by Toni Aleo
With that, he took his wife’s mouth with his, and as he kissed her, Jensen knew that no Cup, no award, no nothing could ever add to his life the way Wren did. It hadn’t been easy, and he knew it never would be. But the best things in life, he had always fought and worked for.
And Wren was the ultimate prize.
“I am entirely too pregnant to be here.”
Her husband looked down at her as he held his hand out to her before she took it, pulling herself out of the limo. “I don’t understand why they pushed this back so damn far.”
Jensen placed a kiss to the side of her mouth. “Venue conflicts, from what I was told.”
She shot him a dry look, completely annoyed with the whole thing. She was supposed to be home, getting ready for Gunner’s debut the following month. The last few weeks had been so busy for them that she didn’t have everything done. Between going back to Canada, this time with Wells, Matty—whom she was still on the fence about but tolerated because her brother loved him so much—Brie, and Vaughn, and then the little vacation to Cancun Jensen had surprised her with, it was easy to say that nothing was done. Then there was the baby shower Elli had thrown for her, the birth of Benji and Lucy’s baby girl, Charlotte, and the retirement party for Tate that Jensen had put on for him. Things were nuts.
Honestly, nuts.
“Don’t they plan this shit out? Like, when you know you want to have the NHL Awards on said date, plan it, jeez. Now we’re in Vegas in August when it’s hotter than Satan’s asshole,” she complained as he waved to some of the fans who were calling out for him. He smiled shyly as he looked back down at her. She hoped she didn’t look like a whale in her sparkly silver body-hugging dress that Jensen had picked out, but his eyes seemed to darken as he looked her over. Her hair was down, big curls to the side, trailing over her shoulder with a silver barrette holding it back. Her makeup was, of course, dramatic, as was the cut of the front of her dress. She was a little worried when the stylist busted out the tape, but her boobs were in their assigned seats and she was ready to go.
She just hoped Jensen liked it.
Which he had told her he did.
A million times since leaving the hotel.
“Vivid image, thanks,” he muttered as he took her in his arms, holding her close as they started up the stairs of the venue. “By the way, I can’t wait to slide this dress down those sexy, dangerous curves of yours.”
Giggling, she leaned into him as they climbed the stairs. “Well, thank you.”
“Hmmm,” he muttered against her lips. “Think I can slide this over and get a peek at your boob?”
She laughed. “It’s taped down.” A challenge flashed in his eyes, and she smacked his moving hand. “Don’t you dare.”
He laughed, kissing her lips hard. “I love you.”
“I love you.”
“Good, be right back,” he said with a wink before he kissed her hand and went to sign stuff for the fans. As she stood there, watching as he gushed over the kids, was great with the adults, and signed as much as he could, she couldn’t help but think she couldn’t love anyone more than him. He had been wonderful the last couple months. They were great and so happy. She still couldn’t believe she had tried to keep her heart hidden from him. It was useless.
He owned it.
Her hand slid down the front of her belly where her son struggled inside of her for room, and her eyes drifted shut. She hadn’t heard from Bradley since Wells’s non-wedding. She wasn’t sure what he was thinking, so Jensen made sure to hire a wonderful lawyer just in case. Since she had the texts from Bradley telling her to abort their child, her lawyer was confident they would be able to terminate his rights to Gunner if need be or if he ever tried to take her to court. Meanwhile, though, the plan was to have Jensen sign the birth certificate because Gunner was his, and that was that.
Coming toward her, Jensen wrapped her up in his arms as he kissed her. “Ready?”
“Ready,” she said, leaning into him, and he grinned over at her.
“I love you.”
“I know,” she teased, and he kissed her once more as they headed into the theater that was full of all of hockey’s best. Seated in the front by the greats of Jensen’s generation, Wren leaned back in the seat, happy to be able to stretch her legs out in front of her. Her knees had been hurting, along with her hips. She wished the seats were bigger, but Jensen had already said they could leave after the Vezina Trophy.
She was praying it was the first award.
But Wren wasn’t that lucky.
Nope, it was toward the end, and as they went through the nominees, she squeezed Jensen’s hand when the nerves took over. But as always, Jensen was cool as a cucumber, laughing at her. But she couldn’t help it. She knew that Emma and Antoine were watching, as were her parents, Vaughn, Brie, Wells, and probably Matty. She wanted so badly for Jensen to win. He deserved it. He was the best!
“You’re insane,” he muttered, and she stuck her tongue out at him as the guy on the stage opened the envelope.
“From the Nashville Assassins, Jensen Monroe.”
Letting out a squeal, she somehow hopped up, clapping loudly, unlike the ladylike way hockey wives were supposed to do it, but she didn’t care. She was proud of her man. Laughing, he stood, taking her face in his hands before kissing her hard on the lips. Parting, he kissed her nose as the room erupted, his stats and his highlights showing on the screen on stage. Pride shook her from her core as she watched everything while he climbed the stairs, accepting his award. She hadn’t realized how big the Vezina Trophy was.
She had no clue where that was going in their apartment.
They really needed to buy a house.
She knew she was supposed to sit, but she didn’t. She kept standing, that is until she felt a pain in her side that had her dropping into her seat.
Shit, that hurt.
“Wow, um, I’m very honored and very humbled. I love this sport, I love my job, and everything tied to it. I work for the best owner in the NHL, one who makes me feel like I’m part of a family instead of just someone on the payroll. I play every night with my brothers, a game we all love and have worked our butts off to get into.” Everyone hooted and hollered, cheering him on, but Wren was hurting. Something wasn’t right, and when warmth ran down her legs, her eyes widened.
Did her water just break?
Oh. Fuck.
“First, I’d like to thank my wife,” he said then, and she directed her eyes up to the stage, meeting his. She knew damn well a camera was on her, so she didn’t move. “I wouldn’t be who I am today without her. Which is complete. I’ve known her for over fifteen years, and she made me chase her for fourteen years and nine months of that, but now, she’s having my son, and she loves me. So it’s okay that she made me wait because it was worth it. I love you, Wren Monroe.”
“I love you,” she somehow got out as everyone aww’d around them.
“Next, I want to dedicate this to my dad,” he said, and she exhaled hard before she stood slowly, which of course, made Jensen pause, but she waved him off, trying to get the hell out of there so she could text him to meet her out front. But she only got two steps before a shooting pain hit her in the gut.
“Shit.”
She didn’t even know how it happened. She thought some other hockey player was holding her up, but it was actually her hockey player as people started to gather around them.
“Whoa, baby, what’s wrong?”
She laughed through the pain to keep from crying. “My water broke.”
People who heard her gasped as he shook his head, laughing as everyone started to fuss over her to get her out of there. But she was in pain and freaking the fuck out. How did this happen? She had a month! Was Gunner okay? Holy crap! She was having her kid in Vegas! Dammit! But then her husband’s arms wrapped around her, not letting her go far. A much-needed wave of calm rushed over her before he muttered, “And you say you never get attention.”
“You’re lucky I love yo
u,” she said as they made it out the side door where they could get to a car faster.
With a grin on his face, he nodded. “I am. Now, let’s go have us a baby.”
“So Daddy won the Vezina yesterday, and let me tell you what that is. That’s the award for the best goalie in the league, and Daddy is that. Did you know that, buddy?”
Jensen looked down into the face of his sweet boy, and he knew his heart was full. By the grace of God, Gunner looked like his beautiful wife, but he didn’t miss that Gunner had Bradley’s chin. Not that it mattered because unlike the fears he had been experiencing since he found out who Gunner’s biological father was, he loved the kid with everything inside of him. It wasn’t easy getting here, his insecurities were real, but all of that didn’t matter now. All that mattered was this little human who was his and Wren’s.
Holding his son close to him, he kissed Gunner’s forehead as he rocked him, pacing the room while Wren slept. “You just wait. I’m going to teach you everything I know: how to play, how to be the best, and if you want to be a forward, that’s cool. Uncle Vaughn will get you all set up. And if you want to play defense, that’s great because Uncle Wells does that. I got you covered, man. You’re going to be the best damn player ever. Better than the lot of us, you know that?”
Gunner just stared up at him, his eyes wide and so full of wonder. His eyes were a spellbinding blue, with a beautiful light hazel circle around the pupil that took Jensen’s breath away. He was a damn cute kid, and Jensen still couldn’t believe this little nine-pound bundle had come out of his wife. She had been so strong—okay, not really. She bitched the whole time, but she did it. He probably had some battle wounds, but they were worth it as he stared into his son’s eyes. “So, like I told you when you were in your mama’s belly, I’m going to love you more than anyone else, well, except Mama, in this whole world. I’m going to be your best friend, and you’ll be mine. Unless you like your brother or sister more than me, and that will be okay. We’ll get to that when it happens. If it happens.”
A grin pulled at Jensen’s lips as his body vibrated with excitement. He had gone back to the doctor when they had come home from Colorado, and the tests had shown that there was a slight chance he could father a baby. His sperm count was low, but it was at least something they could work with. Since both of them were too stubborn to accept anything other than a win, he figured it would happen. He wasn’t sure when, or even if they would, but he might be able to give Wren more children. Not that she was asking after pushing a nine-pound child out her vagina. He was pretty sure she screamed she was never doing that again.
But in a way, it didn’t matter. He had the best wife and the greatest kid.
What else could he ask for?
“Hey.”
Turning around, he found his wife slowly getting up, moving her hair out of her face. “Is he okay?”
“He’s perfect. Just like you.”
She gave him a weak smile. “You’re too good to me, Jensen Monroe.”
“Never,” he said with a wink as she ran her hands down her face.
“Does he need to be fed?”
“Nope, already did a bottle thing.”
“Awesome, bring him here.”
He did as she asked, coming to the bed and sitting beside her. He placed Gunner in the crook of her arm, and she kissed his forehead. “And I thought I was scared to do this. Look at this face.”
“Right?”
Then she looked up at him. “Nope, still scared shitless.”
He laughed, kissing her cheek as she leaned into him. “You got me.”
“I do. You’re so lucky, and you just wait till you meet all your family. They’re gonna eat you up.”
“They are,” Jensen added as her phone went off. Reaching for it, he saw it was her mom. “It’s your mom.”
“Answer it.”
“No, she’ll ask me a billion questions I don’t know the answers to, and then it will be like you’re talking to her anyway.”
She blew out a breath. “Fine, trade me,” she said, and he hit answer before taking the baby as she answered, just as a knock came at the door. Her brows came together as the door opened and in came the last person he’d thought he’d see.
“Shanna,” Wren gasped, her eyes widening. Jensen knew for a fact they hadn’t spoken to each other since the wedding, but there she was with balloons and a basket of baby stuff. “Mom, let me call you back,” she said before hanging up the phone and straightening her hair. “I didn’t know you were coming.”
“Yeah, I sort of just drove here when your mom posted the picture of him on Facebook. I wanted to see him and you.” Setting the basket down, Shanna came toward them. “If that’s okay?”
“Yes, of course,” Wren said, waving her in. “I’m a mess. Jensen’s not, and neither is Gunner, but please.”
Jensen smiled as he went to Shanna, handing her his little man. She took him willingly, a grin covering her face as she moved the blanket down, running her finger along his chin. “He’s beautiful.”
“He is,” Jensen agreed. “Looks like his mama.”
Shanna looked up at him. “Thank God.”
Jensen smiled. “Yeah. He’s perfect. How are yours? Everyone healthy?”
She smiled back up at him before returning to look down at Gunner. “They’re great, thank you for asking, Jensen.”
Shanna rocked Gunner back and forth, and he just stared up at her. Jensen looked back at Wren to find her gazing upon them worriedly. Walking over to her, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple. “You okay?”
She forced a smile as she nodded. “Yeah.”
“He’s lucky to have you two,” Shanna said then, looking over at them.
“Thank you,” Wren said softly.
Slowly nodding, Shanna took a deep breath before looking over at Wren once more. “I’m sorry for how I left it at the wedding. I shouldn’t have done that, but I was upset.”
Wren held up her hands, shaking her head. “No, I understand. I should have been honest, but I couldn’t—”
“No, I understand. Either way, it was shitty of me, and I hope that maybe we can work on us.”
Wren nodded eagerly. He knew she had felt awful and wanted to reach out to Shanna, but she didn’t know what to say. Plus, they had all been so busy with trips and baby stuff that she really hadn’t had time. “I’d love for that to happen.”
Shanna’s lips tipped at the side. “Maybe you’ll let me see him sometime.”
Wren smiled, and he knew she was going to say the same thing, but he spoke first. “Anytime you want, Shanna. You’re always welcome.”
Shanna sent him a small smile as she nodded. “He isn’t going to bother you guys. Word is his wife is pregnant.”
“You aren’t talking to him?”
Shanna shook her head. “Not lately, but we’re trying.”
He knew Wren didn’t know what to say, so he said, “Good for them. We wish them the best.”
“Thank you,” she said softly. “But don’t worry. I made sure he wasn’t going to do anything stupid. He doesn’t need to. This baby isn’t his, it’s yours.”
Emotion choked him as he nodded. “Thank you, Shanna.”
“Of course,” she said, coming over to him and handing him Gunner. “I’m gonna get out of here. I told Jay I’d be back tonight, so I need to go.”
“Are you sure?” Wren asked and Shanna nodded.
“Yeah, I’ll call you.”
“I’d like that.”
“Me too,” she said as an exhale before the door opened, and then the whole family was in the room.
“Her boobs aren’t out, are they?” Vaughn yelled.
“God, let’s hope not!” Wells agreed.
“Shut up, boys. Oh, hey, Shanna. Where’s my baby? There he is!” Elaine yelled, coming straight for them, and then it was like Wren and Jensen didn’t matter as everyone gushed over their sweet boy. But Jensen didn’t miss the way Shanna watched be
fore she quietly slipped out of the room without a goodbye.
“That’s gonna take time,” Wren said then, and he hadn’t realized she’d seen the same thing.
“Yeah, I think so too,” he agreed, looking over at her, but it was only for a moment before their family was fawning over them.
“He looks like me,” Winston said, tapping his chest. “Thank God.”
“He does not. He looks like me,” Elaine said.
“I see nothing but Wren,” Brie gushed, moving her finger along Gunner’s lips, her arms resting on her extended belly. She was getting so big, and it was really exciting because Jensen was pretty sure Vaughn was having panic attacks at the thought of being a dad. “He is gorgeous.”
“Yeah, he is,” Vaughn agreed. “Makes me want mine.”
Jensen scoffed. “Have you decided on a name?”
Brie smiled happily. “We have. Julie!”
“Ah! I love it,” Wren cheered, and Vaughn cleared his throat.
“I came up with it.”
Brie rolled her eyes as Wells said, “I’m pretty sure that name was thought of before you came into existence.”
That had everyone laughing as Wells took Gunner from Brie and kissed his cheek. “Listen here, buddy. You have two cool parents, but your uncles are where it’s at. We are so much cooler.”
Vaughn nodded as Gunner just looked up at them like they were crazy, which they were. “We can help you play hockey, chase girls, all the bad stuff your dad never did.”
“Give me my baby,” Wren said then, holding her hands out. “You two are going to corrupt him.”
Laughing, Wells brought Gunner to her. She took him, kissing his head before laying him on her lap. Reaching out, Jensen took Gunner’s little hand, and man, his heart was full. He’d known he was going to love the kid, that was a given, but nothing compared to what he was feeling at that moment. That overwhelming love he usually only felt for Wren. But damn, Gunner was giving her a run for her money.
Looking over at her, he flashed her a grin. “Would you be mad if I love him more?”
She laughed as she shook her head. “Nope, ’cause I love him more than you.”