Weapons of War

“Why is the house so quiet?” Riley asked as she walked into the kitchen from going grocery shopping.

Shea was sitting at the kitchen table, in a dress shirt, dress pants and no tie, and for a moment Riley panicked, thinking she had missed some important team event, or maybe some kind of charity thing Shea had arranged. He looked over at her, smiled and said, “Quinn and James are babysitting.”

“Okay?” Riley asked him in confusion as she set the three grocery bags up on the kitchen island.

“I’m taking you out.” He informed her, and when she stayed where she was, eyebrow raised, he smiled and got up from the table. Putting his hands on the tops of her shoulders Shea turned her around and gave her a gentle push toward the stairs and told her, “You go get dressed, I’ll put the food away.”

She turned her head over her shoulder and asked him, an amused expression on her face, “You’re saying I’m not dressed nice enough to leave the house with you?”

Shea looked at her combination of jeans and one of his shirts from juniors that he was surprised she hadn’t thrown out yet and smiled, telling her, “I’m wearing dress clothes, I can’t be seen with a hoodlum as my date.”

“Ah, the media would eat it up though. I can just see the headlines after I leak the pictures. ‘Nashville Captain Shea Weber takes homeless woman out for dinner.’ That could be our meal ticket you know.” Riley told him, and she damn near giggled when Shea approached her with a bashful smile, as if her statement embarrassed him.

He slapped her butt, making her squeal and jump, before he told her, “Upstairs, get dressed.”

She smiled to herself as she made her way upstairs and into the bedroom, where she pulled the closet doors open and stared at her clothes. Riley wasn’t a fashion person, her idea of a nice outfit was jeans and a really soft t-shirt. Shea was the same way, only his job actually required him to have nice clothes, Riley rarely left the house these days so it was totally acceptable for her to wear pyjamas almost all day long. She wasn’t sure she even knew how to dress nice anymore.

Which was why she pulled her phone from the pocket of her jeans and called Quinn, “You’re supposed to be on a date.”

“Working on it. I’m currently staring at my closet trying to remember what dressing up means.” Riley admitted and Quinn chuckled.

“What’s Webs wearing?” Quinn asked, and Riley could hear Noah’s laughter in the background.

“White dress shirt, navy dress pants.” Riley told her as she looked at her closet.

“Tie or no tie?”

Riley asked her, “Does it matter?”

“Yes.” Quinn told her.

“No tie.” Riley informed her.

She could hear Quinn humming to herself as she thought, and then when Riley was about to tell her to hurry up Quinn told her, “Okay, do you own any skirts?”

“Uh… no?” Riley responded, groaning loudly before she added, “I am the world’s worst female.”

“No you’re not. Grab the white straight leg dress pants, the high waisted ones that you keep in the back of your closet and probably don’t know you own.” Quinn instructed her.

Doing as she was told Riley pulled them off of the back of the last rack on her side of the closet and tossed them onto the bed before she told Quinn, “Okay now what the hell do I wear as a top?”

Quinn let out a laugh and told her, “Since I know you’re simple and you don’t like to dress up just tuck in a colored t-shirt and throw on a cardigan or something. But you damn well better wear heels.”

“Yes ma’am, thank you.” Riley told her before hanging up and slipping into the Quinn approved date night outfit. She took a few seconds to freshen up, throw on a little mascara and some lip balm, and fluffed up her curly hair before she grabbed a pair of platform ankle boots that she rarely wore and made her way downstairs. Shea was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, and he turned to look over his shoulder at her, and he smiled. Riley joked, “Alright, a smile is good.”

“You look beautiful.” He told her, standing up and holding his hand out for her.

She stopped him before he could lead them out of the door and instructed him, “I kind of need to put shoes on.”

He waited patiently, holding his forearm out for her to hold onto while she slipped into her shoes, before she linked her arm with his and allowed him to walk her out to the car. He opened her door and closed it once she was inside, and then went back to his side of the vehicle and got it. Shea opened and closed her door again once they were at the restaurant, and he pulled Riley’s chair out for her once they were brought to a table.

She told him, one he had sat down, “You’re making me suspicious.”

He looked over at her with a smile, “Why’s that?”

“You’re taking me out, you picked a fancy restaurant, you’re opening doors for me and pulling chairs out…” She told him, giving him a look when he shrugged.

“What, I can’t be a gentleman?” Shea asked her in amusement.

She grinned and told him, “I mean… it doesn’t happen very often.”

An hour and fifteen minutes later they were leaving the restaurant, arms linked together, but much to Riley’s surprise and confusion, Shea led them the opposite way of where he parked the car. He didn’t say anything to her about where they were going as they walked down the sidewalk, until he asked her, “Are you feeling better?”

She looked up at him and told him, “A little bit yeah.”

“Did they say they’d call if anything came up on your blood work?” He asked her curiously. He had gotten home that morning, and Riley didn’t seem any different than she did before he left. Every so often he could catch her pause, as if she was dizzy and needed to stop moving long enough for her body to get back to normal, but she didn’t say anything to him so he didn’t say anything to her.

She nodded, and as they turned a corner she asked him, “Where exactly are we going? These shoes are not exactly made for walking.”

“Women.” Shea stated with a wide grin.

She pinched his side and warned, “Hey, if you weren’t such a giant I would be able to get away with wearing flats and not looking like your kid sister.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be so short then, pint size.” He joked back with her, and Riley chuckled. She slipped her arm underneath his and around his back, her hand resting on his side as she tucked herself into him. Shea wrapped his own arm around her and informed her, “I have a little surprise.”

“What the hell does that even mean?” She asked him and he let out a laugh but didn’t go further into the details of whatever else he had planned for her tonight.

He stopped outside an ice cream shop, and told her, “I will be right back.”

She stood outside, almost dumbfounded, she watched him through the window in confusion before she pulled her phone out of her pocket and sent Quinn a text. Something fishy is going on. He’s buying ice cream.

A minute and a half later Quinn responded with If you think him buying ice cream is fishy you are fucked up.

She let out a laugh, and looked up as Shea came out of the ice cream place carrying a cup of frozen yogurt and a cone. He handed the cup to Riley, who looked down at it to inspect it, finding the perfect swirl of chocolate and vanilla inside her cup. She smiled at Shea, who asked, “What were you laughing at?”

“Quinn.” Riley told him, smiling as he slipped his arm around her shoulder and guided her back toward where he parked the car. As they were walking Riley stated, “You did something.”

“What?” He asked in confusion.

She nodded her head and told him, “You broke something in the house, or you lost your wedding ring, or… you bought something on your road trip that cost more than what you make in a game.”

“Riley, I would have to buy like… a Corvette if I were to buy something worth more than I make in a game.” He told her, rolling his eyes at her statement.

“First off, I loved that little humble brag, that was great.” She informed him, laughing when he rolled his eyes again, before she said, “Well you had to have done something!”

“For what?” He asked her curiously.

“You took me for steak and ice cream. You had to have done something.” She informed him, and when he laughed she continued guessing, “You got injured.”

“Nope.”

“You’re quitting.” She said.

He said, “Nope.”

“Oh, good. I’d beat you.” She informed him and when he laughed she said, “You slept with someone else.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Also good, because then I really would have to beat you.” She stated.

“Oh yeah?” He asked her with amusement.

She nodded her head and as they approached the parking lot she informed him, “Seriously. I would beat you, and probably beat whoever you slept with as well. I would probably go to prison.”

“No you wouldn’t.” He told her.

As they both got into the car she stated, “I swear dude, I would.”

“Alright dude, note to self; keep it in my pants.”

“Well… not all the time.” She told him as he pulled out of their parking space. When his cheeks pinked up she grinned and asked, “Are you blushing?”

“No.”

Riley told him, “Stop with the intimidating captain act. You totally blushed. I made you blush.”

- - -

When Riley woke up from what was supposed to be an hour long nap and saw that it was almost four in the afternoon she shot out of bed quickly, a little too quickly, and she had to sit back down on the bed with her head in her hands for a few moments. She waited until she wasn’t dizzy, until she didn’t feel like she had tunnel vision or hearing, before she got up and headed downstairs.

Noah was sitting on the couch playing with blocks and Shea was sitting next to him, but he got up the moment he saw Riley. As they met in the kitchen he told her, a small smile on his face, “You look like shit.”

She could have laughed, if she wasn’t so nauseous, instead all she told him was, “Thanks, I feel like it.”

She leaned against his chest, and he told her, as he rubbed her back, “I figured. That’s why I had Bianca come watch him while I went to practice so you could get some sleep.”

“You did?” When he nodded she said, “I didn’t even wake up at all.”

“Yeah you were out cold when I went to wake you up before practice.” Shea informed her, and they separated when the doorbell rang. Riley went and sat down at the kitchen island, while Shea went to the door. He pulled it open, his brows crunching together upon finding James standing on the other side of the door, so Shea joked, “Didn’t we see enough of each other all morning.”

James smiled gently and told him, “Actually I’m here to talk to Riley, if that’s cool.”

Shea nodded slowly and stepped out of the way, closing the door while James took his shoes off before they both walked into the kitchen. Riley glanced their way, and asked James, “What are you doing here?”

James glanced at her, a little confused, before he cleared his throat and asked, “Have you talked to Quinn since we got back?”

“Yeah, I talked to her last night, why?” Riley asked him, leaning her head on the cool countertop.

“She didn’t tell you…” He mused to himself, before he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans, cleared his throat and told Riley, “I was hoping maybe you could talk to her, she won’t talk to me.”

“What did you do?” Riley mumbled from against the countertop.

“Nothing. It’s uh… Anna backed out last minute.” When he said this both Riley and Shea turned their full attention to James, who looked more than a little uncomfortable standing across from them having to tell them that news.

“She did?”

He nodded, “I guess she called Quinn the other night and she didn’t want to tell me until we were home, and now she’s just… she won’t talk to me and she’s out the door before I’m awake and home once I’m already asleep.”

Riley sighed gently and told him, “Yeah, I’ll stop by there tomorrow.”

“Thanks.”

She nodded and got up, giving him a quick and gentle hug before she told him, “I’m sorry.”

He shrugged his shoulders, “Honestly I kind of expected it. I know Quinn did too but I think it’s bothering her more than she thought it would.”

“I don’t blame her. I’ll talk to her in the morning.” Riley assured him, and once Shea was following him to the door, likely to have some kind of “bro” moment, Riley put her head back down on the counter and let out a small groan.

Shea came back into the kitchen, and he stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders, he leaned down and kissed the back of her head before he straightened up and they stood like that for a few minutes. Noah wandered over to them, tugging on Shea’s pant legs, and when Shea looked down at him he held his little arms up, so Shea bent down and picked him up, holding him against his hip. When Noah started to babble away Riley sat up and turned around as best she could in her chair and watched them for a moment, before she reached out and brushed Noah’s hair from his face.

Shea looked down at her and asked, “You okay?”

She nodded, “Yeah, I just feel bad for them.”

“Me too. But I think they’ll be okay eventually.” He told her, and Riley nodded her head. She knew that eventually they would be, that eventually Quinn would be, but she also knew that having her back out a day before her due date was something that Quinn was going to struggle with for a long time. Riley wouldn’t imagine what that would be like, for all intents and purposes, losing a baby two days before it was due to come into the world, adoption or not.

Clearing his throat Shea asked her, “I’ll start dinner, you good with grilled chicken?”

She nodded her head and as he went and put Noah back on the couch before he grabbed the chicken from the fridge she told him, “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Taking over and being Mr. Mom while I’ve been… out of commission so to speak.” She told him, and Shea smiled at her gently as he went outside to grill.

She watching him for a few minutes, watching as he moved around in front of the barbecue, watching him as he played fetch with Dug in the yard while the chicken was on the grill. She was so engrossed in watching him that when the phone rang she nearly jumped out of her skin. She couldn’t help but chuckle to herself, at herself, as she got up and made her way around the island counter to where the phone sat on the holster above the dishwasher.

“Hello?” She asked as she held the phone to her ear and turned around to face Shea, who still had his back to her, and was still throwing the ball for Dug to run and get and bring back to him.

“May I please speak to Riley?”

“This is.” Riley said, pulling the phone away from her ear for a moment to see what the caller ID said, but she didn’t recognize the number.

“It’s the diagnostics lab, we have your results back from your blood work. We just need to know if you’d like to know over the phone or if you’d prefer coming in.”

“Over the phone is fine.” She said, looking back at Shea in concern. She wasn’t sure if she should call him inside or not, if this was something she would be able to tell him after she got off the phone or not. Her stomach was in knots, so she leaned against the counter and held her breath.

“Well, we double checked the results. Congratulations, you’re pregnant."