Game Changer (10 page)

Chapter 15

The next two weeks passed by quickly. While I was busy with school, Aiden was busy either at practice or with his games. Pre-season wasn’t as busy as the regular season, he told me, but still it wasn’t like he was just sitting around either. He was either at practice or in the gym, and of course once a week he had a game.

It wasn’t always easy to find time for each other, but we somehow made it work.

Tonight was the first away game of our relationship. Aiden was in New York and I was at home watching him on TV. It seemed weird to me sometimes, that most people have their significant other leave and can only call. But not me, I could actually watch Aiden on TV from the comfort of my living room.

I was curled up on the couch with Ethan on one side of me, Kira by him, Kaitlin on my other side and a huge bowl of popcorn was being passed around between us. I gasped when I watched Aiden get tackled. I panicked, wondering if it hurt as bad as it looked.

“Don’t worry Hun, I’m sure he’s fine,” Kaitlin soothed.

I nodded and stuffed my face, trying to take my attention off of the screen. I actually managed to get distracted by the popcorn bowl. I’d tell you what I was thinking, but I don’t remember. That’s how important it was.

“Uh, Emi, you might want to look at the screen,” Ethan mumbled.

My gaze snapped up and my jaw dropped at what I saw. Sitting in the stands was an extremely pregnant Brittney.

“What the fuck is she doing there?” I gasped.

There is no way in hell that bitch is really there at Aiden’s game. I’m just seeing things. I’m hallucinating, that’s all it is.

Just then, an announcer told the whole country how Aiden Swift’s fiancée decided to show her support by joining him on his away game and how they’re expecting a baby boy in a week.

“What the fuck?”

“I’m sure it’s not what it looks like,” Kaitlin said, rubbing my arm.

“Okay, but if it’s not what it looks like, then what is it?” I asked, not wanting to judge Aiden before I knew what I was really seeing.

“Well, maybe she’s just there for moral support and the press got it wrong?” Kira suggested.

“What? Is that like pregnant sympathy?” I snapped, immediately apologizing afterwards. “Sorry, I just really don’t want to give that bitch the benefit of the doubt.”

“Well technically you’re not giving
her
the benefit of the doubt, you’re supporting Aiden.”

“I don’t know. I just don’t know. I guess I’ll find out when he calls later tonight.”

Three hours later, the game was over and I was still waiting for that call. I was both too stubborn and too tired to call him. If he wanted to talk, he needed to call me. Before I could obsess over that anymore, I fell asleep, not waking up until the next morning.

At first, I felt awful, thinking I’d slept through his call … until I checked my phone and saw zero missed calls. I could literally feel the anger coming over me.

Who in the hell did he think he was? Did he honestly think I wouldn’t find out that he was cheating on me? If Brittney being there last night had left any question in my mind, his lack of contact answered it. He probably spent the whole night with his pregnant slut and here I was at home, waiting by the phone for him to call me.

I changed quickly, grabbing the first pair of jeans and a t-shirt I could find before heading downstairs.

“Hey, what’d you find out?” Kaitlin asked as soon as I entered the kitchen.

I huffed and took out the cereal.

“I wouldn’t fucking know. He never called. I’m going to kill him; and that’s if I ever talk to the bastard again. I mean, seriously? Who the fuck does he think he is? Why would he go through all of that just to cheat on me?”

“Woah, calm down Hun. Think about what you just said. Why would he go through all of that just to cheat? Don’t freak out too early. You don’t want to blame him for something that might not be true. Find out the truth first,” she said calmly.

“I’ll blame him all I want. If he wasn’t cheating, then why didn’t he call me last night after his game?” I asked, throwing my hands up in the air. “He had to know I would have seen Brittney at his game and heard what the announcer said.”

“I don’t know Emily, but you need to calm down before you make a bigger mess of this than is necessary.” She gave me a stern look.

I shook my head angrily and focused on my cereal, taking a bit of my frustration out on the bowl and spoon, clanking them together loudly. Just then, my phone started buzzing in my pocket, telling me somebody was calling. I looked at the screen and felt a mixture of emotions when I saw Aiden’s name appear before my eyes.

I paused a moment before hitting the ignore button.

“Who was that?” Kaitlin asked with a knowing voice.

“You know who it was.” I said slowly, not making eye contact.

“Emily …” She trailed off.

“Kaitlin.” I repeated.

My phone started buzzing again. I didn’t even look at the caller i.d. before ignoring the call. I sighed when Kaitlin stomped out of the room. She was such a drama queen.

After a few moments of silence, my cell beeped, informing me about a new text message. I shook my head and cleared the inbox, not bothering to read it. I simply didn’t want to deal with that dickhead right now.

I left my phone in the kitchen and went out to the living room, turned on the TV, and did my best to ignore the world around me. I think I’d watched about three shows before Ethan banged through the door and stood in front of me with his arms crossed.

“You’re ignoring him?” He asked pointedly.

I rolled my eyes and moved my head to see around him. He stepped into my view again. I sighed and looked up; he looked irritated.

“Yes Ethan. I’m ignoring him.”

Ethan shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Are you going to tell me why? Or are you going to be a little brat?”

I narrowed my eyes. “If you’re just going to be name calling then you can leave my house.”

“I’m not leaving and you’re not going to avoid the question.”

“Fine. I think he’s cheating on me and I don’t want to talk to him. That’s my choice and, I’m sorry but, you have no say whatsoever about that.”

“So you’re just going to assume that he’s cheating on you?”

I nodded and looked at my hands, picking at my now chipped nail polish. I didn’t want to talk about this; not to Ethan and definitely not to Aiden.

Ethan sat down next to me and made me look at him. “You have to talk to the poor guy Emi, he’s all worked up, wondering if you’re safe or not. When you didn’t answer he assumed the worst.”

“Yeah?! Well when he didn’t call I assumed the worst and I’m going to continue to assume the worst because that’s what I want to do.” I said, realizing that I sounded infantile but I couldn’t stop.

“Emm, I don...“ I cut him off before he could finish.

“Ethan, this is where you shut up and just be my big brother.”

“I know, but that’s hard to do when your boyfriend’s my friend now,” he pouted. “I like him Emi. He’s a good guy and I know he makes you happy.”

I patted his arm, “I’ll tell you what, you can still be his friend, even if he did cheat on me.” I gave him a look so he’d know I was being sarcastic.

“Fine,” he sighed.

Hours later, I was laying in my bed, staring at the ceiling when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

“Still not talking to him?” Kira asked, flopping down beside me.

“Nope.”

“Apparently, he called Ethan freaking out because you wouldn’t answer your phone.”

“And your point is?”

“Emily Smith, you will stop being so belligerent?” She ordered.

I sat up, and narrowed my eyes at her.

“Don’t you dare tell me what to do like you have the right too. Has Ethan ever left you to think he’s anything other than a saint who’s in love with you? No! Well, Aiden’s left me doubting him twice now. It’s my life and if you can’t support me then stay out of it.”

I laid back down and turned away from her. I heard her sigh and then footsteps telling me she’d left.

I don’t know why I was pushing everybody away. I think I was so afraid that I was right about Aiden I couldn’t even consider being wrong. I knew that sounded ridiculous, but I couldn’t help it.

I’d been asleep for a few hours when I heard my phone ringing. Half asleep, I answered it, without thinking.

“Hello?”

“Emily?” I heard yelling through the phone.

“What the f…“ I looked down at the screen, saw Aiden’s name, and groaned “Fuck.”

“What the hell is going on?”

I bit my lip and hung up the phone, squeezing my eyes shut and holding the phone to my chest. That felt wrong, yet when he called back right after, I didn’t answer.

I didn’t realize they’d started but soon enough tears were flowing down my cheeks and I was asleep before they stopped.

I woke up in the morning to somebody ripping the covers away from my body.

“What the fuck?” I mumbled groggily.

“What the fuck is right. Why the hell have you been avoiding me?” Aiden was in my bedroom, standing over me in a pair of sweats and a long sleeved t-shirt, looking angrier than I’d ever seen him before.

“Go away,” I groaned and turned away, trying to bury my head in my pillow.

“No,” he said sternly and I felt the bed dip under his weight as he sat next to me. He grabbed my arm and pulled me so I was lying on my back. “Do you know how fucking worried I’ve been about you since yesterday? Do you have any idea how fucked up this all is?”

“Aiden, quit saying fuck,” I mumbled.

He scoffed out a laugh and ran a shaky hand through his hair. “I’m yelling at you and you respond with a comment about my use of the word fuck. How priceless.” He didn’t sound humored by it.

“What are you even doing here? Shouldn’t you be with Brittney right about now?” I asked, glaring at him.

He looked startled for only a moment. “Brittney? Brittney? This is all about god-damned Brittney?” He yelled the last part.

“I thought that this Brittney bullshit was over.” I yelled back.

He stood up. “What the fuck are you talking about?” He shouted.

“Don’t act stupid you asshole!” I screamed.

Me calling him a swear word seemed to make him pause for a second, long enough to stop yelling.

“Emily,” he said calmly, “Please tell me exactly what you mean.”

“I saw Brittney at your game and the announcer called her your fiancée and said you two were having a baby boy next week.” I started crying. “Then when you didn’t call I just assumed the worst because you told me before you left that you would call after each game. But you didn’t,” I whispered shakily. “I waited by the phone for hours and nothing. Not even a text to let me know you were okay.”

Aiden’s sigh was resigned and he leaned towards me, attempting to pull me into his arms. I jerked away before they could close around me and made an attempt to wipe my eyes. Aiden would have none of that though and he pulled me to his chest anyways.

“Don’t you pull away from me when you’re hurting! I’m here for you, even if I’m the bastard whose making you cry. I didn’t do what you think I did though.”

My shoulders slumped as I felt a mixture of defeat and relief flow through me, “You didn’t?” I asked, my voice sounding weepy.

“No, of course not. I didn’t even know that Brittney was there. The reason that I didn’t call you was because by the time the game ended and interviews were done and I was showered, it was really late and I didn’t want to wake you up. I’m sorry, I should have called anyway.”

I felt a sob wrack through my body. I felt so stupid, yet happy at the same time.

“I wanted to trust that you wouldn’t hurt me but I figured that it would hurt more in the end if I didn’t prepare myself for the worst.”

“I love you so damn much Emily, more than I ever expected, to be honest. You’ve become my whole world. The last thing I want to do is jeopardize that by cheating. I don’t want anyone but you, and that most especially includes Brittney. I really don’t know why she was at the game or why they said she was my fiancée but you have to know by now, that that isn’t true.”

“I’m sorry,” I sighed, wrapping my arms around him, finally feeling better than I had in the past couple days.

“Me too,” he whispered, his lips moving to mine.

Kissing Aiden just felt right, and I couldn’t believe I let my own insecurities almost tear us apart.

Chapter 16

“I’m so hungry for pickles!” I groaned to Kira as we walked through the mall. “I mean seriously, my mouth is literally watering as I’m talking, just by imagining the taste.”

Kira laughed. “And I’m the pregnant one.”

I rolled my eyes and shoved her gently, not wanting her to fall or anything.

“Shut up. Speaking of, what’s it like?” I asked.

She looked up from the picture frame she was holding and met my eyes with a curious look, “What’s what like?”

“Being pregnant,” I said, blushing a little.

The smile that lit up her face was beautiful. Kira had a tendency to glow these days, even though that’s a completely cliché thing to say, it was true. She walked taller, smiled wider, and laughed happier.

“Honestly? Being pregnant is great. I mean, you know I’ve had a crush on your brother since forever, but now it’s so much more. I never expected to be living with him and having his baby, but it’s happening. All things considered, I feel really fortunate. Now, if you’re wondering literally what having a baby feels like, I’m not sure yet. The bean in here hasn’t really started moving yet, it’s too soon, but I’ll tell you how it feels when it happens,” she said, rubbing her hand across her nearly flat stomach. At only eight weeks pregnant, she had a tiny bump, but that was mostly because she was such a tiny girl in the first place.

Right after we’d found out she was pregnant, Ethan started calling the baby ‘the bean’, thinking it was hilarious and somehow it caught on.

It was weird to me; Ethan was one of those guys who loved his freedom and hated when people relied on him. He was stepping up to the plate fabulously for Kira. He’s been so strong for her. I was so proud of my brother.

I tilted my head to the side, “I’ve always wanted to know what it’s like to be pregnant.” I mentioned casually.

I wasn’t experiencing baby fever or anything, just curiosity. My mind started drifting to what Kira’s baby would look like. Then I started wondering, if Aiden and I had a baby, what would she look like? Yes, in my mind, my first born child was definitely going to be a girl.

I shook my head around the time I imagined cribs, that just seemed a bit too real. Then an idea struck. “Come with me,” I smiled and grabbed Kira’s hand.

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise, Goose!” I announced, practically dragging her in what I hoped was the direction of the shop I was looking for.

As soon as I saw the white letters against that yellow background with teddy bears, I increased my pace. “I’m giving you your first baby gift,” I told her, answering any unasked questions she may have had.

“Really?” She asked, her voice already heavy with tears. She was so hormonal it was downright funny at times.

“Yes, really.” I said as we stepped inside, little kids were running around, collecting everything they may need. “I think this should become a tradition for us. Whenever one of us gets pregnant, the other one has to build-a-bear for them.” I said.

“I’m so in!” She exclaimed, obviously happy that I was going to do this.

“Now, personally, I imagine little bean will be a duck lover.”

Her eyes welled up with tears again, completely emotional, “I think little bean will look perfect with a stuffed ducky.”

I smiled and went over to the scarily flat ducks. There was just something about the fact that the stuffed animals had no stuffing in them that reminded me of road kill, something that I didn’t like at all. The sooner this ducky was fluffed up the better.

A lady came over and helped us. When the time came to put the small red heart in ducky, I asked for a sharpie. She gave me an odd look, so I raised an eyebrow and she immediately handed one over. On one side, I wrote ‘Little Bean’ and on the back, I neatly spelled out ‘Siempre en mi corazón’ which was Spanish for Always in my heart.

“Aww, you wrote in Spanish?” Kira asked, peeping over my shoulder. I laughed and nodded, “Yep, little bean is going to be a traveler someday, I can feel it.”

I turned around to face Kira and saw that she had a flat monkey in her hands. “What’s that for?” I asked.

“Your first one. I think if we’re going to do this right, we’ll do it together,” she explained.

I wrinkled my nose, “Isn’t that a little presumptuous?”

“No, I think it’s encouraging,” She said, stepping past me.

“What are you calling it?” I asked.

“Sobri.” She answered. It took me a minute, but I finally got it. In Spanish, nephew and niece are sobrino(a), so by shortening it, it could turn out to be anything. In case you’re wondering, all throughout school Kira and I were the biggest Spanish nerds, we even took a trip to Mexico when we were seniors.

It was my turn to cry which was odd for me, “That’s so cute!” I exclaimed, cupping my hands to my chest.

She winked, “I’m aware of that.”

“Little Bean and Sobri are going to be the cutest babies ever,” she cooed.

After our shopping trip was over, we were both immensely pleased with ourselves. We went back to my house and as soon as we walked in the door, we smelled pizza. Usually pizza makes me really happy, it’s one of my favorite foods. However, this time my stomach flipped, and not in a good way.

I took a deep breath and shook my head, figuring it was just a wave and it would pass, however as soon as I stepped into the kitchen and saw Aiden and Ethan working on applying the perfect amount of oregano, I gagged and covered my mouth. I dropped my bags, and ran to the bathroom. Three sets of footsteps followed me into the bathroom and they watched me as I retched into the toilet bowl.

“Go away!” I gasped when I could finally talk.

“Honey, are you okay?” Aiden asked, cautiously walking towards me.

I held my hand out for him to go away but he just crouched down and pulled my hair back as another round hit me.

“Did she eat anything today?” Aiden asked Kira.

“No, nothing out of the ordinary.”

I finally finished and flushed the toilet then leaned back against the tub. I looked up at Ethan and Kira, “Can you two please leave?” I asked politely.

Kira held Ethan’s arm and closed the door behind them, giving us our privacy.

I stood up and walked over to the counter, washed my mouth and hands, and turned to Aiden. “That was so weird, I never get like that.”

He looked really pale.

“Are you thinking what I am?” He asked.

I bit my lip and asked what he meant.

“I forgot the condom that one time…” He started slowly.

“Right, but that’s the only time that’s happened and it was like four weeks ago.” I responded.

“When’s the last time you got your period?” He asked bluntly.

I counted back the days in my head, becoming horrified. “It was before we got together.”

“What?” He said on an exhaled breath.

“I think so! I mean, you came back six weeks ago, right?” I asked for clarification. When he nodded, I continued. “Well I haven’t gotten it in about eight. I didn’t realize that though, I mean, I’ve never had to keep track of my period, it would just come back like clockwork but I got distracted with you being around.” I rambled, then looked at him accusingly. “Didn’t you wonder anything when you’d been back for six fucking weeks?”

“Woah, how was I supposed to know?” He held his hands up.

“I don’t know! You were just supposed to,” I cried.

Aiden pulled me to his chest and rubbed my back. “It’s okay, baby. Everything’s going to be fine, I promise. No matter how this turns out, we’ll get through it together.”

“I’m not ready to be a mother yet. I’m only nineteen years old,” I sniffled, squeezing my arms around his waist.

“I know honey, neither of us are prepared for this. How about you call your doctor and make an appointment? I’ll take off work if you need me to, so that I can go with you.”

I nodded and looked up at his face, “How are you so calm?” I whispered.

“Because I know that you need me to be the level headed one right now. I also know that if you really are pregnant, that baby is a part of you and me, and that in itself will be beautiful.”

“So if I’m pregnant, you want me to keep it?” I asked.

Aiden’s strong hand grabbed my chin and he made me look up at him. “Of course I want you to keep it, but I’m not going to force that decision on you. We’ll decide once we know for sure, okay?”

I nodded and walked out to make the call.