A New Life

-Sean-
I’m vaguely aware of someone speaking in a whisper. My brain feels fuzzy and my head is pounding. I try to open my eyes, but they’re heavy. I lean my head to the side and groan. The whispers stop and I feel a body come right up next to me.

“Sean?” A male voice asks. “You waking up, man?”
I groan again and roll my head back to the center of my body. I force my eyes to open, but they squint at the bright light over my head.
“Shit, turn down the lights.” He says to the other person in the room.

The lights dim and I feel a small bit of relief. I’m finally able to open my eyes fully and see a familiar man and woman in the room. She’s cradling a baby. I recognize him as the guy who was in the ambulance with me. He’s a teammate, I know that.

“How are you feeling Couts?” He asks, pressing the nurse’s button by my bed.
“Like shit.” I respond, shifting my weight around.
“Well I’d think so.” He laughs lightly. “You got a concussion. And I wouldn’t be moving around too much, because you also have a nasty gash on your side.”
“What happened?” I ask, eyeing the woman and baby.
“What do you remember?” He asks.

I have to think about it for a little, which makes my head hurt.

“I was at practice.” I start. “A woman was waiting for me at my car. I know I knew her, but now I can’t remember who she was. She told me that she wanted to ruin my life and then... did she stab me?” I ask. He nods. “I don’t remember anything else except riding in the ambulance a little. You were there.”

He nods again. I can tell he’s a good friend of mine by the way he’s looking at me. And I can tell the woman is a good friend as well.

“Do you know who I am?” He asks, noticing the confusion on my face.
“I know you’re a teammate. A friend.” I admit. “But I can’t really fully remember your name at the moment.”
He frowns a little.
“I have to call Charlie.” The woman says, handing him the baby and grabbing her phone. “It’s good to see you, Sean.”

My heart races at the sound of that name, but I can’t seem to figure out why.

“Who’s Charlie?” I ask once she’s out of the room.
I can see the pain in his eyes.
“Charlie is your wife.” He says.

My wife.

I think about that for a second, looking down at the gold band on my left hand. That would make sense. That’s why my heart jumped at the sound of her name.

“Where is she?” I ask.
“We forced her to go home for a little. She needed to shower and get some decent sleep on a real bed. Especially with her body right now.”
I’m confused.
“What’s wrong with her body?” I ask.
“Nothing, actually.” He starts. “Well... I mean.” He sighs. “Charlie used to be in the Air Force. She got injured in Afghanistan, and lost her leg.”

My heart squeezes. I hurt thinking about that. The woman I love, injured.

“But she’s okay now. That’s not really a problem anymore. The reason she needed sleep so badly is because she’s pregnant.”

His words feel like an atomic bomb falling on me. But not in a bad way. I have a wife and she’s pregnant. I’m going to be a father. I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes.

“I’m gonna be a dad.” I say.
“Yeah, man. You’ve got two little babies on the way.”
“Two?” I ask.
“Twin girls.” He says with a smile.

Suddenly a memory flashes through my mind. A teammate is opening a box and pulling out two pink bears. My other teammates are shouting and smiling around me.

“We told you guys with bears.” I say.

His face lights up.

“You remember that?” He asks.
“It just flashed in my mind.” I answer.
“Dude that’s awesome.”

My response is halted by the door opening. The woman from earlier returns with a doctor right behind her. He takes one look at me and smiles.

“Sean, your parents are on their way. And they’re bringing Charlie with them. Brayden and I will let you guys have some privacy as soon as they get here.”

“How are you feeling?” He asks.
“Like shit.” I respond.
“Well, that’s to be expected. How is your memory?”
“He remembered me from the ambulance, but doesn’t remember my name. But I was telling him about his wife and his girls, and he had a flash of memory of when he told us that they’re having twin girls.” Brayden says.
“That’s absolutely fantastic!” The doctor says.

My brain starts whirling.

Brayden.... Brayden Schenn. My best friend and roommate on the road. His fiancee is Janine and their daughter is Elise. His brother Luke plays with us too. But he's a defender. Right?

I must have been saying those things out loud and not realizing it, because Janine is now crying, a huge smile on her face. I feel a small smile play on my lips as well, happy that I can make someone else happy. Happy that I can remember.

“Well, this is fantastic.” The doctor says. “I’ll let you three chat for a little until your wife and parents get here. Then we’ll do some testing.”

I nod and he leaves the room. My two friends turn their attention to me and little Ellie begins to whimper a little in Brayden’s arms.

“Can I hold her?” I ask.
They share a small look before he hands her over to me. I cradle the young girl in my arms, amazed at the thought that soon I’ll have two of these that are mine.

“Well isn’t that just a beautiful sight.” I hear.

I look up and see a man and two women entering the room. I recognize the two older people as my parents. But my heart completely stops when my eyes land on the younger woman.

Her brown hair is pulled back into a bun on the top of her head. Her face is flush, like she’s nervous. She’s wearing a hoodie with my number on it, which makes my stomach flutter a little. But nowhere near as much as when my eyes land on her swollen stomach. One hand is resting on it and the other is wrapped around my father’s arm.

“So beautiful.” I whisper, amazed that I could possibly be married to a woman who looks like that. She’s gorgeous.

I see a smile play on her lips when she hears my words.

“Mr. And Mrs. Couturier, how about we go find Dr. Williams and discuss what’s going on. We can give Charlie and Sean some time together.” Janine says.

The four (well, five if you count the baby) of them exit the room and Charlie comes closer, taking the seat next to me. I can’t help but reach out, wanting to feel her skin on mine. Her cheek is soft but a small drop invades it.

“Don’t cry. Please.” I beg.
“Do you remember me?” She asks.

I think about it. Quick memories begin flashing through my brain.

“Pieces of my memory are missing. But I remember some things. I remember how happy you make me. I remember heart break, from when you got hurt. I- I’m sorry, I can’t remember specific events as well. But I know that I love you, Charlie.”

A couple tears fall from her eyes and I swiftly wipe them away.

“Please don’t cry. It hurts so much to see you cry.” I say.
“I can’t control them.” She admits with a small smile. “I’ve been so hormonal lately. And with you getting hurt I’ve been even worse.”

I chuckle a little, knowing the stereotype of pregnant women and their hormones.

“Your smile is dazzling.” I say, causing her to blush. “What did I do to deserve you?”
“You’re just you.” She responds with a shrug.
“Well I officially love being me if it means I have you.”

She lets out a happy sigh and twists our fingers together. My brain reminds me of a couple other times she’s held my hand. Namely standing at our wedding, as I slipped the ring on her finger.

Wow.

“I’m sorry I’m having a hard time remembering you.” I say, looking down.
“It’s okay, Sean.” She assures me. “You’ll remember.”
“How are you so strong?” I ask.
“Because I have you.”

I guess I give her a confused look because she smiles slightly before continuing.

“I was afraid you weren’t going to remember me.” She admits. “I was terrified that you’d be mad and that you wouldn’t want me anymore. That you wouldn’t want us.” She lays a hand on her stomach. I feel sick at the thought of not wanting her. Not wanting our babies. “I was so scared, Sean. I don’t know why, because you’ve always been so amazing about everything-”

“I couldn’t imagine not wanting you.” I say, cutting her off. “Right now I might not remember the day we met or the day I asked you to marry me. I might not remember anything about the day we got married except the moment I put that ring on your finger. I don’t remember the day we found out we’re pregnant, and I don’t remember going to any of the appointments. But I can tell you right now that I feel in my heart that we’re meant to be together. That I love you more than I love anything else. I can tell that you and these girls are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I want you, Charlie.”

“That’s exactly what makes me strong.” She says, bringing my hand up to her lips.
“Kiss me.” I basically demand.

She smiles and stands up from the chair. I scoot over a little on the bed, causing a slight pain in my side. But I don’t feel it that much because I’m focused on helping her onto the bed. She sits and I wrap my arms around her, pulling her close.

Her hair smells amazing and her body fits perfectly along mine, even with the gigantic bump. The feel of her next to me calms the nerves and fear I didn’t even realize I had. Suddenly, my body feels so much better. My brain doesn’t hurt as much, and my heart feels happy.

I lean down carefully and attach my lips to hers. They’re soft and inviting, and suddenly I’m seeing flashes of kissing her.

I’m kissing her in the morning. I’m kissing her after a win. I’m kissing her when I walk in the door from a road trip. I’m kissing her at our wedding. I’m kissing her in the doctor’s office. I’m kissing her just to kiss her.

And it all feels natural. It feels right.

My tongue nudges at her lips and she parts them, letting me explore into her mouth. More memories flood my brain.

Memories of passion and lust and desire. Memories of overpowering her small body with mine and discovering every inch of her body with my tongue. Memories of laying her on our bed and doing things to her that would make even a hooker blush.

As the memories fill my head, our real-life kiss becomes even more passionate. I drag one hand up to her hair and the other rests on her stomach. One of hers rests on top of mine on her bump and the other grips my shirt over my pec. I breathe in deeply, giving her hair a small squeeze. She moans slightly, allowing me to dive deeper into her mouth. It’s overwhelming, the feeling of being with her.

“Well I guess we don’t have to worry about them not having any fire.” I hear, followed by a couple chuckles.

Reluctantly, I pull away from her lips and look towards the door. Not only is my doctor back, but my parents and a couple of my teammates are all standing there, amusement on their faces.

“I might not remember everything at the moment, but there’s a reason she’s pregnant.” I joke. “Have you seen her? She’s gorgeous.”

I look at my wife and catch the blush on her face as she turns her head away, clearly embarrassed that we got caught. I gently pull her face back towards me and press another small, sweet kiss to her lips.

“When you’re ready, we have some testing we’d like to do.” My doctor says with a smile.
“Let’s do it.” I respond with a smile of my own.