Cinematic Confessions

Autumn sat on her couch, watching Comcast Sports Net, which was showing a behind-the-scenes special of the Blackhawks locker room. She jumped when she heard her front door open from behind her, and she spun her head around to see Corey walking in with his gym bag, meaning he had came straight from practice. That had become common practice lately that he would come over to her place after practice if she hadn't stayed the night at his place the night before. She smiled at him before turning her attention back towards the television.

"What are you watching?" he asked, picking her feet up off the couch and sitting down in their place before putting them on his lap.

"They're showing your locker room," she said, pointing to the television.

Corey chuckled. "Never seen that before," he joked.

Autumn rolled her eyes. "Sorry not all of us see it every day," she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh so there was something I was wanting to ask you," he said, and Autumn looked over at him, waiting on him to continue. "So there's this team charity banquet thing coming up next week, and I was hoping you'd want to come with me. I'm sorry about the late notice," he added. He had forgotten all about it until it was brought up today after practice, and he knew he had better ask Autumn to go with him.

She stared up at him. "You want me to go with you?" she asked him.

"Yeah," Corey said with a nervous laugh, somewhat confused by her hesitation.

"But everyone will see me," she stated.

Corey nodded his head. "Yeah, they will. What's wrong, Autumn?" he inquired.

"It's just," she began before pausing, putting her hand on her stomach. "I'm pregnant."

Corey stared at her, unable to see what the problem was. "Yeah…" he said slowly. "I'm aware of that."

She looked up at him with wide eyes, almost as if she were scared. "You want people to see me like this? With you?" she said, but he still couldn't seem to understand what she was trying to say. "Corey, what is everyone going to think when they see you show up with some random pregnant lady?" she finally got out.

Corey grabbed her hand. "Autumn, you're not 'some pregnant lady'," he assured her, bringing her hand up to kiss her knuckles gently. "And everyone that means anything to me knows that. They know you. They know your story. They know I love you. And who gives a hell what everyone else thinks?" he asked her.

"I just don't want to embarrass you," she said quietly.

"Embarrass me?" he asked, thoroughly confused. "If anything, I'll embarrass you. In case you didn't know," he said, leaning closer and lowering his voice as if about to tell her a secret. "You're kinda out of my league."

Autumn rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless. "As long as you're sure you don't mind people talking."

He looked into her eyes. "I want you there."

She smiled bigger at him. "Then I'll be there," she said. "But, I am going to have to go get a dress if it's some fancy banquet. I don't have anything dressy that will fit me with this one," she said, placing her hand on her stomach. Her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh my God, Corey!" she exclaimed. "Corey! I can feel kicking! The baby's kicking!" she said excitedly as she grabbed his hand and put it on her stomach as well. "Do you feel? Do you feel the kicking?" she asked him, looking at him wide-eyed.

A big smile spread across his face. "He's definitely kicking in there," he told her.

"He? You think it's a boy?" she asked. She wasn't set to find out the sex of the baby until her next checkup in two weeks. She and Katherine had talked about what they thought the baby would be. Autumn wouldn't give her prediction, but Katherine kept saying she thought it was going to be a girl with how much she was craving chocolate.

Corey laughed. "I have no idea," he shook his head. "But, whatever it is, they sure are kicking up a storm," he said, his hand still pressed against her stomach.

Autumn bit her lip as she smiled widely at Corey. "I have to call Kat!" she told him. She knew Katherine and Cade wouldn't be able to wait to feel their baby kick. They wanted to be a part of everything, and they couldn't miss this. "Do you mind getting me my phone?" she asked him. "It's on the table over there," she added, pointing to the side table on the other side of Corey. He easily reached over and grabbed it, handing it to her.

Moments later, Katherine was on the line. "Hey Autumn, what's up?" she asked.

"You need to get to my place. Now," she instructed.

"What's wrong?" Katherine asked, immediately worried. "Is something wrong with the baby?" she inquired, and Autumn could hear her rushing around trying to get her things so she could get over there in a hurry. It was now clear that Autumn should have clarified instead of terrifying her best friend.

"No, no, nothing is wrong with the baby! In fact, the baby is kicking!" Autumn practically squealed. "Come over and feel it!"

"Oh, she's kicking?" she asked excitedly. "I'll call Cade on the way! He just went to the gym, but I know he'll want to feel, too! Autumn! This is so exciting!" she gushed. Autumn couldn't help but feel so happy for her friend. "I'll be there in a couple minutes!" Katherine told her before hanging up the phone.

Autumn turned to look at Corey, placing her hand on top of his, and then moving it to her stomach once again.

Just a few minutes later, her front door opened without warning, and Katherine came rushing inside. The first thing that Autumn noticed was the Starbucks cup in her hand. "Oh my God, coffee. I want coffee!" she exclaimed. She still hadn't come to terms with the fact she had to give up coffee until the baby was born.

"Forget about the coffee!" Katherine yelled as she thrust the cup into Corey's hand. Corey looked at her confused, not sure why she had given him the coffee, but he didn't say anything as Katherine kneeled in front of Autumn and put her hand on her stomach. "The baby is kicking?" she asked.

Autumn didn't have to even answer the question, as the baby started moving around. She saw Katherine beaming from ear to ear, and Autumn smiled at Corey, reaching over and squeezing his hand.

Katherine looked up at Autumn. "That's our baby," she smiled.

"That's your baby, Kat," Autumn corrected, biting her lip as she grinned. She couldn’t have been happier for her best friend. Katherine sat there for nearly another half an hour with her hand on Autumn's stomach before Autumn started moving around uncomfortably. "I have to pee," she admitted, and Katherine moved to allow her to go to the bathroom.

Katherine sat down in Autumn's now abandoned seat. She looked over at Corey. "I'm excited," she told him as she grabbed her coffee cup that he was still holding for some unknown reason. "I can't wait for the baby to be here."

Corey nodded his head. "I know," he smiled at her. "I think Autumn feels the same way. She wants you to have that baby."

"Don’t hurt her, okay?" Katherine said out of the blue.

Corey furrowed his eyebrows, unsure where this was coming from. "Katherine, do you honestly believe I'd hurt her?" he asked.

"Not intentionally."

"I love her," he stated plainly. "I'd kill anyone that even tried to hurt her," he added with an expression that showed he was being dead serious.

"Good," Katherine smiled at him.

Autumn came walking back into the living room. "What are you guys talking about?" she asked.

Corey was the first one to come up with a response. "I was telling Katherine how I asked you to the dinner, and she was saying she'd have to go shopping with you to find a dress." He looked at Katherine, hoping she'd go along with what he was saying. He really didn't want to tell Autumn what they were really talking about.

Katherine stood up and nodded her head. "Yes, he said you needed a fancy dress," she said, and Corey was surprised that she seemed to know exactly what he was talking about, even though he hadn't even mentioned the event to her. Maybe Brent had talked about it or something. He didn't know, and he didn't really care. He was just grateful that she was going along with it.

"You'll help me?" Autumn was asking her. "Because I don't know that there's really going to be any dress out there that will make me look alright with this thing squirming around inside," she said with a chuckle, putting her hands on her stomach.

"You'll look gorgeous in whatever we get!" Katherine insisted. "Besides, the only person you really need to impress is this guy over here," she continued, jerking her thumb in Corey's direction. "And something tells me that he's going to think you're gorgeous in anything," she smiled brightly.

Autumn glanced at Corey, who was nodding his head, and then looked back up at Katherine. "I still want to try to find something good," she told her.

"We will," Katherine assured her. "I am going to head to the hospital, I want to tell Cade about the baby! And when is the thing you need the dress for? We can go after the doctor appointment next week if it's not before then!" she suggested. Autumn had an appointment for another ultrasound in which Dr. Shively had said that they may just be able to determine the sex of the baby.

Autumn opened her mouth and then shut it immediately, looking over at Corey. "When is the dinner?" she asked, suddenly realizing that Corey had never even told her when it was, even though she had already agreed to go. She hoped she didn't have to work that night and would need to switch shifts with somebody.

"Next weekend," Corey replied. "So you can go after your appointment."

Autumn looked up at Katherine. "Perfect! Thanks for helping me out," she smiled at her friend.

"Of course," Katherine smiled back. "I'll see you later," she added as she headed to the door, excited to go tell Cade about the baby kicking.

Autumn leaned over, resting her head on Corey's shoulder. "You tired?" he asked her, putting his arm around her as she snuggled in closer to him. She could smell the normal scent of his soap that he always used, and she inhaled deeply as she smiled. She loved that scent, and she couldn't get enough of it.

She shrugged. "I just don't have the energy I used to," she answered. "This baby is taking it all out of me. I feel like an old woman who can't stay up late anymore.

Corey glanced at the clock, chuckling when he saw it was before seven. "Are you going to make it through the dinner? It doesn't even start til seven," he told her.

Autumn rolled her eyes as she pulled away from Corey, looking up at him. "Yes, I'll make it through the dinner!" she exclaimed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You know if there's anything I'll stay awake for, it's food," she told him. "Not much else," she added with a laugh.

"Yeah, we both know it's not sex," Corey mumbled.

"Hey! I apologized for that!" Autumn told him, lightly hitting his arm with the back of her hand. She had accidentally fallen asleep during foreplay a few nights ago, and she knew Corey wasn't about to let her forget it anytime soon, even though she had made it up to him more than once since then.

"Doesn't mean I forgot about it," he retorted.

"Yeah, well just for that, you're not getting any tonight!" she said, crossing her arms over her chest matter-of-factly.

Corey laughed. "Yeah, like you'd even stay awake for it," he muttered. He could see her glaring at him out of the corner of his eye, and he couldn’t resist laughing at her. "You know I'm just joking," he told her, but she still sat with her arms over her chest. "I love you," he said, kissing her temple.

"Oh don't try to sweet talk yourself out of this one," she told him.

"How do I make it up to you?" Corey asked her.

Autumn thought about it for a moment before smiling. "You could go run a bath for me. I feel like relaxing," she told him.

"Do I get to join you in this relaxing bath?" he asked with a grin as he stood up and started to make his way towards the bathroom to get the water started.

She waited until he got back before she answered him. "Not a chance, buddy," she told him as she eased her way up off the couch. She started walking towards the bathroom when Corey caught her arm and spun her around so she was facing him. He caught her in a deep kiss, putting his hand on the back of her head. When he pulled away, Autumn was left out of breath.

"No?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Well…maybe if I get another one of those," she said with a grin, and Corey wasted no time pulling her close to him once again.