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After a brief pause, Audra smiles widely and shifts the conversation. “Would you like to see the latest sonogram?” My mom nods, and Audra adds, “Well, show her, Neil.”
I reach into my back pocket for my wallet and pull it out, handing it to my mom. She studies it for a moment before asking, “Does she have a name yet?”
“Liana, but we're still figuring out a middle name,” Audra answers. With that, I'm out of the conversation as Mom and Audra start talking about the pregnancy. I'm a good listener while they talk and talk and talk. By the time my mom decides it's time to go, I've already washed our dirty dishes. I want to groan when Audra asks, “Are you sure you'll be okay driving back?”
Luckily, Mom says, “Yes. Neil, I'll let you know a date soon. It was so nice to meet you, Audra.” They hug and my mom turns to me, giving me one as well. She kisses my cheek, tells me she loves me, and then she's out the door. Things seem better. They feel better. All I can do now is hope she wasn't lying when she said Dad was on the same page.
Audra turns to me with curious eyes, but I shake my head. I take her hand and silently lead her to the living room. She sits at one end of the couch before I grab the remote and lay down, resting my head in her lap. Her fingers weave their way into my hair as I turn on the TV.
“Are we going to talk about that?” Audra questions.
“Not tonight. I want to relax for a bit.”
“Okay.”
I turn the TV to The Big Bang Theory and we watch the marathon for about two hours before I break our silence. “How was your day, Audra?”
“Weird to say the least,” she chuckles softly. Her legs move underneath my head as she lifts her sock covered feet up onto my coffee table.
“And how was Liana's day?”
“Normal. Ooh,” she pats my shoulder repeatedly. “Up, Neil. Get up.” I sit up and she stands. Audra disappears down the hallway. “Oh my God! Which door is the bathroom?” she yells with frustration.
“Third on right,” I call back, trying not to laugh but not able to hold back a chuckle.
When she returns with her hands on her hips, she says, “Okay. I think it's time I get a tour. Plus, I'm ready to shower and change out of these clothes anyway.”
I show her everyone's rooms, the bathrooms, the laundry room, which room I think would be good for the nursery, and then the master bedroom. Her bag was sitting on my bed, waiting for her. While she's grabbing her things, I get her a towel and such for her shower. I even turn the water on for her.
“Neil?” I hear from my bedroom.
“Yeah, babe?”
“I need one more thing.”
“What's that?” I ask as I walk back into the room.
“You.”
What? The corners of my mouth slightly fall and my brows bunch together. Me? What is she talking about? I'm right here. Once I'm standing in front of her, she leans forward to kiss me softly. Those are the kind of kisses that make me want more from her because they are so simply sweet and full of...love? I don't know, but I sure do love them.
“Thank you,” she mumbles sincerely against my lips, watching me carefully.
“You're welcome. Go shower before the water runs cold.”
Audra nods and steps around me to go to the bathroom. While I change and then go back downstairs to the couch, I wonder what Audra will do with her furniture. We already have everything here, so she wouldn't need to bring all of that. Maybe her place was already furnished when she moved in. I'm not sure when she's going to make the move, but I figured it would be during our break. We need to do some more shopping, but Audra wants to wait until after her baby shower. At least, that way, it'll give me time to paint the baby's room, if she wants it painted.
With the end of the year, I can't help but think about next year. It's going to bring so many things. My first child, Audra's first Mother's Day, my first Father's Day, and our baby's first of everything. As for hockey, I'm too old to be drafted, but I'm an unrestricted free agent. According to my agent, there's a good chance I could get signed this year, but do I want to? Should I? Would I? Audra's going to finish her degree. I'll finish mine, and then we'll be looking to find jobs that those degrees were earned for. On top of that, we're going to have a baby to take care of. We would need time to be more settled before a change like that. It's now or never in my eyes. I won't be playing for school anymore, and if I don't get signed, then I'm done. It'll be time to move on. But what if I do? Do I want that life?
My thoughts are halted as Audra comes in, sits next to me, and rests her head on my shoulder. I place my hand on the inside her of left thigh. “You look like you were thinking about something,” she comments.
“I was.” Instead of mentioning hockey, I ask, “Was your apartment fully furnished? I was trying to figure out what you planned on doing with all the stuff if it's all yours.”
“It's not all mine, so don't worry.” After a pause, she lifts her head to look at me and says, “I'm ready to try out your bed. This day seems to have lasted far too long.”
I turn off the TV, stand, take her hand, and we walk up to my room. We crawl into bed, getting comfortable with me on my back and Audra on her side like usual. I lift my arm up to rest my head on it, staring at the ceiling. I'm tired, but I'm not sleepy.
“When are you moving in?”
