Cinematic Confessions

Autumn rolled over in bed, her arm extended, and she slowly realized that there wasn't anyone next to her. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that the bed was empty, just like she had thought. It took her a few moments to try to remember if she had dreamed that Corey had stayed the night with her or it was reality, but she clearly remembered cuddling up to him the night before. Now the question was where had he gone and when had he disappeared?

She looked over at her alarm clock to see that it was past nine in the morning, and she was surprised she had slept that long. She suddenly felt famished, which wasn't too surprising since she hadn't eaten much since she had gotten sick nearly thirty-six hours ago. She stood up and walked out to the kitchen, shocked when she saw Corey standing out there flipping pancakes.

She couldn't help but smile at him as she said, "What are you doing?"

"Oh this?" he asked, pointing at the pan with the spatula in his hand. "This is a little thing they like to call cooking. See, when you want food, someone has to do the work of making it edible, and that's what they call cooking," he said sarcastically, trying to keep a serious look on his face, though his upper lip was starting to curl up ever so slightly, giving him away.

Autumn rolled her eyes as she moved over by him so she could lightly hit his upper arm with the back of her hand. "Thank you, Mr. Smartass. I wasn't aware that everything didn't just come hot and ready to eat," she retorted. "But, what I'm asking is why you're out here doing this newfangled thing called cooking," she said, unable to keep in the chuckle.

"I figured it was morning and a lot of people like to eat breakfast," he continued to joke before breaking down and laughing. "Honestly, I thought you might like something to eat. I wasn't sure how you'd be feeling this morning, so I made you just some plain toast if you weren't feeling too good and then some pancakes if you were," he said. "And, I looked for some coffee but couldn't see it anywhere," he said.

Autumn nodded her head. "Yeah, caffeine isn't good for the baby, so I got rid of it so I wouldn't be tempted to have a cup. I'm a little addicted to the stuff," she admitted.

Corey's eyes lit up. "So that's why you had decaf the first time I met you! Because of the baby!" he said, finally realizing everything. "Good, because I thought you were some freak girl who liked coffee for the taste and not its caffeinated benefits," he told her.

Autumn laughed. "And yet you still asked me out!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, you were still hot," he winked at her.

"You're such a smooth talker, Crawford," Autumn said sarcastically.

Corey laughed. "Well maybe you'll like me a little better after you have some breakfast," he suggested, making a motion for her to sit down at the table. "What do you feel like? Toast or pancakes?"

"How can I resist homemade pancakes?" she asked him with a grin as he brought the plate of pancakes over and sat them down in front of her.

"Good choice," he told her. "I make a damn good pancake," he said. "What do you want to drink since it's no caffeine?"

"I think I've got some orange juice in the fridge," she told him. "I really need to find a new drink. I miss my coffee and I've got like eight more months to go," she whined.

He grabbed the orange juice, pouring them both a glass before he sat down across from her. "So, I was wondering," he began, and Autumn looked up at him as he trailed off. "Would you want to meet my teammates? They were asking about you on the road trip and want to meet you."

"You want me to meet your teammates?" she asked, and he nodded his head. That was a big step for the two of them. Though they had been dating for quite a while, she hadn't really met any of his friends, simply because he was so busy in the middle of the season. "Do they know about…um…" she asked, putting her hands on her belly.

"Some do," he told her. "I haven't like made a big announcement or anything. I'm sure they'll all figure it out in time. It's not like you can hide it," he chuckled, and Autumn quickly took her hands off her stomach. While she wasn't embarrassed that she was a surrogate for Katherine and Cade, she knew not everyone understood it. And, right now, she wasn't showing, but within the next couple of months, her stomach would be growing, and she'd be getting judged left and right.

"If you want me to meet them, then of course I will," she told him.

"Good, maybe we could head over to Kaner's place later today if you're feeling up to it," he told her. Suddenly her stomach lurched. But, this time it couldn't be blamed on the morning sickness. She wanted to say no, but she knew she needed to man up, so she nodded her head. "Great!" he said, changing subjects quickly thereafter, leaving Autumn thinking about how the night would play out.



Autumn had tried to prepare herself all day for meeting Corey's teammates, but nothing could have prepared her for walking into Patrick Kane's apartment that night. She had expected some out of control party, alcohol everywhere, loud music, something that resembled a frat party from college. What she got was a smaller crowd, all sitting around the living room, talking, with a few cans of beer scattered around and the women enjoying a bottle of wine.

Corey had his hand on Autumn's lower back as they walked inside, and everyone turned their attention to the two of them, making Autumn feel awkward. "That's her!" she heard one of the guys say, though she couldn't put a name to the face. She was sure if Katherine had been there, she would have known them all before, having been introduced through Brent, but Autumn knew none of them except for Katherine's brother, whom she had only met a couple of times while she was Katherine's roommate.

"Guys, this is my girlfriend, Autumn," Corey introduced, as Autumn gave a small wave to them. "Let me introduce everyone," he told Autumn before pointing to the apartment owner. "That's Kaner, right there. And, that's Duncs and his wife, Kelly. And, you know Seabs already, and Brianna, right?" he asked, moving down the line to Brent and his wife, who Autumn had met only once and very briefly at their engagement party, as she hadn't been able to make it to their wedding. "And, Jon and Brandon down there," he concluded, pointing at Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad who sat furthest away from her.

She was expecting something so different, but she was happy with the small group. She ended up sitting next to Brianna, which comforted her to some extent. Autumn stayed quiet as the rest of the group talked. Corey had his arm around her the entire time as Patrick offered her some wine. "No thanks," Autumn said with a smile as she shook her head.

"Are you sure?" he asked again.

Corey looked over at her, as she nodded her head once again. He knew Patrick didn't know that she was pregnant, and he decided to step in for Autumn. "She can't drink," Corey told him.

"Can't drink?" Patrick asked, confused.

Brent his Patrick on the back of his head. "She's pregnant, you doof," he told him. "And, yes, there are people that don't drink out there in the world," he added.

Autumn watched as Patrick's eyes widened at the news. He was looking back and forth between her and Corey, and she could see his mind working, thinking that she was pregnant with Corey's baby. "I'm a surrogate," she told him before he jumped to anymore conclusions.

Realization swept over his face. "Ohhhh," he said. "Then we should probably keep this from you," he said, putting the wine down on the table in front of him.

"How's the pregnancy going?" Brianna asked. She seemed to genuinely want to know, and Autumn warmed up a bit as she began talking.

"It's going alright, just beginning though," she replied.

"Is this guy helping you out?" Brent asked, pointing at Corey. "Because he better be making this as easy as possible on you. We want a healthy baby for Kat," he smiled. It was evident that Brent was excited to be an uncle as much as he was to be a father. And, from the looks of Brianna, he was going to be soon. Katherine had mentioned a while back that Brianna was pregnant, but Autumn hadn't paid too much attention to it, but now it seemed Brent and Brianna were going to play a larger part in her life than she had anticipated, with them being friends with Corey.

Autumn chuckled nervously. She had never expected Corey to take care of her while she was pregnant. He had nothing to do with the pregnancy, and she never wanted him to feel obligated to her. "You bet, I made her breakfast this morning," Corey replied.

"Well apparently I should change husbands," Brianna teased looking at Autumn. "I can't tell you the last time Brent made me breakfast."

"That's because I'm not trying to woo you anymore. You're my wife, and you're having my child. You're not going anywhere. Crow, on the other hand, is still trying to get Autumn. So, he's got to work hard and do things like make her breakfast," Brent explained simply, causing everyone in the room to laugh, knowing he wasn't winning any points with Brianna.

Autumn loosened up more after that, and now that everyone seemed to be alright with her being pregnant, she felt more at ease. But, as the night drew on, she was starting to get tired, though she was trying to hide her yawns. Corey caught on though, and he rubbed her arm, causing her to look over at him with a small smile.

"I think it's time I head out," Corey said to the rest of the group, standing up and holding his hand out for Autumn to grab. Everyone said their goodbyes before Corey led Autumn outside to his car. "So, what do you think?"

"They're a great bunch," Autumn told him sincerely. She had grown to like every single one of them in the room, and she knew that the rest of his team had to be equally likable. The had a camaraderie that was unbeatable, and Autumn was honored that they accepted her.

"Yeah I like them alright," he joked. "So…do you want another movie night tonight?"

"I'm kinda tired," she began before she realized what he was actually inferring. "But, I'd love if you stayed the night again. And you don't even need to make me breakfast in the morning," she added with a wink.

Corey laughed. "I'll have to leave for the rink early anyways. We've got a morning skate before the game tomorrow night."

She nodded her head as he pulled into the parking lot and got her inside. She had barely changed into a pair of shorts and an old t-shirt before she was fast asleep. Corey smiled at her as he got into bed next to her, falling asleep just as quickly.

He didn't stay asleep for long, though as he could hear coughing, and he opened his eyes enough to see light shining in the bedroom from the bathroom. He stood up, making his way to the bathroom to see Autumn leaning over the toilet, clearly having another bout of morning sickness, which seemed to always hit her at two in the morning.

"Hey, you doing okay?" he asked, getting down on his knees behind her and rubbing her back.

Autumn wiped away the hair that was matted to her forehead as she nodded her head. "Nothing like seeing your girlfriend puking her guts out, huh?" she said with a laugh, though she felt so nauseous she didn't want to move at all.

"I'll make sure I return the favor one day," he joked.

"Katherine so owes me after this," Autumn said, throwing her head over the toilet once again as she vomited some more. "This sucks. I do all the hard work, and she gets the baby," she muttered. Corey knew Autumn wasn't angry at Katherine, but she hated being sick, and he couldn't blame her. "You shouldn't have stayed here tonight," she said suddenly, taking Corey aback from the words.

"Oh? I'm sorry," he apologized, though confused what for exactly.

"No," Autumn said, shaking her head. "I just mean, you have practice in the morning, and here you are, up at two a.m. because of me."

"Trust me, I've shown up to practice sleep deprived before," he told her with a chuckle. He'd shown up way worse than sleep deprived before as well, going in still half drunk, though he wasn't going to mention that part to her right now. "Though, I have to admit, I've never been kept up at two in the morning because of a pregnant lady," he added. Autumn glared at him, obviously not finding the humor in that. "Okay, sorry!" he apologized, holding his hands up in front of his body.

"I think I'm just going to sleep in here tonight. The bathroom floor is quite comfortable," she lied, laying down on the floor, and Corey couldn't help but laugh at her.

"You're not staying in here," he said, picking her up in his arms, causing her to yelp out in surprise, not expecting him to just pick her up and carry her out of the bathroom to her bed. "You're staying in here. And…" he trailed off, grabbing the trashcan out of the corner of her bedroom. "This will be here if you need it. Just wake me up if you need anything else," he told her.

"Wouldn't you rather go home and sleep?" she asked him.

"And spend five minutes getting my clothes back on, ten minutes driving home, five minutes getting up to my apartment, five minutes getting back out of my clothes, and the next three hours worried about you? Yeah, I'll pass," he told her.

Autumn couldn't help but smile at him. "Thank you," she told him, kissing his bare shoulder. He put his arm around her, holding her close. She giggled as less than thirty seconds later, he was fast asleep, and she was feeling queasy again. She sat up in bed, causing her nausea to ease up a little bit, and she watched him sleep peacefully. She wasn’t sure how she deserved to have someone like him in her life, but she was happy he was there.