My Hockey Alpha novel Chapter 325

Nina

The air felt thick with tension, laden with unspoken words that hovered between us like a brewing storm. Enzo looked at me, his usually warm brown eyes now clouded with a kind of unknowable perplexity, as if he sensed the seismic shift that was about to rock our world.

“Nina, what is it you’re not telling me?” he asked, his voice filled with worry. “You’ve been distant all night.”

I avoided his gaze, focusing instead on standing and scooping my nightgown up off of the floor. I slipped it on over my head, then paused, feeling Enzo’s eyes on me. Some paragraphs are incomplete if you are not reading this novel on Jobnib.com. Visit Jobnib.com to read the complete chapters for free.”Enzo,” I finally started, my voice shaky despite the tidal wave of emotions that I was fighting so hard to control. “I have something to tell you, something… significant.”

His eyes widened, locking onto mine, as if hoping to extract the truth through sheer force of will. “You’re scaring me a little here, Nina. What’s going on?”

With a deep breath, I let it out, the words tumbling out of my mouth faster than I had intended: “I’m pregnant, Enzo.”

A heavy silence stretched between us. Enzo was speechless. 1 could see the gears in his head grinding to a halt before jump-starting again, as if rebooting to accommodate this newfound information.

“You’re… you’re pregnant?” he finally stammered

“Yes,” I whispered, the word barely more than a breath, yet carrying the weight of a lifetime.

Enzo’s expression shifted from shock to confusion, as if his brain was trying to process the magnitude of the information it had just received. He paced in front of me, his eyes far away, before finally stopping and looking down at me.

“But I don’t understand. How could the tests be negative?” He asked, his voice filled with a perplexed sort of agitation. “You told me you took two tests, Nina.”

“It was a false negative,” I explained, my voice barely above a whisper. “It’s rare but it happens. The tests came back positive at the hospital.”

Enzo’s eyes widened, and it was then that I realized that I hadn’t mentioned the hospital to him yet.

“You went to the hospital, Nina? And you didn’t tell me? Why?” I paused, biting my lower lip. “I was going to tell you tonight.

But I just wanted to enjoy your first night back and not worry you.”

“Well, now I’m even more worried,” Enzo said, throwing his hands up in the air in an exasperated manner. “You should have told me as soon as you went to the hospital. Why did you even go?”

I blanched. “I was having bad cramps and I thought something was wrong, so Idrove myself,” I said. “But now I’m glad I did.”

For a few moments, Enzo was silent. I could tell that he was upset, but he wasn’t an idiot. He wasn’t about to dwell on the fact that I went to the hospital without telling him. “Alright, so it was a false negative,” he said, shaking his head as though struggling to piece together the puzzle that had suddenly become his life. “So the home tests were wrong. Okay. Now what?”

“Yes, “I nodded, “but Enzo, there’s something else you should know.”

He looked at me, his eyes heavy with a mixture of dread and curiosity. “Oh, god. Now what is it?”

“I might have endometriosis.” I let the words hang in the air for a moment as I studied Enzo’s face. It became clear to me within a few moments that he didn’t recognize the term, so I explained. ” It’s a condition with my uterus that could make this pregnancy difficult. I’ve got an increased risk of miscarriages and complications in general.”

Enzo’s face seemed to pale, the color draining from his cheeks as if he had jus been slapped. “Endometriosis?” he murmured. ” And how long have you known this?”

“I didn’t,” I admitted, my hands nervously clenching the fabric of my nightgown. “The doctor at the hospital said I might have it, based on the symptoms and the cramping. If it’s true, it could severely affect the early stages of pregnancy, maybe even the whole pregnancy.”

The room seemed to close in on us, the walls appearing to inch closer as if tightening a vice around my chest. I could see Enzo’seves tlicker with a mixture of hurt and understanding, a painful reconciliation of the reality that was unfolding before him.

“Enzo?” I murmured, standing.

Enzo sighed, running a hand through his curly hair. Somehow, he had crossed the room during our conversation and was now standing in front of the large window overlooking the ocean, and I had been so absorbed in our conversation that I had hardly noticed.

“I just wish you told me,” he said quietly as I approached. “I’m not angry or anything, but… Here I was, going out this weekend and leaving you home alone while I met with this hockey team, only to find out that you went to the hospital, found out you were pregnant, and decided to deal with it on your own.”

“I’m sorry,” I said gently, wrapping my arms around him from behind. “I know it sucks. But it was only a couple of days and I wanted to let you enjoy your trip.”

“To hell with the trip,” he said, turning in my arms to face me.

There was a spark of something in his eyes, and it actually broke my heart a little bit. “You’re having a baby. We’re having a baby, Nina.”

Enzo shook his head, clearly trustrated. He moved away, running his hands through his already disheveled hair.

For a moment, he paced back and forth by the window, looking out over the ocean. The waves crashing below against the side of the cliff felt like the perfect representation of his inner turmoil, of a storm brewing in his mind. And I felt the same way.

“But Nina, that’s my decision to make, too,” he finally said, turning to face me. “You can’t just decide for both of us.”

“And what about my decision, Enzo?” My voice wavered, and I clenched my fists to steady myself. “I have medical school.

Would I have to give up my dreams as well? Do you think I can manage an intensive program and motherhood at the same time?”

He stopped his pacing and looked at me, truly looked at me, as if for the first time seeing the woman standing before him-filled with dreams, yes, but also with fears and vulnerabilities. “I’m sorry, Nina. I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant…”

Tears pricked my eyes, blurring my vision. “I know. I’m sorry.

It’s just that… I didn’t know if I could do it. And I didn’t want to force you into a corner, make you choose between your dreams and..this.”

“You think I’d see our child as an obstruction? As a detour I didn’t plan?”

“Wouldn’t it be?” I countered softly.

Enzo’s shoulders sagged as he closed the distance between us.

His eyes, those turbulent windows into his soul, softened. Hetook me into his arms, the place that had always been my sanctuary, and just held me. No more words were needed in that moment; his touch spoke of promises, of shared dreams, and yes, of shared fears too.

“I’m not angry,” he whispered, his breath warm against my ear. “I’m just hurt that you would think you had to carry this alone. You should have told me right from the start. I’ve been working away, having fun, while you’ve been here dealing with… this. Not to mention going to the hospital without telling me.”

“I just wanted to protect you,” I sobbed, my tears now free-falling as if a dam had burst. “Protect us. I didn’t want us to have to make this impossible choice. I was trying to shoulder it myself, to spare you at least.*

“But we’re a team, remember? We face life together, whatever it brings,” Enzo murmured as he stroked my hair, comforting me in the way only he knew how. The room around us felt a little less claustrophobic, as if our emotional release had given us both room to breathe.