Accidentally In Love

It was September in Pittsburgh and that meant only one thing, Penguins preseason. Everyone was excited to have Jordan back on the team and I knew he was just as happy to be there. I remember when he got the message…

I woke up the morning after Jared and Megs’ wedding and smiled when I caught sight of the ring on my finger. I couldn’t believe it, I was engaged. I rolled over and noticed that Jordan wasn’t in bed with me anymore. I laid there and heard is voice coming from the living room. I listened to see if there was another person, but when there was no answer I knew he was on the phone. I slipped out of bed and pulled one of Jordan’s shirts on before walking out into the living room.

Jordan was sitting at the dining room table, on his phone. I kissed his cheek as I walked by and went into the kitchen to make some coffee. I would make breakfast, but we were going to Linda and Henry’s for family breakfast. By the time the coffee was finished, Jordan was done with his phone call. He came into the kitchen and pinned me to the counter from behind.

“Good morning.” He whispered, kissing my neck.

“Good morning. Who was that on the phone?” I asked, grabbing a coffee mug out of the cabinet.

“My agent.”

I stopped what I was doing and turned to face him. This was the call we were dreading. “What did he say?” I tried not to sound worried, but I’m sure my face showed it.

Jordan sighed. “We need to start packing.” He said and I just stared at him.

“We need to start packing?” I asked again, in disbelief “Where are we going?” I asked hesitantly. We had talked about the places we would like to go. Carolina and Chicago were the two top choices for us. Eric was pushing for Carolina as a joke, but I knew he wanted Jordan to play back in Pittsburgh

“Back to Pittsburgh.” He smiled.

Once again I stared at him in disbelief. “Jordan Staal, you better not be messing with me,” I warned as tears burned my eyes.

“I’m not, Ray offered a two year contract. I have to go to Pittsburgh next week to sign it.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. We were both so excited, we were going back to Pittsburgh

“Mandy!” The sound if my sister’s voice coming from the front door grabbed my attention. I looked up from my biology book and saw Taylor standing there with Troy in her hands. “Are you free for lunch?” She smiled.

“Yeah, I am. I’m done for the day.” I said standing up. “Hi there big guy.” I said tickling Troy’s tummy, causing him to giggle. “My god, he even has Sid’s laugh.”

Taylor chuckled and looked down at her son. “Yeah he does. He is Sid.”

“And Stephanie is you, so you’re both in trouble.”

Taylor nodded in agreement and smiled at me. “How have you been feeling?”

I shrugged. “Still tired as fuck and today my stomach has been giving me problems all day. I wasn’t able to eat breakfast and I tried getting something on campus, but I had to force myself to eat.”

“Do you want to go to lunch? If you aren’t feeling good I don’t want you to get sick.”

“No, I want to. Plus we still have some catching up to do.”

“And plans to set.” She smiled and I shook my head.

Taylor was so excited when she came back from Cole Harbour and found out that I was engaged. She and Sidney threw Jordan and I an engagement party last week. Sidney called it an end of the off season party as well since their pre season games start tonight. I think what Taylor was really excited about was the fact that there is going to be another wedding. She has always loved weddings and I know she’s going to involve herself in my plans and I was okay with that since I’m not really into these types of things unlike my sister.

When we got to the restaurant and the scent of Mexican hit me, my stomach churned. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my stomach and followed Taylor to our seat. Throughout lunch certain things were causing my stomach to turn, causing me to rush to the bathroom because I thought I was going to be sick.

“Mandy, are you okay?” Taylor asked following me into the bathroom after the fourth time of running off.

I came out of the stall and looked at her. “I’m not sure, my stomach just isn’t agreeing with me or something.”

“You do look pale right now. I think you should go home and sleep some.”

I nodded and waited for Taylor to finish changing Troy’s diaper. Together we left and went back to the apartment I shared with Jordan. Taylor just dropped me off and went back to her house since Sidney would be home soon, My stomach was still uneasy when I unlocked the door and made my way to the bedroom. Without changing or anything, I crawled under the covers and tried to calm my stomach. I was asleep before Jordan got home.

I woke up with a start and ran right into the bathroom and empty whatever was in my stomach. Jordan must have heard me because soon he was standing behind me holding my hair back and rubbing my back soothingly as I continued to get sick. I stood up with shaky legs and leaned against the counter and put my head in my hands.

“Are you okay?” Jordan asked quietly, rubbing my back

I shook my head and let out a tiny sob. I hated feeling like this and every time I get sick I end up crying. “I just don’t feel good.”

“Why are you crying, sweetheart?”

I chuckled. “It’s something I’ve always done after I throw up. Taylor does it too.”

Jordan chuckled and pulled me into his chest. “Why don’t you just stay home tonight?” he suggested.

“I think I’m going to.”

He pulled back and kissed my forehead. “Just sleep, hopefully you’ll feel better in the morning.”

I nodded again and leaned forward and kissed Jordan’s cheek. “Good luck tonight.”

With another kiss and a nod, Jordan was off for his game. I changed out of my clothes and pulled on one of Jordan’s shirts and a pair of softball shorts and crawled into bed. I turned on ROOT SPORTS so I could watch the game, but didn’t stay awake long enough to even see the opening faceoff.

It’s been three days since the day that my stomach hated me and I still wasn’t better. Before Jordan left on his road trip, he begged me to go to the doctors. So that’s where Taylor and I were today, at the doctors.

“Ms, Samules?” The nurse came out, said. “The doctor will see you now.”

I nodded and looked at Taylor. “Want to come back with me?” I asked her.

She didn’t say anything, but gathered Troy and his things and followed me to the exam room. The only sound that filled the room was Troy babbling to himself and the distant sounds of other patients in the office. Once again my stomach was turning, so I leaned my head back against the wall and took deep breaths. Minutes later there was a knock at the door and the doctor poked his head in.

“Hello Miss Samules, I’m Dr. Lopez. What seems to be bothering you?” He asked, taking a seat across the room from me.

“I’ve been nauseous for the past couple of days and extremely tired for the past couple of weeks. I thought the tiredness was just from starting my senior year of college and traveling from Canada, but then the stomach issues started.”

Dr. Lopez nodded and wrote things down on my chart. “When was your last menstrual cycle?”

“Um, I’m not really sure.” I admitted. “I know I didn’t get it last month because I was stressed out.”

“How about before that?”

I looked at the doctor. “I don’t really pay attention to when I get them. I just deal with it when I do.” I admitted and he chuckled.

“Alright, I’m going to order you a pregnancy test because everything you are describing is pointing to pregnancy.”

Pregnancy test? I looked at Taylor with wide eyes and saw that she had a smirk on her face, but her eyes were just as wide as mine. I followed Dr. Lopez to the lab where they would be conducting the test and then went back to the waiting room for my results. As I sat there I began freaking out. Pregnant? I couldn’t be pregnant. We were always so safe. But then I remembered the night of Jared and Megs’ wedding, we were so caught up in the moment that we didn’t use protection and that was the week that I was off my birth control pills.

“Oh shit.” I whispered to myself and began counting from then. “Shit”

Taylor looked at me. “What’s wrong?”

“I think I’m pregnant.” I whispered.

She chuckled. “No shit, I mean the doctor just ordered a test.”

I shook my head. “No, Taylor. The night of Jared and Megs’ wedding, the night we got engaged. We had sex…” She just looked at me and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “We didn’t use a condom and that was the week I was off of my pill.”

Taylor was quiet for a second. “That was a little less than three months ago.”

I nodded and bit my lip. Growing up I never thought about getting married or having kids, but here I was engaged and sitting in the doctor’s office waiting for the results of a pregnancy test. If I was pregnant, how was I going to tell Jordan? I knew he wanted kids, but right now would be the worst timing ever because of everything that happened this off season.

I was still contemplating the concept of being pregnant when another nurse came out into the waiting room and lead Taylor and I to a different room. Not five minutes later Dr. Lopez stuck his head in the room and went right for the empty chair. He took a seat and wrote something down on my chart before looking at me.

“Well Miss, Samules I do believe a congratulations is in order.” He smiled. “You are indeed pregnant.”

I just sat there and stared at him. I looked at Taylor who had a smile on her face, but I could also see the worry there too. Once again Dr. Lopez left the room, but returned with an ultrasound machine. Almost automatically, I laid back on the table and lifted my shirt for him. All eyes were trained to the small screen on the machine. Before an image showed up on the screen we heard the heartbeat and that’s when it hit me. I was pregnant.

Twenty minutes later, Taylor and I left the doctor’s office with a prescription for vitamins, a sonogram, and instructions to make another appointment in a month. Taylor and my calculations were right. I was just under three months along. Neither of us said a word as we drove back to Taylor and Sidney’s place. When we got there, I went to the family room while Taylor put Troy down for his nap. I stared at the picture of my baby and laid a hand on my stomach, there was someone inside me. Taylor came back into the room and handed me a bottle of water.

“Do you want to tell me what’s on your mind?” She asked quietly, taking a seat next to me.

“I’m pregnant.” I whispered, running a finger over the sonogram. I looked at my sister and tears filled my eyes. “Taylor, I’m fucking pregnant.”

“I know, what I don’t know though are if those are happy or sad tears.”

“Shocked and happy are more like it. This just was so unexpected.”

Taylor nodded. “Most pregnancies are. You’re ready for this though, you both are. Jordan is going to be so excited.”

Jordan, how am I supposed to tell him? I didn’t want to wait until he got back later this week, but I didn’t want to tell him over the phone. Just then my phone chimed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw that Jordan had sent me a text.

Skype session? was all it said.

of course! I responded

“I’m going to go, Jordan is going to Skype.”

Taylor nodded and gave me a hug. “Call me if you need anything. I’ll dig up my parenting books for you two.”

I chuckled. “Okay and you can tell Sid. I know you’re dying to tell him.” I smiled.

She nodded and began looking though the bookshelf for the books. I left while she was doing that and as I drove home I rehearsed how I was going to tell Jordan. When I got home, I logged onto the computer and saw that Jordan was on so I called him.

“Hey babe!” he smiled when he saw me. “How are you?”

I smiled. “I’m good, how was your flight?”

“It was good, got my ass kicked by Flower, Sid, and Tanger in COD though.” He chuckled and I could hear Kris say something to him. “Kris says hello.”

“Hi Kris!” I said loud enough.

Jordan chuckled again. “He can’t hear you, I have headphones in.”

I shook my head. “Sooooo” I trailed off

“How did it go at the doctors? Did you find out what’s wrong?”

I nodded and bit my lip. Best time to tell him I told myself as I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out the sonogram. I glanced at it before showing it to Jordan.

“What’s that?” He asked and I sighed, feeling a sob building in my chest. “Mandy, what’s wrong?” Jordan asked, worried.

“Jordan, I’m pregnant.” I said quietly. So quiet I doubt he heard me.

Neither of us said anything for felt like hours. During this time I tried to read Jordan’s face, but I couldn’t. I didn’t know how he felt about this.

“So that’s why you’ve been so tired lately?” He asked, just as quiet as I had sounded earlier.

I nodded, “And the reason I was/am feeling sick.”

“That was a sonogram you showed me wasn’t it?”

I nodded and held it up again for him to see. He was quite as he looked at it. “How far?”

“Almost three months.”

“The wedding.” was all he said. Then a shit eating grin showed up on his face. “We’re having a baby.”

I nodded as tears fell down my face. “We are. How do you feel about that?”

“I’m so fucking happy. I wish I was there.”

“So you’re not mad at me for telling you this way? I figured it was better than over the phone and there was no way I would have been able to wait and tell you.”

“Not at all, I’m glad you did. I got to see your face when you told me. How do you feel about it?” He asked in a serious tone that I rarely heard with Jordan.

“Right now I’m a little scared, but I’m happy at the same time.”

“Don’t be scared, baby. Everything will be fine, I promise.”

I nodded and stuck the sonogram on the table. “You can tell Kris.” I laughed. Kris was trying not to listen to our conversation, but I knew he was because all he was hearing was Jordan’s side of the conversation.

Jordan nodded and removed his headphones. “You tell him.” He smiled.

“Kris.” I called, he smiled and came over to the computer when he saw that I waved him over.

“’ey there Mandy.” He smiled. “what’s up?”

I rolled my eyes. “Like you don’t know.” I chuckled again. “Jordan and I have some news to share with you. We are expecting.”

The smile on Kris’ face was priceless. He turned to Jordan and punched his shoulder lightly. “Congratulations, man, to both of you. That’s great news.”

Just then there was a knock on their door and Kris went to answer it. Standing there was a grinning Sidney. He came over to Jordan’s computer when he saw that I was still on Skype with him.

“Is it true?” He asked.

“Like Taylor would lie to you about something like this. Yes it’s true. I am almost three months pregnant.”

Sidney smiled and hugged Jordan. “I wish we were there right now,” he said to me.

“I wish you guys were here too, but you have a game to play tomorrow and I bet you have things to do today.”

Sidney nodded and mentioned practice starting soon and left the room. Kris walked out of the screen with a wave and went to get ready for practice no doubt.

“Go get ready for practice. Call me later and we can talk some more.”

“Okay, I love you Mandy.”

“Love you too, Jordan.” He was about to disconnect. “Hey Jord, you can tell whoever you want. I’m not going to make you keep it a secret. I am going to call your sisters though.” I smiled.

“Well they’ll probably be calling you soon anyway. I just sent a text to my brothers.” He laughed.

Sure enough my phone started ringing. “Well I better answer that or they’ll never leave me alone.”

“Alright, love you.”

“Bye Jordan.”

We disconnected and I answered my ringing phone. Not only was it Tanya, but she had conference called Megs and Lindsay too. There was a lot of squealing and bets about what I was going to have. Once the excitement of a baby passed, we began talking about plans for the wedding. They were all pushing for an off season wedding, that way I would have already given birth by then and things would be less hectic.

“So, how did Jordan take it?” Tanya asked.

“He’s so fucking happy about it. You should have seen the smile on his face. I was a little afraid to tell him though.” I admitted

“Why?” Lindsay asked.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “I’m not really sure. I know he wants kids, but I think I just figured he didn’t want them now.”

“Mandy, Jordan loves you so much. I think you could be giving birth to an alien and the boy would be ecstatic.” Megs laughed.

“Thanks guys. I’m going to go, I still have to call my parents and tell them.”

“Okay, we’ll have to plan a weekend or something for the four of us to get together.” Tanya suggested.

“Yes we do. Talk to you girls later. Say hi to your guys for me.”

“Will do.” They all responded

We hung up and I stared at my phone. Calling my parents wasn’t going to be the most fun thing in the world. Before I could even dial their number, my stomach had me running for the bathroom. This was going to get old fast, I thought to myself as I brushed my teeth. Once I felt better, I called my parents and told them the news. They were very excited and my dad was even a little shocked that I would be the one calling to say I was pregnant. They promised to come visit before season got into full swing so they could help with getting the nursery together.

When I got off the phone with my mom and dad, I went and laid down. I laid my hands on my stomach and smiled. There was a life growing inside me and I didn’t know about it until a couple hours ago. I was going to be a mom. Something I never dreamt of in my life, let alone with Jordan. I rolled over on my side and hugged Jordan’s pillow to me and soon fell asleep.