by Anthology
“She is. Come in, come in,” Elli said, ushering them inside.
Baylor loved coming to the Adler home. It was so full of love. The walls were decorated with the most unbelievably gorgeous photos of the Adler clan. Baylor was particularly jealous of the amazing wedding photos of Elli and her husband, Shea, that covered the walls. Baylor and Jayden hadn’t had a fancy wedding because they eloped after they were both drafted into the NHL, but sometimes, Baylor wished she had. She didn’t want the big puffy dress and all the hoopla, but she wanted the pictures. They had nothing from their wedding. Just the paper.
But she couldn’t dwell on that, not when all the little faces of the Adler clan looked out at her from the various stages of their lives. The five Adler kids were just as famous as their parents to some. Each had a personality that shone as bright as their smiles in the pictures. Baylor had a special place in her heart for the oldest Adler, Shelli. For the simple fact that girl would make it in the NHL one day.
Or on Broadway. Something. She was amazing.
“I love your house, Elli,” Baylor said as they headed through the house and kitchen to the backyard, where Shea and the kids were swimming.
“Thank you, lots of love in this house for sure. Shea wants to get a bigger one, but I can’t let it go. Not yet, maybe when the kids are bigger, or when the boys burn it down,” Elli explained with a laugh. “Lord help us all when that happens,” she added, and Baylor laughed as Jayden’s fingers threaded with hers.
“Or them,” Jayden laughed, and she nodded.
“Right, skin their hides for sure,” she agreed with a grin, and Baylor smiled. Elli loved her children more than she loved herself. She was strict, but she was a great mom.
“We’ll need a bigger one when we have more,” he said, and Baylor laughed.
“If we have any more. This pregnancy has not been easy,” she said with a sigh, and they both nodded, knowing it hadn’t. Not even kind of, and with Elli being a close friend, she knew all about it, always offering a lot of help and knowledge.
“It will all be worth it, don’t worry. Plus, if the pregnancy is tough, usually, the baby is easier.”
“Is that true, or are you lying to us to get through the last several weeks?” Jayden asked, his lips curving, and that made them all laugh.
“I’m lying,” she teased, opening the patio door just as Shea jumped into the pool, sending the kids into a fit of laughter. Shelli, Posey, Owen, Evan, and Quinn all sat on the edge, cheering their father as he came up sputtering.
“That was easily a ten,” he called out to them, but Quinn shook his head.
“No, Dad, you didn’t tuck in hard enough.”
“And your legs weren’t together,” Owen added.
“Plus, your splash was too big,” Posey included, and Shea wasn’t impressed.
“It was supposed to be big. I’m the winner,” he grumbled, to which all the kids protested.
“They’ve been watching a lot of swimming competitions on TV,” Elli said as she pulled out a chair for Baylor and then yelled to her family. “Baylor and Jayden are here!”
The kids whipped around, getting up to say hi and for hugs, more so for Jayden than Baylor, though. They all loved him, probably because he played with them more than she did. She didn’t let that bother her, though; she knew he was better with kids than she was. It made her a bit nervous since she was having a kid, but with how great Jayden was, she knew she’d catch on.
“Come swim with us, Jay,” Evan begged, but Elli shook her head, moving his dark brown hair out of his eyes before pushing his goggles up his nose.
“Y’all go on. We’re having adult time, then the guys will come,” she said, and though the kids groaned their dismay, they all ran off, jumping into the pool like little Olympic divers.
“About to pop there, Sinclair,” Shea said as he came over, kissing Baylor’s cheek before reaching for his towel to dry off.
“Not soon enough,” she laughed, and he smiled as he sat down beside her.
Jayden sat on the other side beside Elli and nodded. “You can say that again,” he teased, and she glared playfully, at which he kissed her loudly on the lips. “Not that I haven’t loved every second of this pregnancy—or the sleepless nights,” he quipped. She knew he was speaking of the night the previous week. She never claimed to be sane, especially with this pregnancy. Sometimes she didn’t even know the Preggosauras that was roaring through the house.
“You shouldn’t be having sleepless nights yet,” Shea laughed, and Jayden nodded.
“Tell that to my lovely wife,” he laughed, and Baylor’s face burned.
“He wouldn’t cuddle with me,” she complained to Elli. “And I got mad, kicked him out of bed, and then I went to lie down with him on the couch.”
Elli looked to Jayden and shook her head. “You jerk, I’m benching you,” she teased, which sent everyone into gales of laughter. Benching the captain of the Assassins? Yeah, that wouldn’t happen.
“True friend there,” Baylor laughed, and Elli sent her a grin.
Shaking his head, Jayden took Elli’s shoulder, laughing. “So instead, we slept on a couch one-fourth the size of our bed. I had a backache, but she was happy.”
“Okay, I won’t bench you,” she decided, and Baylor grinned.
“So are you excited for the baby shower? Only a couple weeks, right?”
“You mean the humongous shindig my mother-in-law is planning? Yes, I’m ready for it to be over,” Baylor said with a grin for her husband.
Baby showers were supposed to be small, cute, and painless, but apparently, Autumn Sinclair didn’t get that memo. This was the first baby shower she was able to plan since, with her first two grandchildren, she hadn’t been asked. But Baylor’s dad thought it would bring them closer as a family if Baylor asked his wife, who was also Baylor’s mother-in-law, to plan it. She didn’t mind, she loved Autumn, but she wasn’t sure this was the way to bring them closer. If anything, it was going to drive them apart because they did not need jugglers at a baby shower.
“The invites were fancy,” Elli giggled, her eyes playful, and Baylor glared.
“She wanted to make it a circus theme with elephants,” Baylor complained, and Jayden laughed.
“My mom is excited, obviously.”
“As she should be. Babies are exciting!” Elli cheered, clapping her hands.
“Why so late, though? Aren’t you due like a week later?” Shea asked, and Baylor grinned.
“You know my due date?”
He gave her a deadpan look. “It’s circled on the calendar because my wife is OCD.”
Laughing as Elli glared at her husband, Baylor nodded. “It’s two weeks out. Everyone will be in for the dress fitting for Lucy’s wedding, so Autumn wanted to do it that weekend to coordinate,” she said and let out a long breath, feeling the pressure.
Too much was going on, in her opinion. Weddings, babies, hockey season, it was a lot, yet somehow, she was surviving. She chalked it all up to Jayden, though. She couldn’t do half of what she did without him. The nights when she was in such pain and he would massage her back or legs. Or when he held her hair as she puked her guts out, always on standby with crackers. He was amazing. They argued, but they had always argued. It was their foreplay, but nothing was ever serious enough to hurt each other.
Thankfully.
“Dress fitting?” Elli asked, smiling. “Pregnant?”
“Exactly. I’m the size of a house, but I’m being forced to go.”
“It will be fine. You’ll be gorgeous,” Jayden said, ever so reassuring.
“That wedding is going to be an affair too! I saw all the awesome stuff when we went to Grace’s house last week. I bet Lucy and Benji are excited,” Elli said, speaking of Shea’s sister, who was also the wedding planner for Lucy and Benji.
“Yeah, it’s going to be something,” Jayden laughed, shaking his head. “I hate that the season got pushed back, though. I’m ready to get back.”
&nb
sp; “Yeah, but with Worlds, we had no choice. No biggie, gives us time to fix the holes we’ve got.” Elli decided with a nod, and she wasn’t kidding. They had traded a lot of players, brought in a few new ones, and even had some good draft choices. The puck was in Elli’s zone, and it was her time to put together a winning team.
“We need a strong D for me since your husband retired,” Jayden said to his old defense partner. “You drafted a great one, by the way.”
Elli nodded, holding his gaze. “Markus Reeves?”
“Yup, he’s great.”
“He is, very strong player,” Baylor added, and Elli shrugged, pressing her lips together.
“They don’t like him down in Florida, did you know?” she said then, and Jayden’s face changed to surprise. Even Baylor was shocked by that. Markus, who was her best friend and a family friend to the Sinclairs, was one of the greatest guys and players she knew. How anyone couldn’t like him or his game was unfathomable to her. Markus was wonderful.
“Really? He’s great.”
“He hasn’t impressed,” she said. Baylor hated that. She’d have to call him, tell him to get his shit together. He had to get into the NHL; she was rooting for him.
“Maybe he needs a good coach to play for. St. Marc is a douche,” Jayden said, speaking of the coach of the Assassins’ farm team, the Ninjas.
“Maybe,” Elli agreed and then looked toward the pool as the kids screamed and played. “I’ll consider it.”
“You should. He’s one of the best players I know,” Baylor said, reaching out to touch the petals of the arrangement of tulips that sat in the middle of the table. They were artificial. Laughing, she said, “I thought they were real.”
Elli grinned. “It’s the replica of my bouquet from my wedding. Since mine were real, they gave me this to keep forever.”
“How nice,” Baylor cooed, her lips curving. “I wish we had something from our wedding.”
“We have each other,” Jayden suggested, and Baylor shrugged.
“We do, but maybe we should have a wedding,” she suggested, and his brow rose. “For pictures and faux flower arrangements.”
He eyed her. “Is this part of the emotional roller coaster, or is this real?”
Elli and Shea both laughed as Baylor held his gaze. “Really?”
“What? I never know!” he protested, and she glared.
“He doesn’t take me seriously. Ever,” she said to Elli then, and Jayden laughed.
“I do too. I just never know what is real and what is emotional!”
“Welcome to the rest of your life,” Shea said before he was rewarded with a smack from his wife.
“Don’t listen to him, and I think a wedding is a great idea,” she cheered, trying to change the subject, but Baylor was still glaring at her husband.
“I don’t like you.”
“But you want to marry me?”
“Yes,” she said, holding his gaze.
With a grin, he nodded. “See what I mean?” he said to Shea, flashing her a full grin. “But, okay then, we’ll have a wedding.”
“Yay! I’ll plan it,” Elli exclaimed, but Shea groaned.
“When? You own an NHL team, are raising kids, and have to love me. I’m needy, woman,” Shea demanded, and that had Baylor sputtering with laughter while Elli rolled her eyes.
Before she could argue with her husband, though, Jayden interjected, “We’ll revisit this later. Let’s have our kiddo first.”
Baylor shared a look with her husband and then nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
“Yay, I can’t wait!” Elli leaned into her husband, who was looking at her like she owned his world. And Baylor guessed she did; they were what every couple wanted to be. Everyone loved the Adlers, and boy, did they love each other.
“Jay, can you play with us? Daddy, come on,” Shelli said then, pulling Baylor’s attention to where all the kids stood, dripping with water but still holding their hockey sticks.
“Now?” Jayden asked, laughing, but he was already standing, taking the stick Posey held out to him. “Yeah, let’s go. You’re going down, Shea.”
“Please, I’m going to ruin you,” Shea said, taking the stick Owen was offering.
“Okay,” Jayden laughed as he kissed Baylor’s forehead.
“Hey, I want to play,” she said, slowly getting up, but he stopped her.
“No, you stay here, talk woman stuff,” he said, kissing her once more.
“But I want to beat you,” she complained as she rolled her eyes at his comment. “You know I can.”
That really had him laughing. “Please.”
Getting up, she took his stick and challenged, “Wanna see?”
While she could see the competitive need to beat her in his eyes, she also saw a flicker of worry. “You don’t need to be running around with your knee still healing. Plus, I don’t want you to get hit in the belly. But afterward, it’s on.”
Holding his gaze, she knew he was right, but she wanted to play.
It was obvious he didn’t want to fight as he sighed. “I don’t want you to get hurt, baby. So we’ll shake on it now that, once you’re ready, we go to the rink, and then we can watch me kick your ass.”
Glaring at him, she scoffed. “You mean, me kicking your ass,” she corrected, handing him back the stick and holding her hand out. “It’s on.”
Taking her hand, he shook it before kissing her hard on the lips. “You’re going down.”
“Yeah, okay,” she teased as she lowered back into the seat, and the kids all dragged him off to play.
Looking to Elli, Baylor found her friend shaking her head. “You will always be the most fearless and headstrong woman I know,” Elli said and then laughed. “I love it, though.”
“Thank God he does too.” Baylor smiled as she watched the kids play with Shea and Jayden.
As Jayden cut left around Owen to go right around Evan, he shot, only to miss the goal, and she smiled. While she would have made that, she knew she had picked a great man to love, to marry, and then get pregnant by.
Now she just needed the baby to come so she would have the perfect life she never knew she always wanted.
3
Lucy & Benji are getting married!
“Why am I here?”
Baylor’s sister-in-law Avery, who was married to Jayden’s baby brother, Jace, looked over at her and shrugged. “Because Lucy is mean.”
With Avery’s daughter, Ashlyn, on her hip, Jayden’s big sister, Lucy, glared. “I am not. This is a family affair. We all have to be here and enjoy it. Love each other and encourage each other as we go through this. Because what would my wedding be without my beautiful and amazing sisters-in-law?”
Baylor scoffed as Avery laughed. “Mom told you to say that?”
Lucy nodded. “Yes. I hate this and want to go home.”
“You do not,” Autumn cooed, coming over and kissing her granddaughter’s cheek. “You love it! And Baylor, sweetheart, even though the dress doesn’t fit you now, we have to make sure you like it.”
“Mom, we all hate the dresses,” Claire, Baylor’s other sister-in-law, who was married to Jayden’s older brother, Jude, said as she wrapped her arm across their mother-in-law’s shoulders. “It’s a bridesmaid dress. No one ever likes their bridesmaid dresses.”
“That’s true. Yours was ugly as hell,” Lucy said, and Claire agreed.
“I love them all. Now hush, all of you, because my sweet little baby girl is coming out in her precious little dress,” Autumn exclaimed, going to the podium as Lucy’s daughter, Angie, walked up in her junior bridesmaid dress. It was a soft, baby-blue color that brought out the blue that flaked in her green eyes. Her brown hair was a mess on top of her head, but no one could stop the grin on her little face.
“I’m a bridesmaid!” Angie cheered, and everyone grinned.
“Yup, and the prettiest one ever,” Autumn gushed, kissing her cheeks.
“Hey!” Claire, Avery, and Baylor all said jokingly t
ogether as Lucy laughed.
“I can’t wait,” Angie said, grinning up at her mother and grandmother as they asked for things to be tightened and shortened here and there.
As Baylor watched, she held her belly, rubbing it until Claire came over, pressing her hand into Baylor’s bump. “Is it moving? Aw, it is!” Claire giggled, and Baylor smiled.
“It’s always moving. It’s awesome.” It really was; it was her favorite part of her pregnancy…until it got on her nerve. Then she was in hell.
“Doesn’t it drive you crazy not knowing what it is?” Avery asked, placing her hand on Baylor’s belly. “I needed to say he or she. I had to know.”
Baylor shrugged. “Nope, I’m excited for the big day. To finally find out.”
“Well, it kills me not knowing!” Lucy said, playfully glaring back at her. “I don’t know if I should buy a suit or a dress for them. And if it’s not a boy, I won’t have a ring bearer.”
“That’s fine, Ashlyn and the new baby can do both. Plus, no one cares. They’re there to make people go awwwww,” Avery said, drawing it out as she tickled Ashlyn, who giggled loudly for her mommy.
“And you know everyone will,” Claire said, taking Ashlyn from Lucy and kissing her cheek. “Or at least, I will.”
Baylor smiled. “You’re next, Claire.”
She laughed. “Nope, not ready. See, we know about this thing called birth control, and we use it,” she teased, and everyone laughed.
“Hey, I was on it!” Baylor called to her as Claire grinned back at her.
“That’s what they all say.”
“Not me. I wasn’t, and we had faulty condoms,” Avery said with a snort, which sent them all into fits of laughter. “But I wouldn’t change a thing,” she said, grinning at her little girl.
Baylor couldn’t wait to feel that way because at that moment, she was rethinking ever getting pregnant again.
“Yeah, so watch out for faulty birth control and condoms,” Baylor warned, and Claire waved them off.
“Duly noted, but until I’m back with Jude full time in Los Angeles, we aren’t having any babies. It would just be too hard on us,” she said, and Baylor nodded. They had been apart for a couple years now, with Claire’s job in Vegas and Jude playing for the Kings, but it had worked. They were more in love than Baylor ever thought they could be, but she also knew Autumn was waiting for her oldest boy to have a baby. Autumn Sinclair was all about babies, hence the out-of-control baby shower she was planning.
