Page 7 of Lost on Ice
“I’m back for good,” I assure her. “I’m going to take over the clinic.”
“Oh, thank God!” She gives me a small, teary smile before wiping her eyes.
We stare happily for one another for a moment. Both of us are smiling. I look at the swell of her very pregnant belly. “Can I get you something to drink?” she asks. “Or…”
“The pregnant friend here should be relaxing, not getting up to get the other one anything!” I say. “Seriously, how far along are you?”
“About six months.” She rubs a hand lovingly over her bump.
“Wow! I didn’t realize so much time had passed!” She’d told me she was pregnant again, but I guess it’s been a while since then that we’ve really talked. It hadn’t really sunk in. I was too busy dwelling on what a shitty friend I am.
“It’s going to be so awesome having you around again,” she tells me, then her eyes go wide with excitement. “Hey! We can bring back girls' night now!”
I don’t know why I was so worried. This isSophie. She always has my back.
“As much as I would love that,” I lean back into the couch and stretch my arms over my head, “I feel bad coming back and immediately asking my family to watch Lilah, and I don’t know anyone else that I would trust to babysit just yet.”
Sophie gives me a look that screams, “Are you being serious right now?”
“Abbie,” she shakes her head in apparent disbelief, “allow me to bring back the words you told me when I found outIwas pregnant. You have so many people who love and care about you. Your dad dotes on Chase like he’s his own grandchild. That really should have been my first clue that he was missing his own.” She’s not trying to make me feel bad, but damn if that doesn’t sting a little. “I can tell you with one-hundred percent certainty that he and Vivwantto have Lilah from time to time, if not much more often.”
Her words hit me like a truck. I’ve been so used to being by myself all these years, the idea that I have people who want to be there for Lilah and me almost makes me tear up again. Sure, we had Beatrice, but she didn’t really sign up to be an on-call babysitter. She had been doing me enough of a favor by giving me a discount on daycare. If I had to ask her outside of that, I felt like I was taking advantage of her.
Now, though? I have a whole-ass support system. Viv said as much last night.
Am I still embarrassed that I was stupid enough to get pregnant by a guy who had no interest in me outside of sex? Um, yes. I’m not sure if that will ever go away. At least I have Sophie, my dad, and Viv to help me shoulder it now.
“Oh!” Sophie sits up straighter, her eyes bright. “I’m going to Connecticut this weekend. Jordan has two playoff games for the Junior Hockey Division, and I’m heading up tomorrowto surprise Carter for his birthday on Saturday. I may have a ‘special surprise’ for him.” She winks and fucking giggles, making me roll my eyes good-naturedly. “You should come! I can make sure you get set up in your own room and everything. We can have some time together to catch up! I’ve really missed you, and would love to just be able to hang out.”
“I don’t know…” I trail off, biting my lip. I’ve never left Lilah overnight before. I suppose, if I was going to, Dad and Vivianne are who I would leave her with.
“Come on! Your dad and Viv are already going to have Chase; I’m sure they would love to have Lilah too.. Let’s call the hotel and get you a room, and then if they say no, we can cancel.”
“Well—”
Before I can give her an answer, she’s calling the hotel on speaker phone. “Hi, yes! I’m calling about my upcoming appointment. Are there any more rooms available in the block reserved for the Junior Thorns team this weekend?”
“Yes, we actually just had a cancellation,” the voice on the other line says, the sound of typing prominent in the background, “would you like to book the room?”
“Nope, we were just checking,”is on the tip of my tongue, but Sophie beats me to it.
“Yes, please. Can you reserve it under Williams? We have another room booked too, under Carter Williams, can you just use the payment information from that?” Shooting her an incredulous look, I try to brush off the wave of indignation that overtakes me as she waves me off.
“Of course. Is there anything else we can help you with?”
“No, we’re good, thank you!” They hang up, and she gives me a self-satisfied grin. “See? All taken care of.”
Pursing my lips, I have a snarky response ready for her, but then Lilah and Chase come into the room, each carrying armsfull of stuffies. “Mommy, we’re gonna build a village!” Chase says proudly, dumping his load of stuffed animals on the floor.
“Mommy! Stuffies!” Lilah points excitedly, and my heart warms at how well the two of them are playing together. This is how it always should have been.
The kids start setting up their little “village,” with Chase being the ever-kind and patient one. He really is going to make a great big brother.
“So.” I huff out a breath, watching our kids play together like they’ve been doing for years. “How is everyone? Tom, Jordan, the rinks, your business?”
“Everyone’s doing good; Tom’s knee hasn’t been bothering him as much lately. Jordan’s good, still doing hockey, obviously. Rinks are under Carter’s management currently since he retired from the NHL, so he doesn’t see Jake as much as he used to.”
Ugh. Jake. I had hoped we could get through this conversation without having to talk about him anymore.
