Chapter 99
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If I wanted a clean start with Blair-if I wanted to prove she was the one I actually wanted, Lily had to be all the way out. Not half in the house. Not nearby. Not on my arm at the next event because it was easier than telling the truth. She had to be out of my life for good. There was no question about it.
It was not going to be easy.
Lily Sinclair had been my childhood sweetheart. She had stood by me through junior teams and call-ups.
She had been good to me. That part was true and it did not change the other part: holding on to her now was guilt, not want. I had used her as a shield when my feelings for Blair got too real, when I realized just two words from her could destroy me. I had let her back into rooms my wife had walked out of. I had kissed her in public because I was angry and afraid and trying to prove a story that was never real.
There was no question left.
Blair was the only one I wanted.
I was still standing in the entryway with that decision when the door opened again.
My father and Nico stepped in, took one look at my face, and stopped like they had walked into a crime
scene.
“What’s going on, Grayson?” Dad asked.
Nico dropped his bag by the wall. “Yeah. Enough with the suspense. Why did you call us over?”
I had wanted to call the entire family. Mom. Ivy, if she would have sat still long enough. My younger siblings. Everyone else was buried in their schedules. These two first. If I said it to them and it still sounded true, I could say it to everyone else.
“Take a seat.”
They sat. Both of them looked worried, which would have been funny if I were not about to drop a bomb.
“I’m going to be a father.”
Nico’s mouth actually opened from the shock. My father went completely still.
“What?” Dad asked. “With who?”
“Who is the mother?” Nico asked, basically asking the same thing. I considered lying, just to mess with them at first.
But I was too excited to announce that my wife was having my baby.
“Blair.”
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The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
My father practically shot up from the chair in joy.
The relief on his face was obvious and unguarded. He had been braced for Lily.
“I am going to be a grandfather.”
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Nico laughed, bright and stunned. “And I’m going to be an uncle. Fuck. I have a kid to spoil now. And train him to be a Fl driver like me.”
I frowned. “Why do you think he will follow in your footsteps?”
He sighed, as if I were slow on purpose. “Because I’ll be the cool uncle. You are going to be the intense hockey dad who makes the child take lessons at six in the morning. I am going to be the one with the helmets and the bad influence. Showing him all the ladies.”
“We don’t know yet if it’s a girl or a boy.”
“And why can’t a girl be a racer?” Nico shot back. “I will put her in a kart either way. She will have better reaction time than you.”
Dad actually smiled. He came around the table and gripped my shoulder. “Congratulations son. How far along?”
“Over twelve weeks now.” I told him with a smile. “I heard the heartbeat. Healthy. Strong. I saw the scan. I was
in the room.”
Nico let out a low whistle. “So the unsigned papers. That was a good call, clearly. Imagine divorcing her and then finding out she’s pregnant with your baby. That would have sucked.”
Dad sat back down, still glowing from happiness. “What are you going to do about Blair?”
“I was wrong about everything. The park pictures. Chase. The hospital. I asked her for a divorce because I thought she wanted him. She has been carrying this alone while I let Lily back into rooms she should not have been in. Then I found out the truth. I told Blair I wanted another chance. I asked her to come home. She said she needs time. She does not believe things are finished with Lily, and she is right to think that until I finish them.”
The room went quieter.
Nico’s grin faded into something more serious. “So finish them. I am not about to miss out on bonding time with my little niece or nephew because you messed things up with their mother.”
“I will. Very soon.” I looked at both of them. “Blair is the one. I am in love with her. I ruined the marriage we should have had by believing articles and that fucking asshole, Holt. He told me the baby was his. I believed that too, until I saw the date on the scan. I am not making that mistake again. I just hope to God I can get her back.”
Dad nodded once, firm. “Then stop making mistakes. You do right by that girl. You do not let Sinclair or Holt come between the both of you. And you do not confuse guilt with loyalty. I understand that you’ve known Lily for years but I’ve always known that you kept her around not because you loved her, but because she felt safe to you. You never liked taking risks, Grayson. Blair matched you perfectly. I’ve never seen you lost in a girl like you are with her.”
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The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
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“I agree with dad,” Nico added. “Again, I just want to remind everyone that if the baby is a girl, I am still putting her in a kart. I want that on the record before mom starts buying her skirts for beauty contests.”
Despite everything, I heard myself laugh. Then frown. Skirts, on my daughter? Fuck no. Not until she was thirty!
They stayed long enough to ask the rest-whether William knew, whether Blair was physically okay.
Dad wanted dates. Nico wanted to know if he could tell people and I told him not yet. Not until Blair decided how public this became.
Dad clapped my shoulder again on the way out, already looking like a man who had rewritten the future in his head and liked this version better. “I am happy for you son. Thrilled.”
Nico paused at the door.
“I guess you asking her to consummate the marriage did work out in the end.”
“Get out.”
He grinned and left.
When the door closed, the house went quiet again.
The conversation with Lily needed to be done in person. But she was out of the country for a few days. I couldn’t do it yet. I needed to wait to see her face-to-face.
She deserved that much, even if the truth would hurt her.
I picked up my keys. I had things to plan. I had a baby on the way. Fuck, it felt good just thinking about it.
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The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
Dex Morgan
Dex works to elevate each story with clean writing, emotional balance, and thoughtful flow for readers.