Cinematic Confessions

Autumn met Katherine for lunch at a local diner that neither of them had been to before. But, Autumn was craving some greasy food, and she figured this was the best place for it. They sat in the booth as both of them glanced over the menu before Katherine ordered a cheeseburger and fries, while Autumn ordered three separate platters. "You'd think I was carrying triplets with how much I eat," she chuckled.

"Oh, I don't think Cade and I could handle three babies!" Katherine responded. "You and Corey would have to take one," she added with a wink.

"We are so not at that level!" Autumn cried, nearly choking on her water that she was sipping.

"Yet," Katherine muttered under her breath, but Autumn caught her word and glared at her. "Anyways," she continued with a big smile. "Brianna and Ryan got to go home last night." It had been three days since Brianna gave birth, and both she and their son had stayed in the hospital until today. Brianna had lost a lot of blood and had to stay to get IV fluids and be monitored. Ryan was doing well, but they didn't want to send him home just yet with his mother in the hospital still.

"Good," Autumn smiled. She felt awful for Brent and Brianna and everything they were going through right now. Corey had taken it hard, too, becoming more protective of her since then. She knew he was simply worried about her, but sometimes she wanted to shake him and tell him that she was just fine.

"I was thinking of stopping by and seeing if they needed anything. You want to come with me?" Katherine suggested. She could see the hesitation in Autumn's eyes. "Don’t even start with the 'I don't want to be in the way' stuff. They'd love to see you! And you'll get to see Ryan then!" she gushed, and it was obvious how excited Katherine was to have a nephew.

"Sure," Autumn agreed, as the waitress came back with her milkshake. She immediately started drinking it as the topic changed to work, and Katherine told her all about her kids at school and how she was looking forward to winter break and time off of work.

They finished their meal, or in Autumn's case three different meals, and then they went off to Brent and Brianna's. Katherine rang the doorbell and the two of them were met with an exhausted looking Brent. "Hey bro," Katherine beamed, putting a hand on his shoulder as she walked inside. Autumn followed behind her as Brent shut the door behind her. "You look a little tired," Katherine stated the obvious.

"That could be because I have a new baby that never stops crying and a wife that's been ordered to rest as much as possible," he stated, and as if on cue, Ryan started crying.

Brent closed his eyes briefly, obviously wishing Ryan would continue to sleep, and Katherine stopped him before he could run down the hallway to get him. "I got him," she told him as she went to go get the newborn.

Autumn looked at Brent as he ran a hand through his already messy hair. "Maybe it's a good thing I'm giving this baby to Katherine and Cade, then I don't have to deal with sleepless nights," she joked with a smile. Brent cracked a smile, and Autumn continued. "Seriously though, how's everything going? I know you and I aren't the closest, but is there anything I can help you with?"

"We're not close?" Brent responded, raising an eyebrow at her. "You're my little sister's best friend. I've known you for how many years now? You're giving her a baby. And now you're dating one of my teammates. I think we can say we're pretty close," he said with a smile as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Brent, this baby just wants to be held and he stops crying!" Katherine's voice rang out from down the hallway. She arrived in the living room moments later with Ryan in her arms, cuddling against her chest.

"Maybe he just needs a woman," Brent muttered as he watched his sister easily hold Ryan who had indeed stopped crying in her arms.

Autumn smiled at Ryan before looking over at Brent. "How's Brianna doing?" she asked him.

"She's doing alright," Brent replied. "A lot better than at the hospital."

As if she knew they were talking about her, Brianna appeared in the hallway wearing a big Blackhawks t-shirt that Autumn assumed belonged to Brent along with a pair of sweatpants. "I thought I heard voices," she said, her voice a little hoarse, still sick from the hospital. "How are you guys doing? I'm glad you stopped by," she smiled at the two women standing in the living room.

"We came to see you and this little guy," Katherine told her, holding Ryan up a little bit. "I'm glad to see you're doing better," she added.

Brianna nodded her head. "I am," she assured them before turning to look at Autumn. "You'll be the next one doing this."

"Correction, I will be the next one giving birth. Katherine here will be the next one to do the mothering thing," Autumn stated as she looked over at Katherine, who was such at ease with a baby in her arms. She was going to be an outstanding mother, and Autumn knew it.

"And you'll be the next one walking down the aisle," Brianna smiled.

Autumn opened her mouth to respond, but Katherine beat her to it. "No, didn't you hear, she turned Corey's proposal down."

"What?" Brianna and Brent both cried out at once. Apparently no one had clued the married couple in on Corey's sudden proposal or Autumn saying no.

"Oh yeah, Corey proposed," Katherine began.

"Let me just explain, so you don't make either me or Corey sound like an idiot!" Autumn interrupted. Katherine had a tendency to put her own spin on things when retelling stories, and Autumn was sure that this would be no different. "Corey got a little scared when Brianna took a turn," Autumn began the story. "He started thinking about how it could be me when I give birth. And, I think the fear got to him a bit, and he proposed. But, I knew it wasn't the right time, and ultimately, so did he. So we decided not to get engaged."

"Yet," Katherine piped up, and Autumn shot her a look, and Katherine quickly stopped and turned her attention back to Ryan, who was rubbing his cheek against her arm.

Brent was shaking his head. "I can't believe Crow proposed!" he exclaimed. "What the hell is wrong with him?"

Brianna hit Brent in the back of the head. "You're an idiot," she muttered to her husband before turning to Autumn. "I think it's cute, he really cares about you."

"He proposed," Brent rolled his eyes.

"Because he obviously loves her and is worried."

Katherine turned towards her brother. "Don't act like you've never gone all sappy for Brianna," she said with a challenging look on her face. Autumn wondered what kinds of information Katherine had on Brent. Whatever it was, she got him to back down with her threat, and it made Autumn want to laugh.

Brianna reached out and touched Autumn's arm. "You'll get engaged in due time," she smiled at her. Ryan started to get a little fussy, and Brianna turned around to Katherine asking, "Do you want me to take him?"

Katherine held him out, saying, "You want your mommy, don't you?" Ryan instantly calmed down at his mother's touch.

"Jesus, am I the only one that can't get him to stop crying?" Brent mumbled.

Brianna smiled at him. "Nah, maybe he's just sick of being around you all the time," she said with a wink.

"I can't say that I blame him for wanting Bri," he said, putting a hand on his wife's lower back. She smiled, but her eyes stayed on her little boy, who was beginning to go back to sleep. She rocked him a few more moments, and he was out. "You want me to put him back in the crib?" he asked, and Brianna nodded, handing their son over to him.

"I’m glad you two stopped by," Brianna smiled at Katherine and Autumn. "Abby was by earlier," she added. "I think seeing Ryan has put her in a baby mood," she chuckled. "Just wait for another Sharp running around soon."

Katherine nodded. "I can't blame her for wanting another baby. I can't wait for mine!"

Autumn put a hand on her stomach. "You'll get one soon," she promised her, and Katherine put an arm around her friend, giving her a hug.

There was a knock at the door, and Brianna moved over to answer it. Autumn stood on her tiptoes to try to see who was at the door, and she was surprised to see her boyfriend standing there, along with the man they had just been the topic of conversation. "Hey! We were just talking about you!" Brianna told Patrick. "Abby was by earlier."

Sharp rolled his eyes. "I shouldn't be surprised. She was so excited to see the new baby. She didn't want to wait until I got home from practice so we could come here together," he told them. "Where is he anyways?" he asked.

"Brent just put him back down to sleep," Brianna answered. "He's been fussy most of the day, so if he's ready to sleep now, I'm not going to complain."

"Brent or the baby?" Sharp joked.

"Ryan, you asshole," Brent's voice rang out from the hallway. "You should know all about this. Weren't your girls like this when they were first born?" he inquired.

Patrick shrugged his shoulders. "They weren't that bad actually. Or maybe they were and Abby had to deal with it when I was on the road," he said after thinking about it.

"Well let's hope this crying all the time bullshit ends soon," Brent muttered. It was obvious he was irritated after getting very little sleep, and everyone was trying their best not to laugh at his fowl mood.

Corey reached over and put a hand on Brent's shoulder. "The words of an outstanding father," he joked with a laugh.

Brent turned to look at Corey, ignoring his comment. "What the hell is this I hear about you proposing?" Brent questioned, and Corey's smile immediately dropped. He had hoped that news wouldn't have spread, but he should have known better. Everything that happened in his life always got back to his teammates. And, of course, Brent would be the one to bring it up again. "Are you fucking insane?"

"Dude!" Patrick called out. "What the hell?" he asked Brent.

Brent turned around to look at Patrick. "What? You think it's a good idea for him to propose to some girl who's pregnant with someone else's child that he's known for like, what, four months?"

"Hey," Corey called out, putting his hand on Brent's chest to get him to stop talking. He had seen Autumn's expression change, and he knew she felt uncomfortable, and he wasn't going to let Brent keep talking like that with her there.

"You know what I'm saying makes sense. Maybe let her get that baby out of her and then see how you feel about her when her body's all different," Brent continued. Everyone looked around at each other confused. They all knew Brent approved of Corey's relationship with Autumn. In fact, in the beginning, he was the one to make sure Corey was good enough for Autumn. So, no one really knew what was going on with Brent right now. They could only assume it was all the stress from the past few days with Brianna and the very little sleep he was working with at the moment. Still, no one was going to allow him to continue on like this, as everyone started yelling at him at once.

"Brent! You keep talking like that, and you're going to be finding someplace else to sleep," Brianna threatened.

Corey looked pissed, as he clenched his jaw before speaking. "I love her regardless of what changes her body will go through because she's carrying a baby for your sister."

Katherine had reached out and grabbed Brent's arm, spinning him around towards her. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she questioned.

While everyone was yelling at Brent, no one had noticed that Autumn had left the house. It was Corey that was the first one to notice. "Hey, where'd Autumn go?" he asked, looking around.

"She couldn't have gone far, I drove us here," Katherine commented, going to the window to see if she was sitting out in her car, but there was no one there. "She's not there," she told everyone. "I'm going to go try to find her. It's cold out there, and her coat is still here," she said, grabbing it and heading for the door.

"I'll go with you," Corey said, following closely behind her.

"No," Brent called out, and both of them spun around towards him, ready to argue. "I'll go," he said, grabbing the coat out of Katherine's hand and his own off of the back of the couch. "I fucked up, I'll find her," he promised them. Both relented and allowed Brent to head out the door.

It didn't take long for Brent to find Autumn. She was about a block away, and Brent could see her slowly walking before getting stopped at a stoplight. She had her arms wrapped around her, and it was obvious that she was cold. Brent could understand why. The temperature in Chicago had dropped a great deal in just the past two days, and it was starting to feel like winter. He started jogging to catch up to her, and caught her just as she reached the other side of the street after the light changing. "You could probably use this," he said, draping her coat around her shoulders.

Autumn jumped at his voice, not realizing he was behind her. She put the coat on fully as she turned her head towards him. "Thank you," she said quietly as she continued walking.

"I’m sorry," Brent apologized.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Autumn told him. "You're just speaking your opinion. No one can hate you for that," she said, and Brent wanted to tell her that he just had four people hating him for what he had said.

"You know I really don't think that way about you and Crow, right?" he asked.

Autumn came to a full stop as she turned around towards Brent. "Could have fooled me," she muttered. "If that's not how you feel, then why did you say it?"

Brent ran a hand through his hair. "I'm an asshole?" he said as way of an answer, but Autumn wouldn't accept it. "I don't know," he admitted. "I'm tired, and I know that's not an excuse. I was just surprised by Crow proposing, but I guess I shouldn't be. I mean, I've been there the whole time, I've seen him fall for you. Hard. It was only a matter of time before he proposed."

"I told you he only proposed now because he was worried," Autumn told him. "But would it really have been that bad if he proposed to me for real? Am I really that bad? Because I'm pregnant?"

"Autumn," Brent began, putting his hands on her shoulders. "I'm a fucking idiot for saying that. You're carrying a baby for my sister, and I can't even tell you how grateful I am for you to do that since she can't. I don't know why I even said that, why I brought it up. That has nothing to do with you and Corey. All it has to do with is you being a good person for doing this for Kat."

Autumn gave him a small smile. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"Look, I'm sorry for being such an asshole. Sometimes that's just how I am. I'm sure you've heard many stories from Kat about me shoving my foot in my mouth. This time I just shoved it all the way down my throat," he said with a chuckle. Autumn couldn’t help but let out a small laugh as well. "You and Crow are good together. And whenever he proposes for real, whether it's next year or tomorrow, I'm going to be the first one to congratulate you."

"You remember what you said earlier?" Autumn asked.

"Which thing that I said earlier?" Brent wondered. "I said a lot of stupid shit earlier," he muttered.

"When you said that we're pretty close?" Autumn answered, a smile forming on her lips. "I think you were right. We are pretty close."

Brent put his arm around her shoulders as he turned them around and started walking back down the sidewalk towards his house. "Yeah we are," he agreed with a nod of his head.

"I'm glad."

"So you forgive me?" he asked.

Autumn nodded her head. "Let's just chalk it up to lack of sleep and stress, eh?"

Brent let out a sigh of relief that he had her forgiveness. "Let's see if your future husband will agree with that."