Page 37 of Chasing The Goal
“I wish I was. She had a whole Pinterest board for him.”
I was still laughing when he reached for another almond croissant, the tension in the room finally breaking like sun through fog.
And that’s when I realized—I wanted more mornings like this. Mornings with laughter and flaky pastries and Jaymie Prescott looking at me like I mattered.
Even if I didn’t deserve it.
Even if I had no idea what came next.
Mallory
By the third day,I started expecting the knock.
It was never at the same time—sometimes morning, sometimes mid-afternoon, once even just after nine at night—but it always came with something in his hands. A smoothie. A Tupperware container with actual vegetables. A paper bag from the good bakery.
Jaymie Prescott, NHL forward and professional pain in my ass, had turned into my unsolicited, overachieving caretaker.
He checked on me like it was his job. Asked if I’d taken my supplements. Which were also a recomendation fromhim, after one late night google session. If I’d eaten. If I’d rested. Then gave me a very serious look if I hadn’t done any of the above.
Which, I’ll admit, was both annoying and kind of… sweet.
He never pushed. Never hovered. Just dropped things off, flashed that soft, crooked smile, and made some offhanded joke about his “Maternal Hockey Instincts” before heading back upstairs.
The first time he handed me a pill organizer, I nearly threw it at him.
“It’s labeled by day,” he’d said, so proud of himself. “Even has cute little moon and sun symbols.”
“You think I don’t know what Monday is?”
He shrugged. “I think your prenatal vitamins are the size of hockey pucks and maybe intimidating.”
I’d rolled my eyes and taken the damn thing anyway.
It was the little things. The quiet, unspoken care in how he always checked the expiration date on anything he brought me. How he opened the blinds in my living room to make sure I was getting sunlight. How he didn’t even ask before refilling the water pitcher in my fridge.
He was just… there.
And somehow, that mattered more than I wanted to admit.
By day five, I finally texted Dakota. With a doctors appointment looming in a few weeks to confirm, I had tobreak the news to my sister. I still hadn't decided how I felt about this pregnancy but I knew I was going to keep it. And I had to share that news with my baby sister.
Me
I have news.
Dakota
Oh god
Did you go out with the hot hockey player??
I’m pregnant.
thats a left turn…
WHAT
THE
