A New Life

-Charlie-
As much as I loved being in Los Angeles living the life of luxury and visiting all the shows and meeting stars, it’s a relief to finally be home in the Philly area. This is my city. My home. It’s where my husband and friends are, and it’s where my baby will be born.

Right now, Sean is in Columbus for a preseason game so I have the house completely to myself. They took the bus, so he said they’re supposed to get to the arena around 5 in the morning. He’ll be home about half an hour later. It’s 11pm now, so I decide to just go to bed. There’s no use in trying to stay awake for that long, and the past week is really catching up to me.

Between the four day shows I went on, the three events I made an appearance at, and the long flight home, and the fact that I’m pregnant, I’m completely exhausted. I sent Sean a quick text that I’m home and take my prosthetic off before crawling into bed and instantly falling into a deep sleep.

I wake up a little while later, realizing I desperately have to pee. With the baby growing bigger, I’m starting to realize what people mean when they say pregnant women go to the bathroom all the time. They really do mean all the time. I’m still half asleep, so I don’t really have the mental capacity to find my crutches. And I have to go way too badly to take the time to put my prosthetic back on just to go to the bathroom.

I stand and quickly hop to the toilet, letting out a huge sigh of relief when I finally make it there and can relieve myself. I sit there for a minute after I’m done, finding myself falling asleep. I’m uncomfortable, though, so I get up and go to wash my hands. I sleepily dry them on the towel and turn to head back to the bed.

But on the way, the mat beneath my foot slips and between my brain haze and the slight slide in the surface, I lose my balance. I crash to the floor, twisting my knee on the way down. I’ve fallen plenty of times since my accident, and they’ve never fazed me. But this is the first time since I’ve been pregnant. My thoughts instantly go to my baby, worrying that I hurt it. My knee is throbbing and I’m still half asleep. I scan my surroundings, trying to find something that could help me get up. But I’m too far away from the counter, and even father from the toilet or the shower.

Sighing, I realize my only options are to either crawl somewhere or stay exactly where I am until Sean comes home. I balance on my arms, but my knee is screaming out, so I lay back down. Staying here, it is.

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-Sean-
An accident on the highway delays my return home by half an hour, and it’s suddenly 6am by the time we make it to the arena. I hop in my car and speed the whole way home, with Kimmo right behind me until I pass his street. I pull into the garage and drop my bag by the door, fully intending to deal with it later. Right now, all I want is to crawl into bed with my wife and our baby. Hold her until late tomorrow afternoon when I’m no longer exhausted. Maybe make love to her, to make up for the past week of being on opposite coasts.

I say a silent thank you for our bedroom being on the first floor, since I don’t have to climb any steps. Opening the door, I’m confused when I see that our bed is completely empty. The sheets are pulled back, so I know she slept there last night. I glance out into the living room and kitchen, wondering if she’s already up and hanging out. But she isn’t.

Maybe she’s in the bathroom? I cross our bedroom to check, noticing her prosthetic still next to the bed. My stomach drops when I see Charlie laying on the floor, curled up.

“Charlie?” I call, rushing to her side. “Baby!”
“Sean?” She asks.
“Baby, why are you on the floor?”
“I fell and couldn’t get back up.” She says, still half asleep.
“You fell? Are you okay? Is the baby okay?” I’m panicking.
“I don’t know. I’m just tired.”

I wrap my arms around her and lift her up, carrying her back out into the bedroom. I place her in the bed and pull the covers up over her shivering body.

“Cuddle?” She asks, her voice weak.
“Let me change and then yes.” I promise.

I pull my clothes off faster than I ever have before and in less than a minute I’m crawling into bed next to her, pulling her into my arms. She’s so cold from being against the tile floor all night, and I try by best to find her coldest spots with my hands to warm them up. Namely her thighs and shoulders.

“I’m sorry.” She says, nuzzling her face into my chest.
“For what?” I ask.
“Putting our baby in danger.”
“Baby, it’s not your fault.” I assure her.
“You trusted me with your baby and I put it in danger. I should have searched for my crutches instead of hopping.”
“I do trust you with my baby. I trust you with my everything. I’m more worried about if you’re okay.”
“Sean?”

“Yeah baby?”

“My knee really hurts.”

“Do you want to get it looked at?”

“Can we sleep first? I’m so tired.”
I suddenly remember how exhausted I was on the drive here. I guess the fear of seeing my pregnant wife on the floor of our bathroom scared me so much that I forgot about my own self. Now that I know she’s okay, I know it’s safe to sleep.
“Yeah, baby. Let’s sleep. We’ll worry about everything else when we wake up.”

A couple hours later, I open my eyes and find the bed next to me is empty. I panic for a second before I notice Charlie’s prosthetic is missing and the smell of bacon hits my nose. I look at the clock and notice that it’s almost noon. I swing my legs over to the side of the bed and get up, grabbing a pair of sweatpants from my drawr.

“Morning baby.” I say, dragging my feet into the kitchen.
“Hey sweetheart.”

That’s not Charlie’s voice.

I turn towards the kitchen counter and smile at the small cluster of my teammates.
“When did you guys get here?” I ask.
“About an hour ago. Your amazing wife is making us brunch.” Mase says.
“These pancakes are so good.” Rinaldo says with his mouth full.
“Sit, Sean.” Charlie urges me, turning from the stove.

Instead of sitting, I wrap my arms around her and rub my hand along her bump.
“How are my two favorite girls this morning?” I ask. I don't want to mention last night in front of the guys, so I ask her silently with my eyes for the truth.
“Girls! It’s a girl?” I hear from behind me. Charlie laughs.
“We won’t know what it is for another couple weeks.” She says.
“I know it’s a girl though.” I insist.
“We’ll see. But for now, our power forward and I are doing fine.” She winks and I press a kiss to her temple.
“Yo, do you have to go all true romance while we’re eating here?”
Charlie laughs.
“Oh, you want romance?” I ask. “I’ll give you romance.”

I grab the spatula from Charlie’s hand and place it on the counter. Next thing she knows, I’m dipping her back and capturing her lips with mine in a searing kiss. She squeaks and I use it to my advantage, pressing my tongue into her open mouth. My fingers thread through her hair and I feel her hand grasping at my bicep. I ignore the hoots and hollers from the peanut gallery, fully engrossed in my wife. Eventually, I have to come up for air and pull Charlie up with me.

“That, gentlemen, is how you take care of your wife.” I say, taking a bow to my applause.
“Shit, if I wasn’t pregnant already....” Charlie laughs, blushing. It only causes the boys to roar more and her to blush harder.
“She’s going to give birth and they’re going to have another one again in less than a year. I’d bet on it.” Raffl says.
“Woah now! How about we focus on baby number one for right now.” I laugh.

I press my lips to Charlie’s temple again and she hands me a plate with breakfast on it. I take it to the counter and sit, watching as she hands out seconds to those who ask for them. She’s so beautiful, especially with the little bump sticking out under her tank top. Her breasts have swelled and I can’t help but stare at them as she reaches across the counter to give Rinaldo another pancake. I see that a couple sets of eyes have noticed them too, and clear my throat, giving them all a death glare. They quickly look away and I smile. She adds another piece of bacon to my plate and kisses my cheek.

“Alright, boys. That’s all the food we have left. This momma is exhausted, so you know the drill. None of you can leave until the dishes are all clean. If you need me for anything, I’m going to go sit on the couch and watch last night’s highlights. Don’t stay too late, cause I haven’t seen my husband in almost a week. Got it?”

They all nod and I swat at her ass as she walks past, headed for the living room.

“Is it true?” Rinaldo asks as soon as she’s out of ear shot.
“Is what true?”

“That pregnancy sex is amazing.”
I laugh.
 “It feels the same for me. But I can tell you it’s better for her.”
They all laugh and I realize how weird this is, talking about my pregnant wife with her in the other room.
“All I can say is that it’s totally worth it. Being married. Settling down with one woman. I always thought it was a load of shit. But it’s not.”

We talk for a little while longer until the food is all gone and they clean up quickly. They each give Charlie a hug goodbye and thank her for the food before heading for the door. I sit down next to her, rubbing her belly.

“I moved my appointment up a week.” She says.
“For the baby doctor?” She giggles.
“It’s called a gynecologist.”
“I can’t pronounce that word, and baby doctor is a lot better than vagina doctor.” I shrug.
“Well then yes, for the baby doctor.”

“Because of last night?”
“Yeah. I just can’t help but worry that I hurt the baby somehow when I fell. I took most of the impact between my knee and shoulder, but it still worries me.” She admits.
“Well I think that’s a good idea. Is it still on a day when I can be there?”
“You have morning skate that day, but I scheduled it later in the afternoon so you have time to come home first.”

“Good.” I sigh. “I don’t want to miss anything.”

“We’re still going to be able to find out the gender.” She says.
“I was thinking about that....” I start. “Do you really want to find out now?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it’s been so much fun guessing. And seeing what other people are guessing. Do you really want to find out? Or do you want to keep it a surprise?”
She thinks for a second.
“I haven’t really thought about it that way. I guess we could still paint the baby’s room in neutral colors and stuff.”
“We don’t have to make a decision right now.” I say. “But maybe it’s something we consider?”
“Okay.” She smiles and nuzzles her nose against mine, pressing a soft kiss to my lips.

I stand and pull her up with me, leading us towards the bathroom. We both need to just be together, and I know she’s been enjoying using our amazing bathtub. I fill it while she undresses and takes off her prosthetic. When it’s all filled, I help her into it and sit down so she can slide into my lap.

She leans back against my chest and I begin rubbing her shoulders. She lets out a soft moan of appreciation and I smile, finally relaxing. After a couple minutes, I slide my hands around to her front and rub small circles with my entire palm on her stomach. I press soft kisses along her neck up to her ear, hinting at what I want when we’re done in the tub. She squeezes my thigh with her hand, agreeing with my desire. Her head turns around and I capture her lips with mine, instantly deepening the kiss.

I feel a couple thumps under my hand and Charlie pulls away, her face lighting up.
“Was that-?”
“Yeah!” She exclaims. “It was!”
“Oh my god.”
Tears are forming in both of our eyes and I crash my lips onto hers.
“That was amazing.” I say.
“I love you.” She responds.
“I love you too.”