absquatulate

9. hurting

"thomas." hope whined, fanning herself with a paper plate.

"what? what's wrong?" thomas asked frantically.

"please turn the heat off." she growled. thomas could see the sweat slipping down the sides of her face and he knew that she was having another hot flash.

"i cant. it's like twenty degrees outside. if i turn it off then the whole house will be freezing." thomas explained.

"that's fine. you guys are hockey players, you basically live in the cold." hope said.

"doesn't mean that we enjoy being cold every second of every day." thomas rolled his eyes.

"how about i get you a fan so it'll be blowing on just you." thomas compromised.

"i guess." hope frowned and put the paper plate down. thomas set up the fan and put it on high, letting it blow on hopes face. soon enough, she was freezing and her sweating had stopped.

"thomas." hope said nicely.

"what?" thomas asked.

"turn it off. im cold now."

•

"oh my god." hope groaned, holding onto the side of the wall. thomas, matty, jacob, brendan, and owen all ran up to her to make sure she was okay.

"geez, you don't all have to run up here." she frowned.

"are you in labor? did your water break? are you having contractions?" thomas asked frantically.

"no my water did not break. if it did you would see water under my feet? do you see water under my feet?" hope growled.

"what happened?" matty asked.

"i cant, i have to sit down." hope said. thomas picked her up and carried her downstairs to where all the boys had been sitting in the living room.

"can you tell us what happened now?" matty asked.

"first, can i get two ice packs?" hope pleaded. owen went into the kitchen and came back with two ice packs. he handed them to hope and all boys watched as she put them under her calfs.

"okay, it's just these leg cramps. i get them all the time now that i'm pregnant, but it's a normal thing, it's nothing to worry about." hope told them.

"it's a normal thing?" brendan asked.

"yes, they just hurt really bad." hope responded, scrunching her face up in pain.

"can i rub them? will that make it hurt less?" thomas asked.

"please." hope threw her head back and tried to breathe through the pain. thomas sat down and immediately started to rub hope's calf, wanting to relieve much of the pain his baby momma was dealing with.

"sorry for uh, ruining whatever you guys were doing."

•

"do we have pickles and chocolate sauce?" hope asked, scanning the fridge.

"uhm, yes?" matty asked, raising an eyebrow.

"good." hope smiled to herself and looked in the very back of the fridge, seeing the jar of pickles. she saw the chocolate sauce in the side of the fridge and took it out.

"what're you making?" matty asked.

"soup. what does it look like im making?" hope asked sarcastically.

"you know it's funny, i really hate pickles, but now that i'm pregnant, i love pickles." hope told him.

"yeah, well, i hate pickles all together so i'm leaving." matty stood up from his chair and left the kitchen.

"more for me then." hope said.