The teams came out for warm-ups, and I looked among the men in matching outfits until I saw the tall as hell one with 33 on his jersey, which Jeremy informed me is actually called asweater.
“There.” I pointed to him as he skated in a circle, eyes scanning the crowd.
“He looks handsome,” Kate muttered, and I had to agree. I didn’t usually think the little outfits athletes have to wear were hot, but Barry was already, undeniably, very hot, and the outfit only added to what he had going on.
He spotted us in the crowd, his gaze moving away then back to us as a smile took over his face. He waved, smile sparkling, and Jeremy gasped.
“He’s waving at Hannah, not you,” Kate reminded him.
“He could’ve been waving at me, I’m the one wearing his number,” Jeremy pointed out.
Meanwhile, Barry was still looking and smiling, and I nodded and waved back. Jeremy and Kate also waved, all three Harvey siblings’ attention on him.
Another player tapped him on the shoulder, drawing his attention from us, and I exhaled a slight breath. Did anyonearound us notice he was waving at us? Did they know I was pregnant with his baby?
No, no way. Right?
“Are you like dating him? I thought you were going to single mom this situation,” Jeremy said, and I didn’t razz him for calling the baby a “situation.” She was a situation, that much was true.
“I was. I didn’t know he was going to come to Utah.”
“Did you know he was Barry Wright?” His eyes didn’t leave the ice, though it just looked like the players were stretching and chattering with each other on their sides. Their stretches included these unnatural hip thrusts toward the ice and basically the splits, so I could admit I was enamored too.
“No, I thought he was like a really buff finance guy,” I said honestly. “But then I did see him on TV on Dad’s birthday.”
“And you didn’t think to reach out to him then?” Kate asked, this part of the story new to her, too.
Jeremytsked. “That’s messed up.”
“I didn’t want him to have to worry about it. And I kind of thought he might try to take her away from me.”
“Her?” Jeremy asked, loud as hell, and spilled some of his popcorn on the floor. “Is the baby a girl?”
Shit.
I glanced at Kate, the only other person who knew the secret besides Barry and me, and she shrugged like I couldn’t take it back now.
I was going to tell the rest of the family together, but well, at a hockey game was as good a time as any to start spreading the news.
“Surprise!” I said. Both of them had tears in their eyes threatening to spill over. A whole family of crybabies, I swear. “Stop crying, why are you crying?”
“I’m happy,” Jeremy said. “A little girl, oh my God, Han.”
“She’s going to be so beautiful.” Kate sniffled.
“And tall! Maybe she can play in the Women’s Hockey League.”
“Alright, alright, pull it together, you saps.” But I was tearing up too. They put their arms around me and squeezed me in a tight sibling hug I am sure Jeremy would deny later if asked about it.
Barry waved one last time before the team left the ice a few minutes later. More people filed into the stadium before the lights went low and loud music started thrumming through speakers while the announcer yelled about the team coming out.
First, four refs came on the ice and skated around doing their own little moves, but Jeremy told me I didn’t have to cheer for them. Kate and I offered respectful applause anyway.
Then came the guys again, this time with more fanfare, loud music, flashing lights, a whole production. They all wore the same uniform expect for the goalie who had like double the uniform, and the building was cheering so loud I realized I knew nothing about hockey in this state if I thought there would only be a few hundred people here.
In calling out the names of the starting lineup, I gasped to hear the announcer hollering with an extra flare, “NUMBER 33, BARRY WRIGHT!”
The crowd went fuckingnuts, not like “reject from Columbus” nuts, like “warm welcome to Utah’s new golden boy” nuts. I cheered too, because both Kate and Jeremy were screaming, and it felt right to do the same.
