Status: We'll see where this one leads

A Lifelong Promise

Frozen

Paul stood there for a second with his heart in his throat and his jaw hanging almost to the ground unable to say a word. The doors to the elevator closed due to his inactivity and without being able to do a thing about it, he rode all the way back down to the lobby.

"Paul?" he finally heard her say with a hint of nervousness in her voice. He was somewhere between his floor and the lobby at this point and still hadn't been able to get a word out. "Are....you okay?"

He finally felt like he was able to let out a breath of air and when he did the smile that overtook his senses was one of pure elation. "I'm...I'm just. I'm - wow. Are you serious?" he asked her as he tried to wrap his brain around this exciting news.

"I wouldn't lie about it," she gushed. "I wanted to tell you in person but I couldn't wait. Are you disappointed?"

"No!" he breathed out as the elevator doors finally opened again to lead him out to the lobby. He shook himself out of his trance and went to press his floor button again - only when he saw the doors open he found himself looking at Crosby. "Clare I want to talk about this and I'm...I can't even tell you in words how happy I am. Oh my God," he sighed out. "Baby I'm so baby and I love you, I love you so much."

He didn't want to give away anything with Sid standing next to him but he also didn't want to push his pregnant wife off the phone during one of the most monumental moments of their lives. "Can you please give me a few minutes to call you back. This isn't the best time to talk about it but please don't be angry with me. Please," he pleaded on his end knowing how much of a jerk he probably sounded like to her.

"I just thought you'd want to know," she said as she swallowed, trying to be as supportive and understanding as possible.

"I do, I'm so glad you called me. I just need to handle something now."

"I get it," Clare said softly. "Call me later. I love you."

"I will, I promise you." He ended the call just as the elevators opened to his floor again. He went to place his phone in his back pocket as he stepped out, and Sid followed him.

"I'm gonna wager Clare is pregnant."

"Huh?" Paul asked all flustered being as obvious as possible despite his attempt to play it cool.

"Yeah," Sid nodded as he walked stride for stride with Paul down the hallway to his room. "That's a yes."

"I..." Paul let out a deep breath as he opened his room door and finally entered his safe haven. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked up at Sid with wide eyes, kind of like a deer caught in headlights. "I'm so excited dude," he finally breathed out. "I"m just so caught off guard right now."

"Yeah I guess I know how you feel considering we all just found out you're married. And have been, for a while," Sid was kind of being condescending with him but he wasn't showing anger. "I thought of all people you would have at least told me. I get why you kept it from James - but I didn't even know you proposed to her. I guess it isn't my business, but after everything I've watched you go through I thought I'd at least get a heads up."

"I didn't mean for it to be a secret for this long, it just kind of happened that way. I asked her and we got married so quick. It just felt right after everything we'd been through, to have something that was just us two. Nothing's been private for us, nothing's been personal. We've had to share it with...someone, the whole way. We just wanted something to ourselves for a bit. I should've told you and I didn't mean to lie."

Sid stood there with his nostrils flaring and his hands in his pockets for a moment before letting out a deep breath and relaxing his shoulders. "I understand. Believe it or not I really do. I just...I didn't think...I don't even know," he said as he let out a confused little laugh. "You do realize though that I'm not the one you need to worry about here..."

"Oh c'mon. He's gonna flip. He already did."

"He just accepted the fact that you two were together. I don't think he can handle this," Sid said blatantly, stating the obvious. "You marrying her will kill him - and now a baby? I - I don't know what to tell you man. I'm happy for you, I am. But this won't be easy now."

"I know it. The bubble has shattered - it isn't just her and I anymore. I mean I just found out literally two minutes ago she's pregnant. It wasn't why I married her. And I'm so freaking happy. I just don't know what to do with myself. This isn't a secret we can keep forever."

"You'll figure it out. You always do. But putting that aside, wow," his lips curled up into a handsome smile. "You're gonna be a father. How do you feel?"

"I don't even know. I mean I'm so excited. She's so perfect and she's going to be an amazing mother. I just hope I live up to it for her, for the baby. I needed to absorb this alone and you showed up. I kinda just...froze."

"I know how you feel. I remember when Hannah told me the first time. It's like your entire life changes that second. She's more than I could have ever hoped for in another person as a wife let alone a mother to my children. You'll find you fall for her more through this. It's a very exciting time. Congrats man, it's a huge blessing."

"I know it but I know Han didn't have the easiest of pregnancies and I don't want the added stress for Clare. I can't protect her from that." Paul dropped his head and let out a sigh. "I think - I think that regardless of whether I get traded or not, when my contract is up we're heading out of Pitt."

"It would suck, but I understand. Everything will be okay," Sid said reassuring. "It will. I think, though, that I should head to my room. I'll get some room service. You need to call your wife and make sure she knows how excited you are. I'll see you later," Sid said as he began to head towards the door.

"Thanks man," Paul sighed out. "Thanks."

"Night," Sid said with a grin as he turned to go and let the door slam behind him.

***

The second Paul laid his eyes on Clare when he walked through the door, he scooped her up in his arms and kissed her. He slid his hands around to her back, holding her tightly to him before softly slipping them back to her stomach where he gently rubbed the miracle they'd made together. "How are you feeling?" he asked as he pulled back to look at her.

"Well I'm getting the sickness more and more. So it kind of stinks, and I'm tired. But aside from that I'd say normal- scared, excited, you name it. I just can't believe we're having a baby!"

"Yeah tell me about it," he let out with a laugh. "You're giving me such an incredible gift I don't see how I could ever compare."

"You already did. You'll have me beat for the rest of our lives." She leaned in and kissed him before pulling away so he could bend down and pet the dog. "I think we need to figure out what we're gonna do now."

"What do you mean babe?" Paul asked as he stood back up straight.

"Well, he knows we're married and he isn't thrilled - and believe it or not I feel bad for the guy. It has to hurt him, I know that. This is something he doesn't need to know and shouldn't know until we can't keep it a secret anymore. For his sake, I don't think he should find out."

"So let's keep between us for a while - we would anyway regardless. It's personal and it's still early. Let's not worry about him and focus on us and the baby. This is the best thing to ever happen to me and you better believe I'll protect you with all that I have."

"I know baby," she breathed out as she rested her hand gently on his cheek. "I won't even be showing until after the season's over and we'll have all summer alone together, no distractions."

"Speaking of which, I kind of had an idea I wanted to run by you."

"Shoot."

"Well regardless of how far we go in the playoffs, I was thinking that after the seasons over, we could take a few weeks and spend some time in South Carolina."

Clare's eyes widened and her lips curled up into a pouty smile. "Really?" she asked totally blown away by his suggestion.

"Yeah, I think it'd be best for you."

She threw her arms around him tighter than they already were and hugged him close to her. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear. "You're the best - in so many ways. I'll be about..." she closed her eyes and racked her brain, "Seven months pregnant around opening night. By then obviously I'll be really showing."

Paul cradled her flat stomach in his hands again, still wrapping his brain around the fact that they'd created something so beautiful together and it was actively growing inside of her. "Everything will be okay. I'll be in my contract year. I could be traded by then. Let's just...let's do this. Let's not worry about him throughout this pregnancy. My biggest concern is keeping you as relaxed as possible, no stress. You don't need to be stressed out, it isn't healthy for you or the baby. We'll worry about him when we need to, if it even matters by then."

Clare nodded her agreement and curled her lips up into a sweet smile. "I think you're right. I want to enjoy this experience with my husband. I don't even care about the rest."

"You, uh, you mentioned that you've been feeling pretty sick already."

"Just queasy. I know the hardball stuff will be coming shortly. I know a lot of girls don't start throwing up until after a couple weeks knowing they're pregnant. Some start right away, so who knows. Right now I'm just kinda of blah."

"But...aside from that....okay?"

"Yeah," she laughed. "I guess, why?"

Paul leaned down and kissed her before slowly sliding his lips to her ear. "I was hoping to celebrate having a baby the same way we made it."

Clare flashed a pure smile as he whispered his horny confession. She pulled back and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing his butt in her hands. "You know something."

"What?"

"I know I'm not very pregnant you but I've definitely heard of pregnancy boobs."

"Oh yeah?" he flirted.

"Yeah I think you might need to check and see if they're any bigger." She slid her hands up her and grabbed her boobs in her hands, cupping them up and delicately giving them a little squeeze. Paul watched in delight for a few seconds before he pulled her in tightly by her waist, smashing her hips into his own. In one fluid motion he crashed his lips down onto hers and lifted her shirt up over her head, tossing it on the floor and instantly picking her up to carry her to their bedroom.

***

After the season officially ended Clare and Paul spent two weeks home in their house uninterrupted by anything. He didn't have to wake up and bust his ass, though it was more disappointing than it sounded. Clare's small bump was starting to pop and each morning when they woke up the first thing Paul did was kiss and pray over her belly. This continued each morning throughout her entire pregnancy - when they were home, while they were in South Carolina - it didn't matter. The vacation they spent down south was more enjoyable to him than he ever imagined it would have been. In his younger days, hell - in his single days before he met Clare, he would have thought something so simple, so quiet was boring as fuck. He would have spent his nights picking up girls with no strings attached, having no inclination as to how unhappy he was and how much of his life he was wasting away on nothing. It was all different now. He was married to the girl of his dreams, she was having his baby, and he wanted nothing more each and every day than to wake up next to her and spend the days strolling through the fields or carefully allowing her to ride her favorite horse while he caught on to her hobby.

As beautiful a summer as they had, it had to come to an end. They said good bye to her family and made the short flight back home, coming back with a much bigger baby bump than when they had left. When practice started up again and Paul made the commitment to stick through to the end of his contract season to test the market, Clare stayed home. After the trauma that Jason had put her through, she decided to step down despite the fact that he'd been fired. This wasn't something that was forced upon her, it felt natural. She loved her job and enjoyed it while it lasted, but she'd gotten everything out of it that she possibly could have and she was ready for the next chapter in her life. Every time she would look down or touch her stomach she would love the little person growing inside her more and more and she knew that her life had taken on an entirely new meaning.

Even though Paul wanted her to be there for him, by the time opening night rolled around, he made her swear that she wouldn't come. He wanted to keep her away from James and not put any added stresses on his family. He was a typically paranoid expectant father, but with how much he cherished his wife he felt he had every reason to be.

Clare did what her husband wanted regardless of how much it killed her not to be there cheering him on. She stayed and watched from the comfort of their home, and like clockwork every night she knew when he'd walk through the door. He never did anything to betray her trust, never went out drinking after games, never left her home all night waiting - and the best part was that it was entirely his choice. She would waddle on over to him and he'd hold her in his arms making the tensions of everyday life simply melt away.

By the time Thanksgiving was almost upon them, Clare was just around eight months pregnant. She hadn't gone to any of Paul's games, which had led to borderline arguments between the two of them, and her hormones were - at times - getting the best of her. They planned on staying put for the holiday since Clare was so far along in her pregnancy and didn't want to risk it by flying. They were in making cookies and preparing the turkey to marinade for a few days before it was ready to be cooked. It was their first big holiday as a married couple even though it'd been inching closer and closer to a year since they said their 'I do's'.

"Babe can you hand me the brown sugar," Clare asked as they stood next to each other by the counter. Both of them were covered in flour and smelled like heaven, baking together like the wholesome couple they were.

Paul left a white powdery handprint on Clare's apron on her protruding stomach as he leaned down to give her a kiss after handing her what she had requested. She had her hair tossed up into a messy bun and even with minimal make up and baked goods all over herself Paul still found her to be breathtaking.

"I was thinking we could go out for dinner Wednesday," Paul mentioned as he scooped the dough for this batch of cookies onto the baking sheet.

Clare mixed the bowl for the next set and let out a laugh. "We're making all this food for Thursday and we'll have a lot of leftovers. You sure you thought that one through?"

"I just feel bad. You're so pregnant and uncomfortable, I thought you'd want to be pampered a little."

"Baby," she turned and wrapped her cookie-dough hands around his neck. "You pamper me every day. There isn't a day that goes by I don't feel loved. Don't worry about me being uncomfortable, I signed up for this!" she reached up and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "I will, however, come to the game Wednesday."

Paul kind of winced and looked at her skeptically. "I had a feeling you'd say that."

"Is it a bad idea? You've been so weird about me coming."

"Clare I just want to protect you. You know that. I won't say no but I don't wanna be worrying about you the entire time I'm there."

"You won't have, because there isn't anything to worry about. We're almost to the finish line - we have another month to go. Nothing can go wrong now. I haven't seen James since I was newly pregnant, I think it's okay. Time has a way of fixing things."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Paul mumbled under his breath.

"What do you mean?"

"He still isn't over it - over you. He acts like he is. He plays it up well. Hell some guys probably think he is. But he isn't. I knew him well before and you can't fake the way you look at someone. He hates me and he always will. I think with all my heart he would still take you back if you went running to him."

"I don't want to."

"I know. I don't know whether he's changed but I know he regrets every single day what he lost. And that...I can't blame him for that."

"You think too much baby." She turned and walked over to the freezer. "Oh damn!" she yelled in playful frustration as she started at the cold box in disbelief.

"What's wrong?"

"We don't have any of my ice cream! I'm devastated right now. The baby wants it."

Paul couldn't help letting out a little laugh. "The baby? Uh huh." He smiled as he walked over to her and rested his hand on the her lower back, massaging it as he looked for himself. "I guess we don't. I can go get some if you want."

"No," she shook her head. "No don't worry about it. I won't make you do that."

"It really isn't a problem baby if you want it I'll go now. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"No, no," she shook her head. "We're here making cookies and you're all cute as a baker. How about this. I'll go. I don't mind the fresh air. I need to pick up a few other things anyway for the rest of our Thanksgiving dinner."

"No way," he cut her off. "I'm not letting my eight months pregnant wife go do the hard stuff."

"Baby," she said with a grin. "You're an adorable little cook with the baking flour all over your handsome face...but you have no idea what half the stuff on my list is. You finish the cookies. I'll go. I'll be back in a half hour. When I get back we can do a little cowgirl action," she flirted with a wink as she went to look for her uggs.

"You sure?"

"I'm positive. You don't need to worry about me all the time - though I love you for it. Just keep an eye on the cookies in the oven and finish the batch we're working on now."

"Alright," he said hesitantly as he leaned down and kissed her. "Call me if you need me."

"I'll be right back!" She stuck her tongue out at him as she went to walk out the door and he ran over and made her squeal with laughter as he gave her butt a little pinch. "Baby!" she screeched out as she reached for his hand and gave it a little squeeze.

She had the list already in her purse for the stuff she needed to make dinner, so her needing ice cream was actually rather convenient. It wasn't late, but it was dark, so it felt later than it was. Despite the fact that the holiday was so close the store was relatively quiet. It was a nice calm for Clare as she could take her time and waddle around to find what she was looking for. She smiled wide as she went down the frozen aisle and grabbed her coconut ice cream that Paul loved to make fun of her for.

"Some things never change," she heard a familiar voice echo from behind her as she reached for her craving. Her eyes popped open and she felt her heart rate accelerate as she tried to figure out a way to hide from her ex-husband. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath as she slowly closed the freezer glass door and spun around.

She saw James' face turn white as a sheet and his eyes nearly bulge out of his head as they fell to her expectant stomach.

She swallowed and felt her breathing speed up as she stood there unsure of what to do. "Hey," she said solemnly as she watched him stare at her in disbelief.

"I...you're...." he stuttered trying to find the words to say. "Are you kidding me?"

"You didn't know?" she asked quietly.

"You knew damn right well I didn't know. I knew something was up, I hadn't seen you in months but I just figured we were all trying to play nice. Fuck. You married my teammate, never gave me a heads up and then I guess let him knock you up before you went into hiding. I guess I thought you would have given me some kind of heads up considering we were talking about having kids before you left."

"That isn't fair," she said fighting back tears. "We talked about having kids a long time before I left - in fact we talked about having kids before you went off the deep end and partied every night. You can't hate me for my choice forever. I tried to make it work with you James, I tried so hard. I went down swinging. You're the one who walked away."

"Seeing you like this is...wow. This is harder than I thought it would be. How far along are you? You have to be ready to pop. I can't...believe this."

"I'm due in four and a half weeks. And I am pretty sure you gave up the right to have an opinion on this when you not only cheated on me but then gave me your blessing to be with him."

"I never thought I'd be signing the deed for you to marry him Clare!" his voice was raised as he took a few steps closer to her. He could tell she was breaking down emotionally but he really didn't care.

"You knew James. You aren't as stupid as you act. You knew. I thought that after all this time that if we ran into each other like this -"

"That what? We could get along? Be friends?" he asked angrily, mocking her with his words. "Yeah a lot of time has gone by, sure. But this cut never healed and it's certainly been reopened now. This," he put his hands on her belly. "This should be our baby."

"Don't touch me," she spat out as she tried to back away. "You had five years to make it right. You're just angry because of the pregnancy - you don't mean what you're saying."

"You have no idea what I mean." He grabbed her by her shoulders and looked down intensely into her eyes. "Have you gotten your revenge on me yet? Have you tortured me enough for what I did to you?"

"This isn't about you," she cried as she tried to move away from him. She could feel her stomach tightening from nerves and anxiety and she needed to calm down. "This has nothing to do with you - you played no part in the decision. I'm having a baby with someone who loves me and adores me and someone I wouldn't give up for anything. He's a good man and he loves me so much. I'm happy - if it weren't for our history, I wouldn't have any drama in my marriage."

"Please, it's barely a marriage," he spat out. "You married your rebound and when he reverts to his old ways you'll collect the child support check."

Clare pursed her lips and turned her head away as she wiped away her tears. She was used to the way he fought but it didn't make it hurt less. "Just go away. And you wonder why I left. You're an asshole." She rested her hand on her stomach as she clutched the shopping cart bar with the other trying to catch her breath.

"Whatever Clare. Oh and by the way, I have herpes - contracted it while we were still married. So good luck telling that to your new husband. See how much he wants to sleep with you now. Good luck pushing out that baby. I hope you have a great delivery."

Clare didn't want to let him get the best of her - or at least let him know that he had - but any time they argued he always knew how to be the biggest jerk she'd ever known. He was a classic prick when he was angry, and worse when he was upset. She didn't know if he was lying or telling the truth but she didn't have time to think about it as she felt a gush of water run down her legs. With her hand still on her stomach and her breathing labored she looked down at the ground frozen in a panic as she realized her water had just broken.
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I am sorry I haven't updated in a month. That really wasn't intentional. I've had a lot going on. I really hope you're still reading. It's just been a blast to write and I don't want to end it yet (though we're certainly just about there.)

I hope you enjoy the chapter - leave a comment. I'll wrap this up sooner than later so stick with me!