The Big Announcement

“When did the cribs get finished?” I jumped at the sound of Max’s voice, turning around to see him jogging down the stairs.

“Wha- where- how did you get in here?” I sputtered as he jumped over the back of the couch, landing beside me and kicking his feet up onto the coffee table.

“Backdoor… are you gonna eat that?” I sighed and shook my head, handing over my untouched bowl of Coco Puffs. I watched him shovel a few mouthfuls in before glancing at the stairs.

“So the cribs are done? I asked, wondering when that had happened - wondering why Abby felt the need to do that.

He nodded, “Yep. They look good too… who’d you get to do them?”

“Hey! What makes you think I didn’t do them?”

“I just said- they look good.” I glared at him, smacking the back of his head and causing him to choke on a mouthful of cereal.



“Hey… they do look good…” I nodded, standing in the middle of the make-shift nursery next to Max.

“Wonder if they’re sturdy… Marc… get in it.” He turned around, grabbing onto me and pushing me towards one of the cribs.

“What?” I turned around and swatted his hands away, staring at his in amazement. “You want me to get in my baby’s bed?”

“Yah… you wanna make sure they’re safe, right?”

“That might be the dumbest idea you’ve ever had… and you’ve had a lot…”

He sighed, exuberantly, throwing his hands out to the side. We stood there for a moment longer before a grin spread across his face. “Hey Cooper!”

“No Max! Not the dog!” I groaned as I watched him dash out of the room, chasing the over energetic ‘puppy’ down the hall. He returned a minute later; his arms wrapped around all 70lbs of furry insanity.

“He’s getting pretty big, eh?” He grinned at me, leaning backwards until he could get Cooper in the crib.
Finally manoeuvring him into the crib he stepped back, hands out, ready to grab Cooper if anything went south.
The crib hold steady, causing Max to clap his hands together and grin at me. “See… safe!”

“Umm… what are you doing with my dog?” I laughed out loud as I looked past Max to see Abby standing in the door way. In acknowledgement of her presence, Cooper jumped up - paws on the railing - and begun barking frantically.

Max looked back and forth between Abby and I; both of our looks a mixture of amusement and exasperation. “Seriously… this is the last time I try to do something nice for you people…”

“So… there’s a reason that Cooper’s in the crib?” Abby asked cautiously, walking into the room.

“Yah… we wanted to make sure that the cribs were safe!”

“We?” I muttered under my breath as Abby stretched up to kiss my cheek.

Cooper - sick of being contained - jumped out of the crib and onto the floor with a loud thud. He trotted up to Abby, wagging his tail, as she reached down to scratch his ears. “Alright baby, I gotta get going… practice. I’ll see you after ok?”

She nodded, turning her attention from the dog to me; giving me another kiss - this time on the lips. Cooper started to growl suddenly, causing me to pull back from Abby and glance down at him. “What’s wrong Coop?” Abby asked quietly as he continued to growl up at me.



“And it’s Jordan Staal… coming in on the net; ready to score his record breaking 300th goal of the season…” I sighed as I watch Staalsy feint in front of me, before I brought up my glove and stopped the shot easily. “Aww…” he groaned, his brow furrowing as he skated behind the net; shoulders slumped.

“Hey boys… let’s play a game!” Sidney shouted from the other end of the ice as Coach skated off the ice; signalling the end of practice. I nodded along with everyone else. I wanted to get home but it’d been such a long time since I was able to just play hockey for fun.

The guys divided themselves off while I waited - arms slung over the net. Once the teams were picked and the play started; everyone moved off to the other end of the ice, leaving me alone.

I laughed as Geno clotheslined Jordan - laying him flat on his back - before tripping Sidney and scoring for my team. The play moved back to our end of the net; puck leading as the guys punched, tripped and laughed their way towards me. Shaking my head and I tried to focus; praying Geno didn’t clothesline me as well.

I saw Sidney go down first, under Gonchar, who was stumbling off of a trip by TK. What I didn’t see was Sidney’s stick hook Staal on the way down; but I did feel him take my feet out from under me.
At the same time that Jordan was slamming into my legs, McKee’s knee found my shoulder; slamming into me hard enough that my top half flipped over - my ankle still caught under Jordan.

My eyes went wide at the strain on my awkwardly angled ankle; I breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn’t broken - the pain wasn’t that bad. Groaning I tried to get up, chuckling slightly as I turned my head; everyone was apparently taken out in that. “PILE UP!” I heard Max scream from somewhere beyond the bodies.
I heard a grunt and a number of groans as Max jumped on top of heap. The complaints of my team-mates was drowned out though, by the sound of a snap and a scream - my scream.



“I am so sorry… so sorry!” Max groaned for the hundredth time as he paced back and forth in front of the couch, that I was currently held-up on.

“I know Max! It’s ok… we’ve been over this… I know you didn’t do it on purpose.” I sighed, looking away from him. I was mad, pissed, furious; but not at him. I tried to keep my emotions in check; I wasn’t mad at Max, just at the situation. It was broken, and I wasn’t going to be able to finish the season, or go to the playoffs. Abby was out, so she didn’t even know yet - could I be a worse boyfriend?
She has to go through her eat disorder, being pregnant, and now having a gimp as a fiancée.

“Umm… Abby’s home… maybe I should… go.” He shifted uncomfortably on his feet before jogging up to the front door; opening it just as Abby reached out for the doorknob. “See ya!” He chirped before taking off outside.

Abby watched him depart before closing the door and turning around to face me. “What was that ab- oh my god, Marc! Are you ok?” I sighed as she ran over to me, dropping her shopping on the ground.

“Yes… no…” I shook my head and shifted my body over to make room for her. “I’m fine but, it’s broken… I’m done for the rest of the season.”

“Oh Marc! I’m so sorry… what happened?”


After explaining about the morning practice and what had happened to my ankle; I laid beside Abby on the couch, curled up around her. “You know… we’re gonna have to tell our parents at some point… about the engagement, and the babies.” I felt her shudder slightly against me as I held her; she clearly didn’t like that idea. “It won’t be too bad babe… here, I’ll go first.”
I reached over her, grabbing the portable phone off the coffee table. I dialed in my parent’s number; switching it to speaker phone once it started ringing. “Hey mom!” I yelled loudly, causing Abby to let out a nervous laugh as my mom’s voice answered back through the phone.

“Marc! I wasn’t expecting this!”

“I have news… great news and better news… which do you want first?”

“What are you talking about? Where’s Abby?” I laughed at my mom’s lack of concern for me.

“She’s right here mom… we’re getting married…” I said, unable to stop myself from grinning. It was short lived though, and my face fell into a grimace as my mom started screaming into the phone for my father. “Ok listen, calm down. Mom… mom! I have something else to tell you.”

“Shh Marc! This is important, I’m talking to your father!” By the sound of her voice, I was now on speaker phone too.

“How’s it goin Grandpa?” I shouted over mom’s excitement; causing them to both fall silent.

“What?” My dad asked slowly, I could picture the confusion on his face.

I wanted to edge them on, have some fun with it; but I was too excited to finally tell them. “Abby’s pregnant… we’re having twins!”

My mom had screamed about the wedding; but it was nothing compared to this. I set the phone back down on the coffee table, laughing quietly as I pulled Abby against me. “I told you they’d be excited…” I grinned into her neck, kissing her gently as my parents continued to celebrate through the phone.



We both laughed as we collapsed on the bed. “Ok… tomorrow you’re sleeping on the couch.” Abby laughed beside me. I nodded in response; who knew climbing the stairs in a cast could be so much work?
Abby got out of the bed and started undressing, changing into a pair of green cotton briefs and one of my t-shirts. She crawled into bed next to me, snuggling into my side as I draped my arms around her.

I sighed softly into the top of her head, allowing my hands to roam underneath the baggy grey shirt. “Marc…” She whined, shifting her body to look up at me. “You have a broken ankle.”

“And a sexy fiancé.” I countered, earning a grin from her. She pushed herself upwards until we were facing to face; wrapping her arms around my neck and allowing me full access to her face and neck.
I dragged my hand along her stomach, over the tiny baby bump that was starting to form.
She giggled at my touch, kicking her leg over my waist and pulling herself up on top of me. I moaned quietly in satisfaction when I felt her weight press down on my erection; watching her as she shifted her hips in small tight circles.
I grabbed the bottom of her shirt, pulling it off before cupping her breasts in my hands.
She moved off of my waist, shimming herself free of the green cotton before moving back to me. I had already shed my own shirt and was fumbling with the tie of my gym shorts, when she grabbed them in her hands; pulling them down towards my knees.

Climbing back on she positioned herself on top of me once; straddling me just above my hard on. I grabbed onto her hips as she reached for my dick; taking it firmly in her hand and guiding it inside of her. She moaned softly as I pushed upwards, impaling her on me completely before I began to move her up and down.
I grinned up at her as she allowed my hands to control her movement; sweat dripping off of me as she arched her back and tilted her head up.
I felt the burn in my biceps as I rocked her harder; grunting as I came inside of her.


I took one last look at Abby - fast asleep - before I gently placed my lips against her stomach. “Hey little princesses…” I whispered softly, grinning to myself as I tried to imagine with our baby was going to look like. “This is your daddy… I don’t know if you can hear me or not but, I thought maybe I should introduce myself considering we’re gonna be seeing a lot of each other at some point.” I cleared my throat, wondering what else I should say to her. “Ummm… my name’s Marc but, you can call me daddy and… I play hockey. I’m a goalie so… I’m pretty awesome. Alright well, maybe not awesome but… stay away from Max.” I nodded to myself as I felt Abby shift beside me. “He’s one of daddy’s friends but, he tends to break things and… you just not be around hockey players ever - I hope you’re not pretty.”
I laughed to myself as I kissed her stomach again, did I really just tell my little girls that I wanted them to be ugly? “I take that back… I hope you both look like your mommy. Did you know that your mommy is the most beautiful woman in the whole wide world? Maybe you don’t know yet but… you will soon.” I stifled a yawn and turned around to glance at the clock; it was late. “Alright, you need to go back to sleep now… and listen my little angels… I know that we haven’t met yet, but I love you very much.”
I kissed Abby’s stomach twice before I struggled my way back onto the pillow. I kissed Abby’s forehead, pulling her against me before I closed my eyes and fell asleep with the rest of my beautiful, perfect family.