Chapter 17

Magnus

I only spent one night in the hospital, which was one night too long, even though I knew it was the best place for me at the time. The Breakers had a three p.m. game on New Year’s Day, which Jennie and I would be viewing from a suite, along with Izzy and her Pop. After the game, we were going to give getting married a second shot.

“What are you working on?” Jennie glanced up at me from her spot on the couch, fingers hovering over her laptop. She almost never went home anymore, which was fitting since we’d be married in a few hours. That was just one more thing we needed to figure out.

“My boss Charlie wants an article from me on the fire. He also wants me to bare my soul and talk about us and the baby.” Her brows stayed raised as if asking a question she hadn’t voiced.

“Are you asking for my permission? You don’t need that. I don’t care what you tell anyone. Shout it from the top of a mountain if you’d like. I just care about you and our baby.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “What happened to the Silent Defender? You’re awfully open about your private life all of the sudden.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Everything’s changed—for the better. The chip on my shoulder fell and crashed around me. If the reporters want to make me some kind of symbol for disabled athletes, then so be it. Maybe it’ll be a good thing. As for telling the sports-reading world that we’re married and having a baby? Well, again, who cares? Tell them.” I walked over to her and placed her laptop on the table. “Come here.”

She came into my arms with no hesitation. “I love you more than I can tell you. Nothing else matters.” I poured all that I was feeling into my kiss. She responded in kind.

Her hands roamed over me and quickly became urgent in their quest. Within the space of a dozen heartbeats, she had my pulsing erection in her possession. A few more licks of her tongue against mine along with several intense strokes of my cock had me locked and loaded. She pushed my chest with just the tips of her fingers and down I went to sit on the couch. Only removing her clothing that was physically necessary, she sheathed me in her welcoming heat.

“I love you, Magnus. You and our baby are everything to me.” Each time she raised and lowered herself over me was better than the last. Our lovemaking had changed. We still got rough and rowdy on occasion, but it had also evolved into an incredibly intimate act. Today was a day for gentle loving. Her hands glided through my hair as mine roamed her hips and back.

She picked up her pace as her breathing increased. I was concentrating on anything but the way she made me feel. I needed to wait for her. Our sex was always best for me when we came together. I let out a grunt as Jennie crashed down on me harder and faster. She bit her lip, which was a telltale sign that she was seconds away. As soon as I felt those first contractions of muscles around my cock, I grabbed her hips and held her still, bucking myself up into her.

“Yes!” She looked me directly in the eyes. “God, yes, Mags.” Then she threw her head back, thrusting her breasts into my face as she came around me, making me wish she had removed her shirt. Two more long thrusts and I joined her.

She crumpled around me like a rag doll, not even attempting to get up. Her kisses to my neck and intermittent flicks of her tongue made my cock twitch again, but we didn’t have time for another round. She had an article to finish, and we had a game to get to. Not to mention the little matter of having a wedding to participate in.

***

The Breakers lost the game in a shootout, but the loss didn’t dampen my mood. I was getting married in a short hour’s time. Interviews were rushed through so that my teammates could join us on the ice. We had a limited time, because there was a basketball game the next day and the crew needed to put the floor down over the ice.

The red rug was rolled out over the slick surface all the way to center ice where Jennie and I would say our vows. When I saw her walking out of the locker room to the rink, I lost my breath. I should have known Jennie wouldn’t wear a simple, white gown. God, she made me proud.

She never asked anything of me. She simply gave, and here she was on her wedding day wearing the colors of my hockey team. She knew those guys were not just co-workers. They were my family. She honored me.

Just as I reached out for her hand, her heel got caught on a bump in the carpet and down she went, taking Izzy, in her orange dress from New Year’s, with her.

Instead of being mad or upset, Jennie and Izzy got up laughing until happy tears ran down their faces. Izzy calmly straightened Jennie’s hair, which had twisted around her neck, smoothed out her gown, and stood aside. Jennie honored me more by sporting a Viking-style braid amid her silken tresses.

“Now that’s an entrance!” She looked down at her mangled bouquet and laughed again. “These look like the ones you brought me, remember?”

I smiled, amazed at my woman. “Maybe we shouldn’t bother with flowers anymore.” I kissed her cheek. “You’re breathtaking.”

I was dressed in one of my best suits. My tux had been ruined and there wasn’t one in my size to be found on New Year’s Day. “You clean up pretty well yourself.”

Elise took both of our hands and put them together, loosely wrapping a white silk ribbon around them. “The lives you two have chosen to join together today are symbolized by this ribbon. It is only as strong or as weak as the two who are joined.” She turned us to face each other. This concerned me for a moment before I saw Karen walk up to stand just to the left of Jennie to sign for me. Cage stood next to me.

My eyes burned as I nodded my thanks. This was the second time in as many days that I cursed my lack of hearing, but I was grateful for my friends. Elise continued with the ceremony, Karen interpreting. My thumbs gently slid over Jennie’s fair hands. I wished I could be looking her in the eyes.

We’d given Elise free rein with our ceremony and I wasn’t sorry; however, Jennie interrupted her before she’d hardly gotten started. Leaving one of her hands still entwined with mine, she leaned back with her other and stopped Karen. Karen nodded in understanding and gave me a warm smile.

Jennie joined her hands with mine once more and told Elise to continue. My sweet Jennie repeated every word for me so that I could look at her beautiful face instead of an interpreter. This woman could bring me to my knees with her love and compassion.

I was so busy trying to contain the overwhelming emotions swirling around inside me, Cage had to nudge me to tell me it was time for my vows.

At the same time, Jennie tugged on my hands, bringing me back to the present. “You first, Mags.” Thankfully, I knew my response. I’d said my vows to Eight Ball over and over until I had nothing more to give.

I looked into Jennie’s pretty green eyes and felt a calm wash over me. All of the emotions churning inside me culminated into one: love. And it wasn’t overwhelming. It was perfect. Absolute. “My sweet Jennie. Before you, I was a shell of a man and I didn’t even know it. You brought me to life. I’ve never felt so eager to begin each new day. I go to bed thinking of you, and I wake up the same way. Your love humbles me.” The fire and the possibility of having lost her jumped through my mind, but I pushed it back. That fear had no place at my wedding. “You and our baby are my future, and I can’t wait to see what it holds for all of us. I love you with everything that I am, and I promise to spend the rest of my life ensuring you always know that.”

I kissed her hands and rubbed them on my cheek, wanting to feel her skin against mine. “Your turn,” I said with a smile.

“Magnus. There aren’t words capable of telling you what you truly mean to me. Just a glimpse of you makes me happy. My heart swells with admiration of the man you are and gratitude that you chose me to be your partner in life. On my best day, I couldn’t have dreamed of finding a better man to be a husband to me or a father to our children.” Her eyes filled, but not a tear spilled over. “I can’t imagine living even one more day without you. Thank you for taking this chance on us, Magnus. I promise to do everything I can, spend every remaining day I have in this life nurturing our love and our family. I’ll love you forever and even after that.”

Elise turned us around to the crowd of our friends and who we considered family. This time Jennie let Karen sign for me. “Magnus and Jennie have spoken their intentions before all of you. Each of us is a witness to their love and choosing of each other. Please wish them an eternity of affection and joy. And without further ado, I’d like to present Mr. & Mrs. Magnus Gunnolf Eriksson.”

We were quickly inundated with felicitations from the large group. Unbeknownst to us, the guys had arranged for a small feast to be held in two adjoining suites upstairs. They weren’t able to use the private club again, but some of the catering crew offered to come back and serve the leftovers from the party. And we had the Stanley Cup wedding cake too. It was a perfect ending to our wedding.

“I can’t believe we’re married.” I looked at Jennie’s naked finger. “I’m going to call the jeweler tomorrow and see when I can pick up our rings. I don’t like you not wearing one.”

Jennie had a bad habit of pointing out when I was being unreasonable. She’d just done it the other day when I pulled her off the stepladder in the kitchen. She thought it was just fine for a pregnant woman to do such a thing. I did not. “Mags, you just ordered them four days ago. Give the man a break.”

I brought her hand up to my lips and kissed the back of her fingers. “I want everyone to know you’re taken.”

She rolled her eyes at me—another habit of hers I’d picked up on. “You want to pee around me again, don’t you?”

“Nope. I’ll just do this again.” I pulled her into my arms and spun her around in a circle as my lips sought hers. Life was just about perfect. The one thing that kept nagging me in the back of my mind was something Jennie had asked me a while back: did I ever look into getting any kind of surgery to give me back my hearing?

I almost lost my mind when I couldn’t find Jennie in that fire. And now with a baby on the way, I was scared. How could a deaf father protect his baby? I’d never felt as weak as I did when I thought about being a parent. So many things could go wrong. Maybe it was time for me to take a leap of faith.