Four months later …
Tate held Audrey’s hand as they made their way up a dirt trail that lead to his family’s burial site. Audrey was completely healed; she even had a new set of pretty white teeth. The only thing different was that she walked with a little bit of a limp, but she blamed that on the pressure from her stomach. At only five and a half months pregnant, she didn’t expect to be as big as she was, and she blamed it all on Tate. He was enormous, and now she was having a giant. Audrey just couldn’t understand how she went from not being able to have a child to growing a massive one.
He was also partially to blame for stuffing cupcakes down her throat. She had been working out all her recipes for the opening of Audrey Jane’s, and instead of enjoying the cupcakes by himself, like she planned, Tate convinced her to try them too. She didn’t mind, though, the cupcakes were fantastic. The only thing that wasn’t fantastic was her growing waistline.
Glancing up at her beautiful husband-to-be, she smiled. He looked tired, but it was to be expected. They had left right after the Assassins lost game six in the third round of the Stanley Cup finals. Those L.A. Kings were going all the way; Audrey had no doubt about that. She thought Tate would be a little more upset about it, but he wasn’t. He said he was ready to start their life together. That they couldn’t win every year and there was always next year.
He was right, and she was beyond ready to start their life together.
But first they would enjoy a minivacation in his beautiful home country.
G?vle, Sweden, was amazing. She had never seen such beautiful green, lush scenery in her life. Tate’s family home was shaped like a large dome barn, and it sat along the river. Every time she glanced out onto the river, she could see big wooden sailboats off in the distance. They were massive and beautiful. The day before, she and Tate sat on the long wooden dock that he and his father had built when he was a kid and watched the boats pass by on the open water. Tate had told her he used to spend his whole summer on that dock. He also informed her that he had lost his virginity on it too. It didn’t take long before she was naked and being loved in the same exact place.
Thank God his closest neighbors were five miles away.
Tate also had acres of land, with hills and beautiful flowers in patches, making it look like the hills were wearing Band-Aids of bright beautiful flowers. Big trees with bright green leaves served as a canopy to most of the land, but Audrey had to admit her favorite place was the dock. It was such a romantic spot. Or maybe it felt romantic because she was so in love?
Either way, she was happier than ever before.
“I’m surprised Fallon hasn’t called a thousand times,” Tate joked as they climbed the hill to where his family was.
Audrey grinned. “She’s busy today,” she said. Fallon had been on her like white on rice since she left the hospital. The whole experience had scared her sister to the core, and she just wanted to make sure Audrey was okay. It didn’t bother Audrey, but it didn’t keep Tate from teasing Fallon about it. It seemed so long ago that everything had happened, when it had only been four short months. She was completely recovered, and she knew it was because she had so much love and support from all of her family. Things were still a little tense with Tate and her father, but she didn’t care. It would all work out, and she had bigger things to worry about.
Like their wedding and the birth of their child.
“Now we need to decide on a name for our little chicken,” Tate said.
Audrey laughed. “I knew you were going to bring that up.”