Tough Love

Chapter 24 - The announcement

A few weeks later, it was time for Thanksgiving. Brooke had had another appointment at the doctors, and Sid had been looking up articles on how to stay healthy during pregnancy, and other stuff that Brooke had to do to keep their child as healthy as possible. She had gotten rid of the cast, and only needed the crutches for help, and it got better with every day. Right now, she was preparing the turkey, because Sid's parents and her parents would be coming over, which was the perfect opportunity to tell them the big news. Her belly was already showing a bit, but she'd always hid it beneath a wide jersey or other wide shirts and sweatshirts, so nobody had noticed it.

Sid, who had been laying the table, went to open the door when the doorbell rang, and Trina and Troy entered the kitchen a bit later. "Hi you two! Nice to see you again!" Brooke greeted them with a smile, her hands covered with food, so Trina and Troy just smiled back at her and then let Sid lead them into the living room. Brooke was still wearing an oversized jersey to hide her belly, and it seemed like it worked. Her parents arrived just minutes later, and she finished up preparing and then joined everyone in the living room, taking a seat next to Sid. Trina and Nathalie were already exchanging stories about them while Sid was talking about hockey with Mario and his father. Brooke just listened here and there, leaning back against Sid and closing her eyes contentedly. "Mom, Dad, Mario, Nathalie, Brooke and I have to tell you all something," Sid eventually said and Brooke nodded with a smile, shortly looking at Sid and then turning her gaze towards both of their parents. "We are going to be parents, Brooke is pregnant," Sid then stated with a proud voice and Brooke just smiled at the totally shocked expression on everyones face. "What great news!" Trina then spoke up and everyone nodded in agreement. "That's why you were wearing loose shirts all the time," her father stated and Brooke just grinned innocently. The three men started talking to each other while Trina and Nathalie slipped closer to Brooke and took a look at her stomach. They also started giving her different advices, and Brooke just listened with a smile and nodded from time to time, showing them that she was still listening. When dinner was ready, they all moved to the table, where the conversations continued. Brooke also talked to her father a bit, and he told her that he was happy to become a grandfather. Eventually, their parents left and Brooke turned to look at Sid who was standing next to her in the kitchen, helping her wash the dishes. "Well, that went quite well, don't you think so?" he asked and she nodded with a soft smile. "Yeah, but wait until we tell the team tomorrow. It won't be safe after that," she stated and Sid just chuckled and nodded.

The Penguins had a game against the Capitals the next day, and Brooke, who had started working again part time, was there as well for the morning skate. Sid and her had decided she'd work at the home games, but wouldn't come to the away games and that she would resign once the pregnancy was a bit further along. Brooke was wearing a warm sweater and slowly walking alongside Sid, talking to him with a soft smile. Most of the players were already in the wardrobe, and Brooke sat down on Sid's place while he started changing, carefully stretching her leg out and looking around a bit. Once everyone had changed into practice gear, the Coach stepped up and explained what he had in mind for practice. When he was done, Sid looked at Brooke for a second and she nodded, encouraging him, so he held up a hand. "I'd like to say something, not hockey related, Coach," he stated and Coach Johnston nodded. "Go on Crosby, and afterwards onto the ice," he said and Brooke watched Sid sit up a bit straighter. "Well, I'm just going to get straight to the point: Brooke is pregnant. We're going to be parents," he stated and suddenly, all hell broke loose. Brooke was pulled into the arms of Fleury, and soon she was in the middle of a great huddle, until someone carefully pulled her out and wrapped her in another hug. "Take care of little Sid or little Brooke in there!" Geno stated loudly and Brooke couldn't help but smile at his concern. "Are you okay, Brooke?" he then asked her and she nodded with a laugh. "I am, thank you Geno," she said with a smile and the tall russian nodded before squeezing her one last time. "I'm really happy for you. Cute little baby in there," he stated and Brooke smiled and nodded before hugging all the other guys, that had been waiting to hug her. "When is it due?" Fleury asked and Brooke looked at the goaltender. "Around May," she then stated. "Well, this is clearly great news! I think I can speak for everyone in here when I say that we all are very happy for you two. But now I would appreciate it if we could start practice. You can bug Brooke about it afterwards," Coach Johnston stated and everyone nodded. "One last thing: Please don't tell anyone about this. We'd like to make it official ourselves, but not just yet," Sid asked his teammates and everyone nodded before leaving the locker room. Brooke followed them a bit slower with her crutches, accompanied by her replacement, Chad, who had finished his studies two years prior. They watched the practice from the bench, talking to each other about the injuries.

After a long practice, everyone showered and Brooke spent some time with Pascal Dupuis, who was still not fully back on track after a long time out due to an injury, and she wanted to make sure he was good to play again 100 percent before he played in a game again. Eventually, she let him go and just sat aside, stretching out her leg once again. It was exhausting to walk around and work, but Brooke had been more than bored always staying at home. She'd had to promise Sid that she wouldn't overtake herself, but now when they were driving back to their house, she knew he noticed her being more careful with her leg. "Come on Brookie, I'll massage it for you while we watch tv," he offered softly after they had gotten down on the couch and Brooke gratefully placed her leg over his lap with a bit of his help before just leaning back and directing her gaze at the tv while Sid carefully massaged her leg. "I told you not to overwork yourself, Brooke. That's why Chad is there," he told her and Brooke grumbled quietly. "I know. I just don't want to be useless," she stated and Sid shook his head. "You're never useless, Brookie. You broke your leg, you're allowed to take it easy for a while. And now that you're carrying our child, I expect you to be even more careful, we wouldn't want 'little Sid' to get hurt, wouldn't we?" he asked, imitating Geno's voice and Brooke couldn't help but giggle. Geno was just really cute with his russian accent. He'd been living in Pittsburgh for quite a while now, but his english still wasn't the very best, but that's what made him the person he was. Brooke leaned back again and just let Sid take care of her leg, and a bit later, her eyes slipped closed and she fell asleep, the exhaustion catching up to her.

Sid, who'd already noticed that his girlfriend didn't sleep too well and was exhausted, just smiled to himself and carefully placed a nearby blanket over her body while watching tv for a bit. A few hours later, he lifted Brooke up and carefully carried her up into their bedroom, where he placed her on the bed and then slowly took off her jeans and shirt. After taking off his clothes as well, he slipped under the covers with her and pressed a kiss to her temple while she hummed and turned towards him, snuggling onto him under the covers.

A few days later, when the guys were just returning from an away game, Brooke and Sid went to her doctor for a new check-up appointment. When they got there, Sid started reading through the brochures about pregnancy while Brooke just leaned back and closed her eyes, and when her name was called, she slowly got up and lead Sid towards the room. Her doctor greeted both of them and asked a few questions before pointing at the ultrasound machine at the end of the room and asking them if they wanted to or not. Brooke looked at Sid and then nodded, getting down on the lounger and taking off her top. "All right, let's find out a bit more about the little one in there," the doctor stated and spread the fluid over her belly before starting the ultrasound. He searched around for a bit and eventually made a noise of surprise. "Miss Lemieux, Mister Crosby. This is the baby inside of you. It seems to be healthy. But there is something else," he stated and Brooke stared at him, hoping for something good. "What is it?" she then asked hesitantly and the doctor searched around once again and then stopped the picture. "You're having twins. There's not one, but two fetuses," he stated, and when Brooke looked at Sid, his mouth was open. "They both are healthy and it won't be a problem if you continue with everything you've been doing. The only thing that could happen is that your belly will be bigger than with a normal pregnancy, which isn't unusual with twins - they do need more space after all," the doctor stated and both Brooke and Sid nodded. After he had printed out the ultrasound pictures, he told them everything that was important for the next weeks and then made the next appointment.