Chapter Seven

I kept waiting for Tobias to freak out. I kept waiting for him to tell me that he couldn't do this. That he wasn't ready. But he didn't. Weeks went by and not once did I see any kind of sign that he was rethinking this.

Any time that he wasn't away for a game, I was at his apartment. I had gotten permission from Max to work from home for a while, after explaining my situation.

There weren't a lot of people who knew about my being pregnant – just Tobias and Christina. I had told both of them to keep it to themselves for now until I figured out a way to start telling people. I had warned Christina that if she even as so much as made a suggestion to anybody about me, I would have a very good alibi after her body disappeared.

She was the one I had expected to immediately blab to all of our friends, but she wasn't. Tobias was.

I didn't know that he blabbed, since he probably knew that I would kill him, until I was at one of his games one night.

Christina and I were hanging out in one of the club suites with some of the other family and friends of the team when a few women came up to me. None of them had really ever said anything to me before but they were all smiling brightly. "We heard the big news! Congrats, Tris!" I stare at them, confused. "We heard that you and Tobias are expecting!"

After a few seconds, I force a pleasant smile and thank them. My blood starts to boil with anger. Tobias blabbed and his coach was going to have to find a new hot-shot rookie.

Once the game ends, I stomp my way towards the locker room and wait outside, my arms crossed tightly across my chest. He comes out smiling after the big win, but then his face drops when he sees me. Good.

"You told." I accuse when he's close enough to me.

"Just my teammates!" He defends himself, unbuttoning his jacket.

I stomp my foot, upset. "Tobias, you promised you wouldn't tell! If this gets out it might make its way back to my parents and I don't want them to hear about it from some online article!"

He hangs his head. "I'm sorry, Tris."

Once we're back at the apartment, I head into the bedroom and slam the door shut behind me. When the door closes, Tobias is still apologizing to me.

I hide under the covers, pulling them up and over my head. Tobias is knocking on the door but I ignore him. Eventually he gets up the courage to open the door. I hear him make his way over to the bed and then the bed dips when he sits down. "Tris, I really am sorry about telling people." He apologizes again and I feel the bed dip slightly behind my thighs where he's probably resting his arm. "But I don't see why you still want this to be a secret."

I wanted it to be a secret because I'm only nine and a half weeks along. I was still trying to understand what was happening and trying to get used to the idea that an actual human being was growing inside me.

"Tris, stop hiding. Talk to me." Tobias begs. I pull the covers away from my face. "I thought you'd be happy that I'm excited about this…" He looks hurt and I suddenly hate him for making me feel bad about freaking out on him.

"I do! I mean, I am happy that you're excited, but I'm still not…I'm still confused about this."

Tobias frowns at me. "Confused as in…you don't want to keep it?"

I sit up, running a hand through my hair, frustrated. "Of course I want to keep it." That was the one thing I was completely certain about. I wanted this baby. "I'm just confused about being a parent." Honestly, I was also still worried about people judging for me being a young mother. I mean, twenty-three isn't that young but in my eyes it is.

He laughs, a smile replacing his frown. "Tris, you're going to be an amazing mother. Our child will be so lucky to have you."

The way he says "our child" makes my heart swell and I can't help but smile at him.

"But you do realize that you're going to have to tell your parents sooner or later, right?"

I nod and sigh. That certainly wasn't something I was looking forward to. The only positive thing out of it was that it was only my parents we had to tell – Tobias hasn't spoken to either of his parents since he graduated high school. But it also made it harder because I knew my parents believed in being married before having kids, so this situation wouldn't be the most amazing thing to happen to the family.

"I will tell them. Just…I'll tell them once I've finally absorbed the news and have accepted it."

Again, it was still hard to believe that I was pregnant. I was having mood swings and the morning sickness was physical proof, but other than that there wasn't anything else. I wasn't showing, the only weight gain I had was in my hips – which I discovered after my favorite pair of jeans were tighter in the hip areas – and at my first official doctor's appointment, I was told that the baby was maybe the size of a grape.

I let Tobias pull me into him, wrapping his arms around me. I curled up against his chest, ignoring the slight stench of sweaty hockey equipment.

"I know something that will make you feel better." He says.

"Cupcakes?" I joke, perking up.

He presses his lips to the top of my head, chuckling. "Stay here." He orders after setting me on the bed. He goes back into the living room and returns with his laptop.

Settling down next to me, he turns it on and then pulls up a realtor website. After a few more clicks, he pulls up a picture of a townhouse – the front looks modern with its red brick face and black windows to match the black front door. "It's a brand new house. Just built. My realtor told me about it back when it was being constructed, before he sold me this apartment. I got in contact with him and he said the current owners were moving and it was being put up on the market again." He clicks on the photo album and starts to go through all the pictures. It's a beautiful house, really. Everything is modern – dark hardwood floors with gray walls and white borders. The kitchen was my favorite thing about the house. It had white cabinets with cream, marble countertops and a white tiled backsplash. "There are six bedrooms." Tobias says as he clicks on the first bedroom and then glances at me. "So Christina can move in, too. She can have an entire floor to herself, actually." He jokes.

I stare at him, open-mouthed. He knew one of the reasons I was so hesitant when it came to moving in with him was because Christina and I had just gotten a place together. I didn't watch to ditch her after only a few months in the place.

And here he was, letting my best friend move into a house meant for our little family. At that moment I remember what he said the night I told him I was pregnant. How he told me he loved me and I never said it back to him because I was too preoccupied with my freak out.

"I love you." I tell him and then lean over, pressing my lips to his.

When I pull away, he's smirking. "You're just saying that because I bought you a house."

Rolling my eyes, I shove his arm. "Maybe I am…wait. You already bought it?"

He nods and shrugs. "I wanted to be sure that I got it."

"You really bought me a house?" I ask, feeling breathless.

Tobias smiles at me. "For us. I told you, Tris. I'm in this for the long-run and if buying a house for you meant that you would finally see that, then so be it. I'm not leaving you and I'm not leaving our child. I won't be like my father."

Ah. That's why he wasn't freaking out. He was so focused on not being his father.

After a few moments of quiet, I look back up at him. "When can we move in?"

His smile brightens even further and he closes the laptop, placing it on the bedside table. "Within the next three months."

The next day was one of the few days Tobias had off for the next two weeks. After tomorrow, he would be travelling to California to play Anaheim and San Jose, and then fly to Ottawa and Montreal.

I was only going to be flying to California with him. My morning sickness was really bad this week and I didn't think I could handle all the travelling, but I was dying to go to California.

But for now, I was focusing on spending time with him now.

We were sitting on the couch in the living room, watching some Lifetime movie when my phone starts to ring.

Caleb's name, my brother, appears on the screen and I pick it up. "Hey, Caleb. What's up?" I hadn't heard from him in a while. He had moved to Washington D.C. to work with some intelligence agency, the genius that he was, and had very little time to make personal trips. My parents weren't all that thrilled with his boss, but they couldn't do anything about it, even though my father worked alongside Chicago's mayor.

"Hey, I'm being sent to Chicago for work and I've saved up enough personal time to request an extra two days in town. I was wondering if you wanted to meet up for dinner?" I glance over at Tobias, who is focused on me.

I was a little hesitant to answer. Of course I wanted to see my brother, but he was insanely perceptive and I don't want to risk him finding out about my pregnancy. "Uhh, yeah. Sure."

"And you can finally introduce me to your boyfriend." I groan. Of course he'd know. "You really didn't think you could keep the fact that you're dating a Blackhawks' player secret, did you?"

Sighing, I shake my head. "No, but I had hoped you wouldn't bring that up."

Caleb laughs. "Yeah, well, Dad thinks that you can get us suite tickets to some of the games."

My dad wasn't lying, but I wasn't going to admit that. I could give them the tickets as a Christmas present and then lie and say I bought them. A little white lie wouldn't kill them.

"Wait…are Mom and Dad back, too?" They had taken an extended vacation to the Caribbean and I was under the impression they wouldn't be back until the week before Christmas. Not the middle of November.

"Yeah, I thought all of us would have dinner. I know they're excited to meet Tobias."

Ugh. Of course. I say good-bye to Caleb, telling him to call me when he gets in to Chicago and then I sink back into the couch.

Tobias quirks an eyebrow at me. "Is everything okay?"

"Umm, no. We're going to have dinner with my family in a few days."

To say I was a nervous wreck would be an understatement. I had been up the entire night before, worrying about if they would find out about my pregnancy from just looking at me.

And then when the night came and I had to get ready to go to dinner, I had changed my outfit at least nine times, trying to find something that didn't hug my stomach too tightly. I had eventually settled on a pair of artfully faded jeans along with a black blouse that was very loose and flowy around my stomach. I wasn't showing but I was paranoid that somehow, they would be able to tell. So I decided to play it safe.

Tobias had opted for a dark gray sweater and a pair of black jeans. He looked good. Really good. "Ready to go?" He asks, holding his hand out to take mine.

"No, but I have to."

We take a cab into the city where we're meeting up with my family for dinner. The restaurant was chosen by my dad. It's a really nice place, making me feel underdressed in my jeans.

My Mom is the first one to fold me in her arms. "I've missed you, honey." She says, pressing her lips to my cheek. I smile at her and then hug my dad and Caleb. I'm surprised to see that Caleb has cut his hair since the last time I saw him. It no longer falls into her eyes and he's started wearing glasses.

"Tobias Eaton," My dad bellows excitedly. I stifle a groan. "It is so nice to finally meet you." My parents knew that the two of us had dated briefly my freshman year of college, but I had never actually introduced them to him. They just knew about him from what I told them. "You've done great things for the Blackhawks so far this season."

This time, I can't help my groan. "Dad, can we not do this right now?" Tobias wraps an arm around my waist, giving me a reassuring squeeze. It's fine.

"I think our table's ready, anyways." My mom speaks up and I flash her a thankful smile.

We head into the restaurant, following the maître de. Tobias takes a seat next to me as I sit across from my parents and Caleb seats in between my Mom and me.

After ordering our drinks – I order an iced tea – my dad starts right in with questioning Tobias about the team and discussing scores and future games. "Do you think you guys have a good chance at the Cup this year? I know it just went to Pittsburgh, which a lot of people weren't too happy with."

Tobias laughs, his one hand resting on my thigh. "It's a little too early to tell. A lot of teams that are doing bad right now, like Jersey, might end up taking the lead later on. That's not something we focus on until at least mid-February."

My father finally directs his questions to me. "So Beatrice, when were you planning on telling your mother and me about your dating a professional hockey player?"

I shrug. "I don't really think mentioning his career was that important. And you only care because he plays for your favorite team." I joke.

Everybody laughs and our laughter is interrupted by the waiter coming over to take our order. He does a double take when he sees Tobias and I can't help a smirk, hiding my face in the menu. I still enjoy seeing people get excited whenever they see Tobias and realize who he is.

After we order our food, our conversation turns mundane. My parents ask about how my job is going and about how Caleb's job is going. And then they ask about Susan.

"Who's Susan?" I ask, feeling left out.

Caleb flushes and I stare at him, surprised. "She's my ah…she's my girlfriend."

Caleb had a girlfriend? And my parents knew but I didn't…Why did that hurt so much? We used to be so close when we were younger and then he moved to D.C. and we hadn't been able to talk as much.

After dinner, we all head outside to wait for our rides. Caleb, my dad and Tobias are huddled together and talking about hockey while my Mom and I keep our arms wrapped around ourselves, trying to keep warm.

"He's very attractive." My Mom says, smiling at me.

I look over at Tobias and feel a blush creep over my face. "Yeah. But he can be a huge jackass sometimes."

My Mom laughs. "I can tell that he loves you a lot. Just from the way he was staring at you." I duck my head down, trying to hide my face. "I wouldn't be surprised if he asked you to marry him soon."

"Mom!" I gasp, looking at her. "We just started dating again. He's focused on his career and…there's a lot going on right now. I'm pretty sure marriage is the last thing on his mind."

She chuckles as everyone walks over to us. "Whatever you say, Beatrice."

The taxis pull up and, after hugging and kissing my family goodbye, Tobias and I head back to his apartment.

"What were you talking to my dad about?" I ask, once we're back home and I can finally take my jacket off.

Tobias smirks. "Guy things." He chuckles and then shakes his head, looking as happy as when he's won a game. "I promised him that I would get him tickets to the next few Hawks games."

He steps in front of me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me in closely. "I like your family."

"Yeah?"

Nodding, he presses a chaste kiss against my lips, my heart kicking into full gear. "Absolutely. And I think they like me."

I knew they liked him, but I wasn't going to let him know that. I needed to make sure his head didn't get too big. "Well that's only because they don't actually know you." I joke, wrapping my arms around the back of his neck and pressing my lips to his. "I know my mom likes you a lot." I say, stepping away from him. "She apparently thinks that you're going to propose to me soon." I say, laughing nervously.

Tobias chuckles but doesn't say anything, which really worries me. He just kisses the top of my head and then heads into the bathroom to take a shower.