Loving Baby: Loving the Sound, #3

By Kat Obie

 

Loving Baby is a holiday hockey story that has it all...family and friends, gifts and drama, love and surprises.

Sound captain Scotty Wheiland and his wife Alice are spending their first Christmas together, and excited to be expecting their first baby. Teammate Cory Corso and his fiance Jenna are celebrating their first holiday together as an engaged couple. Only winger Lager is alone, trying to pick up the pieces after his marriage fell apart.

So it seemed like a great idea for Lager to host a holiday celebration, and include both couples, as well as teammates Petey and Klaus. There was good food, good friends and a great time to be had by all, until an unexpected surprise changes Christmas for everyone.This will be a party, and a holiday, no one will forget!

So put on your favorite jersey, get cozy, and settle in for what's sure to be your new favorite hockey series--holiday style.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kat Obie
• Release date: Sep 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223112310

Book preview

Chapter 1

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Scotty

Scotty couldn't wait to get home for the holidays. This year marked the last year they would be spending the holidays as just the two of them in their little family. Next year, they would have a baby with them. He had just flown back from the western Californian road trip, and he was glad that the Cleveland Sound won the four games. It was a short drive from the airport back to his home. With the snow, driving was much slower than he would have liked. He wanted to get back home to see Alice who has been so sick with the pregnancy.

His home was dark and quiet—as it should have been for the morning hour. He tried to be super quiet and even left his suitcase in the garage until morning. He didn't want to risk waking up his love or their two dogs. Although, he wasn't surprised that, as soon as he opened up the bedroom door, both of their dogs went straight downstairs in hopes of food. He shook his head and quietly went back downstairs to give them some breakfast. It was pretty typical for them to want food whenever he got home late from road trips. He gave both the Pitbull/Great Dane mix and their pure blooded Pitbull face rubs as he deposited their filled food bowls. He quickly went upstairs once more, hoping that Alice was still asleep.

This time, when he got to the bedroom, he slipped into his closet to throw his suit pants and dress shirt into the hamper. He crawled into the bed in his boxers. It seemed like he was getting less and less space in the bed these days, since Alice was creeping into more and more of his side of the bed when he was traveling. He wrapped his arm around Alice's huge belly and spooned her warm body. Her head immediately lifted in a half-turn to look at him. Her eyes were barely open, and in an incredibly tired voice, she said, Welcome home, Babe. I failed at cookies.

He let out a snort of a laugh and then kissed the back of her neck to make sure she knew he wasn’t making fun of her. Knowing Alice, that could have meant anything: not getting around to making them or burning them to a crisp. How did you fail at cookies?

I was too tired to make them after work. I'm sorry. He hated hearing that she was too tired, but he wasn't actually surprised that was the case. The pregnancy had been draining the life out of her, and it had been a battle to just make it through each and every day. Despite him trying to talk her into taking it easy, she wouldn't back down from her work load, and, if anything, she'd taken on a few projects.

It's okay. We can go to Presti's in the morning. Come on, let’s go back to sleep, he said as he snuggled into her and pulled her closer. She just fit into the shape of his body seamlessly. He whispered, Je t'aime. Then he let himself fall asleep with her.

He was still holding her close to his body when the morning light started to trickle into the bedroom. His love was still sound asleep. Instead of kissing her awake like he used to do before the pregnancy, he just held onto her. He moved his hand underneath her t-shirt and laid it on her womb. He could feel little Lexi kicking and moving around. He was still so amazed by the strength of his little girl and the miracle they were creating. He couldn't wait to meet his little girl. It was a shame that it was still about two months before that should happen. He had read that babies can hear things in the womb, so it was good to both play music and talk to the baby. He got his face close to the swollen belly and said, Hey Lex, settle down. Let your maman sleep. We have plenty of time to play during the day. It's almost Christmas, and I have some surprises for you and your maman. But she won’t be able to enjoy them if you keep her awake. Just know, I can't wait to meet you and I wish it would be today if you’re ready.

That's when Alice started to move from her side and onto her back, which was always a sign that she was waking up. He smiled and leaned up towards his beautiful wife's face. She had a wonderful grin on her face and moved a hand to brush up against his cheek. Thanks for trying to settle her down, and what's this about surprises?

He kissed her plump lips and started to massage her tongue with his. He loved seeing her so happy each and every morning. He chuckled and said, Nope. Not telling.

She immediately pouted. But that was completely expected since she hated knowing that there were surprises coming and not knowing what the secret was. While there had been many times over the past two years that he'd given in to her