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“Can’t wait to meet Baby Price!”
“Happy Birthday, Mars!”
The crowd wishes us well as we take off, following the IKEA staffer ready to lead us through the shortcut to the front of the store.
“Jeezus fucking Christ,” Jake grumbles from Rachel’s other side. “You done giving me a heart attack, Mars? You in this now?”
“I’m here,” I reply, voice set with determination.
“And you’re sure?” Rachel says, glancing up at me. “About the retirement? You don’t have to decide anything now—”
“No,” I say quickly. The weight in my chest already feels lighter. I can breathe again. “No, it’s finished. Hockey is finished for me.”
“Shit, I just got goosebumps,” Jake says from her other side. “You sure you’re sure?”
“I’m done,” I say again. “My body is done. I’ve played enough hockey for ten lifetimes. It’s time for a new adventure,” I add, gesturing down to Rachel’s belly.
Rachel smiles. “Full time daddy? I like it. Though you may come to prefer the hockey.”
“Yeah, not to poop on your party, Mars, but tonight’s not really about you anymore,” says Jake. “Rachel and Nugget upstaged you.”
“And I’m sorry for that,” she adds quickly, breathing out through pursed lips. “Couldn’t be helped though.”
“Don’t apologize,” I say. “You are about to have our child. There is no greater gift one could receive.”
Jake just sighs. “And just like that, weeks of planning wasted without such much as a ‘thank you, Jake’ to be heard.”
Rachel laughs again. “We’ll have a do-over in a couple months. I can lure Ilmari here under false pretenses again. Maybe next time we’ll have a bouncy castle.”
She and Jake laugh.
“I have a better idea,” I say, an idea spinning in my mind.
They both glance sharply up at me.
“Okay, with that face, even I’m scared,” says Jake as Rachel laughs again.
I smile. “Caleb’s birthday is in November, yes?”
“Yeeees,” Rachel replies, her dark eyes narrowed on me.
“What say we throw him a Rays birthday party weekend at Disney World? Family friendly. All the parks. Plus the water one.”
Both Rachel and Jake come to a halt, staring at me. Then their faces split into twin grins.
“You’re an evil fucking genius,” says Jake.
“He’ll hate it so much,” Rachel echoes. “Ohmygod—costumes. We can have costumes for each park.Frozenand he can be Olaf—”
“Pleeeease dress him as Peter Pan again,” Jake laughs. “Fuck me, best idea ever. And I still have so much time to plan. You’re amazing, Mars—”
“But baby first,” Rachel says, her breath coming out in a little pant. “At this point, I’ll agree to anything so long as we get this baby outta me first.”
Her wince acts like a shock to our systems and Jake and I switch fully into defense mode. Our wife is in labor. Nothing will stand in our way from getting her safely to the hospital.
“Wait—oh no,” Rachel cries, trying to tug us to a halt.
“What?” I growl.
