Love Never Felt So Good

“Good job today, everyone, see you next week!” Bailey called as class finished. With school in full swing, she was down to three classes a week, which took a lot of stress off of Sidney more than herself.

“Bye Mama Bailey!” One of her senior students called as she waved goodbye, making Bailey shake her head with a smile. In her studio full of mirrors, she paused loading up her duffel, turning to the side and running a hand over her baby bump. At four months mid-October, she had just the smallest of bumps.

Deciding she’d like to see what kind of trouble was going on at her place, she quick finished up packing her things before heading out to the car. That night, she and Sid were hosting some of his teammates for dinner and video games.

When she made it back to the house, she laughed to herself at the sight of the boys standing in the driveway in a half circle, each with a beer in their hand as they critiqued Beau’s new car.

“Bailey’s home!” Beau called, causing the attention to turn to her as she slowly pulled into the far side of the driveway.

“Hi guys.” She greeted, her dance bag over her shoulder. “Mr. Crosby.” She grinned, kissing Sidney’s cheek. “What’s for dinner, huh?” She asked, turning towards the house.

“Babe, babe, look.” He said, dodging around her and leading her into the garage. She saw his Range Rover, obviously recently cleaned, and parked beside it, a tiny Range Rover made for a toddler. Only, it looked exactly like Sidney’s – black on black with a Pittsburgh Penguins license plate. The tiny plastic license plate, of which, had an ‘87’ imprinted into it.

“What in the world is this?” She asked with a laugh.

“Isn’t it perfect?” He asked. “I saw one online and I emailed the company to make it like mine.” He beamed, clearly very pleased with himself.

“It’s cute and you are funny.” She replied, “I can already imagine you two zooming around.” She winked. “I’m going to run and rinse off quick. Figure out something for dinner and I’ll order.” She bargained. Sidney kissed her once more, a hand on her tummy before she ran up to the bathroom.

Bailey took a quick shower, rinsing off and washing her hair before changing to a pair of yoga pants and a sweatshirt, twirling her wet hair on top of her head into a topknot.

“Bails? Pizza work?” Sidney asked. Bailey figured that what was going to be for dinner, it was by all means the easiest way to feed a large volume of hockey players. He found her in the closet as she dug around her dresser for a pair of ankle socks.

“Sounds good.” She nodded, “garbage no olives? Wheat crust?” She asked. He came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her tummy and pressing his face into the still-warm skin of her neck.

“Hi baby.” He ran a palm over her little bump. “How do you feel today?” He asked.

“Baby Crosby has been sleeping on my bladder all day, I think I’ve gone to the bathroom like eight times since I woke up this morning.” She said, placing her hand over his and guiding it in a little circle.

“I read my app today and it said that the baby can suck its thumb.” He said grinning at her as she looked over her shoulder. “Still wanna make that bet?” He asked.

“What bet?” She teased, dancing out of his hold and into the master bedroom, slipping into her socks and grabbing her iPhone from the nightstand.

“Babe.” He said, giving her a deadpan look, making her laugh. “If we’re going to find out tomorrow, we need to place our bets now! There’s already a $600 dollar pot going on in the locker room.” He added.

“Six hundred dollars?” She asked, “you guys must be bored.” She laughed.

“You don’t want to admit it, but you think it’s a boy, too.” He tried to bait her.

“Crosby, to be honest, I don’t care either way. As long as it’s healthy and has all it’s fingers and toes and no tail, then I’m set. I can live not knowing.” She insisted, watching his cocky smirk deflate.

“You’re no fun.” He pouted.

“Fine, I think it’s a girl. I bet you $20 and a back massage that it’s a girl.” She said, knowing it was the only way he’d be happy.

“That’s it? Sherriff, that’s a really boring bet.” He scolded her.

“Sid.” She whined, “go order my pizza,” she pushed him out of the room in front of her, arms extended and leaning forward. “I’ll think of something else to bet.” She promised, slapping his butt before he hustled down the stairs. She smiled, shaking her head, walking across the hall and down one door to the room that was slowly being transformed into a nursery.

They had held off on choosing a paint as per Sidney’s request, but she had already had furniture delivered and assembled by the boutique one weekend when Sidney was away. She choose a neutral set of dark mahogany furniture, a matching crib, changing table, and bookcase. She bought set after set of little soft sheets and the WAGs presented her with a darling Penguins-themed mobile for above the crib.

Sidney had taken upon himself to rig the nursery with cameras in every ceiling corner, and video baby monitor system – all of which he could access from an app on his iPhone. He was determined to never miss a single thing.

The closet was slowly filling up with little yellow and green outfits as well as tiny jerseys, which she only expected to grow after they found out the sex the next day.

Bailey was entirely serious when she said she could stand not knowing – she really could. Sidney on the other hand, was dying to know. She knew how much he wanted to have a little boy. She only hoped he wouldn’t be devastated if it was a little ballerina instead.

- - -

“I’m here, I’m here, I’m here!” Sidney said, almost skidding to a halt as he arrived in the little suite where Bailey was chatting with the ultrasound technician. They opted to go to a concierge ultrasound location in lieu of their general practitioner just for anonymity and a little more privacy. This was an organization that Marc and Vero had recommended – one that they used with Estelle and their new son, Leo.

“Hi sweetheart.” Bailey laughed, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. He had clearly skipped his post-practice shower and she could tell. She almost felt bad for the technician who now had to endure the stink of Sidney Crosby.

“Sorry I’m late.” He kissed her cheek, “Marc needed a ride home before I could come by.” He added.

“No problem.” The technician, Marissa, smiled. “We were just about to get started. Bailey, if you want to assume the position.” She joked. Bailey laid back on the examination table, rearranging her gown so that her little tummy poked through a gap in the fabric as well as a blanket. “This is going to be cold.” She warned, spreading the gel across her tummy.

Sidney stood beside the table, holding Bailey’s hand as images slowly started to appear on the screen.

“Okay, and I’m guessing you two want to know the sex?” She asked with a laugh, pretty sure that was the reason Daddy was being so anxious on his feet.

“He does.” Bailey laughed.

“I’m just going to look for a few things for health, mark out a few features and then we’ll get to that.” Marissa said, smiling politely. “Here’s the heartbeat, you can hear it.” She pointed out the flicker. Sidney squeezed Bailey’s hand.

“Now that looks way more like a baby than the last one.” He replied, noting that his child had a definitive head, chin, lips and nose. “Look at that.” He was awestruck, watching as the baby moved its hand up and down.

“Oh, look, look.” Bailey gasped. They both watched as the baby brought its hand up to it’s mouth, sticking it’s thumb between it’s lips. “How cute is that?” She gushed.

“Now that you’re about half way, we recommend you up your iron intake, Daddy, that can be something to help with.” Marissa looked at Sidney who was still eyeing up the screen in front of him. “Red meat, soy based products, spinach, raisins.” She listed off. “Also, this is about the time we recommend setting up a childbirth class.” She added

Marissa tinkered around a little bit more, writing a few things down in her chart.

“The healthy thing to do now is to gain about a pound a week from now on. Since you’re a little more on the petite side, it’s okay to a gain a bit more since you’e underweight for your body size.” She added, “another thing you can help with.” She looked to Sidney who nodded.

This time, Bailey squeezed his hand.

“Okay, and now for the big reveal.” Marissa smiled, “who thinks what?” She asked.

“He thinks it’s a boy.” Bailey smiled at Sidney who hadn’t looked so anxious in his life. “I think it’s a girl.” She added, grinning at Sidney who looked like he could benefit from running a few laps.

“Let me take a look here to see if this baby wants us to know what it is. Sometimes we aren’t able to tell because of their positioning.” She said, running her wand across Bailey’s tummy to the other side of a bare patch of skin. She made a few observatory noises, moving the wand every which way. “Just want to be sure.”

Then, quite conveniently, they all watched on the screen as the baby practically somersaulted, uncrossing it’s legs and wiggling slightly. Bailey placed a hand on top of her bump.

“There we go, much easier.” Marissa commented. “Well, it looks like mother knows best.” She announced, taking a stylus and circling on the screen. “This right here, are your daugher’s little lady parts.” She grinned. Sidney’s jaw dropped as he stared at the screen.

“A girl.” He whispered eyes wide.

“Let me print some of these off and you can take them home. Feel free to get dressed, “there are warm towels right in that cabinet.” She pointed out before leaving the little room. Bailey looked up at Sidney whose eyes were still locked on the screen where stills were displayed of the little Crosby princess.

“It’s a girl.” Bailey grinned, “I was right.” She added.

“I can’t believe we’re having a girl!” He smiled, grabbing a warm towel from the cabinet and wiping off the gel from her bare stomach. “Hello there, little girl.” He greeted, looking down at her tummy, making Bailey laugh.

“Well now we can paint the nursery.” She said optimistically.

“We can paint it, decorate it, and next week, I’ll have bars installed on the windows.” He kissed her lips. She rolled her eyes.

“Dramatic.” She said, pulling her pants on under the gown before taking it off. Sidney held out her little fall coat as she slid her arms into it before hugging her to his chest.

“If she has your face and my butt, she’s never leaving the house, Bailey.” He said quite sternly.

“Come on, Daddy, she’s hungry, so take me to lunch.” She kissed his cheek. They grabbed their printouts from Marissa, thanking her, before taking off. Driving separately, they went into downtown for lunch, grabbing a table at an American restaurant where Bailey ordered a big cobb salad and onion rings while Sidney ordered a grilled chicken sandwich.

“Now we can start thinking of names!” She realized. “Do you have any you like?” She asked, taking a long sip of her iced tea.

“I don’t have names in mind, but I always wanted my first born to have an S name.” He said bashfully.

“I have nothing against that.” She replied, “as long as it’s a good one. I’ve always liked Scarlett.” She suggested.

“That’s an old lady name.” He countered, making her roll her eyes.

“Summer?” She offered.

“Then we’d have to name our other kids Autumn, Winter and Spring.” He pointed out.

“Sabrina.” She knew he wouldn’t like it.

“The teenage witch.” He finished.

“Okay, Crosby, then you throw out some ideas.” She said exasperatedly. Sidney looked fairly contemplative, drinking his water as she watched his gears turning.

“I like Sophie, Samantha and Sadie.” He listed off. He had totally given this some previous thought.

“Sadie.” Bailey grinned. “I like Sadie.” She agreed.

“And middle name?” He asked.

“Sadie Grace, for my grandma.” She offered.

“Sadie Grace Crosby.”