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nhl-stories · 3 years

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Capricious – Brandon Tanev

Requested: Yes ∆ No

Author's Note: Back from a long hiatus with a long story about an underrated himbo.

Word Count: 13.7k

“So is this like a thing?” Anya asks from across the cafe table.

“What?”

“Like are we gonna keep seeing each other…?”

Brandon stares blankly, not sure where this is coming from.

“Like I don’t need labels or anything, I just have some pertinent information if we’re going to continue this.”

“Do I have to sign a contract too?” His laugh turns hollow as she raises her eyebrows waiting for an answer.

“I mean yeah, I like to keep seeing you…” now it’s his turn to hesitantly wait.

“So I’m pregnant,” Anya can see the wheels in his head go into hyperdrive, trying to figure out how he got her pregnant even though they haven’t had sex yet.

“Obviously it’s not yours,” now he’s back to his blank stare, “It’s my brother’s.”

The look turns into disgust and she backtracks, “Er– technically it’s my brother-in-laws,” Anya can feel the word vomit coming up and tries to swallow it, “because you know two dicks don’t make a baby and I have a viable uterus so here we are.”

Before there’s even a full second of silence she fills it.

“Basically I’m giving you a chance to get out. I understand dating a pregnant girl, especially if it’s not your child, isn’t ideal.”

He blinks in response, like his brain just received an error message and he’s trying to reboot.

“If you have something to say that would be great. Otherwise I will just keep babbling.”

“So you had sex with your brother-in-law?” He says slowly, his brain still trying to catch up to the information, he’s certain he sounds like an idiot.

“We did it in a doctors’ office–“ her eyes widen, “the medical procedure. It was all sex free.”

Her tendency to babble continues to dominate the conversation.

“That’s honestly why we haven’t had sex either, I was on these fertility drugs and I think if you would have jizzed in the room next to me it would have knocked me up and it would have been pretty embarrassing to tell my brothers I got pregnant with the wrong baby.”

He bursts into laughter, his smile lighting up the room and her anxiety falls to the wayside.

“You don’t have to have an answer now even, you can think it over. It’s a lot to take in I know,” she pauses for a moment before jumping right back in, “And like it’s still early so I could have a miscarriage, but then I’d probably just try to get pregnant again, so you can just–“

Suddenly his lips are on hers and she’s finally shutting up.

“And I thought I talked a lot,” he says as he pulls away.

Anya blushes hard.

“So were you pregnant when we met?”

“Technically yes, I think, maybe not. Either way I wasn’t even looking to date anyone until after the whole pregnancy was over. Then we just happened to meet.”

“So you sending me breakfast at that diner really wasn’t you flirting?” He gives a crooked smile.

“I thought you were homeless and hungry!”

They both laugh lightly and let the silence set in. Until it starts to eat at her.

“And seriously, you can take your time to think about this. No matter when you do it I’ll be hormonal and crazy; so now or later it’s all the same. No hard feelings.”

Brandon rolls his eyes.

“Okay, I’ll shut up now.” She pretends to zip her mouth shut, then immediately unzips it, “First game of the season coming up, how are you feeling?”

•••••

Brandon had been feeling pretty good about his upcoming season, but the news of Anya’s pregnancy had thrown him for a loop.

He liked her, but they had only known each other for about a month and the thought of signing up for someone else’s pregnancy felt overwhelming. He was torn between the potential of their relationship and the expectations that came with the new addition between them. He had already spent the last week flip flopping between saying yes to giving them a shot and running for the hills.

This began to put a damper on his normal golden retrieve puppy energy, and he finds himself at the edges of the group at a team gathering. He’s trying to focus on the conversations but keeps finding his attention wandering over to the group of kids playing in the backyard.

His mind clearly on other subjects.

“Hey Turbo, I thought you were gonna bring that girl you’ve been seeing,” Tanger calls out.

His attention snaps back to the group and everyone staring intently.

“Oh, I’m not sure I’m going to keep seeing her.”

“Why not? She sick of face?” Geno jovially yells, Brandon’s pretty sure he used the language barrier as an excuse to not have a filter.

“It’s not that,” he pauses, unsure if he should continue, but he hasn’t talked to anyone about it. Some other opinions might help.

“She’s pregnant.”

The moment he says it, he regrets it. Their mouths hang open, gaping tunnels of shock. Before he can backtrack or further explain he’s interrupted.

“You knocked her up and now you’re breaking up with her?” Kelsey Rust breaks the silence, though it seems she’s just saying what everyone else is thinking.

“Fuck no, of course not.”

Not everyone knows him super well, but he thought they knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t do that.

He finds himself rambling, a bit like Anya did when she told him the news. In the back of his mind he’s chuckling at that fact; just talking about this kind of thing seems to bring the babble out of everyone.

“It sounds like she likes you, a lot,” Kelsey once again is the first person to speak up, “enough to give you the chance to process this and come to your own conclusions.”

Brandon nods, but his mind is already wandering back to Anya, the face she made of happy surprise when he kissed her in the coffee shop.

“And based on the fact that you haven’t actually broken things off, I think you like her enough to work through this. Plus she’s seems really understanding about how weird the whole situation is…”

“And if anyone can handle weird, it’s you,” Letang cuts in causing the group to laugh away some of the tension.

•••••

Anya was surprised when her phone lit up with Brandon’s name.

It had been two weeks since she dropped the pregnancy bomb and at first she was certain he was ghosting her. It seemed somewhat out character, but she had only known for such a brief time, what did she really know?

He assuaged her initial fears with a short text of a ghost followed by Boo. But without another update Anya was spiraling.

She was dying to know his thoughts on the whole situation, but she knew she needed to be empathetic and give him the time and space. Still, she was running every possible scenario in her head and driving herself crazy.

Patience and silence were two of her least favorite things.

“Hey what’s up?” She tries to sound casual; as if she isn’t freaking out.

“Are you doing anything tonight?”

Despite her overthinking, she did not factor in a situation where he just nonchalantly asked her on a date.

She did have plans, but Anya is picturing Brandon as some timid forest creature and any sudden movement might scare him off.

“I do, are you free this weekend though?”

“Uh- no we’re going on a road trip. I was hoping to see you before I was out of town for a while,” His deep voice sent a shiver down her spine.

“You could join me tonight, but I don’t know if it’s really your thing… and you’d have to meet my brothers if you came.”

He’s silent for a second, “Yeah sure, want me to pick you up?”

As soon as she hangs up Anya quickly tries to dress a bit nicer or rather she puts on a real bra and throws on a dress that at least implies she has a figure.

When Brandon arrives she jumps in his car and gives him a kiss on the cheek, the moment he puts the car into drive she blurts out, “wait, nope this is a terrible idea. Let’s just go out to dinner or something, I can tell my brothers something came up.”

“If I let you flake, it’s only going to make me look bad when I eventually meet your brothers.”

Anya looks down at her lap, hiding her too-giddy smile that he’s already referring to the future. The last two weeks of silence instantly erased.

“Fine. Make a right at the light. And just so you know we’re going to drag bingo, then make another right here. And my brothers are drag queens in the show. Then you’ll make a left.”

“You always give too much information at once,” he gives a throaty laugh, “And I think I missed the turn.”

Anya redirects him before he responds to the information dump, “So what exactly is drag bingo?”

“Mostly it’s gay men dressed up as women calling bingo and making jokes, there’s prizes and good food and drinks.”

“And your brothers are in it?”

“Yeah, they met in dental school but bonded over their love of being drag performers.”

“Oh, so you’re like really normal for your family?” he smirks, “Or are you the weird one because you’re not a drag performer or a dentist?”

“You can be the judge of that,” she readjusts in the car finally feeling a bit more comfortable.

They park nearby and Anya drags Brandon to the back door and knocks, a petite drag queen answers.

“Baby mama Anya,” she yells and hugs the woman before noticing the man standing next to her, “And with a…” her eyes light up with recognition, “Penguin!”

“You’re a sports fan?” Anya laughs.

“I contain multitudes Anya,” she rolls her eyes.

“So this is Brandon and Brandon this is Aurora Whorealis,” there seems to be a moment of hesitance before becoming his regular friendly self.

“So are they decent back there or should we come back once their dicks are taped up?” Anya smirks.

“I can’t promise you won’t see something that scars you back here, but I think your brothers are tucked and ready to go.”

Anya grabs Brandon’s hand and they weave their way through the back of the club, a mess of wigs and bright costumes. Finally they find the pair, one fully made up and the other dressed but fixing a wig.

“My fave girl has arrived,” the fully dressed one picks up Anya and spins her around.

Anya playfully pushes her off, “Jesus, you could open a bakery with all that make up caked on your face.”

“Oh honey, the shade you–“ she shrieks upon seeing Brandon, cupping the shocked and bewildered man’s face.

“Babe, he’s here and he’s real and he’s beautiful.” He drops his hand, “You are Brandon, right?”

Before Brandon can answer the other brother speaks, “So you’re the guy who’s fucking my sister while she’s carrying our baby?”

“I– er– we haven’t–” he looks towards Anya for help.

She punches her brother’s arm, “Do you not know the definition of ‘be cool?’”

“Look at that make up, he obviously doesn’t,” his husband adds cattily.

“I was talking about you too, Trav.” The man put a hand on his chest in defense, “You’re a blabbermouth about the baby, you know you shouldn’t be telling anyone yet.”

“It was just Whorealis, I swear no one else.”

Brandon is still standing there awkward and confused. It’s a bit of sensory overload. Not only was he meeting his almost significant other’s family, but to meet them in full drag, was wholly overwhelming.

The one brother finally puts on the wig and stands up, in heels he’s towering over the 6 foot tall hockey player and even under his make up he wears a protective sibling face Brandon is familiar with.

Then he broke out into the brightest smile, “Sorry for the craziness, if you have any younger siblings you know we always have to mess with our little sis.”

Brandon smiles and chuckles at Anya pouting like the classic little sister.

“I’m Parker, Yaya’s real brother, and this is Travis my husband.” They all shake hands.

“Nice to meet you both, I’ve never been to something like this,” he nervously chuckles.

“You’re in for a treat then cutie,” Travis winks.

“And next time we’ll have you come to a show with Yaya in it, she’s a very talented tap dancer and drag king.” Parker has a wolfish grin as he eyes his sister.

“Yeah she’s makes a very handsome man,” Travis ruffles her hair.

“Okay before you embarrass me more we’ll go up front,” she pushes Brandon towards a door, “And if you even think of making jokes about him or towards him I swear I’ll abort this baby.”

“As long as you follow the two drink minimum, there won’t be a problem,” Travis calls back.

Once they find a seat, Anya lets out an exasperated sigh.

“I’m so sorry, that was a lot. I knew it would be a lot, but I really wish I could have a drink right about now, and if you want we can leave–“

Brandon wraps an arm around her shoulder and pulls her into his side, “I mean it was a lot, but they seem like a lot of fun, Yaya.” He emphasizes the newfound nickname.

“They are, when they’re not being obnoxious and telling you embarrassing family nicknames.”

“I have brothers, not ones who dress up as women, but I understand brothers.”

A waiter comes up and interrupts their conversation.

“We’ll have two Queen Priscilla’s pussies, a ginger ale, and a basket of fries.” Anya says without missing a beat.

“Oh going light today? I guess Vice Principal Anya is on duty.”

“You know it’s a school night and I have to wake up extra early,” she rolls her her in exasperation.

Once the waiter is out of earshot, “I’m actually really glad you came, because if I didn’t order any drinks here, everyone would know something was up. And I know I can tell whoever I want, it feels like testing fate.”

“Oh I’m expected to drink both of those?” His eyes widen as the two bright pink drinks are walked towards them.

She winks in response.

“Fine, why don’t you tell me more about this tap dancing. drag king persona”

She lets out an embarrassed laugh before the lights begin to dim; saved by the bell.

“Shhhh, the show is starting, no more talking.”

•••••

Somehow a night out with her brothers in drag hadn’t scared him away and things started to shift back to the way they were in the before times (how Anya referred to the period where neither knew she was pregnant).

In fact, things were progressing further than before, which is why she found herself pinned against the wall of her apartment, Brandon nipping at her neck, and his thigh slotted between her thighs.

“This is great but,” she’s already out of breath, “bed.”

Brandon chuckles but can’t blame her. They were both desperate to explore each other’s bodies. The wait had been more than long enough and foreplay wasn’t really needed.

She shoves him towards her bed, which is a mere yard away in her less than impressive studio apartment; the layout was proving to be very convenient in this moment.

Anya climbed on top and didn’t even bother with taking off clothes; lifting up her skirt and slipping her underwear off.

Brandon was quick to follow suit pulling his pants down halfway, already painfully hard. They could take their time later, now was primal.

“I have a condom,” he said leaning up to kiss her and trying to fish out his wallet.

Anya shoved him flat on his back, “you can’t get me doubly pregnant.”

The sex was fast and raw and perhaps over embarrassingly quick.

“Oh my god,” Anya said hopping off Brandon’s softening member so fast he couldn’t even process what was going on until he heard Anya vomiting.

“Was I really that bad?” the humor evident, even through the concern.

She responds with more retching, Brandon stood up, walking into the bathroom to pull back her hair.

“Sorry, morning sickness, which is evening sickness in my case.” She says before puking again.

Brandon rubs her back soothingly.

“Make yourself at home, it should pass soon,” she rests her forehead on the cool porcelain.

He wanders around her apartment taking in the pictures: one of her in drag with her brothers, a graduation photo with her family, her on stage in some sort of musical or dance recital.

He made his way into the kitchen, peering into her mostly empty fridge for something to drink, opting for a can of beer. Might as well clear her apartment of temptation he laughs to himself. He examines the array of menus, save the dates, and other pictures on the fridge door. Trying to busy himself without being too nosey.

Anya comes into the kitchen, swishing mouthwash and spitting it in the sink.

“I thought I’d find you snooping through my underwear drawer or something?”

“Is that what you’ve done when I’ve been out of the room in my apartment?”

“No, but boys don’t tend to have sexy underwear or sex toys to find.”

“Would I have found sex toys?” his smirk shoots right to Anya’s core and she’s revved up again.

“Maybe,” she shrugs and fills a kettle up with water, keeping herself busy before she jumps him right there in the kitchen.

“If you stay the night, I can almost guarantee I won’t throw up after morning sex.”

Brandon lets out throaty chuckle.

“Why do you have a school picture of yourself on the fridge,” he points to the fridge.

Anya gives a confused look, half expecting a stray faculty photo before realizing what picture he’s referring to.

“Oh, that’s my daughter,” all the flirtatious repartee withers away.

Anya notices the pure shock on Brandon’s face and her face soon mirrors his.

“Oh fuck, I’ve never mentioned that before,” all Brandon can do is shake his head in response,

“Biologically she’s my kid. I got pregnant in high school, the dad was a dick and wasn’t involved yada yada, I had a weird moment of sadism thinking I made my bed so I should suffer and also like well people can’t have kids and… Anyway I gave her up for adoption but like it’s open so they send me a school picture and a letter every year.”

She’s full on panic rambling now, “I’ve never really thought she looked like me, but I guess she does. Also I thought you kind of knew, which was a stupid assumption, but a main requirement of surrogacy is that you’ve given birth before so you and the doctors sort of know what to expect and–”

The kettle begins to whistle and allows her to take a breath.

“I normally bring it up after I have sex with a dude cause it’s a great way to dispel any misconceptions about women’s body or to get rid of a dude right away if he sucks.”

She’s avoiding eye contact as she fixes herself a cup of tea, “and you go ‘see my vagina is so tight, you’d have no idea I’ve had a baby.’ But we just had sex like two minutes ago and I threw up immediately after and that’s not what happens normally.”

Brandon tries to hold back a snicker, wondering when she’ll stop and let him have any sort of response.

She finally looks at him, “I hope this is the last time I have a big news bomb to drop on you.”

“Me too, it must be exhausting for you to talk so much.”

At the sound of his husky chuckle the tightness in her chest finally loosens.

“What’s her name?”

“Sloane, she’s almost 11 now, which is crazy to think about. I’ve never met her before. Personally, I don’t ever want to meet her, she’s never felt like mine. But I don’t want to close that door for her, that doesn’t seem fair.”

“You’re the most selfless person I know.”

He sets down the beer and takes a step closer.

“That’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about my teen pregnancy.”

She takes a sip of her tea, “I think you know all my secrets now and that somehow hasn’t scared you away.”

“Ooh you don’t know that yet, I’m only staying around for that the nausea-free morning sex I was offered.”

He now has her pinned against her counter, brushing her hair behind her ear.

“Enough talking, more kissing.”

•••••

It takes a lot of convincing, but Brandon finally gets Anya to come to a game. She wants to support him, but simultaneously she’s worried about getting too intertwined with his life.

She’s certain the rug would be pulled out from under her and she’s bracing for the fall. All signs point to Brandon sticking around, through just about anything, the more the baby grows the more nervous she becomes.

But for now she kept the wolves, or Penguins, at bay: opting for a seat randomly in the arena.

She doesn’t know much about hockey, but she’s entranced by how fluid the large men move across the ice. The mix of skill and violence has her on the edge of her seat. But the parasite living inside her calls her to the concession stand for soft pretzels and nachos.

About halfway through the second period all those concessions are being flushed down the toilet as she empties her stomach, and then some.

She’s just grateful the action on ice is interesting enough that she could throw up in peace, that is until there’s a knock on the stall.

“Are you okay in there?”

“Yeah, just a pregnant woman doing pregnant woman things.”

“Do you want me to get you something?” Anya can hear the woman rummaging through her purse, “Do you need some mints or gum? I might have some Tums in my bag.”

Anya flushes the toilet and opens the stall to see a concerned looking blonde, “Could you get me a refund for the $50 of concession food I just threw up?”

“Are you sure you don’t need anything?” The woman looks up with a quizzical look before a wave of recognition passes over her, “Oh my gosh you’re Anya!”

Anya stops washing her hands and makes eye contact with the woman through the mirror.

“Are you one of my student’s parents?” She asks though it didn’t make sense for a student’s parent to call her by her first name.

“No, I’m Kayla, Brian Dumolin’s wife. You’re dating Brandon.”

“Um-“

“That sounds so creepy, but it kinds of is, all the girls have been internet stalking you since Brandon won’t bring you around.”

They both are a little flustered, “It’s not entirely Brandon’s fault. It just seems a little overwhelming.”

“Come sit with us now then. We can take you down to Brandon at the end of the game.”

Anya stutters.

“It will be far less intimidating now that you haven’t had time to overthink it. Besides doesn’t this seem like it was meant to happen?”

Anya relents, it does seem a bit like fate.

“Guys look who I found… Anya!” Kayla does her best Vanna White impression for the introduction.

Anya shyly waves as everyone introduces themselves, excited to finally meet her. It’s still overwhelming, but everyone is so nice she can’t be too upset about the turn of events. Especially since they can all explain the ins and outs of the game.

“So how far along are you?” Carly Zucker asked.

“Tail end of 12 weeks, which thank fuck cause I don’t know if I can handle this morning sickness any longer.”

“I feel that, I was living on strongest anti-nausea medicine I could get during my last pregnancy.”

“My last pregnancy was like so easy, but I think when you’re sixteen you just can power through anything. Sometimes I think medieval people had the right idea getting married and birthing kids young–“

Anya inhales sharply, “Brandon like immediately told everyone I already had a kid when he found out, right? Like I’m not outing myself, am I?”

Carly holds back a snort, “He didn’t, I just assumed since you’re a surrogate. I was going to bring it up when he was first freaking out about it, but I think his brain would’ve exploded if he had to process that on top of everything else.”

“I think it almost did, even with a month to take it all in,” she laughs.

After the game Anya follows the group down into the depths of the arena. She previously planned to meet up with Brandon at his place, probably after she picked up a late night snack, but now the nerves returned at the prospect of even more meetings.

Brian was one of the first guys out of the locker room and was quickly accosted by his wife, “Go in there and tell Brandon we found his girl and kidnapped her.”

Brian doesn’t even get an introduction before he’s shoved back into the locker room.

It didn’t take long for Brandon to come out and beeline to Anya. He’s freshly showered and back in his suit and Anya doesn’t know if it’s the adrenaline from the night or her hormones, but all of a sudden she feels hot.

He leans in for a kiss and Anya greedily deepens it, forgetting where she is for a second, until they were rudely interrupted by cat calls and wolf whistles.

“Are you okay? I know you weren’t planning on meeting everyone tonight,” Brandon says under his breath.

She nods, “Yeah, Kayla found me puking in the bathroom so it only could go up from there,” she sees a glint of concern in his eyes, “seriously everyone has been super nice. I’m fine.”

A smile creeps across his face, happy to finally share Anya with the rest of his world.

“So what did you think of the game?”

“Fun. I didn’t get most of it, but I liked it. Especially in the beginning when you were all bouncy and did that whole mouth routine,” she giggles and kisses him again.

“Hey Turbo, do you and your girl want to go out with us?” Someone calls out in the melee.

Brandon turns to Anya, “You up for that?”

“Only if there’s food, I can’t drink so really need to take advantage of this whole eating for two thing.”

The bar is as crowded as Anya’s brain is as she’s introduced to a slew of teammates and significant others. Her inner teacher knows she’ll be studying the roster later to keep track of all the names and faces, but for now she just smiles and nods like she’s getting it all.

She’s extra grateful for Brandon’s boundless energy for keeping the conversations moving, preventing Anya from being in an awkward moment of silence.

But she’s extra grateful that the bar’s kitchen is still open. The amount of food she orders quickly makes her popular.

“You should be careful with those, I was almost killed by one once.”

Anya is currently pulling an extra gooey piece of a mozzarella stick away from her mouth when she looks up to see Sidney Crosby.

She had lived in Pittsburgh for a better part of a decade and even if she wasn’t a hockey fan she knew who he was; you’d have to be in coma to live here and not know the Steel city’s poster boy.

“Thanks for the heads up. I am inhaling these at an alarming rate,” she tries to cover a bit of her mouth as she chews, not wanting to look like a total barbarian.

“And it would be one of the most embarrassing deaths imaginable. Just picture the obituary.”

“Cleary it would say she died doing what she loved: eating,” Anya is shocked at the boisterous laugh the man makes in response.

At the sound of the laughter Brandon joins the pair, happy to see Anya getting along with one of his teammates without his aid.

“What’s so funny?” he wraps his arms Anya’s shoulders and rests his chin on top of her head, clearly a bit tipsy.

“Just keeping Sid,” she felt weird saying his name so casually, “away from my mozzarella sticks, I don’t want to get run out of town because of my pregnancy cravings kill him.”

Crosby’s laugh gets louder and Brandon kisses the top of her head. Anya feels at ease, everything was out in the open and no one seemed to be looking at her differently, it all felt so natural. Maybe she could keep the rug under her feet.

•••••

Brandon just finished lunch with Sid and Tanger. The trio decides to walk around the trendy street, soaking up as much sun as they can on the unseasonably warm December day.

“Isn’t that Anya?” Sid points up the street.

Brandon looks up from his phone to see his girlfriend, or something, neither had been quite brave enough to put labels on it.

“I thought she was a teacher or principal or whatever. Shouldn’t she be in school?” Tanger adds, the worry in his voice sets Brandon on edge.

He merely holds his response as he sees a man come out of the building, wrapping his arm around Anya and handing her a drink.

She looks great, glowing, and Brandon is certain it has nothing to do with her pregnancy. It makes this moment nauseating for him.

She laughs with the man and the sound drifts into his ears, causing him to physically cringe. They never agreed they were exclusive, but she had said she wasn’t even looking to date while she gestates. Yet here she is in broad daylight laughing and wrapped up with another man.

He already knew he had fallen hard for her, he probably would have ran off at the first sign of conflict if he hadn’t. He just didn’t realize how hard it had been until he felt his heart crumble in his chest watching her with someone else.

Sid catches his demeanor, “We can just walk away, if something is wrong.”

Brandon doesn’t really know what to say he wants to confront her, let her know he feels betrayed. He also wants to run and save his pride. Before he can make a decision Anya and the man are in front of them.

“Hey Bran,” she grins like nothing is off.

She pulls him into a hug, he tries to act natural but he knows he’s stiff.

When she pulls away, she’s suspicious. Looking between the trio for clues, realization crosses her face.

She holds back a laugh, “you don’t recognize him do you?”

“It’s me Travis,” the mystery man cuts in, clearly amused before turning to Anya, “I told you I was a fishy queen Yaya.”

Anya wants to roll her eyes but is too busy biting back her laughter.

“It’s okay, I look very different out of my wig and make up.”

“And don’t forget breasts,” Anya lets out a howling laugh.

Brandon feels warm with embarrassment.

“And clearly you seem straight from a distance,” Anya elbows her brother-in-law.

“That has never happened before, I get why straight men feel so powerful all the time now.”

There’s still a tension within the group, two of three still entirely out of the loop.

“Travis, this is Sid and Kris. Two of Bran’s teammates. You’ve seen them on billboards.”

“Nice to meet you, if you ever need a dentist I’m available. But for hockey players you have wonderful teeth.”

Anya elbows him again, harder.

“What? Hockey players are like a dentist’s dream. Can you blame me for shooting my shot in hopes of getting my fingers enthuse hotties’ mouths.”

“You just have gift foreign embarrassing, you’ll be a great dad,” Anya palms her face, needing to look away from the uncomfortable and confused superstar in front of her.

“He was a drag queen last time I met him, thus the alarm,” Brandon feels the need to explain himself.

“I love that you thought I could get two guys while pregnant though, it’s a real boost to the confidence.” Anya says with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

“What are you doing playing hooky though?”

“Doctor’s appointment, and being forced to consume nutrients in a vile way,” she shakes the green smoothie.

She digs around her purse and pulls out a picture, “look at the alien this fool put inside of me.”

Brandon agrees it looks more like an alien than a human and laughs.

“I think the big head comes from your side of the genetic code,” Travis chides.

The group all laughs, the other two players enjoying seeing this side of Anya, clearly a good match for their energizer bunny of a teammate.

“I do have to get back to school, so got to run, but see you later yeah?”

“Of course,” his smile is undeniable now as he leans in for a quick peck.

The men continue their walk, teasing the clearly lovesick Turbo. Not that they are any less in love with their partners.

“So a pregnant girlfriend with a drag queen brother? You really do attract odd people,” Kris laughed.

“Drag queen brothers, plural. And if you think a Shea Weber slap shot is scary, try meeting a girl’s brothers dressed up as the tallest women you’ve ever seen. It’s the most intimidating thing I’ve ever done.”

“So we should expect to see Anya sticking around?” Sid asks, always concerned with his teammates’ well-being on and off the ice.

“Yeah, I guess, I’m not sure. We don’t really talk about being something...” he’s a bit lost for the right words.

“Just based on how you to smile at each other, you’re something whether or not it’s been said out loud.”

•••••

The moment Brandon opens the door Anya is on him. Her hands tangling in his hair, her lips and teeth hungry against him as she kicks the door shut behind them.

Brandon pulls her closer but only gets so far, her newly protruding belly separating more than usual.

They both laugh in response, the heat dissipating.

“Sorry, winter break excitement. I have two weeks free from hormonal teenagers.”

“Don’t apologize, we’ll get back to that later. The food will burn though,” He kisses her once more before moving to the kitchen.

“Glad that decision is made for me cause all I want lately is food and sex,” she sits at the island.

“And you will get both of those tonight,” he grins as turns on his standing mixer.

“So what’s on the menu?”

“Cauliflower crust pizza with spinach and Italian sausage.”

“Cauliflower crust?” she scrunches her nose, “Have you been talking to Parker? He keeps being all nosey about me eating healthy and shit.”

“I agree about the eating healthy thing but it’s mostly for to keep this hot physique I have.” He gestures to his body, which is sadly obscured by a sweatshirt.

He pulls out the pizza and sets it on the counter. Anya never thought a man in oven mitts could look hot, now she was crossing her legs in response.

“But to balance it out I’m baking peanut butter chocolate chip cookies with a dark chocolate drizzle.”

She bites her lip and lets out an involuntary moan, the kind heard in a porno.

“The lines between horny and hungry are really starting to blur in a disturbing way. Do you need any help before I cross a line I can never come back from?”

“No just relax.”

“Oh wait, I have presents.”

“We said no Christmas gifts.”

“It’s not a Christmas gift, it’s an early birthday present.”

Anya rummages through her bag and pulls out a small bag.

She slides it over to him and he rinses off his hands before pulling out the tissue paper.

“It’s nothing big.”

He pulls out an envelope and pulls out a picture.

“That’s my faculty picture I though it would be funny.”

“You look so serious,” he smiles and puts it on his fridge.

“I have to! I’m a vice principal.”

He digs through the bag and pulls out a framed photo of the two of them; he’s standing behind her arms wrapped around her as he’s animatedly talking about something and she’s looking up at him smiling.”

“When was this taken?”

“Like a month ago, Kelsey sent it to me, we’re like grossly cute.”

“We kind of are, thanks.”

“I know it’s not much…” she shrugs

“It’s nice, I don’t have a lot of pictures here.”

“Yeah now it’s me and the pug.”

“That’s my nephew you’re talking about…” he laughs and gives her a kiss, her stomach growls in response.

“Don’t worry, dinner is ready.”

Once dinner is done, or rather inhaled in Anya’s case, the pair make their way to Brandon’s plush couch. They’re attached at the mouth, but Anya is quick to separate and get Brandon out of his sweatshirt. Her hands trace along the hard lines on his soft skin.

Brandon gently coaxes her onto her back moving down her neck then a timer in the kitchen goes off.

Anya lets out a frustrated groan, “just when we were getting to the good stuff.”

“I promise there’s more good stuff on the way,” he calls from the kitchen.

Anya takes this chance to pull off her leggings. She’s grateful she still fits in some of her her sexier underwear, although she’s sure that it won’t stay on her much longer.

She thinks for second about taking off her sweater, but decides against it when Brandon comes back in looking extra fit and tasty.

“Excited?” He nods down to her naked legs.

“Expediting the process.”

“Before we get back into it, taste this,” he holds out half cookie for her.

She takes a tentative bite, “Holy shit! You’re good in bed and at baking? You’re the best boyfriend I’ve ever had.”

She puts the rest of the cookie her mouth then notices Brandon face, she wonders for a second if his apartment is haunted.

“What?”

“Boyfriend?” He cocks an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I just– oh fuck you’re seeing other people, I’m an idiot forget I said anything.”

Brandon chuckles and places a hand on her thigh, gently rubbing his thumb over her skin; a trail of goosebumps follow.

“I’m not seeing anyone else, just you,” he smiles so wide it almost hurts, he didn’t realize how much he wanted to hear her say that word.

They don’t continue the conversation, it’s clear where it’s heading. Instead they let their bodies’ do the talking.

Brandon snakes his hand up her shirt cupping her breast, he smiles against her lips.

“Are your boobs bigger?” He gives them another squeeze.

“Yes, thank you for noticing, I had to get some new bras. It’s the one really good thing about being pregnant.”

She can feel hormonal tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, and she pulls Brandon’s lips back to hers before he notices. She’s happy. So happy she could burst and she refuses to let this baby and her wild emotions stall anything.

Everything gets more heated and handsy and Brandon’s arousal is clear through his shorts. Anya feels like she’s overheating, wearing too many clothes, the centimeters of clothing too much of difference from his body.

She whips off her sweater as Brandon does away with her underwear. She shivers when he kisses on her pubic bone. His fingers ghost over her stomach on the way up to her breasts and she freezes.

“Oh.”

Brandon looks up confused at the iciness that fills the room.

“Is the belly weird? Or are you like kind of a perv who’s into having sex with a pregnant woman who’s pregnant with someone else’s baby?”

Brandon sets his head down on her pelivs and lets out a sigh, the hot air of his breath on her core lights the fire in her again.

“It’s a little weird, but I’m not bothered, plus you’re barely showing,” he kisses his way further down, nipping at her thigh, “but whatever makes you comfortable.”

“Okay, well I can still do it on my back now so let’s take advantage of that,” Brandon’s gives her a deliberate lick and her hands quickly tug at his hair.

She’s a bit distracted now, “ah- so we can do it here and then take a cookie break, then screw in the kitchen, then have another cookie break, then move it- oh- to the bedroom then we-ah-.”

Brandon stops abruptly, “have another cookie break?”

“Ew no, I don’t want crumbs in the bed. I was gonna say fuck until I assumably run out of energy. Wake up, cookies for breakfast, shower sex you send me home with any leftover cookies.”

“You’re up for all that?” he’s not quite sure if the plan is a turn on or completely laughable.

“Put me out of commission baby, I got two weeks to recover.”

•••••

Right after the short Christmas break in the game schedule the Pens went directly on a long road trip.

Now that they actually established their status, Brandon couldn’t help but miss Anya even more than normal. He was practically glued to his phone during any free time, hoping for even a crumb of contact with her.

Her brothers had thought it would be funny to get her a fully stocked bar as a Christmas gift. She had sent him a video of it backfiring because she started uncontrollably crying, which she claimed she thought it was happy but couldn’t really tell.

Then she was back at school, updating him on the hijinks. Apparently the faculty had been taking bets about which student would be bold enough to ask if she was pregnant first.

As she said, “No one wants to be the kid who asks their Vice Principal if she’s pregnant and it turns out she’s just getting fat.”

Apparently one of the boys finally asked point blank if she was pregnant after she was startled by the baby’s first kick.

She lost the bet.

Brandon feels like he’s missing out. It’s not even his kid. Hell, it isn’t even hers, but he wants to be involved in every part of her life.

His phone buzzes while he’s playing at the card table and he’s so fast to pick it up, the guys can’t help but chirp him.

At first he’s confused when it’s just a text with three of the water drop emojis.

It quickly becomes clear when a link “The 8 Best Sex Positions while Pregnant” follows.

He can’t wipe away his smile, he’s so distracted he isn’t prepared for his phone to be snapped out of his hands by ZAR.

“Turbo’s got a hot date tonight,” he reads the text out loud and the plane is filled with hollers and cheers.

“C’mon she’s my girlfriend now, don’t talk like that,” he’s blushing, more embarrassed about getting caught than the playful ribbing.

A chorus of oohs comes from the boys and he rolls his eyes.

“Getting serious eh?” Letang shouts from his seat.

“She’s pregnant already, of course it’s serious,” ZAR laughs and drops the phone in Turbo’s lap.

“At least I’m getting laid,” he shoots back and the attention quickly turns toward his younger teammate.

He rolls up to Anya’s place a few hours later. It’s been a long day but he can’t wait to see his girlfriend.

She however doesn’t seem as excited, she opens the door looking exhausted, she’s in a crop top, her ever-growing stomach hanging out, and her hair is matted like she just woke up from a nap.

“I thought you got home tomorrow?”

“Clearly not, I thought you sent that text because you were excited to see me tonight.”

She pouts for a second, “I sent it because I thought you’d be coming tomorrow and maybe you’d send me something sexy like a well-composed dick pic and it would get me excited for tomorrow.”

“I can show you my dick if that will help.”

She ponders it for a second, “No, thank you though. I just feel like garbage. My feet hurt, my back hurts, I’ve had heartburn all day, I’m exhausted.”

“I can leave if you want,” he doesn’t want to leave, he wants to scoop her into his arms and hold her tight.

“No, you can stay,” she drops her voice, barley above a whisper, “a hug sounds really nice.”

He gives her a small, sad smile before pulling her into his warm embrace. Her tension evaporates in his arms. He rubs her back and kisses the top of her head.

“Let’s get you off your feet,” he whispers, his voice vibrating against her.

Anya shifts around trying to get comfortable on her side, which is clearly getting more difficult.

“Want me to get you some tea or something.”

She shakes her head and holds out an arm, beckoning him over. He moves behind her, wrapping an arm around her disappearing waist. His arm around her stomach feels alien and natural all at once.

Anya snuggles back into him and intertwines their fingers. The lay in silence, wrapped up in the warmth of each other. Brandon can feel his eyelids getting heavy and sleep coming over him.

Then he feels it; more than a flutter not quite a kick.

He gasps.

“Crazy isn’t it?” Anya says in a sleepy voice, moving their hands to follow the movement.

It happens again.

“That’s– there’s like a real human in there,” he’s fascinated that such a small movement changes how real it feels.

“Yeah, it’s surreal.”

He doesn’t know how to respond because it’s just that, surreal.

It’s been real; the morning sickness, the swelling of her body, the hormones, but it never felt so solid. The whole thing had been ta dashed line between point A and point B, both set and temporary but would eventually fade away into the next phase.

Now he realized that wasn’t true. This wasn’t just some pit stop, the aftermath would be more than just scars or stretch marks. There would be a human being as living proof.

The nausea had mostly disappeared in the second trimester, but Anya still had her moments, and in the wee hours after dawn she has her first real bout of morning sickness, at least real in the morning sickness.

She pads back into the bedroom to notice Brandon gone, she doesn’t find a note or a text or a voicemail. The apartment feels cold.

One day.

Two days.

Four days.

A week.

•••••

Parker tries to stifle a laugh as he watches his sister try and get up from the couch.

He’s not aware she’s as miserable as she looks.

“It’s like watching the world’s saddest bug try to get off its back,” he snickers to his husband.

“You can’t make fun of me when I’m doing the biggest favor in history for you,” she calls from the living room.

She finally manages to hoist herself off the plush couch and move to the kitchen, helping herself to another helping of Thai food.

“Hon you didn’t need to get up, I could have gotten that for you,” Travis chimes in.

“I’m not a convalescent, my center of gravity just shifted. What you should do, is tell you husband to stop making fun of me.”

She takes back her spot on the couch and tries to balance her plate on her stomach, she’s not quite a full table but getting close.

She opens up the baby name book she had been reading before.

“I assume you didn’t just invite me over for a nice dinner to casually look at baby names,” she says once her brothers sit on either side of her on the couch.

“Why do you assume we have ulterior motives?” Parker glares defensively.

“Because last time we did this, you wined and dined me and then brought out a turkey baster.”

They both nod curtly, the jig is up.

“We wanted to discuss a…” Travis pauses, obviously looking for a diplomatic way to breach this topic, he looks towards his husband to help him out.

Parker rolls his eyes before taking over, “Yaya, you’ve been great with this whole thing and letting us really be involved and experience the whole thing, from the birthing classes to–“

“Just spit it out!” she yells through a mouthful of Pad Thai.

“We want you to move in for the first three months after the baby is born,” Travis jumps back in.

“Um, excuse me?” Anya is incredulous.

“Based on all our reading we just think, and I know this sounds weird coming from your gay as fuck brother, breast is best. And the best way to get a solid time of breast feeding is for you to be here for night feedings.”

“And since it will summer you won’t be working so no worries about commutes or anything,” Travis adds.

Anya opens her mouth but only a sound of quiet rage comes out.

“It’s not like you’re staying at your apartment, so it won’t be that different.” Parker quips and Travis

She hadn’t told them about Brandon. That she hadn’t seen or heard from her boyfriend for over a week. Or that she’s unsure if she even had a boyfriend anymore.

What she does know is she’s furious.

She takes a deep breath, the anger ready to pour out.

“You’re basically telling me I have to house this fetus and all the side effects that come with that, then squeeze a baby out of my vagina, potentially tearing it to my asshole, then after all that hard work I have to lose sleep and take charge of feedings at all hours because you two wanted a kid.”

They’re about to defend themselves but she doesn’t let them speak.

“Every professional we’ve talked to has said boundaries and I’ve mostly been fine with being loosey goosey with those because I love you both, but I have sacrificed my body and my time and maybe my boyfriend to give you a baby and I refuse to sacrifice more.”

“You broke up with Brandon?” Parker pulls her out of her rant.

“I don’t know, I woke up one morning and he was gone and I haven’t heard from him since. And I know he’s still alive because I’ve seen him on TV.”

“You’ve been heartbroken this whole time on top of all your pregnancy crazies and then we have to go all first time parent crazy on you. Sorry it was out of line.” Parker squeezes her tight and Travis joins the hug.

“I am willing to become a dairy farm and pump until I can’t anymore, but unless you want a double murder, suicide and an orphan, there will be no night feedings from me.”

They all heavily sigh.

“So no more Brandon?”

Anya shrugs.

“So we shouldn’t invite him to the baby shower?” Travis tries to crack a joke but Anya can only half smile in response, “there goes the eye candy.”

“If I could storm out right now I would, but I can not get up fast and I am very hormonal and tired and I will be spending the night,” her smile becomes more genuine, “someone go slam a door for me!”

•••••

“It’s turn then kick, otherwise you’ll kick each other in the face.” Anya laughs at her students trying to get the choreography.

She tries to show them what she means, but her kick is a little lackluster, better than they expected, but still not great.

“Then after the kick, you’ll all move back together in that diamond shape behind Charlie, so let’s see that all together.”

But her students are a bit distracted, looking behind her and whispering to each other. She turns to see Brandon awkwardly standing at the back of the auditorium.

“Is that Ms. Reed’s boyfriend?”

“No way, he plays for the Penguins.”

“Of course it is, she’s pregnant she’s gotta have a boyfriend,” the students think they’re great at gossiping quietly but they’re always too loud.

“Ok you guys are 13 so you have to know that you don’t need to be dating someone to get pregnant. And none of you should be having sex it may seem like you’re old but you are all way too young and you’ll have plenty of time when you’re older, take it from me.”

The kids immediately start giggling the moment she mentions sex, she hopes her advice sinks in for at least one of them.

“Just break it up, it’s almost 5 so let’s end rehearsal here, and don’t you go spreading any rumors about this because remember who’s in charge of giving out detention.”

The kids pack up and scatter, some trying to take sneaky pictures of the Pittsburgh Penguin in their midst.

“I–“ Brandon starts.

“I didn’t drive today so take me home and we can talk, I don’t need any of my students to hear about my private life.” She snaps, bumping his shoulder as she exits the room.

The air in the car is stale. Brandon fumbles with his keys not sure where to start.

“So you’re choreographing the school musical?”

“You really want to start with that?” he’s taken back by her uncharacteristic brusque tone.

“I know, I’m sorry I fucked up… big time.”

Anya looks at her nails, unresponsive.

“And I– it’s just– I was–“

“You have a college degree you should be better with words.”

“I deserve that and a lot worse.”

“I freaked out about everything and I’m sorry I panicked and didn’t talk to you, that was my biggest mistake I should have just told you that that I all of a sudden felt overwhelmed by the pregnancy thing. That baby kicked and it became so real and even after this, there’s going to be a person.”

Anya snorts.

“What?”

“Sorry, it’s just so funny, ‘there’s gonna be a person,’” she adds in a mocking voice, “No kidding, that’s kind of the goal of seeing a pregnancy through.”

Brandon doesn’t respond, he’s embarrassed, but he’s starting to hear the humor in his babbling about it all.

“It’s just I realized that even after you’re pregnant there’s going to be this little you out there,”

“Technically this is the second little me,” Brandon gives the side eye, “Seriously, how did you graduate college?”

“I don’t know, Cs get degrees,” he smiles, everything feels more natural.

“I was just getting used to all the physical aspects of dating a pregnant woman and then it kicked and I realized you’re not just going to have a baby and that’s that, the kid is going to be in your life forever and I don’t think I care about that but I just got in my head about the future and panicked.”

He pulls over the car and puts his hand over Anya’s, “And then I left and then I was so embarrassed about being so dramatic I didn’t talk to you and then too much time passed and… well we’re here and I’m sorry for being stupid.”

Anya looks down at his hand, Brandon feels so self conscious he’s about to pull away, “Just don’t let it happen again.”

“I told you from the beginning that this was weird and I’d understand if you freaked out. So in the future just talk to me, chances are I’m panicking just as much.”

She gives his hand a squeeze, “Plus, I work with tweens and teens I understand histrionics better than most people.”

“So are we good?”

“No. You owe me big time, you straight up did not talk to me in any way for almost a month, but broadly speaking we’re good.” She smiles before leaning over to give him a quick peck, which quickly turns to more.

When they both come up for air Anya’s the first to speak, “Want to hear something crazy that happened while we weren’t talking?”

“Of course.”

“If the baby is a girl my brother’s want to name her Anya.”

“They want to name the baby you give birth to after you? That’s insane.”

“That’s what I said! I’m already going to be Auntie Mommy, I don’t think we need to cross anymore weird lines as a family.”

“So you’re definitely hoping for a boy then,”

“I think once they see what happens in a delivery room they’’ll name the baby anything I want.”

“Before I drop you off do you want to get dinner with me?”

“Do you even have to ask?”

“Yes, but only so we get the food you’re currently craving most.”

“You might get in my good graces faster than I thought.”

•••••

Brandon maneuvered Anya backwards towards his bedroom, peppering her skin with kisses.

“I feel off balance,” she giggles, turning around.

He wraps his arms around her and kisses her neck, “Yeah I’ve seen how long it takes you to get off your back, we don’t need that.”

She elbows his ribs but pulls him along to the bedroom before stopping in her tracks.

“Is that…?”

“The maternity pillow you wanted yeah,” Brandon smiles as he bounces at the end of his bed.

Anya chokes on her words as she begins to tear up. She fans her face for a second but can’t get the tears to stop and just goes with her emotions.

“I love you so much,” she sobs out, “and you don’t need to say it back or anything cause I don’t know if that’s real or not and I’m low-key still mad at you.”

She picks up the pillow and hugs it to her body, “I’m just having a lot of emotions right now, mostly I just miss being able to sleep on my stomach. Or just like comfortably at all and this is so nice.”

“Do you want me to make you even more emotional?” Anya merely nods in response, “I bought you one for here and your place.”

Anya lets out a sob, “You’re so thoughtful, I definitely do love you, but don’t say anything back because I’m a mess.”

She lays down on the bed covering her face as she continues to cry. Brandon lies back next to her, moving her hands and wiping some of her tears away.

“I definitely love you too,” his warm brown eyes have a glossy sheen, like he’s close to crying or laughing, it doesn’t really matter both are applicable in the moment.

“Shut up,” now she’s half laughing, half crying.

“I’m serious, plus this is a dream come true I’ve always wanted to tell a girl I love her and make her cry.”

They stare into each others eyes, Anya’s tears starting to subside.

“I really want to make sweet, sweet love to right now, but I also really want to take that pillow for a test run.”

Brandon breaks out into a grin, “That’s what I was expecting; for us to confess our love and then you immediately want to sleep with a pillow more than me.”

What was supposed to be a nap turned into a full night’s sleep, Anya only waking up as the sun began to shine through the open curtains. It’s still early, too early to get out of bed but she feels well rested in a way she hadn’t since her bump began popping.

She flips over to see Brandon, mouth wide open, still fast asleep. She stares at him for what’s probably a creepy amount of time before she reaches out to brush a stray piece of hair behind his ear.

He hums in response but keeps his eyes closed for a moment.

When he finally opens his eyes he gives a sleepy smile, “how long have you been staring at me?”

His voice is groggy and deeper than usual, vibrating low against his Adam’s apple.

She ignores his question, “has anyone told you you’re beautiful?”

He scrunches his face and lets out an amused breath.

“Seriously, you have nice, warm eyes and high cheek bones that Barbie would kill for,” she brushes a thumb across the protruding bone, “and you almost have a perfect cupid bow’s lip.”

She runs finger along the shape of his upper lip. Brandon moves to hold her hand there, giving her fingertips a kiss. They don’t move for a bit, just enjoying the calm sleepy moment. Only for the spell to be broken by a loud stomach growl.

“How the tables have turned… Do I need to feed you?” Anya smiles.

“I don’t have much to eat here.”

“We can go to the diner and I’ll buy you some pancakes. It’s probably the only thing nearby that’s open anyway.”

“Do you want me to dress like a homeless person?”

“Aww yes it would be a cute full circle moment, us getting our post ‘I love you’ meal at the place we met.”

“Are you going to cry again?”

“No, I think good sleep really keeps the hormones under control.”

“So I get an I love you, pancakes, and a less hormonal girlfriend. That pillow was the best purchase anyone has ever made.”

•••••

“I’m not gonna sit with your family Bran,” she rolls her eyes as she gets dressed, “I’ve never even met them.”

Brandon grabs her hand and pulls her back towards him and the bed, “Fair enough, but at least stay the night.”

He gives her his best puppy dog eyes before kissing her shoulder.

“Nice try, but they land early in the morning and I don’t want to meet them looking freshly fucked and running late for school.”

She runs her fingers through his shaggy hair, “I’ll just casually meet them after the game then you guys go out to dinner and enjoy your time together.”

“If I can handle your brothers at a drag show you can handle a dinner with my family.”

She huffs, “I just don’t want to make it weird, you don’t see them all together a lot.”

“Why would you make it weird? You’re my girlfriend. It would weirder if you didn’t show up after I’ve been talking you up this whole time.”

“Fine.” She gives him quick peck, knowing if she lingers at all the warmth of the bed and Brandon will keep her there, “see you later.”

Later, she finds herself in front of her closet hating everything she owns, partly because half her wardrobe doesn’t fit over her swollen belly and the other half is so heavily in rotation it’s currently living in her hamper.

She begrudgingly decides on a dress that probably clings to her a bit too much, but is at least a soft fabric that won’t make her belly and breasts itchy in public. She throws a jacket on top and prays she’s at least somewhat presentable to meet a boyfriend’s family.

The game is close but the Penguins manage to squeak by and win.

Of course, before she makes her way down towards the locker room she needs to pee for the one thousandth time that day. By the time she makes it to the corridor, Brandon is already surrounded by a group people.

She takes a deep breath. She meets parents all the time, albeit parents of students, but parents all the same. She just needs to bring that same energy.

She moves enough to catch Brandon’s eye before moving in and giving him a quick peck before turning towards his family.

“Hi I’m Anya,” she gives a small wave.

“This is my mom Sophie, my dad Mike, and my brothers Chris and Kyle.”

“Sorry it took me so long, someone was playing kickball with my bladder,” she laughed lightly, absentmindedly rubbing a hand over her stomach.

“Oh, you’re pregnant,” Mike states, clearly this is news to him and by the looks of everyone else it seems like news to them too.

“What the fuck Brandon, you didn’t tell them?”

“I– uh–“ he stutters.

“It’s not Brandon’s if that’s what you’re thinking,” she scrunches face realizing she misspoke, “It’s my brother’s”

“Anya you really need to stop saying it like that,” Brandon cuts in before she rehashes her whole scatterbrained explanation, “She’s the surrogate for her brother and his husband.”

“That’s very kind of you,” Sophie smiles sweetly, the family’s worry passing at least visibly.

“Yeah she’s pretty selfless,” Brandon gives her a dopey smile and squeezes her hand.

His brothers, despite being adults, make faking vomiting sounds that still manage to get a good laugh.

“Now that we’ve made this sufficiently awkward I think it can only go up from here, so dinner?” Anya laughs.

“You’re just saying that cause you’re starving,” Brandon chuckles.

“I’ve been hungry for the last two months, now or later makes no difference to me.”

“I was so hungry every time I was pregnant,” Sophie smiles, “You must be having a boy.”

“Not sure, my brothers don’t really care about gender as a concept so they want a surprise, but I’ve been guessing boy.”

“How far along are you?”

“31 weeks, so almost to the home stretch.”

“That’s going to be one big baby, Sophie chuckles.

At the restaurant Anya sat next to Brandon, who was clearly nervous after the first impressions and maybe nervous that Anya will yell at him for not telling his family about her very visible condition. His knee was bouncing uncontrollable, more so than his usual jitters, and Anya placed a hand to stop him from jiggling the table.

“What did you think of the game?” Chris opens the conversation.

“It seemed good, I’m from a big theater family so I’m still learning the whole sports thing. It’s really fun to watch in the arena though. And it must be really cool to play against your brother, I mean I know I’d kill to get paid to bash my brother against a wall a few times,” she giggles.

The comment launches off a passionate conversation about the boys hockey careers, all the hardships they faced to get there, the late growth spurts, and of course the competitive nature between siblings that led to lots of bruises and maybe some concussions.

It continues until their meals arrive and there’s a shift in attention from the Tanevs to Anya.

“So Brandon here clearly hasn’t told us much about you,” his dad says pointedly to his middle child, “but we do know you’re originally from Ohio and you’re a middle school Vice Principal,” and with that the traditional family interrogation begins.

“I mean you don’t need to know much more, that pretty much sums me up,” she says before a classic Anya rant begins, “well I don’t work at a school with a ton of money so I also teach a couple classes a year too, usually an art elective or science class. I went to Carneige Mellon so I have this weird like theater/design/engineering degree that you couldn’t get anywhere else because those things don’t really go together, but they kind of do if you teach. So then I got my masters at Pitt and stuck around here.”

She feels a little flush after telling her academic history in about 30 second.

“But middle schoolers, yikes,” Kyle shudders.

“Not a very popular job, it’s why I’m a vice principal under 30. But I like working with middle schoolers, they put a lot of things in perspective.”

They look on curious.

“I mean it’s all drama all the time. They’re angsty and don’t fully understand what’s going on with they’re bodies, they’re all of a sudden attracted to people they’re known since they were 6, and that’s all going on before the teen girl drama and the boys spending half the day trying to hide accidental boners.”

She can feel herself rambling again, “And they get through every single one of their dramatic days so it makes my problems seem smaller.”

“Speaking of accidental boners, any embarrassing stories I should hear about Brandon?” The group laughs and Brandon turns a thousand shades of pink.

“Please, don’t give her any ammo,” he pleadingly looks over to his older brother.

“My brothers have given you photographic evidence of some of my most humiliating moments, I deserve this.”

•••••

Anya pulls up to the intimidatingly large house in Sewickley; she’s beyond tired but promised she’d make an appearance at the team party. She doesn’t even need to double check if she has the right address, as soon as she opens her door she hears the party excitement.

She pulls on a sweatshirt to combat the evening breeze and makes her way into the backyard of the house.

At first no one really notices her, but it’s hard to miss a woman with a beach ball for a stomach for too long and a group of WAGs brings her into their group, forcing her off her feet and offering to get her something to eat. Anay wants to complain that they’re treating her like a child, but she has swollen hippo feet and is happy for them to cater her needs.

“How are you feeling?” Kelsey asks, her own baby bump starting to come in.

“So over being pregnant, I’m one week away from doing all the things I need to jumpstart labor. Like until this baby is out of me it’s going to be all spicy food and all heartburn.”

“Brandon is about to get very lucky.”

“Yeah if I’m not eating and he’s in town I am jumping his bones for sure,” Anya grins wickedly.

Then she catches Brandon in her peripheral being tackled by a group of Penguin children during a game of ball hockey. She crosses her legs in embarrassment by how hot the sight makes her, she’s not even sure she wants kids of her own but Brandon being so good with them is weirdly erotic.

“It’s not just the pregnancy,” Kris’s wife, Catherine, hands her a drink, “I think it’s evolution for us to find men who are good with children hot.”

“I’m around men who are good with kids all the time, this is different.”

“It’s cause you looooovvvve him,” Carly sing songs her way.

“Yeah I think it’s that,” Anya laughs.

After the dog pile breaks up Brandon makes his way over to the girls planting a kiss on the top of Anya’s head.

“How was the baby shower?

“Fine, less men in drag than I was expecting, but my brother’s liked their gift.”

“You’re already giving them a kid, is that not enough?” Kayla ask incredulously.

“Oh way more than enough, but I found these fake tits that men can wear to simulate breast feeding and I thought if the baby hates it then they can do something real nasty in their act.”

“And did they end up having you all wear matching outfits?” Brandon laughs, he had been waiting to hear all the weird details.

She lifts up her sweater to reveal her top, “Oh yeah we all got crop tops that say Daddy.”

Some of the other guys have gathered around and laugh at the sight of the almost full term woman in small crop top. The happy sounds bring a slew of curious children as well, a little Victoria crawling into her mom’s lap staring curiously at Anya’s stomach.

“Next time your brothers throw a party please invite us,” the group seems to be in agreement, half because it sounds like a fun party and half because it’s so outside their comfort zone they know they would need to see it to believe it.

Anya sets down her cup and cradles her stomach looking towards Brandon, “Oh yeah, my mom decided to drive home so we’re not getting brunch tomorrow.”

Brandon nods, not sure how to respond when he’s a little relieved he doesn’t have to meet Anya’s mom, even though she had already met his parents.

“Probably for the best she was in fine form today, I think she’s mad that my brothers want the baby to eventually call her gran and she’s a little mad I told her II don’t want her in the delivery room.”

“I couldn’t have gotten through my delivery without my mom, Brian almost passed out,” Kayla raises her brows.

“It’s only because the last time I gave birth she yelled at me for like an hour, and it wasn’t even about me being a irresponsible teen who got pregnant it was because I didn’t clean my room before I went into labor.”

She’s telling the story as if it isn’t completely outrageous, probably because it’s practically become folk lore over the last decade of recounting it.

“She made the nurses so nervous and uncomfortable to come in and talk to us that by the time she stopped yelling at me I was too far along to get an epidural. Then she started yelling at me about college applications until the nurses finally kicked her out, but my dad was a great birthing coach. Very calming, although I guess anything would have been calming in comparison.”

The group seems a bit apprehensive, “You can laugh it stopped being traumatic years ago.”

The conversation moves on to the rest of the groups funny pregnancy stories, all of which sound a bit traumatic to the uninformed, non-parents in the group.

Victoria who has been intently staring at Anya this whole time finally makes her move and puts her tiny hands on Anya’s bump. Catherine goes to apologize and swipe the nosey little one away.

“Don’t worry about it, she’s the only one who’s allowed to touch it without permission.”

She pulls up her sweater again to reveal her stomach in it all it’s glory, “Sometimes if you wave to the baby, it will say hi back.”

She takes Victoria’s hand and rubs it on her skin in a waving movement. It takes a moment but the baby kicks against her hand, Victoria looks between her mom and Anya excitedly before trying again. She receives another hello kick.

“I think someone like you Victoria,” the little girl squeals in response and waves again.

Brandon feels a swell in his chest at the sight, he didn’t think he could fall harder for Anya, but now he was picturing having kids with her as if that was in some five year plan he had.

He offered to refill Anya’s drink as an excuse to walk away from the confusing moment that was both endearing and weirdly arousing to him.

•••••

Anya hisses, scrunching her eyes shut for a few seconds.

“You okay?”

“Yeah just a contraction,” she recomposes herself and waves off her boyfriend.

“Whoa whoa whoa, a contraction? Like you’re in labor? Shouldn’t we go to the hospital? You’re four weeks early.”

“I’m just in pre-labor, it’s fine.”

Brandon still isn’t moving forward.

“My contractions aren’t very long and very far a part, I could be like this for another day.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’ve done this before.”

Brandon still looks unsure.

Anya grabs his hand and pulls him along the path, “We’re not that far from my hospital if things change, I texted my brothers what’s up so they’re ready to go at any time. Now please let me enjoy this walk, because it might help move this along so I can stop being so fucking pregnant.”

Brandon doesn’t response, not sure he’s totally okay with the direction this day is going.

“So I’m guessing labor inducing sex is off the table then,” she cocks an eyebrow hoping to get him back on the pro-labor train.

“I really want to say no but I’m also super uncomfortable with fucking you into labor…”

Anya struggles to stop herself from rolling her eyes. She understands, but by the time the next contractions comes along she really wishes Brandon was enough of a man to help her speed the whole process along.

“I was really hoping the baby would hold on until I was teaching sex-ed next week. I’d love to teach those horny little freaks through some scare tactics.”

“That seems healthy.”

“What? I think if I saw one of my teacher’s go into labor in front of me at 13 I definitely wouldn’t have started having sex at 14. I probably would have waited another year.”

“You were 14?” Brandon looks shocked before exclaiming in pain when Anya crushes his hand and doubles over in pain.

She takes two deep breaths before continuing the conversation, “Girls go through puberty sooner than boys. In hind sight I realize I was fully a child, but back then I felt like I was already a woman.”

“Are you sure you’re okay? They’re definitely getting closer.”

She pulls out her phone and looks down at the time, “They’re still like 8 minutes apart and that lasted like 10 seconds, I’m fine.”

She continues walking down the path but Brandon is stuck in place, jerking her back towards him. He’s giving her warning eyes.

“Fine, we can go back to the car and then hang at my place. My go bag is there so I’ll be perfect prepared.”

“Thank you, now should I keep an eye out for your water breaking.”

“Labor is not like the movies, a lot of women’s water don’t break until they’re already at the hospital and even then it’s like a gentle trickle not the flood gates bursting open.”

Brandon’s brows are scrunched up.

“I will know if it breaks and let you know. But I probably won’t need to go the hospital until after roy leave for the road trip, so take a deep breath.”

Those were her famous last words.

By the time the couple gets to her apartment the time between contractions has already gotten significantly closer, they’re still not too long but it feels like the danger zone feels much closer.

They’re curled up on the couch when the most furious contraction hits.

“What time do you need to get to the airport?” she says with a strained voice.

“In like two hours.”

“Okay, so we should probably go to your apartment to get you bag so you can take me to the hospital.”

“Oh my god let me just take you there now.”

“No no no: she clutches her stomach as the pain starts to subside, “there’s still time, but also like time to meander over there.”

Brandon is running around her apartment looking for her bag, he’s a bit like a chicken with his head chopped off.

“I’m the one who’s in labor so you need to relax. My bag is in the closet and let’s casually make our way to the hospital and I’ll get there in time and you’ll get to the plane in time for your road trip.”

“Are you sure, I can call someone and take a later flight or something if you want me there or–“

“Honestly the only thing worst than these contraction is the thought of you hanging in labor and delivery with my brothers. There are some things no one can unsee.”

He nods, clearly picturing something quite disturbing in his head.

By the time they make it to the hospital Brandon can’t feel his fingers from Anya squeezing them so hard. She finally admits she’s probably in active labor now. They’re greeted up front by her brothers who look just as flustered as Brandon was earlier.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?”

“No, these two idiots have got it covered,” she nods towards her brothers, “Good luck.”

“Good luck to you, too,” he gives her belly a small rub and her a quick but firm kiss.

•••••

At the sound of footsteps, Anya turns away from the TV towards the door and is surprised to see Brandon there with flowers, he finds a space on the side table to set them down and pushes her hair back.

“You’re not pregnant anymore,” he smirks.

“I know, the moment I’m released you’re taking me to a bar,” she laughs.

“How was it?”

“Glad I went into labor early cause she was 10 pounds.”

“Ouch.”

She scoots over in the bed and pats for Brandon to join her.

“On your way out you can look in the nursery, she looks like a full grown” she asks.

“I saw her with your brothers before I came in, but skipped the small talk to see you.”

Anya smiles and rests her head on his shoulder.

“And they didn’t name her Anya.”

“I know, and I love Margot, we’ve already started calling her Gogo.”

“Yaya and Gogo, how creative and not weird at all.”

“Everyone’s family has embarrassing but endearing nicknames, Bran Muffin.”

He rolls his eyes but pulls her in closer.

“Thanks for sticking around, I don’t think I could have made it through this without you,” she gently rubs hand against his chest.

“You would have been perfectly fine without me.”

“Yeah, but it wouldn’t have been as nice, you definitely helped keep me sane.”

“Now that you’re not pregnant, I want to ask you something…”

“You’re supposed to propose before I give birth. You know, to preserve my honor.”

Brandon bumps her with his shoulder, “This is sort of a reset for us and I’m hoping the season goes on for another month or so but either way I’d like you to come back to Toronto with me for the summer.”

Anya purses her lips.

“Cause you have the time off and I’ll mostly have the time off and I don’t want to miss out on all that time living in different countries and because I love you or whatever and–“

“I really like it when you’re the one babbling.”

“And I’d really like an answer.”

“By the time school is out, my body should be healed and it would be a real shame to miss out on all that bump free sex just because of proximity… and you know because I love you or whatever.”

She gives him a peck.

“But you’ll have to buy one of those maternity pillows for your place in Canada because I don’t think I can sleep without one of those things now.”

“Of course, that’s the or whatever part in I love you.”

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