Page 37 of The Golden Goalie

He runs a hand over his chest. “I brought some stuff for you and the baby.”

Surely I didn’t hear him right. “What?”

His eyes meet mine. “I just brought over some stuff.”

“Some stuff,” I repeat slowly. He nods. “Well, where is it?”

“Your mom told me to put it in your room.”

I stare at him. “You didn’t have to do that”

He shrugs. “I wanted to.”

Suddenly, I'm not as tired as I was a little while ago. I stand up and push my chair in. “Can I see it?”

He chuckles. “Yeah. And Amber, I’m not taking any of it back. You're keeping all of it.”

I give him a mock look of horror. “No takebacks, Indian Giver. Of course, I’m keeping it. Can I see it now?”

He gives me a warm smile and stands up, suddenly towering over me and dwarfing me. “Only if you smile at me like that all the time,” he says in a low voice.

I give him my best cheesy grin. “Like this?”

He shakes his head. “If that’s all I can get, then yes.” He swipes my nose. “Come on, let’s go check it out.” I follow him to my bedroom and stare. There are three baskets stuffed to the brim. “It started out with stuff for you.”

I start looking through the baskets. There are boxes of saltines, lemonade bottles, apple juice bottles, lemon drops, ginger ales, ginger candies, vitamins, an essential oils kit, a diffuser, wristbands that say they’re for nausea, a water bottlewith markings on the side for tracking water intake, an electric blanket, the softest sweater, a candle, and more.

“That’s unscented; I didn’t want to make you sick,” he says when I pull out the candle. I pull out a white box that’s unmarked. When I open it, I stare at it.

“You got me a Kindle?”

“I loaded it with several of your favorite authors, according to Bri and your mom. I thought maybe for when you were sick...” his voice trails off. I go back to the basket and pull out a spray bottle. “That’s a mix of water and magnesium. It’s supposed to help with the nausea.”

I set it back, trying not to be completely overwhelmed. And then I pull out a gift bag with the word,Baby,written in big letters. I pull out the tissue paper and gasp softly. I pull out the softest green blanket I’ve ever felt. Next, I pull out little green baby socks. Then I pull out a green onesie that says Green Thunder across the front in white letters and a baby beanie that matches. I shake my head and blink back tears. “Rico,” I swallow down the emotion. “Sorry, Pregnancy hormones.” When I lift my head, he looks unsure of himself and my heart turns to a puddle of goo. “I can’t believe you did all this for me.”

“I hope I’m not overstepping.”

I drop the onesie into the basket and spontaneously wrap my arms around him in a tight hug. “Thank you, Rico. This is the most amazing and thoughtful gift I’ve ever received.” His arms wrap around me, and I bury my head in his chest, allowing myself this moment of weakness before I step back. “Thank you, seriously.”

“You’re welcome. I can’t wait to meet him or her.” I look away because I don’t know if I can handle him being so nice to me. A huge yawn escapes me. “I’m going to go so you can get some sleep.”

“Thank you, Rico for all this and for the pizza as well and for just...being really nice...and good to me.”

He studies my face. “You’re welcome. It’s not that big a deal.”

I laugh dryly. “It really is.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t get it to you sooner. I was waiting on the baby beanie to come in, and it took several weeks longer than it was supposed to.”

“It’s okay. This is perfect. Thank you.”

He walks to the door, and I turn on the outside light and follow him out into the chilly night. I'm glad I still have my sweater on. “Amber, before I leave, will you please tell me what you wanted to ask me that night a few weeks ago?”

I blink. “Rico, I don’t even know what I ate for dinner last night; I don’t remember something from a few weeks ago.”

“You showed up at the end of practice with Bri and wanted to ask me something.”

Oh.

---