Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82163 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82163 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“Okay,” she says, and someone calls her name. She looks up and smiles at me as she takes her hand out of mine to wave. “Bye, Dad.” She turns and starts to run.
“Hey,” I call her, and she turns back. “A hug?” She groans as she comes over and hugs me. I kiss her head as she wraps her arms around my waist, her head pressing on my chest. “Have a good day at school.”
“Bye,” she repeats, running off into the schoolyard. I watch her until the bell rings and she lines up to go inside, making sure she walks all the way into the school.
I take a deep breath as I walk back to my car. Getting in, I make my way to the rink. I pull up and see that most of the cars are already here. I even spot some news crew people here getting ready to snap pictures. I get out and walk to the door as they call my name. I smile and hold up a hand to say hello before walking into the rink.
There seem to be people everywhere. I walk down the hallway toward the locker room, stopping when I see some of the trainers. I shake their hands, and we welcome each other back. It’s almost as if this is my back-to-school day also. I walk into the locker room and spot a couple of people there getting ready.
“Hey,” I greet everyone who just looks up.
“Jesus, what happened to you?” Wilson says when he looks up. “Someone stopped jerking off and started lifting weights.”
I can’t help but laugh at that comment because, if anything I’ve jerked off more than I ever have. But I have also started lifting heavier weights, which has made me leaner and bigger if that makes any sense. I reach out my hand to him as he grabs it, getting up and giving me a hug. “How was the summer?”
“Short,” he replies, sitting back down as he finishes his protein shake.
“Isn’t that the truth.” I sit at my spot.
“Hey,” Michael says, coming into the room wearing pretty much the same thing I’m wearing, just with a baseball hat.
“About time you showed up,” Xavier pipes up, coming into the room from the gym, his chest heaving up and down. “You said you were coming straight here.”
“I had to drop the kids off,” Dylan explains, entering the room and giving me a chin up when he sees me.
Xavier comes and sits next to me, slapping my knee. “You look good. Been working out, I see.”
I laugh. “A bit,” I say, looking around, seeing everyone sitting down and not wanting to move much.
“How was everyone’s summer?” I ask, and Xavier puts his head back and groans.
“Don’t ask,” Michael states, sitting down next to Dylan, who just glares at him. “It’s been eventful.”
“I don’t know what the big deal is,” Wilson says as he gets up to get a water bottle from the fridge.
“It’s a huge deal,” Dylan retorts, and I look over at Xavier, hoping he can fill me in on what everyone is talking about. “She’s like a baby.”
“She’s not a baby,” Xavier cuts in. “She’s an adult.”
“What is going on?” I finally ask, and Michael just looks at me, shaking his head, almost as in a don’t do it way.
“What’s going on?” Dylan repeats, his voice going louder. “My sister is having a baby!”
I just look at him, my heart starting to speed up in my chest. “Gabriella?” I ask him, and there is nothing, and I mean nothing, that could have prepared me for what was going to come next.
There in the middle of the locker room, the little bit of my heart that wasn’t broken shattered. “Not Gabriella. Abigail is the one who is pregnant.” All hope I had that we would get together is now gone, knowing she is having a baby with someone else.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
ONE MONTH LATER
ABIGAIL
“Abigail Stone,” the nurse calls me, and I get up from the waiting room and walk back to the examining room. “This must feel strange to you,” the nurse says when she sees me in my scrubs.
“Definitely on the other side of things now,” I tell her as she points at the exam table.
“Have a seat while I ask you some questions.”
I sit down on the black bed covered with the white paper that crinkles when you sit down while she looks at the computer. “So it says your last period was May.” I nod.
“Yes, I was on Linessa,” I tell her of the birth control, “and I get my period usually every two to three months, depending. I was on Zithromax before I went on vacation, and when they say it takes one time.” I hold up my hand with my finger pointed up. “They were not kidding.” I try to calm my heartbeat down so when she takes my blood pressure it won’t be high. I blink away the tears that are stinging my eyes