Twenty-Four

   “We're heeere...” Jacob sang as he pulled up to his house. “Autumn... Wake up.”

   “Hmm, mom I don't want to go to school...” Autumn turned in the backseat and opened her eyes slowly. “Where am I?”

Jacob stepped out of the car and opened the door for her, “My house. We dropped Nathalie and Nicky off ten minutes ago.” He chuckled and took her hand. “Come on... Oh, there's dad”

   ”Jaaaacooooob!” Jacob's father exclaimed and pulled his son into a long hug. ”Good to finally see you, son.” Jacob smiled, stepping aside to show Autumn, who was standing behind him. ”Is this the girlfriend I've heard so much about?”

   ”Yes!” Jacob grinned and pushed her forward. ”This is Autumn, dad.”

   ”Hi...” Autumn smiled slightly and held out her hand for him to shake. Jacob's dad stared at her for a second and smiled a little.

   ”Come here!” He said, stepping forward and hugging her tight. ”You are the cutest thing!” Autumn blushed and looked at Jacob.

   ”Is mom here?” Jacob looked into the house as if he was expecting her to pop out at any second.

   ”Yeah, she's preparing dinner, let's go see how it's going!” Jacob's father led them through the hall and into the kitchen. ”Lena, look who's home!”

Jacob's mother squealed when she had turned around, ”Baby!” She pulled him in and hugged him as if she hadn't seem him in forever.

   ”Heeey, mom... This is Autumn!” Autumn was standing in the doorway, and Jacob's mom looked a little shocked when she saw her.

   “Well, hello dear...” She said in Swedish, smiling at her. Autumn frowned and looked at Jacob.

   “Mom, she's Canadian, she doesn't know what you're saying.”

   “Oh, I'm sorry!” His mom said in a shaky English. “Come...” She held out her arms and Autumn stepped forward into the hug. She felt weirdly uncomfortable with all the hugging: she felt like her stomach was getting in the way. “Do you know the sex yet?”

Jacob shook his head, “No, we want it to be a surprise.” He smiled and put his arm around Autumn, holding her close. “Where's Tim?”

   “Out golfing with some friends, he'll be home in time for dinner.” Jacob's mother said, walking back to the stove. “He can't wait to meet you, Autumn.” She beamed at her and Autumn blushed slightly.

   “Alright, well we should get our bags upstairs and get settled in,” Jacob said, taking Autumn's hand. “It smells amazing, mom.”

   “Take your time, dear, this won't be done for another hour.”

   “You never told me you have a brother...” Autumn said when Jacob had closed the door behind them. She sat down on the bed and looked over at him.

   “Didn't I?” Jacob frowned, putting the bags down on the floor. “Well, his name is Tim and he's four years older than me. There's not much to know, really. He plays soccer... You'll meet him later, though, so don't worry about it.”

   “Right...” Autumn's face suddenly turned pale and she took a few deep breaths.

   “Are you okay?” Jacob hurried over to her and sat on his knees, taking her hand in his.

   “Yeeeah,” Autumn groaned. “He's kicking...” She squeezed his hand and exhaled a sigh of relief when it was over. “I'm never going to get through this...”

   “Of course you will,” Jacob got off his knees and sat down next to her on the bed. “You're a strong girl, it'll be just fine.” He paused. “And 'he'?”

Autumn nodded, “Thanks... And yeah, I don't know...” She kissed him softly, making Jacob smile. “It just feels like a boy.”

   “Alright,” Jacob fell backwards onto the bed, pulling Autumn down so her head was on his chest. “I love this bed.” He sighed, stroking her hair slowly.

   “Your house is huge,” Autumn stated. “And everything is beautiful. I don't think I've seen something like this before.”

   “Shucks,” Jacob smiled. “It's just home to me.”

   “Yeah, I guess... And your parents are lovely. But I wonder what they really think of me...”

   “What are you talking about?”

   “Jacob, I'm pregnant. I'm pretty sure they didn't expect you to bring home a pregnant girl. Yes, it's yours but we're far too young.”

   “You're worrying about nothing,” Jacob said, kissing her head. “I promise you.”

Autumn shook her head, “Nope, it's over. They think I'm a whore.”

Jacob chuckled, “They do not, stop worrying!” He sat back up, watching her. “How would you like a back rub?”
   “Ooh, please?” Autumn's eyes lit up and, with his help, she got to a seating position. “Do you want me to sit or...?”

   “Yeah, sure.” Jacob positioned himself behind her and started up at her shoulders.

   “Oh god, that's nice...” Autumn sighed and closed her eyes as Jacob gently made his way down her back.

   “You're very tense...” He said, kissing the back of her neck. “Got something on your mind?”

Autumn sighed, “No, not really. It's just...”

   “Yeah?” Jacob kneaded through a knot and waited for her to finish her sentence.

   “I've been nervous about meeting your parents and how they would react, you know...”

Jacob smiled a little, “They love you, you can relax.”

   “They don't know meeeeeeee owww.”

   “Sorry!” Jacob took his hands off her. “You want me to stop?”

   “No, it's fine. Keep going.”

   “Okay, and I know they-”

   “Jacob, Autumn, dinner is ready!” Lena called from downstairs, cutting through Jacob's sentence.

Autumn sighed, “Damn, this was just getting good.” Jacob chuckled and helped her off the bed.

   “Let's go,” He took her hand, but she had stopped to look into the mirror. “Hey, you look great...”

   “No, I wanna fix my hair,” Autumn chewed on her lip and let go of Jacob's hand. “It's all over the place.

   “It's not!” Jacob walked up behind her, put his arms around her waist and his head on her shoulder. “It's perfect, just the way I like it.”

Autumn smiled a little, “Thanks...” She put her hands on top of his. “Let's go before they come looking for us.”

   “Yeah,” Jacob took her hand again and helped her get down the stairs. He looked slightly shocked when he saw everything on the table. “God, mom... This is too much!”

Lena beamed at them, “Nothing is too much for my son and his girlfriend.” She pointed to the other end of the table. “I put you two over there, and I gave you the best chair, Autumn. It's important that you're comfortable.”

   “Oh, you didn't have to do that,” Autumn blushed. “I can sit anywhere.”

   “Now, now...” Lena shook her head. “I was pregnant once too, remember? Well, twice actually. I know what you're going through.”

Jacob smiled and pulled out Autumn's chair, “Listen to her, she knows.” Autumn sat down and looked at her hands.

   “Thank you so much,” She said, looking up at Lena. “This all looks amazingly good.”

   “Thank you, dear.” Lena said, looking over at the door. “Oh, he's home. In here, Tim!”

   “Hey,” Tim said, slumping into a chair next to his mother. “Uh... Hello?” He looked straight at Autumn, who avoided eye-contact.

   “Hi...” She said, looking at Jacob instead.

   “This is Autumn,” Lena said to Tim. “Jacob's girlfriend.”

Tim frowned, looking at his brother, “You never told me about her.”

   “Sorry...” Jacob said. “I've had a lot going on.” He looked at Autumn and put his hand on her stomach. “This for example.”

Autumn put her hand on his, “Yeah... Bit of a handful.”

   “She's American?” Tim asked, raising his eyebrows. “I thought you said you didn't like dating Americans.”

   “Canadian, actually...” Autumn swallowed. “I worked in Florida.”

   “Right...” Tim said, obviously in a state of shock. “And when did you meet, exactly?”

   “January, something like that?” Jacob said, looking at Autumn.

   “A bit before that, he kept coming to my workplace to ask me out and I kept saying no.” Autumn smiled at the memories.

   “What can I say, she caught my eye!” Jacob grinned.

Lena nodded, smiling, “Well he's determined, that I know. Used to spend hours at the rink with his dad and always wanted to stay late.”

   “But isn't it a little too early for something like... that?” Tim said, looking at them both. Autumn swallowed and looked down. She wanted to disappear. Why was he so rude?

   “Well, it's...” Jacob said, not knowing how to finish his sentence.

   “So... It was an accident then?”

Autumn looked up at him, “Yes...”

   “Well, it was, but we don't think of it as an accident.” Jacob shot at him.

   “We don't?” Autumn turned her gaze to Jacob.

   “No... At least I don't.” Jacob squeezed her hand under the table.

   “A blessing, that's what it is.” Lena said, nodding.

Tim crossed his arms, “But you're still so young. What about your career?”

   “It will be fine.” Jacob gritted his teeth. He was getting sick of his brother's behavior at this point.

   “My brother's on the team!” Autumn said, changing the subject. “Washington, I mean. His name is Mathieu.”

   “Oh how nice,” Lena said. “He must be glad to have you in the same city.”

   “Perreault?” Tim asked. “You don't look like him.”

   “And I don't look like you.” Jacob snapped.

   “I look like mom, he looks like dad.” Autumn explained. She still hadn't touched her food, but Tim had started eating a few minutes ago.

   “Right...” He said, stuffing his mouth with potatoes. “So what do you do when Jacob's playing?”

   “I usually watch with Nathalie. She's Backstrom's girlfriend, we've become good friends.”

Tim nodded, “Oh yeah, we've met her. But what do you do? Do you study, work, what?”

   “What's with the questioning, Tim?” Jacob raised his eyebrows.

   “What? I want to get to know her. She's carrying my nephew or niece...”

   “Honey, she's pregnant,” Lena said. “She needs to be careful. Especially when it's your first. Now, let me tell you, when I was pregnant with Tim-”

   “We DON'T need to know that, mom!” Tim protested.

   “Whaaaat?” Lena said. “It's good for her to know!”

Tim groaned, “Fine...” He stuffed food into his mouth and looked the other way.

   “Although, Jacob was the more difficult pregnancy,” Lena continued. “He gave me high blood pressure and I was very sick.”

   “And I've never heard the end of it.” Jacob grinned.

Lena gave Jacob a look, “Oh come on now. It was like that until he decided to be born two weeks early. That was a riot. Your poor father, I was in the hospital and he was stuck in Portugal, coaching soccer.”

Autumn blinked, “Oh god, that's awful...”

   “Yeah...” Anders spoke for the first time. “Someone called me and I had to take the first flight home. I couldn't sleep at all.”

   “I wouldn't either...” Autumn said, her eyes wide.

Jacob squeezed her hand under the table, “Don't let her scare you.”

   “Tim...” Lena continued. “Now, he was with his grandmother at the time. I was in labor for about 14 hours. And he had to be turned, was going feet first!”

   “Wow...” Autumn swallowed.

Jacob cleared his throat, “Let's change the subject. How's work, mom?”

   “Oh, the team is good!” Lena lit up. “We had a tough game against Skellefteå, though.”

Autumn looked confused, “Are you talking about hockey?”

Jacob smiled, “No, handball. You know that game Nat plays? You've been to one of her games, right?”

   “Ooohhh... Yes, I have.”

Tim swallowed his food, “Didn't she use to play for Skellefteå?”

   “I think so,” Autumn nodded. “The name sounds familiar. I don't know, though... Swedish is hard.”

   “Yeah,” Jacob winked. “Did Nat teach you something to say, by the way?”

   “Oh, uh... No.” Autumn blushed.

Jacob smiled, “She's embarrassed. You DID say it pretty good, though.”

   “No!” Autumn protested. “It was awful, I swear...” She looked around the table.

Anders beamed at her, “You don't have to if you don't want to.”

   “I'm so bad with languages...”

Tim rolled his eyes, “Aren't all North Americans...” He said under his breath, causing Jacob to glare at him.

   “Well, if I can remember it-”

Tim stood up and grabbed his plate, “Thanks mom, dinner was delicious.” He headed into the kitchen and closed the door behind him.

   “Did I do something wrong?” Autumn asked, looking worriedly at Jacob.

   “No, you didn't...” Jacob got out of his chair. “I'll be right back.” He followed Tim into the kitchen. “Hey, douche bag.”

Tim turned around, looking at Jacob, “What?”

   “Why do you have to be so rude?”

Tim rolled his eyes, “Dude, I never hear from you and then you show up here with some chick you knocked up? Is this supposed to be a joke? If so, it's a real bad one...”

   “I'm not that guy anymore, Tim...” Jacob sighed. “I fell in love with this girl. And we didn't plan this, but it happened and I'm actually starting to get used to it. I know I love her and I'm going to love the child inside her so much...”

   “But you're so young.” Tim said. “How can you afford to be so irresponsible? And better yet, how do you know this girl isn't with you because of your fame and your money?”

   “You don't know her like I do. She desperately wants to get a job, but I said no. I don't want her to feel like she has to. And I'm not the kind of guy to walk away from two people I love.”

   “You've known her for like five months, that's nothing.”

   “Tim, please...” Jacob pleaded. “Just don't be so rude, she hates feeling disliked.”

   “How was I being rude? I was asking questions.”
   “Oh come on, you were judging everything she said.”

   “You're my brother,” Tim said. “I've been looking out for you since you were born. I just don't want some broad to screw you over.”

   “She won't... Just trust me on this one, okay? And don't push her down, I love her.”

   “You have a lot to learn about that, man... But sure, I'll let it slide.”

   “Look, I know you care about me, but don't judge her and put up your wall before she's even tried...”

   “Fine,” Tim sighed. “I'll go easy on her.”

   “Thanks, I appreciate it.” Jacob said. “And I'm sorry, I'll make sure to call more.”

   “Well,” Tim said. “Now that I've seen why you've been so busy, I'll say don't worry about it.”

   “Thank you.” Jacob nodded.

   “No problem,” Tim looked at him. “Although I've heard that pregnant women can be a handful near the end, so you be careful.”

   “Of course,” Jacob smiled a little. “I will be. Why don't we go back out there?”

   “Sure,” Tim walked ahead of him and pushed the door open. “Hey dad...” They both sat down at the table again.

   “I'll help you with the dishes, Lena.” Autumn said, grabbing a bunch of stuff and walking after her into the kitchen.

   “Thank you, dear.” Lena said. “I'm so sorry about Tim, he's tired and I don't think he expected Jacob to have a girl with him.

   “No, I understand.” Autumn put the plates down on the counter. “I'd also be upset if my brother didn't tell me he had a girlfriend.”

   “Yes... They were very close when they both lived here, but then Jacob moved over to the States and the time difference changed things, you know?”

Autumn nodded and put her hand on her stomach, “Yeah, I get it.” She smiled a little. “He's always kicking after I've eaten. He already likes food.” She laughed a little, making Lena smile.

   “You make sure you call us when it's time, we want to be there.”

   “I will, I'm due in early October- OH there he goes again...”

   “It's been so long...” Lena sighed. “Do you mind if I?”

   “Not at all,” Autumn took Lena's hand and placed it on her stomach. “Do you feel it?”

Lena nodded, “Yes...” She smiled widely. “It's incredible. I noticed you said “he”. Do you know it's a boy?”

   “No...” Autumn shook her head. “We want to know at the birth. But I'm starting to think it is. Jacob really wants a boy.”

   “There's something special about not knowing. It's amazing to know it when your child is born. Don't tell anyone, but I actually thought Tim was a girl when I was pregnant with him. I don't know why, but I was positive he was. So you can imagine how shocked I was.”

Autumn smiled, “I won't tell anyone, I promise. This is actually nice... Apart from our friends, you're the only one who's been supportive of this. I really appreciate it.”

   “I'm happy my Jacob settled down. And with someone as wonderful as you. We were starting to think he only wanted to party all his life. Come, let's sit over here.”

   “Okay.” Autumn followed her over to the kitchen table and sat down opposite her.

   “I don't know how much you know about Jacob's past, but he never really had girlfriends before. He didn't seem to be able to get that close to anyone.”

   “What? But he's so... I mean... Throughout all of this he's been so supportive and he's sweet and caring and just... Yeah.”

Lena smiled, “I guess you touched something in there. I've never seen him look at someone like that.”

   “Well,” Autumn blushed. “I am having his baby, something he's very excited about.”

   “Autumn...” Lena reached out for her hand. “That's not all, I promise you. He loves you.”

   “He does...?”

   “I'm his mother, I can tell. Doesn't he tell you that he loves you?”

   “He does...” Autumn swallowed. “But I thought it was just... Maybe just to ease my mind. It's time I said it back to him, then.”

   “Yes... If you feel it, you should. Especially since he's never felt like this before. I think he needs to hear it just as much as you do.”

Autumn nodded, “I will tell him when I get the chance.”

   “Good,” Lena smiled. “You can go, if you want. I've got this.”

   “Thanks,” Autumn said. “For everything.” She walked back to Jacob and went to stand behind him.

   “Hey,” Jacob smiled and looked up at her. “Where have you been?”

   “Just talking to your mom.” Autumn said. “Are you done?”

   “Yeah,” Jacob looked at his dad and brother. “Wanna go upstairs?”

Autumn nodded, “Yes...” She took his hand when he stood up and they made their way to their second floor again.

When they reached their room, Autumn sat down on the bed and leaned against the wall.

   “Your mom is an amazing cook...” She said, watching Jacob. “And I'm tired.” She yawned and he walked over to her, laying down next to her.

   “Do you want to sleep? Take a nap, maybe?”

   “That sounds nice.” Autumn smiled and put her head on his chest. “Will you stay here with me?”

   “Absolutely,” Jacob put his arm around her and kissed her head. “I'm sorry about Tim, he didn't mean to be so rude.”

   “It's okay...” Autumn closed her eyes. “Jacob?”

   “Mhm?” Jacob looked at her.

   “I love you.”