“Sorry!” Jack calls after him but he still holds his hand out to me for a high five.

A year ago, I never would have pictured this as my life. A six-year-old son looking at me for support and guidance, a daughter just over two weeks away from her due date and a beautiful woman waking up in my arms.

Damn I wouldn’t have believed it when me and Ellis slept together in December. The pregnancy has flown by so quickly and my life has changed so much for the better that I am so thankful that Cassie made me go out with the team that night. Without her threatening me that day I wouldn’t have gone and my life would be just the way it always was. Lonely and stagnant. Hanging on to hockey with all of my strength because I had nothing else to hold onto.

Now my arms are full and so is my heart.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ellis

All week I have been excited about the spa. It has been all I could think about. I have found that when I focus on the good I can ignore all the pain I’m in. I spend 90 per cent of my time switching between heating pads and making Liam massage my back, and feet, and legs… pretty much everywhere. The last 10 per cent is split between crying and those small moments of relief that come around once in a blue moon. I am so completely over being pregnant that it’s crossed my mind to ask for an induction, I am at my wits’ end.

Sometimes I need to put time aside to look after my body the best I can. I love Liam, I do, I know I haven’t told him yet but I will. It’s why I kissed him in front of everyone. I wanted to show him that I am serious about this. It was a strange sensation, knowing everyone was watching, but it also felt good. Natural, like I was always supposed to be kissing him and I’ve been holding back.

Still, I know when the baby comes he is going to live by my side so I need a little bit of me time before that. As soon as I get in Lyndsey’s car though, there is something a lot more fun to think about.

“So…?” I ask as I watch in the rear-view mirror as the boys drive away for a rink day.

“So… what?” she asks watching them just as closely as me.

“You and Anders?” I nudge.

“We’re just friends.” Lyndsey is good at a lot of things. Lying is not one of them. Her skin flushes pink and she can’t meet my eye.

“Friends my arse. You want him,” I sing, like the mature adult I am.