Make It Back to Me

Later that same day, Evelyn was woken from a nap by a loud bang followed by a few choice curse words. Smiling through her tiredness, she climbed out of the bed, glancing at the clock to see it was just after eight in the evening. She had fallen asleep almost three hours before after she and Ben had gotten home from their outing (her doctor’s appointment and the trip to Babies R Us Ben had insisted on). She followed the sound of Ben’s mumbles from the master bedroom to the guest bedroom. Standing in the door way, her eyes could only widen in shock as her bulky husband sat cross-legged in the middle of the room, tearing through the packaging and wrapping of everything the couple had bought at the children’s store.

Evelyn shook her head and stared down at all the infant toys and clothes before she saw the already built and set up changing table and infant bed. She smiled and moved further into the room, stepping over boxes and other toys. “Ben, what are you doing?” She asked, stopping when she was standing right next to him before sitting down cross-legged, much like him. She got a grin and a shrug in return as he sorted through clothes.

“I set up the changing table and bassinet. I’m going through toys and clothes now and putting all the stuff he won’t be using for a few months away.” Evelyn grinned, loving how into fatherhood he was already. Putting her head on his shoulder, she reached her hand forward to pick up a tiny onesie. Holding it in her hands, she smiled up at Ben to see him staring at it intently. “You’re going to help me, right?” Pulling her face together in confusion, she asked what he meant. He sighed and continued, “I’m not going to know the first thing about taking care of a baby. I’m going to need you a lot.”

“You’ll just know,” Evelyn whispered back, nuzzling herself into his neck. “Trust me.”

“I’m just worried.”

“Well, you can always borrow my books about pregnancy and parenthood then…”

Ben laughed, nodding his head as he caught her lips with his. It was true; he wouldn’t even know where to begin when it came to taking care of a baby, as excited as he was to be a father. Ready or not, in less than five months he was going to be a dad to a little boy, and that was more than he could ever ask for. Smiling down at Evelyn, he took her left hand in his and looked down at the rings on her finger. “I never took my wedding ring off the whole time… you know, we were apart.”

“Ben…” Evelyn sighed. “I couldn’t wear them. It was painful to even look at them; I think because it reminded me of what a huge mistake I made.”

“It wasn’t just you, you know. I shouldn’t have been such a dick about you leaving at all, let alone right before you were leaving. CUNY is your dream school. I shouldn’t have tried to stand in the way of that.”

“Was.”

“What?”

“CUNY was my dream school. None of that degree, education bullshit matters now. You are what’s important to me; you and our son, okay?”

Ben nodded, kissing her lightly again laughing a little into the kiss, “I was still a dick, and I’m sorry.” Evelyn didn’t say anything else, but instead she pressed her lips back against his with as much feeling as she could muster. She needed to show Ben, her husband, that he had been completely in the right demanding she stay in Chicago. He had known all along, whether he realized it or not, what was really important and that was them, together, and as a unit. Wrapping her arms around him and feeling the familiar curves of his muscles, she realized just how right everything felt at that moment.

“You know,” Ben started, getting his wife’s attention. “I don’t think this place is going to be big enough for us anymore.” Evelyn looked at him with a dumbfounded look. Ben knew damn well that Evelyn wasn’t a lavish person and that she thought their large downtown apartment was just fine, but he shook his head and kept talking. “This guest room is so small, Lyn. I have the bassinet and crib set up and there’s barely room for anything else.”

“Stop exaggerating.”

“But what happens when this little guy,” He said, engulfing Evelyn’s expanded stomach with his huge hand. “Gets to be two or three and we want to have another kid?”

“Ben, we’ll worry about that when we get there. This apartment is plenty big enough.” But Evelyn knew she hadn’t convinced him. He shook his head mumbling a “no, it’s not” before pulling her up after him and into the kitchen. Evelyn saw some Chinese takeout boxes on the counter, and her eyes lit up. Ben had ordered and ate for himself while she had been napping. She took one look at them before diving into them with a fury, making her husband laugh. “I’m eating for two; fuck off.”

He laughed louder, shaking his head before sitting down on the living room couch, “I’ll contact a realtor tomorrow.” Evelyn shook her head and rolled her dark brown eyes before continuing with her dinner.

- - -

Adam Burish, as crazy as he seemed sometimes, usually had some pretty good ideas. Having the team gather for a preseason get-together was definitely one of them. Evelyn couldn’t wait to see everybody again, as well as meet the few new faces the team had taken on while she was gone. Of course, since it would be the first time a lot of these men had seen or heard from her, it would also be the first time they found out she was pregnant. Her only thought as she followed Ben through the gate that led to Brent Seabrook’s back yard was, this should be interesting.

“Ben and Evelyn are here!” was all she heard before she found herself wrapped in she didn’t know how many different arms. She laughed, trying to look at the faces of the men and women that surrounded her. She laughed when she saw Phoebe shove her way to the middle of the crowd, wrapping her arms around her best friend before shoving all of the men back.

“Give the pregnant woman some air, for christ’s sake,” She said, exasperated.

Evelyn grinned and hugged Phoebe back, but their hug was cut short when they heard Ben groan and say, “Burr, get the fuck off of me.” Everyone turned, bursting into laughs as Adam kept his arms around Ben, making the bigger and bulkier man growl and shove the Wisconsin native off of him.

“He embarrasses me sometimes,” Kita, Adam’s poor girlfriend sighed popping up from nowhere, making Phoebe and Evelyn laugh. Ben walked up the three of them and wrapped his arms around Evelyn from behind, his hands resting on her stomach, earning himself two huge grins from the other girls. “Hey, daddy,” Kita drawled in her southern accent, sending a wink towards the huge hockey player.

Ben laughed and pulled his wife further into the backyard where everyone was staring at her with wide eyes. She groaned, “That doesn’t make me feel fat at all.” Everyone laughed as Ben scoffed at her. “She’s mental.”

After the couple had explained that Evelyn was five months pregnant, was due in January, and she was back in Chicago to stay, the party was officially kicked off. Ben and Adam were manning the grill which proved to be a rather amusing site for everyone in attendance. Evelyn sat with the rest of the wives and girlfriends and the two new wives to join their group, the wives of John Madden and Tomas Kopecky as the team fluttered around them, laughing and talking.

“I wish I could have a wine spritzer,” Evelyn pouted, staring at the colorful drinks in all the other women’s hands. Before anyone could say anything, Ben turned around from his spot at the grill, pointed the tongs at her and gave her a strong, “Too bad.” Laughing, she stood and headed into the house, needing to use the bathroom. Just as she got to the bathroom on the second floor of Brent’s house, she nearly walked into Marian Hossa who was coming from one of the bedrooms, having just changed into his swim trunks.

Raising an eyebrow at the sight in front of her, she smiled at the Slovakian as he put his hands on her shoulders to steady her. “Evelyn, right?” He asked, giving her a friendly smile. She nodded, sticking her hand out for him to shake. Sharing a few more words, they went their separate ways, him back to the party and Evelyn into the bathroom. Marian Hossa was hot, and if he was going to walk around with his shirt off, she could get used to him being on the team. Not that Ben’s other teammates weren’t just as hot, but Marian was brand new eye candy. Evelyn officially had a new crush. Brent Seabrook who?

Evelyn felt like splashing cold water onto her face, or better yet, stepping into Brent’s shower underneath cold water. She was fucking hot. Normally, she’d be able to handle hot, thick September weather, but being five months pregnant wasn’t helping anything. She put her purse on the sink and bit her lip, staring down at it. She knew she had her bathing suit in there, but Evelyn was already struggling with her weight gain, and while her bathing suit was not tiny and barely there, it was still a bikini; she didn’t want to wear that in front of everyone.

Picking up her phone, she sent a quick text. It seemed like almost immediately there was a knock at the bathroom door, and Evelyn smiled, opening it up. Kita looked at her in worry, “Is everything okay?” Evelyn nodded, holding the bathing suit up in her hand, and Kita immediately sighed in relief. “Honey, rock it. You look beautiful.” That was all the encouragement Evelyn needed. She quickly changed into the black and red bikini, staring at her expanded belly in the mirror.

“This doesn’t look trashy, right?”

“Honey, no! It’s not like it’s a string bikini or anything. It’s a maternity bikini. They’re meant for women with cute little figures like yours. You look gorgeous.”

Evelyn grinned and thanked Kita for her help, pulling the black, short sleeve cover up on, leaving it left unbuttoned before sliding her black flip flops back on. She needed to be in Brent’s pool, and it needed to happen quickly. The two girls made their way back out to the party, Kita heading towards Adam, who was sitting and eating and Evelyn heading towards Ben, who still stood by the grill.

“You got a burger left for me?” She asked, wrapping her arms around Ben’s middle. He looked down at her, raising his eyebrows at her outfit, making Evelyn groan. “You hate it, don’t you?”

“Of course not,” He said quickly, smirking at her. “You look hot.”

Benjamin Arthur Eager knew exactly what his wife wanted to hear. Sure, every woman loved hearing she was beautiful, and Ben did his best to tell her that as often as possible. But now, in her self conscious pregnant state, he knew she needed to be told that he still found her downright sexy. And that was what he whispered to her as she took a burger from his hands. Smiling at her blush, he slapped her ass as she walked toward the table, an embarrassed smile on her face. She looked back at him just as he sent her a wink, making her blush even more.

“You might be the luckiest woman on the face of the planet,” Kita said, staring at Ben’s back as he continued to grill up food for the entire party. Evelyn grinned as she put her burger together. Turning around to look at Ben as well, she realized what Kita said could definitely be true.