Chapter 2 Then

I almost forgot—I have a surprise for you." I slipped out of bed and pulled open my dresser drawer.

"Get back here." Connor's voice was gruff. Playful. "I want to give you a surprise, too. A big one."

I chuckled and tucked my surprise into my palm, hands behind my back. "I know how upset you were when you lost your Gretzky jersey keychain a few weeks ago."

"My coach gave that to me on my sixth birthday. I showed it to Wayne himself when I met him the night I was drafted into the pros. He told me someday, people would be carrying around keychains with my number on a jersey."

I smiled and brought my hands from behind my back, opening my fist. "Well, Mr. Gretzky is a smart man."

Connor sat up in bed. "Holy shit. Where'd you get that?"

"I had it made."

My husband's eyes welled up. He took the tiny replica of his blue and red New York Steel jersey, lucky number seventeen, and ran his finger over it.

I pointed. "There's a tiny mistake. See on the bottom, how the red paint bled too high into the blue section? I'm going to ask him to remake it, but I couldn't wait to give it to you."

Connor smiled. "That's not paint. That's my opponent's blood. Don't have it remade. I love it just the way it is."

"There's more to the surprise. The guy who made it wants to license the rights to distribute them. I gave him your agent's number, and they're already negotiating a contract. He would make a half million to start. Imagine all the six-year-old boys walking around with this keychain, with dreams of being you someday."

Connor pulled me to him, cupping my cheek. "I love it. Thank you."

I rubbed my nose with his. "You're welcome."

"I have something I want to give you, too, Mer."

I smirked and playfully rolled my eyes. "Been there. Done that."

"Oh yeah? Is that so?" Without warning, I was lifted off the bed and hoisted into the air. I yelped and Connor settled me back down on his lap, my legs straddling him. "Do you remember what I said when I proposed?" he asked.

"What?"

"I said that my entire life, I'd only ever wanted one thing: to win a hockey championship. But since the day I met you, it wasn't enough anymore. I needed three things: You. A championship. And a family. I was lucky enough to get you to marry me. Six months ago, my dream of winning the championship came true. All I need now, for my life to be complete, is a family. I want to have a baby. I know I travel a lot for games, but I'll be all-hands-on-deck whenever I'm home. I promise. Will you have my baby, Mer?"

I covered my mouth with my hand. "Really?"

He nodded. "Really. I know you just built your practice to where you want it. So if you want to wait, I'll understand. But I'm ready when you are, babe. I'm more than ready."

Connor was right. I'd busted my ass the last few years since going out on my own. Working at two hospitals and the psych center, picking up the worst on-call shifts just to get patient referrals. It wouldn't be easy to take a step back now. But was there ever a good time to have a baby?

"I can find a part-time psychiatrist to help out. Maybe another mom who wants to go back to work but can only do half days or something." I nodded. "I'll make it work. We'll make it work."

Connor's lips curved to a giant, boyish smile. "We're gonna have a baby," he whispered.

The thought left me a little breathless. I swallowed. "We're gonna have a baby."

"I want a boy first. Then a girl. Then maybe three or four more boys."

"Uh… slow down there, big guy. That's five or six kids. How about we try one and see how it goes? It's going to mean a lot of change for us."

"Whatever you want, beautiful." He pushed a lock of hair behind my ear. "It'll be a good change. I see nothing but happy days ahead, for the rest of our lives."