Slipping Through My Fingers - Nathan MacKinnon

Prologue

"Just let her be, Zach. She's helping us out."

The sentence was whispered behind you by Raffie - the head lifeguard -, surely to keep the conversation between him and your colleague, Zach. In the two years you had spent there, working at the beach, you had never thought your own co-workers would whisper about you. To be fair, you didn't mind, and no one was stopping you from listening, even in your hazy state.

Your eyes were focused on the angry waves hitting the sand, specifically on the tiny heads of the few surfers that certainly had taken time off of work or school to reach the beach and have some fun. Your gaze was empty, though. Your body was numb.

"Helping out with what? She shouldn't be here. I don't know why you let her work." Zach whisper-yelled.

Reed, who was sitting at your side, let out a sigh. You weren't the only one who had been able to hear the conversation, you thought. One of your hands mindlessly went down to your stomach, rubbing soft circles on the stretched skin as your mind raced elsewhere.

How did it happen? What did you do wrong?

"Don't listen to him, Y/N." Reed mumbled, gazing at the southern side of the beach with his binoculars.

"I'm pregnant," you confessed, letting out a deep sigh as your eyes met Raffie's. The silence inside his office crept up your spine, making your skin rise with goosebumps. He looked puzzled for a second, letting his eyes scan your features. You were sure he had thought you were joking, at least for a moment. "Two months."

"Oh- uh, that's good, Y/N!" He batted his eyelids a couple of times, pushing himself to smile one of his tight smiles as he looked at you. "I'm guessing you're here to talk about the maternity leave?"

The question had your eyebrows furrowing. Maternity leave? That was the last thing you wanted to think about. "Not really," you admitted. "I just wanted to let you know."

That's when realization hit. He was expecting you to do what every mother would have done with a job as dangerous as yours: take some time off. His own eyebrows scrunched, Adam's apple bobbing. "I can't let you work in a situation like this."

"Yes. Yes, you can," you pressed, body lightening up with stubbornness. "It's my choice, after all. Isn't it?"

"I can't let you get on those surfboards multiple times a day to risk your life," Raffie stated, left hand fisting his pen. "If something bad happens to you, it happens to the baby, too. I can't live with that on my conscience."

His words had your nostrils flaring, mind searching for any kind of compromise as you huffed out a breath. You were willing to lose your social life, because of the pregnancy. You were willing to lose family, friends, if you had to. But you weren't gonna lose your job. That you were sure of.

"Let me stay in the tower," you said, words confident. "I'll take calls, help with injuries, and keep an eye on the beach. That's definitely not going to put me - or the baby - in danger."

Raffie was silent for a second, his eyes holding yours in a vice grip. You knew he was contemplating your offer in his head, and you knew that hiring a new trainee to cover your place was not going to be convenient to anyone. On the other hand, the team had needed someone to stay permanently in the tower for what felt like ages, so was Raffie going to refuse your offer?

You didn't even need to bat your eyelashes, or make puppy eyes.

"Alright," his answer was sighed, his back leaning against his chair as he pointed a tan finger your way, his ocean orbs staring deeply into yours. "But you're taking the ninth month off."