Imogen – five months later“I’m coming hold on.” I shout to Cody as he calls me from the front door. We’re due to go riding this morning but we’re both on edge kind of as it has already gone past Luna’s due date by a week. She is totally fed up and just wants the baby to drop. NOW.I rush to step into my riding boots, Ben is coming with us - he has become a real fixture of our bizarre family set up. And the best thing is that he has gotten closer to Luna. How amazing is that since Ben would often keep Luna company on her cabin porch when Cody and I were travelling to his ice hockey games.Fallon has been a dream constantly popping over to see us and also Luna, to be honest I think she has found a friend in Luna too. They’re both in the same position with pregnancies and Fallon stopped travelling to the away games with Atlas about three months ago.Life can be weird at times but in a good way. The one person who caused so much heartache for Cody and I, is now a firm friend and not just
CodyWatching Luna giving birth was surreal, she didn’t make a fuss or create and scream the hospital down, she took it all in her stride, showing her strength and dignity. Seeing the crown of my baby girl’s head brought tears to my eyes.We’re all in the private room and Luna holds our baby in her arms, swaddled in a pale pink blanket, Immi and I have both held her and oh my, I can’t begin to tell you the way I feel. My heart expanded and fluttered like crazy, the love that I feel for this tiny little girl is unbelievable and the way I want to protect her and keep her safe, Man it’s blowing my mind.“So beautiful, Luna.” Immi says her smile wide on her face, her eyes shining like diamonds. “I think she has Cody’s cute nose,” she touches the baby’s face, yes, we still need to name her.“Cody, can you take her, then settle her down, I’m pretty exhausted and will nap.”“Absolutely,” I extend my arms to take our baby girl. “Come here Princess my daddy’s little girl.” Immi giggles and I ca
ImogenSummer is a dream, honestly you couldn’t ask for a happier baby, she hardly cries and always holds out her chubby little hands when she sees me, and don’t even get me started on when she sees her daddy. Oh, my it makes my ovaries ache something crazy and I literally cannot wait the next two months for our wedding.Where has the time gone? It’s literally insane. Where to start, first Cody did bring the Stanley Cup home for Austin during the event in June. He is now officially a legend, the crowds went absolutely nuts for him and the team, we have been inundated with so much press and media attention that sometimes it feels stifling, but I have to accept it because being married to the man who won both years in a row for his teams with hattricks in both games, is going to be a major thing. He could happily hang his skates now if he wanted to. He has achieved all the dreams he ever had as a child in his ice hockey career. Although, I have to admit, I would miss going to the games w
Cody – December 21st “You look worried, Man you need to chill out. She’s going to be here.” I take a look at Atlas in his striped, grey charcoal pants, his matching waistcoat, the button down white shirt and the cream cravat. We’re matching today, it seems surreal we match on the ice and now we match as I stand in the bedroom of my Lake House nervous as hell, about to go out the back and take my place to wait for my beautiful bride to come down the aisle on her daddy’s arm. I exhale.“I am chilled out, but what if I let her down? What if I’m not the husband she wants to spend the rest of her life with? What if she thinks she wants to fly?” He pats me on the shoulder.“Listen to me, Bro. I like that now we’re going to be proper bro’s no getting away from me now. She loves you, Immi is besotted with you, that girl knows her own mind and if she didn’t think you were right for her, she’d have off-skied a long fucking time ago. So, now stop. This is your day as much as it is hers and you n
Imogen – EpilogueLife has been wonderful to us; our wedding was a dream with all our friends and family around us and the entire hockey teams for Minnesota and for Austin. Of course, as Cody is such a big name, we had to have one of the top celebrity magazine photographers attending and the exclusive pictures in the magazine were amazing. My mom’s cake she made for us was something out of a movie, five tiers, with one chocolate and one vanilla sponge alternating to the top, frosted in a delicate cream frosting with an iced arch at the top, she even made tiny flowers to match the wedding flowers to decorate it. I’m telling you, my mother is a baking wonder.It's been a year since our wedding and I am the happiest I have ever been. Little Summer is crawling and sort of walking, I swear I need eyes in the back of my head. Her blonde curls are to die for and those big blue eyes of hers, well she is a daddy’s girl and the way that Cody is with her, it makes my heart melt. He is the best d
Bonus Epilogue – CodyI watch Immi holding our baby boy, who we called Miles, he’s just three months old and Immi is a natural mother. My heart swells watching her holding him in her arms whilst her mother fusses around her.Her father slaps me on the back, “you did us proud, Cody. I couldn’t wish for a better man for my grandbaby and little Summer. That girl is a firecracker, she’s got you eating out of the palm of her hand.”“Don’t I know it, Sir. My boy will be the same.” We chuckle as we watch my Minnesota team enjoy a few colds ones on the grass that leads down to the lake out back of my Lake home. Immi and I are back now, we’ve come full circle from the first moment she came back into my life to be my nutironist and the sparring of words that took place back then.Who’d have thought that in just two years I’d be married to my gorgeous wife, have a baby girl who totters around everywhere and is obsessed with her baby brother and a baby boy. We plan on going for six kids, hell I’d
Cody“For fuck’s sake.” I mutter as I try to jam my kit into my bag. It’s the same bag I use all the time for travel, and the very same bag that I’ve used for the last few years so why the hell isn’t it going right this morning?Right, you know why? Because I still haven’t heard from Immi. It’s been a long fucking four weeks and I’ve not had a response to any of my messages and she keeps avoiding my calls. I’m going crazy here and my heart is hanging on a thread.The loss and loneliness are beyond anything I’ve ever felt before. Literally, I feel torn up and damaged. I have even cried. Yeah, that’s right. Cody Brannigan the golden boy of NHL has been ugly crying. No one has seen it, naturally. I tend to do it at night when I’m laying in a lonely hotel room or when I’m back home alone in my bed.If you ever told me someone could die of a broken heart a few months ago, I’d have laughed in your face. Trust me, I think this is what is happening to me. I can’t hardly eat; my game is off, a
Imogen It doesn’t totally suck being back with my folks, it’s just you know, not what I had anticipated. Still, it is only another week, and I can move into the unit above my restaurant.Dad has been a life saver. There wasn’t too much we needed to do, the owners had made sure it was all cleaned and with the fresh paint, all I really needed to do was put my touch on it and it’s already looking like a proper girl’s den. It’ll be my den.I also met with the bank manager here in town and he has put me on a programme where I can get a grant for certain things, we’re going to install a solar system to eventually bring costs down for electric and dad said it would be better for me to go off grid for gas because it was cheaper than having the standard monthly rates.I’m currently in my childhood bedroom laying on the bed and staring up at the ceiling where my fairy lights are still hanging. And you know what, my heart still hurts after a whole month of being away from Cody. God, I miss him