Chapter Thirty Seven

Nathalie walked into the gleaming new kitchen at Sid's and looked around. The cleaning lady had let her in and told her that Amber was back in the kitchen but Nathalie didn't see her anywhere. She placed her bag down on the counter and went to pull out her cell phone. This house was huge and she wasn't about to go searching for Amber. She had learnt to harness the power of the text search, as she had to do this several times a day in her own home, to locate her husband and kids.

Just as she was about to press send, Nathalie heard an all too familiar noise coming from the bathroom. She popped her head around the corner to where the main floor bathroom was located and listened again. 'Yup, that's barfing' Nathalie thought to herself with a chuckle. 'The disgusting skills you develop as a parent…'

"Are you okay in there?" Nathalie offered through the door.

"Ummm… yeah, I'm fine… I'm sorry… I'll be right out…" Nathalie heard a mumbled response back.

"Okay, I'll just be in the sitting room… Take your time…" She listened to a muffled response and the walked back into the kitchen. The coffee was ready, so she poured herself a large cup and pulled out her day planner. Her and Amber had lots of plans to hammer out for the big event, and Nathalie didn't plan on leaving before presenting the case for Pittsburgh as the host for the event. She knew Amber wanted to go home and so did Sid, but Pittsburgh was going to be their new home for many years to come, so she thought it would only be suiting for them to take this step here.

Nathalie was not wasting time getting this ball rolling. She had done some research on all three cities up for debate and made a list of some locations that could hold the number of guests that would be required for the wedding of Sidney Crosby. Needless to say, she had a very short list. She had already taken the liberty of calling some locations to see if their chosen date for late summer was available and that further reduced the list. Pittsburgh was looking to be their best option.

Amber stepped slowly into the sitting room and took a chair across from Nathalie, taking a slow sip from a water bottle.

"Food poisoning or nerves?" Nathalie asked with a sympathetic smile. She knew it couldn't be the flu because if it had been the flu, everyone would know and Amber would be in quarantine to prevent her from infecting Sid or any of the other players.

"I dunno…" Amber shook her head while collapsing into one of the over sized chairs. "I must have eaten something bad… it just hit me like a wall."

"Do you want to do this another day?"

"No… I should be fine…"

"Maybe you should go lie down? Take it easy for a bit?"

"No, no… I threw up yesterday too and once I had it out, I was good for the rest of the day. I am sure it's the same thing…"

"Hmmm… around the same time yesterday?" Nathalie asked with a knowing smile on her face.

"Yeah, I didn't even get my morning coffee…" Amber shook her head, taking another sip of her water.

"Hmmm throwing up in the morning hey?" Nathalie asked again, then repeated it information slowly. "Funny… Sick in the morning… morning sickness… "

"No, it's not like that," Amber shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"You're sure? Maybe we need to move up the wedding date?" Nathalie smiled again.

Amber laughed and rolled her eyes then finished off her water bottle. "I am going to grab a coffee and then we can get down to the nitty gritty."

Amber got up and walked the few feet back to the kitchen, reaching herself down a coffee mug and pouring herself a cup. She felt another wave of nausea take over her body and paused, leaning back against the counter. 'Sick in the morning…Morning sickness' Nathalie's words rang through her ears. 'No, it couldn't be,' Amber thought, doing a quick mental count of when her last period was. She had never been very good at keeping count of that. That had been the bonus of being on the pill, it came with a helpful counter built right in but since she had moved to The States she had yet to find a doctor and her prescription had run out months ago. Sid and her were always really careful but they had never had the birth control discussion. She couldn't recall if there had been a blatant slipup, but she was pretty sure Sid would have said something had he 'pulled the goalie'. But she also couldn't recount the last time she had her period…

After she was sure she wasn't going to throw up again, Amber made her way back into the sitting room. Nathalie looked up from the wedding magazine that she was flipping through and smiled.

"By the look on your face, I guess we should call a doctor…" Nathalie offered, immediately pulling out her phone and making the call.

-.-

Amber sat on the couch, starring blankly at the wall. She heard the front door open but didn't get up. She was shaking and didn't trust her legs to get her there. Nathalie had offered to stay, to hold her hand until Sid got home but she had dismissed the idea that she needed any help.

"Hey, you don't answer your cell phone anymore? I thought you said you were going to meet me at the arena?" Sid walked in and dumped his bag on the floor, plopping down beside her on the couch.

"Hellooo, Earth to Amber…" he waved his hand in front of her face. Amber shook off the stare and turned towards him. She knew that he would immediately see the emotions in her eyes, that he could see right through her, even if she wanted to cover it up. "What's wrong? Fuck, you're shaking… what's going on?"

She couldn't hold it in any longer, as she felt the tears spring to her eyes. She buried her face in her hands and began sobbing.

"Okay, you are freaking me out again? Did Nathalie say something? Did the media? Come on, talk to me…" Sid pulled her head up to face his.

"I'm sorry…" she sobbed, burying her head in his shoulder. "I have messed up everything…"

"Sorry for what? There is nothing that we can't work through…" Sid tried to calm her, stroking her hair and holding her tight.

"You don't get it… I know what they are going to say… what everyone is going to say… this should be a happy time but its not… it won't be…" Amber tried to explain between sobs.

"Is this about the wedding?" Sid laughed. "Are you stressing already? I thought we talked about making this a no-stress event… you are being a little ridiculous right now… is it that time of the month?"

Amber sat bolt up right and glared at him. It was all she could do to not hit him - slap him right across the face. Instead she grabbed a pillow and wiped it at him. "No, you IDIOT! It's not that time of the month! And it won't be for about nine more… Get it now? Still think I am being ridiculous?" she snapped. The crying was done, now she was mad… and hungry…

"W-w-w-hat?" Sid stuttered.

"Yeah, that's right Crosby… you just insulted the mother of your child… how do you feel now?" Amber got up and began walking towards the kitchen. She felt his hand close around her wrist and pull her backwards towards him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… I think we need to back up… you're, you're, you're pregnant?" Sid asked, the same look on his face as was on hers when Nathalie first suggested her current state – pure disbelief.

"Yes…" Amber said slowly and cautiously. She had no idea what his reaction was going to be and that scared her. She had played through almost every scenario in her head, since the doctor had confirmed Nathalie's suggestion but none of her scenarios ended well.

Sid just sat and stared at the floor, motionless and speechless.

"Okay… well… I am just going to let you absorb that… I'll be in the kitchen getting a snack, if you need anything… You hungry? I'm hungry… I'm just gonna… right…" Amber muttered, as she pulled her hand out of his grasp and started backing up towards the kitchen.

"You're pregnant? You. Are. Pregnant…" Sid repeated to himself, both asking himself and answering himself, still starring at the floor.

Amber headed down the hallway and into the kitchen, yanking open the fridge door. She dug around, not finding anything that appealed to her and then pulled out a jug of milk. She grabbed herself down a glass and filled it to the brim, then returned the jug to the fridge and turned to her secret cookie hiding spot. Sid gave her crap for keeping cookies in the house, so she always had to sneak them when he wasn't around. She pulled open the cupboard door and reached in behind a set of stacking mixing bowls, grabbing at the secret package. She removed three from its interior, popping one in her mouth and placed the package back. She went to close the cupboard door and jumped, as Sid was standing right behind it – still in a daze.

"What are you eating?"

"Nothing…" Amber mumbled, trying to disguise the obvious cookie in her mouth.

"Are those cookies?"

"I'm pregnant… I'm allowed cookies…"

Sid reached forward and took one from her stack, and placed it in his mouth. "Just remember, you're eating for two, not like two…" He stared at her, while she placed the last cookie in her mouth.

"Soooo…" Amber exhaled around the cookie.

"You're really having my baby?" Sid asked again, the corners of his mouth creeping up into a smile. Amber nodded, still chewing. He stepped in bit closer, looking down and placing his hand on her stomach. They stood there together in silence for a moment.

"What are you thinking?" Amber asked quietly, unable to read his expression.

"I am thinking that now I have everything… and now your parents are really going to hate me…"

"Yeah probably…" Amber smiled with a little laugh. "The doctor guessed the date around the time we were in Vancouver… so my dad's worst fears of me getting knocked up in the backseat of a hockey player's car are finally coming true…"

"We weren't in the backseat…" Sid corrected her.

"I'll let you tell my dad that... Would you really like to tell my dad you weren't fucking me on the hood of the car in February in Vancouver?" Amber asked with a chuckle. "I think we should just let him think it was the backseat..."

"Your dad would probably get mad at me for risking you getting pneumonia…"

"I think he is going to have other things to focus on being mad at you for…" Amber chuckled. "But you're not mad?"

"What? NO! Are you kidding? I was worried about how you were going to react when I asked you to start a family right away! Now I don't have to ask…"

"You wanted this?" Amber asked shocked.

"Well, no, not until after the wedding but yeah… I want a family, a big family and I don't want to be an old dad that can't keep up with his kids and the way my bones creak now, I think I will look like an eighty year old by the time I'm forty, so I didn't want to wait…" Sid explained excitedly. "I want this with you. I agree the timing isn't perfect but whatever… so we push back the wedding or whatever… Nathalie can figure that out."

Amber smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I wasn't sure how you were going to react."

"Were you upset?" Sid asked cautiously.

"Um… yeah but just because I thought you would be…"

"I'm just in shock…"

"Understandably… we have a lot to think about now…"

"Like which room should be the nursery…" Sid said excitedly.

"Not what I was thinking but, okay, yeah… that too," Amber laughed. "I was thinking about the media, the league, your publicist, your parents, Mario, Pat, the team…"

"Whatever, that doesn't matter! All that matters is that you are healthy and happy and … holy fuck… WE ARE HAVING A BABY!" Sid lifted her up by the waist and spun her around.

"So you won't get mad if I have another cookie?" Amber laughed.