she smiled as Henrik walked to the bedroom to gather his clothes and shoes. “Call me tonight,” she told him.

“I will,” he promised. “And stop worrying about the fans knowing. Everything will be fine,” he said.

“I’ll try,” she said, giving him a goodbye kiss before walking into the kitchen and beginning to make breakfast for Sophia and herself.

***

Henrik walked into the locker room, throwing his bag in front of his stall. He sat down and he could feel someone’s eyes on him. He turned to his left and saw Todd Bertuzzi and Chris Osgood staring at him. “What?” he asked.

“So, you knocked her up?” Todd asked with a smile on his face. Jonathan, who was three lockers down, heard him and turned his head, wondering what was going on. “Couldn’t keep it in your pants, eh?” he continued.

Henrik rolled his eyes before turning back around towards his locker. “Are you sure it’s yours?” Chris joked. “I mean, Kyra is awfully pretty. I’m sure she could do way better than you,” he added with a laugh.

“I’m sure she could, too,” Henrik agreed.

“Seriously, though, are you sure it’s yours?” Todd continued. “Are you sure she’s not trying to trap you? Trying to get your money?”

Henrik looked at him, wide-eyed and furious that he was talking about Kyra like that. “Yes, the baby’s mine, and no, she’s not trying to trap me,” he said through gritted teeth, trying to remain calm.

“So, she’s just trying to ruin your career then?” Todd questioned.

“Kyra’s not doing anything,” Jonathan spoke up, knowing Henrik was ready to explode at any minute. “She’s pregnant and that’s it. She’s not trying to trap Hank or ruin his career.”

“Yeah, and having a child doesn’t ruin your career,” Chris stated.

Not wanting to hear anything else, Henrik grabbed his skates and walked out towards the ice, wanting to get as far away from Todd as he could at the moment. Jonathan followed him, calling out his name. “Don’t listen to him,” Jonathan told him when Henrik finally stopped walking and he was able to catch up to him.

“You know of all people, I thought I could count on my teammates to back me up,” Henrik said.

“You can,” Jonathan assured him. “We’re all behind you. Just ignore Bertuzzi. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” he said as the rest of the team began filing out onto the ice, getting ready for practice to begin.

***

Kyra and Sophia walked into Henrik’s condominium, and Kyra looked around for a moment. “I thought we were coming over for dinner,” she said with a small laugh when she was unable to locate any food.

“It’s on its way,” Henrik replied, watching as Sophia sat down on the couch, playing with her Barbie doll that she had brought with her.

“I thought you were cooking,” Kyra said.

“I didn’t feel like it,” Henrik stated.

Kyra looked at him curiously before pulling him into the kitchen, out of earshot of Sophia. “What’s wrong?” she asked him.

“Nothing,” he replied.

“Hank, what’s wrong?” Kyra repeated more forcefully. Henrik finally relented, telling her what had happened at the rink and what Todd had said to him. “I knew I shouldn’t have told you about the baby and I should have just taken care of it on my own,” she muttered.

Henrik stared at her wide-eyed. “Kyra, you can’t be serious!” he told her.

“I’m already causing problems between you and your teammates.”

“I still stand by my statement that the people that matter the most to us will be there for us,” Henrik said. “And, don’t feel like any of this is your fault. I know that’s how you feel right now,” he added.

Kyra sighed, knowing he was right. “I just feel bad,” she said.

“Don’t,” he told her. “I’m angry at him, not you.”

Kyra smiled up at him. “Oh, I forgot to tell you!” she suddenly exclaimed. “I have a doctor’s appointment on Thursday at two after I get off of work if you want to go with me. If not, that’s fine, I can get Sadie to come with me,” she told him.

“Two?” he asked, and she nodded her head in confirmation. “I’ll be there,” he said. “We lift at noon, so I should be done by two,” he explained.

“Good,” she smiled. “I was hoping you could go,” she said as there was a knock on the door, and Henrik went to go get the food, while Kyra sat down on the couch next to Sophia, playing with her doll.