This Wasn't Suppose to Happen

Turning off my alarm, I rolled over onto my side and groaned. It had been a long night, one filled with tossing and turning and very little sleep. I had vowed to stay working up until the Christmas break, which would give me 2 months to prepare for the baby’s arrival. However, since the insomnia had set in, I was more exhausted than usual and the last thing on my mind was work.

I was just pouring a glass of orange juice when my phone beeped indicating that there was a text message waiting for me to read. Putting the juice back in the fridge, I grabbed my phone and read the words on the screen as I gulped down the cold liquid. As soon as I read the last sentence, I almost choked on my juice. Coughing and spitting and I managed to breath and tried to stay calm as I reread the text message.

April: Just wanted to let you know that your leave has been approved and as of this morning you are officially on maternity leave. I wish you had told me how hard you’ve been finding work and glad that Sidney took matters into his own hands. Take care and keep in touch!

What the fuck did he do? I asked myself as I paced around my apartment. I was steaming, I was mad, hell, I was more than mad. Irate was probably the word I would use to describe my emotions at this exact moment. Who does he think he is? There is no way I am going to stand for this. I grabbed my jacket and slammed the apartment door behind me, pulling my jacket on as the elevator descended into the parking garage. Putting the Beemer in drive, I floored the gas and screeched out into the dull Pittsburgh sky and towards the practice facility. This was going to end right now.

Even though I was early, hours before practice was scheduled to start, there were already fans outside in the cold waiting to see their favorite players lace up their skates and give them some hockey entertainment. Pulling into the parking lot on the side of the building, I ignored the stares from the fans as I half ran and half waddled towards the rear of the building and towards the players entrance.

Security was waiting for me and she either confused me for someone else or knew that I wasn’t in the mood for playing games because without a second glance, she opened the door and I stepped into the arena. The locker room was only a few feet away and not thinking about anything, I pulled opened the door and stomped inside. Heads flew up as the door slammed behind me and I could see confused looks on their faces. Not bothering to look at faces, I instead searched for a head of dark brown curls and found it towards the back of the locker room, turned away from everyone else. I marched down between the rows of lockers and ignored the stares I was given and grabbed Sid’s shoulder.

“What the hell?” he asked as I yanked on his shoulder to turn him around. “Janelle, what’s wrong? Is it the baby?” he asked as a look of panic crossed his face.

“No, its not the baby. Its you!”, I shoved my phone into his face so he could read the text message.

“That’s great, now you can rest and relax until the little one makes its appearance”, Sid said with a grin. He went to put his hands to my stomach and I slapped them away.

“How dare you go behind my back and talk to my manager. How dare you! Who do you think you are? This is my body and my choice. I don’t have control over anything anymore. Do you know that this pregnancy is controlling my sleeping, my emotions, my bladder and now on top of it all you’re controlling the little bit of my life that I was in charge of. So, how dare you?” I was on a roll and Sid took a step backwards, I could see him glance over my shoulder and I slowly turned to see just about the entire Pittsburgh Penguins team standing and looking at us.

I dropped onto the locker bench and hung my head. This was so not how I had pictured the day going. Sid cleared his throat and for a moment, a very brief moment, I felt bad for the guy. “Well, umm, so I guess you all heard, we’re having a baby”, he said to the guys as cheers, gasps and congratulations escaped their mouths.

“A baby? I didn’t even know you were dating anyone”, James Neal said as he slapped Sid on the back. “Congrats”.

Player after player came up and offered their congratulations and voiced how shocked they were. Introductions were made and I barely nodded in acknowledgement. Finally, things died down and Sid flopped next to me. “I’m only looking out for you”, he said as he glanced towards me.
“I know you’re trying to be there for the baby and I appreciate that, but you just can’t waltz into my life and change things without letting me know. Can you please just let me know before you spring stuff on me?”

Sid nodded, “I’m sorry”. Dan had entered the locker room and I glanced up to see the amused look on his face. “I should go”, I told him as I stood up and walked towards the door with a chorus of goodbyes, take cares and congratulations followed me.

As I climbed back into the SUV, I couldn’t help but smile, at least I didn’t have to worry about Sid telling the team that he was going to have a baby. At the next red light, I pulled my phone out of my bag and dialed Nate’s number. After the morning I was having, I needed a Nate intervention, he always had the ability to calm me down and there was still the little matter of Christmas shopping that I hadn’t started yet. A mall date with Nate was just what the doctor ordered and I quickly turned in the direction of Ross Park Mall to begin the retail therapy with my best friend.