Hockey Baby 🏒

••• TWENTY-EIGHT •••

••• TWENTY-EIGHT •••
Ashton

I stared at the ring box on my dresser as I finished tying my tie and took a slow, deep breath. I knew Sophie was under the impression that we were getting back together, and I could tell by the way Patrick and their mom had been texting me all week that Sophie was more than happy for us to start dating again, but I was still nervous for tonight.

I was glad to hear how happy she was, but I was extremely anxious about how she would react to me proposing. I didn't know what I'd do if she said no, but I calmed my nerves by assuring myself that she wouldn't reject me again.

I grabbed my car keys and quickly exited my apartment, then headed towards the elevator as my mind raced with a million different scenarios for how tonight was going to go. Once I exited my building, I found my car and climbed inside. As I started making my way towards the restaurant, Patrick called me. "Hey, is everything good to go?" I asked.

"Hey, yeah! Everything's all set up. Christina and I brought the balloons and flowers, and the owner said you have the whole restaurant to yourselves for two hours." I sighed with relief, my nerves relaxing as I heard that everything was going to plan.

"Perfect! I can't thank you guys enough for all your help in planning this. I seriously don't know what I'd do without you guys," I chuckled.

"Well, you are asking my sister to marry you, so I want to be sure it's special for her," He teased, and we both laughed. "But I also want it to be special for you too," He admitted, and I smiled at that.

"Thanks, man. I appreciate it."

"For sure. Oh, hold on," he said and then went quiet for a second. "Hey, Mom's on the other line. I gotta see what she needs. When will you be here?"

I glanced down at the clock and felt my heart rate quicken as I realized the time. "In fifteen minutes." I answered shakily.

"Awesome! You got this, Ash. See you in a bit." He hung up.

I was really grateful that we were able to work past our differences a couple of months ago and get our friendship back to the way it used to be. Sophie's eight months pregnant now, and I don't know how I would've gotten through her pregnancy without my best friend.

I'm not going to lie; for a couple of weeks after we announced our pregnancy, it was still a little awkward, but eventually, everything returned to normal. Patrick and I got re-signed to the Blackhawks for three more years, and hopefully next year we can win the Stanley Cup without all the drama from this season.

I pulled into the parking lot ten minutes later and took a deep breath as I tried to relax my nerves. I didn't know why I was so nervous to see Sophie again. Deep in my heart, I knew she was going to say yes, but I couldn't stop myself from feeling this way.

The plan was to have a private dinner, and then before dessert, I was going to ask her to marry me. I had hired a pianist and a violinist to play her favorite songs that I had gotten from Katie, and I just prayed she would love it.

I walked into the restaurant and looked down at the time on my phone to see that Sophie was supposed to be arriving any minute. I looked up to see Christina and Patrick standing next to the table and grinned as I looked around at how perfect everything looked.

  "This looks amazing, you guys! Thank you so much!" I gushed as I walked up to them. They turned to look at me, and I froze in my steps as I noticed they both had tears in their eyes. I looked at them in confusion. "Is everything okay?" I asked worriedly, and Christina shook her head as Patrick placed a hand over his mouth.

"No, I'm so sorry, Ashton," she croaked out, and I felt my heart start to pound against my chest anxiously. "We need to go to the hospital."

"The hospital? Why? What's wrong?" I asked frantically, and she took a ragged breath as she grabbed my hand.

"Sophie's been in a car accident—" I ripped my hand out of hers and shook my head. She continued to tell me that she didn't know what happened, just that their Mom had called and said that she was involved in a really bad car accident and that she didn't know the status of her or the baby, just that we had to get there right away.

As soon as she said the name of the hospital, I took off out of the restaurant and headed straight to Sophie. I sped out of the parking lot and prayed to whoever would listen that Sophie and our baby would be okay. I loved them with all my heart and soul, and I couldn't lose them. Not now. Not ever.