Why Should You Care Now?

Never ending lines that moved at a snails’ pace is where she stood. Thankful that she came earlier than what she had planned. Forgetting that baggage check was a pain in the ass that would take longer than anything, her hand rested on her stomach. Although it was mostly flat, she could tell that there was a slight bump, no one would be able to tell unless they looked at her stomach long and hard. Running her hand through her hair that she had left down for some reason, she let out a long sigh. She didn’t want to spend half the morning on her feet, but at the rate the line was going it looked like it was heading in that direction. Feeling her phone vibrate from her pocket, she withdrew it and flipped it open and saw it was Sharpie calling her.

“I’m in line at the airport,” she informed him. “So this better be important.”

“Tazer found out that you were leaving Chicago and bolted out of the locker room.”

“What do you mean he found out?” Jordan questioned him.

“He went to see you to get you to work on his inner thigh, but the guy in there said you were on your way to the airport and he split,” Sharpie explained. “He was like a man possessed.”

“Patrick,” she sighed. “Please call him and tell him that I am not missing my flight.”

“You know that I would,”Sharpie told her. “For you I would.”

“I sense a but coming in.”

“But Tazer left his phone here,” Sharpie said. “Burish is currently changing the language to Spanish.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No really, we know how to get it back, but it can get pretty funny when he’s trying to figure out how to change it back,” he said. “Oh, you mean Tazer.”

“Of course that’s what I mean,” Jordan spat out as she moved up in the line. “Does he know anything about my flight information?”

“He can probably figure out you are going to Pittsburgh since everyone knows that you got the job offer,” he said. “What no one is saying is that we all hope that you don’t take it.”

“I have to look into it Patrick.”

“Look, I’m just saying what every Blackhawk here is thinking,” he told her. “We really like having you around. You aren’t old and boring.”

“No, I’m young and pregnant.” Jordan pointed out.

“That doesn’t matter,” Sharpie told her. “You’ve got the magic hands.”

“Whatever,” Jordan said with a roll of her eyes before she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around her eyes connected with a pair of brown ones. “I’m gonna have to call you back.”

“Let me guess, he’s there,”Sharpie said. “I’m hoping he talks you out of going.”

“Good-bye,” she said into the phone before closing it and placing it into the back pocket of her jeans. “What are you doing here?”

“Why are you leaving?” he responded with his own question.

“You know it’s rude to answer a question with your own question,” Jordan said as she picked up her bag and moved up a little bit in the line. Jon moved with her. “You know last time we talked, I told you about going and you only wanted to talk about me and not why you’ve been the way you are around me.”

“And how should I be?” Jon asked.

“Well for one, you shouldn’t be an ass to me just because of some reason only you know about,” Jordan said as she watched him move in front of her. “And second, you should be a human being. Not someone who wants to please everyone because that will come to bite you in the ass.”

“I know that I haven’t given you much reason to trust me,” he said as he moved his hand towards her face and brushed a piece of hair out of her eyes. “But I promise that I will explain. Give me another chance. I know I’m the last person you’d think to give one to, but everyone deserves a second chance.”

“Even those who tell other people secrets that they shouldn’t?”

“Jordan, I’m sorry, Kaner overheard and I let it slip that you were pregnant and in the locker room it just spread like wild fire,” Jon stated, as if it was the most obvious thing. “But I should have called you and let you know before Burish opened his big mouth.”

“That would have been nice.”

“Jordan, I’ve never asked you for anything, so now I am going to ask for something,” Jon said, his eyes locked with hers. “Please don’t get on the plane. Stay here in Chicago, I need you to stay. If not for me for the guys, but not even for them. Our baby needs to know his father. Do you really want to take that away from him? Please don’t take that from me.”

Blinking back the tears, she felt in her eyes, Jordan closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt a few tears escape her eyes and a pair of hands on her face as the thumbs wiped them away. Taking another deep breath, she opened her eyes and looked at him. “You can’t take this back when things get hard or aren’t going the way you want. And you really have to treat me better.”

A smile broke on to his face as he dropped his hands from her face. He leaned down and placed a soft and quick kiss to her lips. “Thank you.”

“Don’t make me regret this,” Jordan told him. “Because I swear it’ll be last thing you do to hurt me.”

“I know,” he smiled at her as he reached down and picked up her bag. “You know this isn’t exactly light. What did you pack?”

“A few bricks, a cinder block or two and a couple of dead bodies,” she said with a smile as he took his free hand and grabbed hers. “If it’s too heavy for you I can carry it.”

“Way to insult my manhood.” Jon said as they walked out of the airport.

“Oh, please.” Jordan laughed. “It's not like I told you, you have a small dick or something. Now that would be insulting your manhood."

“You know I’m anything, but small.”

“Truthfully, I don’t remember much of that night,” Jordan told him as they were walking in the parking lot. “I mean I was pretty wasted.”

“So none of it?” Jon questioned her. “At all?”

“It’s like a big blur,” Jordan admitted. “I remember touches and feelings though.”

Jon gave her a smirk as they got to his car. He unlocked it and put her bag into the back as she got into the passenger’s seat. Slamming the back shut, he walked to his side and slid into the drivers’ seat and shut the door. “So how does lunch sound?”

“Sounds good if you’re buying.”

“So, let me get this right,” Jon smiled at her as he started the car. “You insult my manhood and I get to pay for lunch?”

“I’m pregnant,” Jordan told him. “With your baby.”

“And I hope that it’s a girl.”

“Why?” she asked, slightly confused. “Don’t you hockey players like having boys so that they can carry on the tradition of playing hockey as well?”

“Yeah, a boy would be nice, but a little girl would be just as great,” he told her. “I mean if she looked like you and got your smarts, then we might actually be in trouble.”

“We?” Jordan asked. “More like you. She’d have you wrapped around your finger so fast that you wouldn’t know left from right or up from down. And the sad part is you wouldn’t care.”

“Can’t deny that,” Jon admitted. “But I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

“That’s usually how it works.”

“Anyone ever tell you that you’re a smartass?”

“All the time.”

Two months passed and things were different, but they were better. Jordan at first was uncomfortable with the weight she was putting on. It was sudden and it wasn’t how she thought it would be. Emmy had told her that it was normal and every woman and every pregnancy was different. So when she went for her doctor appointment she was told her she was healthy and she felt slightly better about it. She knew that she was going to get even bigger than this and she just had to prepare for it. She had worked so hard to stay fit and it didn’t feel right not being able to run all the time. But she couldn’t. After the baby was born though, there would be no stopping her from getting back to how she was before.

It was a Saturday afternoon and Jordan found herself at work. The guys weren’t playing their game until later in the day, but that didn’t mean her job stopped until they got ready. Some of the guys were slowly making their way into the arena to hang out before the game. Pregame naps were done and now they were going to do what they had to in order to relax before they were to play. Looking at the clock, Jordan realized that Jonathan was twenty minutes late for his appointment. That was a rare thing for him, especially since he said he was going to the locker room to talk with Seabrook and then he’d be back.

Pulling her hair tie out of her hair, Jordan ran her hand through her hair before gathering it back up and putting it into a high pony tail. Making her way out of her office she started walking towards the locker room, she stopped when she saw a member of the opposing team walking towards her. It was the goalie Martin Brodeur, but he was walking with a slight limp. He smiled at her as he stopped a few feet in front of her.

“Hi,” he said. “Are you Jordan Taylor?”

“I am,” she said. “Can I help you?”

“I was just talking to Patrick and he said you might be able to help me.”

“Sharp or Kane?”

“Sharp,” he clarified. “I’ve got this cramp in my thigh and it just won’t go away. Patrick says you have magic hands.”

Jordan laughed. “Follow me to my office. And I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks,” he said. “I’m not breaking any rules by asking for your help am I?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” Jordan told him. “Mr. Toews didn’t show for his appointment so I’m not expecting another appointment for another hour.”

“Mr. Toews?” he asked her. “Isn’t he the father of your baby?”

“Where did you hear that?” Jordan asked walking into the room, where the other massage therapist was.

“Just from some of the guys,” Martin told her. “So is it true?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I’m just hoping that I’ll be a good mother.”

“I’m sure that you will.”

“Thanks.”

After working on Martin Brodeur, Jordan made her way to the locker room of the Blackhawks. Walking into the room, she saw some of the guys with confused looks on their faces. When she came upon Sharpie, she looked at him as he stood up and made his way towards her. “Hey. What are you doing in here?”

“Wondering where Jon is.”

“Why?” Seabrook asked from his spot. “Does it matter?”

“He missed his appointment and I wanted to know why.”

“A friend of his showed up.”

“Really?”

Looking over Sharpie’s shoulder she saw Jonathan with someone she had never seen before. But she could see she had the same color hair as her. Glancing into Sharpie’s eyes, she turned her back on him and made her way towards her office.

“Jordan?”

Stopping mid-step, she looked at Jonathan with disgust in her features. “Don’t talk to me.”

Heading back out, she heard someone ask what was going on. But it didn’t matter anymore. The time she and Jonathan had spent together was over. His second chance was over and now her heart was slowly feeling as if it was breaking.

“Jordan, please wait!”

Once again turning on her heel, Jordan glared at him.

“I’m done waiting on you,” Jordan yelled. “I’m done with you! So go and have fun with your girlfriend!”