To Sweden With Love

A few days after Patric’s day with the Cup, it was time to head back to reality.

Carl and I drove up to Patric’s to pick Ellie and Derick up in silence. As soon as we parked the car, I went to get out as he grabbed my arm.

I looked at him. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want you to leave.” He groaned.

I rolled my eyes as I opened my car door and hopped out. “I need to go back Carl. I have responsibilities.”

He got out and followed me into the house, grumbling the entire way.

“You don’t have to work. I can take care of you and the baby.”

I turned around and crossed my arms as I narrowed my eyes. “I know you could, but I don’t want you to. I can handle my own bills and shit. I am going home because I have kids that depend on me plus a doctor's appointment to check on our little one.” I smiled as I rubbed my stomach. “Just we please just drop this?”

He nodded as Derick came down the steps with both of their bags.

“I don’t know whose bag feels heavier, yours when we got here or Ellie’s now.” He huffed.

“Hey, in my defense, we went shopping, and we might have overdone it a little bit.” Ellie said as she followed him down the steps.

“A little bit?” Carl laughed. “I had to convince Liv to leave some things here so she didn’t have to go buy another suitcase.”

Ellie and I looked at each other and shrugged. “We are girls, you guys cannot expect anything less.”

We said our goodbyes to Patric and Malin as the boys loaded up the car.

“We will get together for lunch when we get back, yes?” Malin said as she hugged me.

I nodded as I turned to hug Patric. “Of course.”

Patric gave me a quick squeeze. “Take care of yourself until we get back.”

“I promise I will. I won’t be doing anything but working anyways. Keep an eye on that one.” I said nodding over to Carl. “Make sure he doesn’t starve.”

Patric laughed. “No food in the house again?”

I shook my head. “I swear, you would think he didn't have to eat to survive.”

Shortly after, we were on the way to the airport. Ellie and I sat in the back and talked about wedding stuff as the guys talked shop.

Carl parked the car and helped Derick carry the bags in. Once we had the bags checked and tickets in hand, we headed down to security.

I waved Ellie and Derick on. “I will meet you guys at the gate.”

As they got in line, I turned to Carl. I gave him a weak smile as he engulfed me in a hug.

“I wish I go come back with you now. I just forgot I had some things left to do here.” He mumbled into my hair.

I sighed against his chest. “I know. Leaving just sucks.”

“I know,” he said as he pulled away to look in my eyes. “You would think we would be used to this.”

I chuckled. “Probably, considering this is all our relationship has been.”

He pulled me in for a kiss. “Let me know when you get home. And how everything goes at the doctor. I promise this is the only one I will miss.”

I nodded as he handed me my carry on.

“I’ll see you in a couple weeks.” I said kissing his cheek before heading through security.

Twenty minutes later, I plopped down beside Ellie at our gate.

“You okay?” She said as she took one of her headphones out of her ear.

I nodded. “Long distance sucks.”

She chuckled. “This is why I am marrying a Canadian. Close enough to home.”

I rolled my eyes. “Speaking of which, he already go to his gate?”

She nodded. “I think his plane boards in like twenty minutes. He said he was gonna get everything moved into our house for when I get back.”

I laughed. “You’re gonna trust him to decorate your house?”

“Uh no.” She said wrapping her headphones around her phone. “I texted Janie a SOS message. So she and their mom is going to be helping.”

“Okay good.” I said as my phone pinged. “Cause if you left him to it, your bedroom would be in the living room.”

She chuckled as I checked my phone to see a text from Carl.

miss you already

I smiled as I shot him a response.

“So this was a good trip for us huh?” She said smiling, looking at her ring.

“That it was. I am just glad everything worked out. I wasn’t gonna wanna deal with a crying Brassard if you would have said no.” I said as I sat back in my seat.

“I couldn’t say no to him. He may be an idiot sometimes, but he is my idiot.”

I laughed as she turned to me. “So when do we go to the baby doc?”

“Thursday at 11. Then I need to swing by the school to make sure everything is setup for ‘Welcome Back Night’ the next day.”

“Okay so we have time to go check out some venues and look at some dresses.”

“Are you sure you want to look at dresses?” I said pointing to my stomach. “I mean, if we find bridesmaid dresses you like, I won’t fit into it in a few months.”

She rolled her eyes. “Please, by the time the wedding happens, you will be back to your size now.”

Soon after, we were called to board.

“Back to the real world.” Ellie said as she looked out the window.

I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes. “Wake me up when we land in Pittsburgh. I just want to enjoy my summer a little more.”

--------------------------

The day before my appointment, Ellie and I were running around looking at possible venues.

“You could always get married where I was supposed to.” I said shrugging.

She laughed. “Uh no thanks. I actually want to make it down the aisle.”

I rolled my eyes. “It wasn't the venue, thank you, it was that damn Swede that stole my heart.”

“And to think, you almost didn't go to that party with me. You could be miserably married to Michael right now.” she said getting into my car.

I sighed as I got in and started the car. “Yes I know. Thank you for making me go and changing my life forever. Now I'm starving, where you wanna eat?”

“Actually,” she said checking her phone, “can we stop by the house? I need to grab something.”

I nodded as I pulled out of the lot and headed that way. Ellie kept shifting in her seat nervously and checking her phone as I drove down the parkway.

“Are you okay? You seem on edge.” I asked getting off my exit.

“Hmmm? Oh yeah, I'm fine.” she replied looking out the window.

I shot a look in her direction as we got closer to the house. I saw her texting as we pulled onto my street, smiling.

“Okay, seriously. What is going on?” I said looking at her as I pulled into my driveway.

“Nothing I swear! Derick just sent me something sweet. Will you run in and see if my wallet is sitting on my bed? I thought it was in my purse but it isn’t.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes as I got out of the car. “Why can’t you just get it yourself?”

I ran in and up to her room and looked everywhere for the wallet. I threw my hands up before calling Ellie.

“It isn’t in your room El.” I said as she picked up.

“Check the kitchen then.”

I groaned loudly as I made my way downstairs to the kitchen.

“El, I don’t understand why you-” I stopped as I turned into the kitchen and saw Carl standing there.

He smiled. “Hi.”

I dropped my phone as I ran into his arms and kissed him.

“What are you doing here?!” I exclaimed.

He laughed. “Ask Ellie. She arranged it.”

“In my defense,” Ellie said as she walked in. “I figured that he needed to be here for tomorrow.”

I went over and hugged her. “Thank you. So your wallet?”

She chuckled. “In my purse. I had to get you in the house somehow.”

“But what about all your appearances and things in Sweden?” I asked turning back to Carl.

He shrugged. “I passed them off to Patric. He wasn’t too thrilled, but once I told him why, he got over it. I just need to leave on Sunday for World Cup stuff. But I am starving, airplane food is gross.”

Ellie laughed. “Alright, let’s go feed the preggo and you.”

---------------------------------

The next day, I woke up a few hours before my alarm was set to go off. I quietly snuck out of bed and went down to make myself some breakfast and tea.

I took my plate out onto the back deck to enjoy the warm morning and watch the sun come up.

“Someone’s up early.” Carl said as he opened the back door and came to take a seat beside me.

I nodded as I took a sip of my tea. “I couldn’t sleep. Too much on my mind.”

“Like what?” He said stealing a piece of sausage off my plate.

“Like how school starts up on Monday and how I am scared and nervous about this baby.” I said leaning back in my chair and placing a hand on my stomach.

“Olivia,” He said as he scooted closer. “I am nervous too, trust me. The only experience with kids I have is with Isabella.” he chuckled as he took my hand. “But we are in this together, every step of the way.”

I smiled as I wiped my eyes. “I’m just afraid I am going to be a terrible mom, I mean, look at my life. This past year alone I have been such a hot mess.”

“We are gonna be kickass parents, what are you talking about?” He said with a huge smile. “We just need to take our lives day by day. It will all work out. Trust me.”

“Okay.” I said as he leaned forward and kissed my head before getting up. “I am going down to the rink to get some training in before we go to the doctor, it’s at 11 right?”

I nodded as I took a drink of my tea. “Yeah but we need to be there a little before that. I might go and try to get a little more sleep.”

After he left, I took my dishes into the kitchen and headed back up to my room to lay down.

As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was asleep.

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A few hours later, we were all sitting in the exam room waiting for the doctor.

“Carl, do you really need to play with all the models?” Ellie asked laughing as he dropped the plastic baby.

He quickly picked it up and tried to fit it back into the display. “Sorry, nerves. How the fuck does this fit back in?”

I laughed as Ellie went over and helped him figure out how the piece fit back in.

“Carl, if you don’t know a female’s anatomy by now, maybe you shouldn’t be doing the thing that leads to babies.” Ellie joked.

He rolled his eyes. “Does she really need to be in here?”

“Yes.” I said readjusting my drape. “She is my best friend and my support system, other than you.”

Before he could say anything, there was a knock on the door as the doctor came in.

She smiled. “Hi Olivia, how are we doing today?”

I sat up on the table and smiled back. “I am good. Just nervous.”

“That is understandable. Who do you have with you?”

I introduced Carl and Ellie as she set everything up.

“Well, I am going to need them to leave for a few minutes so I can do an exam before we do the ultrasound.”

Carl groaned as Ellie pushed him toward the door. “Quit whining, it’s only a couple minutes. We will be right outside.”

I softly laughed as the door shut and scooted down the table.

“So how far along do you think you are?” She asked during the exam.

“Well, if I did my math right, I would say right around 8 weeks.”

She nodded as she told me to scoot back on the table as she opened the door to let Carl and Ellie back in. “Well let’s see what the ultrasound tells us shall we?”

I smiled as Carl and Ellie both took one of my hands as the doctor squirted some gel on my stomach. She moved the wand around for a couple seconds, and then we heard the heartbeat.

Instantly, I had tears in my eyes as I squeezed Carl’s hand. The doctor smiled and pointed to the screen.

“And this right here, is your baby. Congratulations, heartbeat sounds good and everything looks good so far.” She said hitting print on the machine before turning it off. “We will just need to see you again in a month for another ultrasound and at that point we will take some blood for some tests..”

I nodded and said thank you as she handed me the image of the ultrasound. I sat there and stared at it for a few minutes.

“Olivia?” Carl asked as I looked up to see his eyes red from tears.

I smiled up to him as I handed him the ultrasound. “Congratulations daddy.”

-------------------------------------------

After the appointment and some lunch, Ellie went to go check on Patric’s house as Carl and I headed back to my place.

He kissed my hand that he was holding as we headed down the parkway.

I smiled. “What?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. I just can’t believe it. Hearing that heartbeat was just-”

“Amazing? Unbelievable?” I finished.

He sighed. “All of that. It made it real. I mean, I believed you when you told me you were pregnant, but hearing that, and seeing the baby. It was unbelievable.”

I nodded as we pulled off the exit. “Trust me, I know what you mean.”

As we pulled onto my street, I saw a familiar vehicle parked in my driveway.

I groaned as Carl pulled in. “Liv? Who’s that?”

“A blast from the past. It’s Adam, Ellie’s ex.” I said getting out of the car.

As we walked up to the front porch, Adam stood from the bench he had been sitting on and smirked at me.

“Olivia. Good to see you actually didn’t marry Michael. I always knew he was entirely too good for your skank ass.”

I grabbed Carl’s arm before he could lunged at Adam. “What do you want Adam?”

“Well I was just thinking the other day, ‘man, I haven’t seen my El-Bear in quite some time’. And then what do you know, I see you and her out and about a couple days ago. So where is she?”

“I don’t think that is any of your business.” Carl said through his gritted teeth.

I put my hand on his arm to try to calm him. “Listen Adam, I don’t know who you think you saw, but it wasn’t us. Ellie is long gone. She has moved on, to a much better guy who doesn’t abuse women for shits and giggles. Now if you'll excuse us.” I said trying to walk past him to my front door.

He grabbed my arm so hard I ended up facing him. Before I could do or say anything, Carl had him against the wall.

“Listen here you piece of shit. If I ever see you around this house, or around Olivia or Ellie for that matter, I will end your life, do you understand me?”

I put my hand on his shoulder. “Carl, just let him go, he isn’t worth it the jail time.”

I felt his shoulders loosen up as he took his hands off of Adam.

Adam smirked at me as he rubbed his head and walked to his car. “Oh, I will find her Liv. Make sure you tell her that.”

I laughed. “What part of ‘you come around me or Ellie ever again, you will end up dead’ didn’t you understand? You will never find her.”

He spun tires as he backed out of my driveway and sped down the road. As soon as he was out of eyesight, I collapsed onto the bench.

“Liv, are you okay?” Carl rushed over and sat beside me.

I nodded as my whole body shook. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close.

“You guys aren’t staying here. You’re going to my house.”

I looked up at him. “Oh my God, I don’t want Ellie to know he was here. She will freak out.”

“Babe, she needs to know why she can’t come back here. I mean, I will tell her if you want.”

I sighed and shook my head. “No, it needs to come from me.”

We went in so Carl could throw together our bags as I called Ellie.

“Hey little mama! I was just getting ready to head back to the house? What’s up?” She asked cheerfully.

“I need to tell you something.” I said sitting down on the couch.

“Are you okay? We just left the doctor and they said everything was-”

“No, it isn’t me or the baby.” I said interrupting her. “Adam was here when we got home.”

I heard her inhale sharply. “What happened?”

I recalled the events that happened a few minutes before for her.

“Oh my God, I can’t come back there.” She said as her voice shook.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that. Carl has already made me aware we are both going to his house to stay until you leave. He’s upstairs packing our stuff now.”

“Okay, let me know when you guys are on your way and I will go meet you there. He only lives a couple doors down from Patric’s anyways.”

I chuckled. “Those damn Swedes can’t be separated long can they?”

“What about us Swedes?” Carl asked walking down the stairs.

I told Ellie we were getting ready to leave as I hung up and walked over to help him with the bags.

“All I said was that you and Patric couldn’t be separated for long since you guys are neighbors everywhere.” I said with a smile as I grabbed a couple of the bags.

He chuckled as he followed me out to the car. “It’s so I don’t ever have to cook.”

I threw the bags in my trunk as I laughed. “I knew it! You are incapable of feeding yourself.”

He shook his head as he close the trunk and threw his arm around my waist to pull me closer.

“I love you, Olivia.”

I smiled as I threw my arms around his neck. “I love you too”

He chuckled as he leaned in and kissed me.

“I think that was the first time you’ve said that sober.” He said walking over to the driver side.

I shrugged as I went to get in the car. “That’s because every time you confessed your feelings, I was either a day away from being married, or trying to run from my feelings. But that is all over.”

“Good. Because I don’t see myself ending up with anyone else but you. And our little peanut.”

I smiled as I placed my hand on my stomach.

Life was finally treating me right.