Sharks and Minnows
Seven
-Week 25, April 23rd-
I’m sitting in the car almost impatiently. My belly is huge, the boys are restless, and I haven’t gotten much sleep. I don’t know where I’m going because Vladimir won’t tell me, and I really want to scream. We pull up to a lavish house in a huge suburb outside of Newark, and I raise my eyebrows.
“Vladimir, where are we?” I ask, looking around. Everything about the neighborhood is unfamiliar, and it puts me on edge. Vladimir simply smiles, takes my hand, and leads me into the house.
“Surprise!” I hear, and I immediately break into a huge smile. Nicole and Petra are bouncing excitedly, and I let out a shriek of surprise when some of my best friends from high school rush over to pull me into a group hug.
“Cassidy, Ivanna, what are you doing here?!” I ask, and they smile.
“You’ve got a man who does his research Nemo. I’m honestly disappointed in you girl. You haven’t told us anything and we were there the night you met him!” Ivanna chides, her big brown eyes glinting with mischief.
“I’m so sorry!” I say, smiling apologetically. The baby shower is spectacular. Nicole and Petra spared no expense, apparently having been told by Vladimir about the fact that I don’t have siblings who would arrange this for me. There is a gorgeous cake with little blue booties on it, and all kinds of food ranging from your basic cheeseburgers to lavish Russian and Hungarian dishes. Vladimir disappears into the basement, where the husbands are supposedly hiding. I meet almost every single wife and or girlfriend of the Devils players, and by the time it’s time to open presents, I feel like I’ve made a lot more friends. The men come upstairs for the presents, and they each sit with their woman. Vladimir wraps his arms around my bulging belly, kisses the top of my head, and then mutters something in Russian. I tear open the first huge box, and reveal a gorgeous cherry wood crib. Box after box reveals crib sheets in almost every color of the rainbow (pink and purple were obviously excluded), adorable outfits, diapers, wipes, bottles, binkies, and my head is spinning by the time I get to the last big box. The tag on the top says “From the Devils with love”, and I raise my eyebrows.
“I’m kind of scared to see what you guys went out and bought,” I chuckle, and tear open the paper. The box is spilling over with outfits and small toys. Sitting on the top are three little jerseys, all with Zharkov written on the backs. I feel tears well up in my eyes, and I hug the little shirts to my chest. Underneath are precious onesies, one in red, one in white, and one in black, all that say Future Devils’ Rookie on them. Further into the box are the cutest little onesies, and my eyes fill with tears of laughter. The onesies are all blue, and Zach beams with pride at my reaction.
“I picked those out!” he cries, drawing laughs from the entire group.
“Jesus Vlad, how are we going to fit all of this in our car?” I ask a few hours later. The last stragglers have left, and I’m in the kitchen, being scolded for trying to help Nicole and Petra with the dishes. I’m off bed-rest now, but at this point I’m so tired I don’t need a prescription to sit around all day. Vladimir chuckles and Ilya tosses him a small box.
“This is a present for you,” Vladimir says, holding out the box. I open it slowly, and find a pair of keys with a small blue bow taped to them.
“Keys?” I ask.
“To our minivan,” Vladimir says. I stare at him.
“Minivan? You got a minivan?” I ask incredulously.
“Yes I did,” Vladimir says proudly before leading me into the garage. Of course, it’s a luxurious minivan, with plenty of room for three boys. I can picture stowing three large hockey bags in the trunk in a few years, but right now Ilya, Vladimir, and Patrik are all hauling out boxes of clothing and furniture, and stowing them in the car. Nicole and Petra come up and twine their arms through mine.
“You two have really become my best friends throughout this whole thing,” I say, and Petra and Nicole smile broadly.
“We’re glad. It’s always nice to have an older woman who’s been through it when you’re pregnant. Besides, if this had happened with any other girl, I’m not so sure we’d be this inviting,” Nicole says.
“Why?” I ask.
“Because none of the other guys on the team seem to be able to pick absolute angels to start a family with. Well, not the young guys anyway. Some of the girls, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, are downright horrid,” Nicole says with a slight frown. I nod in agreement; a select few girls had been quite nasty, and I was glad that I hadn’t met them any sooner. Suddenly, I feel a surge of pain, and double over. Nicole places a hand on my shoulder, and Petra’s eyes grow wide. Vladimir instantly drops what he’s carrying and rushes over to me, placing his hands on my shoulder. His eyes are wide as they find mine, and I take a deep breath.
“What’s wrong?” he asks as the pain fades.
“I…I think I just had a contraction,” I whisper, and Nicole and Petra nod in agreement.
“Probably Braxton Hicks, but call your doctor,” Nicole says. Vladimir pulls out his phone, and after a few minutes of rapid conversation, he’s loading me into the van and taking off towards the doctor’s office.
“Well, it was just a Braxton Hicks contraction. Those are quite common, but you should still be careful. If this happens again, but the pain doesn’t fade, or becomes regular, call us right away,” the doctor says. Vladimir and I both breathe a sigh of relief. He squeezes my hand tightly as we walk out of the doctor’s office. We’ve survived our first labor scare.
I’m sitting in the car almost impatiently. My belly is huge, the boys are restless, and I haven’t gotten much sleep. I don’t know where I’m going because Vladimir won’t tell me, and I really want to scream. We pull up to a lavish house in a huge suburb outside of Newark, and I raise my eyebrows.
“Vladimir, where are we?” I ask, looking around. Everything about the neighborhood is unfamiliar, and it puts me on edge. Vladimir simply smiles, takes my hand, and leads me into the house.
“Surprise!” I hear, and I immediately break into a huge smile. Nicole and Petra are bouncing excitedly, and I let out a shriek of surprise when some of my best friends from high school rush over to pull me into a group hug.
“Cassidy, Ivanna, what are you doing here?!” I ask, and they smile.
“You’ve got a man who does his research Nemo. I’m honestly disappointed in you girl. You haven’t told us anything and we were there the night you met him!” Ivanna chides, her big brown eyes glinting with mischief.
“I’m so sorry!” I say, smiling apologetically. The baby shower is spectacular. Nicole and Petra spared no expense, apparently having been told by Vladimir about the fact that I don’t have siblings who would arrange this for me. There is a gorgeous cake with little blue booties on it, and all kinds of food ranging from your basic cheeseburgers to lavish Russian and Hungarian dishes. Vladimir disappears into the basement, where the husbands are supposedly hiding. I meet almost every single wife and or girlfriend of the Devils players, and by the time it’s time to open presents, I feel like I’ve made a lot more friends. The men come upstairs for the presents, and they each sit with their woman. Vladimir wraps his arms around my bulging belly, kisses the top of my head, and then mutters something in Russian. I tear open the first huge box, and reveal a gorgeous cherry wood crib. Box after box reveals crib sheets in almost every color of the rainbow (pink and purple were obviously excluded), adorable outfits, diapers, wipes, bottles, binkies, and my head is spinning by the time I get to the last big box. The tag on the top says “From the Devils with love”, and I raise my eyebrows.
“I’m kind of scared to see what you guys went out and bought,” I chuckle, and tear open the paper. The box is spilling over with outfits and small toys. Sitting on the top are three little jerseys, all with Zharkov written on the backs. I feel tears well up in my eyes, and I hug the little shirts to my chest. Underneath are precious onesies, one in red, one in white, and one in black, all that say Future Devils’ Rookie on them. Further into the box are the cutest little onesies, and my eyes fill with tears of laughter. The onesies are all blue, and Zach beams with pride at my reaction.
“I picked those out!” he cries, drawing laughs from the entire group.
“Jesus Vlad, how are we going to fit all of this in our car?” I ask a few hours later. The last stragglers have left, and I’m in the kitchen, being scolded for trying to help Nicole and Petra with the dishes. I’m off bed-rest now, but at this point I’m so tired I don’t need a prescription to sit around all day. Vladimir chuckles and Ilya tosses him a small box.
“This is a present for you,” Vladimir says, holding out the box. I open it slowly, and find a pair of keys with a small blue bow taped to them.
“Keys?” I ask.
“To our minivan,” Vladimir says. I stare at him.
“Minivan? You got a minivan?” I ask incredulously.
“Yes I did,” Vladimir says proudly before leading me into the garage. Of course, it’s a luxurious minivan, with plenty of room for three boys. I can picture stowing three large hockey bags in the trunk in a few years, but right now Ilya, Vladimir, and Patrik are all hauling out boxes of clothing and furniture, and stowing them in the car. Nicole and Petra come up and twine their arms through mine.
“You two have really become my best friends throughout this whole thing,” I say, and Petra and Nicole smile broadly.
“We’re glad. It’s always nice to have an older woman who’s been through it when you’re pregnant. Besides, if this had happened with any other girl, I’m not so sure we’d be this inviting,” Nicole says.
“Why?” I ask.
“Because none of the other guys on the team seem to be able to pick absolute angels to start a family with. Well, not the young guys anyway. Some of the girls, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, are downright horrid,” Nicole says with a slight frown. I nod in agreement; a select few girls had been quite nasty, and I was glad that I hadn’t met them any sooner. Suddenly, I feel a surge of pain, and double over. Nicole places a hand on my shoulder, and Petra’s eyes grow wide. Vladimir instantly drops what he’s carrying and rushes over to me, placing his hands on my shoulder. His eyes are wide as they find mine, and I take a deep breath.
“What’s wrong?” he asks as the pain fades.
“I…I think I just had a contraction,” I whisper, and Nicole and Petra nod in agreement.
“Probably Braxton Hicks, but call your doctor,” Nicole says. Vladimir pulls out his phone, and after a few minutes of rapid conversation, he’s loading me into the van and taking off towards the doctor’s office.
“Well, it was just a Braxton Hicks contraction. Those are quite common, but you should still be careful. If this happens again, but the pain doesn’t fade, or becomes regular, call us right away,” the doctor says. Vladimir and I both breathe a sigh of relief. He squeezes my hand tightly as we walk out of the doctor’s office. We’ve survived our first labor scare.