Chapter Three: And What A Wonderful Christmas You'll Have.
I woke up suddenly the next day. My eyes flew open and I glanced at the clock unsurely, not hearing my alarm. It only read 8:15. My alarm wasn’t set until 8:30. I sighed and rolled over, laying in bed for a moment or two before I realized that I wouldn’t be able to go to sleep again. Getting out of bed, I turned off my alarm and got dressed slowly, not really feeling like being up so early.
And then I remembered that practice had started ten minutes ago. Suddenly I felt in a rush and I hurried to put on my make up and fix my hair. When I was done, I grabbed my purse as I put on my belt, walking out of my room and down the hall. There was a note for me on the counter from Colby and I read it hastily as I made myself some quick breakfast.
‘Went to the Mellon with Marc. Didn’t want to wake you. I’ll see you later before I leave for Atlanta. Bring my stuff with you to practice when you get up, please. It’s all packed near the door.’
I rolled my eyes and put on my jacket, looking over to the door as I finished off a piece of my cinnamon toast and walked around the counter to find my shoes. Putting them on, I picked up Colby’s bags and walked outside into the cold fresh air. You could definitely tell it was December today. I zipped up my jacket and popped the truck to my Lambo, throwing Colby’s stuff in and slamming the hatch. Jumping into the drivers seat, I turned on the engine and pulled out of the driveway, turning onto the street that lead directly to the Mellon.
I pulled up to a stop light and sighed, finally taking time to finish the last piece of toast that I’d been holding since I left.
“Why couldn’t you have woken me up, Colbs?” I questioned the air as I pulled into the Mellon’s parking lot and took the spot next to Marc’s car. Turning off the engine and locking up, I walked inside to the lobby, just catching Eric Godard as he got some Mountain Dew out of the soda machine.
“Hey, Bernie. Where’ve you been? Practice started like, twenty minutes ago. Sid was looking for you when Colby showed up earlier.” he said, tapping the top of the can lightly with his fingers before opening it and taking a drink.
“Colby let me sleep in.” I said rolling my eyes. “But, hey, if practice started, then why are you out here?” I asked, a bit confused.
“Oh, well, since Coach wanted to try some new plays with the center men, us wingers are off duty for a while until they figure out what’s going on. C’mon, let’s go watch.” he said with a laugh as we walked towards the ice.
“You’re very devious.” I complimented, remembering last game’s fight out of no where, “Oh and by the way, I wanted to tell you how amazed I was of that fight you got in the last game. It was spectacular.”
“You give me much too much credit.” he said taking another drink, “I just do what I’m paid to do.”
“Yes, but you’re very good at beating people up. That was one of the best fights I’ve ever seen.” I said, pushing open the door that lead to the ice.
“Why thank you.” he said modestly with a smile as we walked in and found everyone except Max, Sidney, Geno and Tyler lazing around in the stands just above the glass. They all glanced over the rails and those who’d met me smiled, but those who hadn’t sort of gave me a funny look before glancing to Eric for some sort of explanation. “Crosby’s.” was all he had to say before they all rolled their eyes and laughed.
“Actually, she’s mine, but to get really technically, she’s our mother’s.” Colby said, looking down at me with a smile. I walked up to him and gave him a hug before smacking him upside his head, causing everyone to laugh and making Matt almost choke on whatever food substance he was eating.
“What was that for?!” Colby said confusedly.
“That was for not waking me up so I wasn’t late to practice!” I half shouted, laughing a little.
“Well bah humbug Mr. Scrooge. This is what I get for being nice.” he said, rolling his eyes and looking down on the ice, to where Max and Geno had noticed me and were waving. I waved back before looking up at everyone on the team I hadn’t already been acquainted with. Scuderi, Whitney, Boucher, Eaton, Fedotenko, Gill, Gonchar, Orpik, Satan, and Sykora. I knew them all, naturally, but they hadn’t ever really been introduced to me. Marc waved me over and I took a seat on his left, next to a very excited and happy looking Jordan Staal.
“Everyone, this is Colby’s sister, Bernie.” Marc introduced, pointing to me as Jordan practically tackled me in my seat. Everyone laughed as Marc continued, himself now giggling, “I’m pretty sure you already know but this is…”
“Rob Scuderi, Ryan Whitney, Phillipe Boucher, Mark Eaton, Ruslan Fedotenko, Hal Gill, Sergei Gonchar, Brooks Orpik, Miroslav Satan and Petr Sykora. Yes, I already know.” I interrupted as I pulled away from Jordan long enough to look at them all. “Nice to be introduced though.” They all nodded, a little surprised that I knew so much. I guess the general assumption was that I was just another puck bunny.
“It’s nice to see you know us so well.” Rob said, smiling pleasantly, “We’ve all heard enough about you for a lifetime so we might as well have known you all this time.”
I found myself a little red faced and lost for words, causing Marc to laugh to himself. “Typical Sidney. Always ranting about how much he’s got.”
“Yeah.” I agreed, glancing down at the ice to see Sidney, so intent on listening to the plays that he hadn’t noticed the others all looking up and greeting me. He was so dedicated that even if he had noticed, he probably would still be paying more attention to the plays. It baffled me how much hockey was his life, his passion, his pride and joy. I got a little caught up in staring and Jordan had to wave his hand in front of my face to get me to blink.
“You know, he’s not going to disappear if you stop looking at him.” he said, laughing.
“I know that, Jordy.” I said, rolling my eyes and sticking my tongue out at him.
“I wouldn’t mess with her too much, Gronk. Golden boy might get after you.” Matt joked, laughing as he took a bite of his Twix bar.
“God forbid!” Jordan said, crouching down in false fear. “I wouldn’t want to get the wrath of the fuzzy slippers!”
“Oh lord no!” Fedotenko said, shrinking back.
“What, pray tell, is that?” I asked, confused. Everyone giggled a little and Jordan turned to Ruslan and smiled.
“You wanna field that one?” Jordan asked, glancing up to Ruslan, who was still shaking his head.
“Ehh. The wrath of the fuzzy slippers is when Sidney filled my slippers with sweat from old gym socks and some other disgusting mixture of horrible things and gave them to me after practice. It was horrible.” he said, obviously disgusted just thinking about it. I couldn’t help it and I burst out laughing.
“That’s horrible!” I said between laughs.
“Oh yes, so horrible it’s making you have a seizure.” Colby said, rolling his eyes.
“I’m sorry, but that was just so odd. I didn’t expect that to be the wrath of the fuzzy slippers.” I said, laughter fading. “Oh, how’s your hand?” I asked curiously.
“It’s alright. Sort of broken.” he said, glaring over at Colby.
“Hey, it’s not my fault that you punched me in the face and broke your hand.” Colby shrugged it off, making Matt laugh.
“It’s not your fault but it was really fun to watch you go down.” Matt said, laughing a little more before stopping.
“Oh har har. I’m dying.” Colby said flatly as the sounds of pucks hitting the glass in front of us interrupted our conversation.
“Get your asses out here!” Max yelled up to the rest of the team. They all obliged and walked down the stairs to the door that lead onto the ice, skating on quickly and leaving Colby and I in the stands together. As soon as they were all on, they began to skate laps and do some other warm ups. I went down to the row where Colby was, right in front of the glass, and sat down beside him as Sidney passed, winking at me. I smiled and watched him skate away with Jordan and Max on his flanks, no doubt ribbing him.
“So did Max take you to get Sid’s present last night?” Colby asked, curious.
“Yeah. But I’ve no idea how to give it to him. He’ll be in Cole Harbour. What am I suppose to do, mail it to his parent’s house?” I asked, confused.
“No, silly. Put it in his bags. They’re in the lounge. C’mon. I’ll show you.” he said, standing up and walking out of our row to the entry way and down the hall towards the lounge. I followed quickly and we walked into the lounge a few minutes later to find Sid’s stuff on a chair next to Colby’s. I’d almost forgotten this morning before I left that Colby was leaving today too, almost.
“But won’t he unpack when he gets there? He’ll find it early.” I said, still confused.
“Nah. He doesn’t unpack for a day when he gets there. Too caught up in catching up with his little sister and her hockey team.”
“Ohh. I see. He’s going to have a heart attack when he opens this.” I said, putting the package gently under the mass pack of clothes that was in Sid’s bag.
“Probably. Too bad for you.” Colby joked, leaning up against the wall. “Hey sis, I’ll meet you back in there, I have to go to the bathroom.”
“Alright.” I said over my shoulder as I rearranged Sidney’s things back the way they had been. I moved slowly so that I didn’t look suspicious, but instead meticulous, as Colby walked away through the doors. As soon as he was far enough from me to not be able to see what I was doing, I closed Sid’s bag and opened his.
Pulling his things out of the bag slowly, I got his present from my purse. I, too had my own connections, and had managed to get him backstage passes to the Metalfest in Germany this coming July. One of my closest friends, Jake Quarry, had become one of the tech roadies for the festival and had sent me thirteen tickets this year. Sadly, I would be with the Pirates the week of the fest, so if I couldn’t send myself, I might as well send Colby. I placed the small black and silver polka dotted box into the bottom of the back along with the small card in his bag and then replaced his clothes, closing it up.
“Merry Christmas.” I said to myself happily, pleased with myself. Now Marc was the only one left out of my Christmas present list. Turning around, I walked back through the two doors that lead into the lobby, quickly hearing a round of screams and some sort of jeers. Confused, I walked back to the ice and saw that the boys had been given some free time and were now all taking shots on Fleury. Not thinking twice, I opened the door to the ice and jumped on in my shoes, seeing that Colby hadn’t come back from the bathroom yet.
“AHHHHH STOOOPP!” Marc yelled, trying to block as many shots as he could, but still failing.
“Stop flailing! Just stand up and put your arms out straight, stick up vertical, glove hand at a fourty-five degree angle down!” I yelled over to him, gliding over the ice to the sidelines where I wasn’t in danger of being hit. Marc nodded and stood up, doing exactly what I told him to do. Immediately almost half of the shots he’d been missing were deflected. I’d calculated it all before. This team had a pattern and this defensive work was calculated to figure that in. Everyone stopped for a minute as I heard the goaltending coach, Gilles Meloche, yelling in French to me.
“Mademoiselle! Comment avez-vous su exactement ce qui a faire?” he asked, walking onto the ice.
“I played college hockey.” I replied simply, shrugging my shoulders.
“Yes, but you knew exactly how to stop our team. Exactly what to do. How? It was ingenious.” he complimented, coming closer and shaking my hand. “Gilles Meloche, goaltending coach. And you’re Bernadette Armstrong if I’m not mistaken. Nice to meet you.”
“And you as well. I dunno how I knew really. I just analyzed everyone’s shots and then saw that by standing and moving a certain way that Marc’s body would be in the right place to block shots. It’s pretty simple.” I elaborated as I saw Colby coming back into the stands and sitting down, watching a little confusedly as I continued to converse with Gilles.
“That’s not as easy as you make it sound. Did you play goal in your college days?” he asked curiously.
“Oh, yes.” I replied before getting cut off.
“SHE ONLY LET 56 PUCKS PASS HER IN A SEASON!” Max shouted over to Gilles before he hit another puck at Marc, which was blocked without Marc ever having to move.
“Fifty-six….” Gilles trailed off, obviously coming to the same conclusion as everyone else had earlier. The people who hadn’t heard about this story gasped and quickly became as jittery as Max, Marc and Kris had earlier. “Wasn’t there a goalie I heard about a while ago…. Something with an s…”
“Suicide?” I asked nonchalantly, unconcerned.
“Yes yes. That’s it. I heard about them. They were suppose to be the best in the college league.” he said, thankful I’d made the suggestion.
“That was me.” I said, rolling my eyes, “But now I work for the Pirates and hang out with my brothers, watching hockey from my season seats next to the penalty box. I’ve found that I’m much better at analyzing other teams and players than playing, even if I am suppose to be pretty good in net. After I hurt myself in college I kinda gave up on playing goal.” I finished quietly. Gilles nodded and smiled.
“Well if you wouldn’t mind discussing with me the tendencies of some of the other teams’ players we’d be in great shape.” he goaded, almost as if asking but not formally coming out with it.
“Alright, who are we talking about.” I said, following him off ice to the bench where he’d been. The other players were called over to where Therrien was arranging plays on his white board again.
“We, Miss Armstrong, are discussing Montreal and Toronto. I’m interested to see what your mind has come up with.” he said thoughtfully.
“Alright. Well…” and after that I led into a diligent summary of all the players on the Canadiens’ team, followed by all the players on the Leafs’ team. He nodded and listened without distraction, even writing a few notes down when I mentioned something he must have missed.
“I see. So those are the tendencies. I don’t know how I missed them before… thank you very much, Miss Armstrong.” he said, obviously grateful as he called Marc in to discuss, most likely, what I’d just told him.
“Please, Mr. Meloche, Bernie is fine.” I said, hopping over the boards and back onto the ice as Marc got to where I was.
“Gilles is fine as well. Please, if you think of anything more that would be helpful, tell me. I’ll be sure to give you all the credit when I meet with the other coaches and Mario at our next meeting.” he said as Marc hopped the boards and took a tired seat next to him, pushing his mask up and waving to me.
“Oh yes. I’ll be sure to tell someone if I think of anything more. Anything to help the Pens. It was nice to meet you, Gilles.” I said, gliding past where the Pens had just been dismissed from listening to Michel Therrien. They were all now skating aimlessly, except for Sidney, who found me through the crowd and took my hand, holding his glove under his left arm.
“Hey.” he said happily, smiling his crooked smile at me.
“Hey.” I answered, smiling back. I looked over at him and found myself amazed again. Even though he was red faced, dripping with sweat and tired, his smile and those chocolate brown melty eyes still had me mesmerized. He leaned down and kissed the top of my head before backing up and pulling me along with him towards the door that lead off ice.
“How was your night?” he asked through a hoard of wolf calls and cheers behind us from the rest of the guys on the team. His face flushed but he just looked on expectantly, waiting for an answer.
“It was great. We had some amazing Italian food at a quaint little place that Max somehow knew about. The nicest old lady served us. She was so frail and pleasant.” I said smiling, “How was your night?”
“It was alright. Colby drove me nuts after we ate Chinese and started watching Friday the 13th movies. I was gonna kill him but then I decided against it. It is Christmas after all.” he said, rolling his eyes as he fidgeted with his stick and glove, trying not to drop anything. I retch across his chest and took his stick, holding it in my right hand.
“I’ll get this. Don’t want you breaking your precious game day stick.” I said, kissing his stick’s taped handle.
“I usually don’t let people touch my stick…. But you’re an exception I guess.” he joked as he pulled me through the exit of the ice and towards the locker room door.
“I feel special.” I said, pushing open the door and leading him in.
“As you should.” he replied smugly, laughing a little as he sat his helmet and gloves down at his stall. “So, what were you and Gilles talking about?”
“Oh, we were talking about goaltending and forward’s tendencies.” I explained, “All things I’ve learned to pick out after watching hockey for so long and being in net.”
“Tendencies? I have no tendencies.” he denied, unlacing his skates as a few more guys came in.
“My ass you don’t have tendencies!” I squeaked sarcastically, laughing to myself.
“But I don’t!” he defended, putting his one skate to the other side of his stall as he worked on the other.
“Yes you do so, Sidney!” I fought back as the rest of the team and Gilles followed into the locker room, all of them now fascinated by my playful skirmish with Sid.
“Name some!” he challenged.
“Alright. You skate around the ice exactly four times right before taking two shots on net and then you skate backwards twice, stretch and then repeat it five times when you‘re doing pre game warm ups. You shoot up when you come in from the right of the net, five hole when you have a perfectly straight forward shot and if you come in from an odd angle you get a stick length away from the goalie before shooting at almost an exact sixty degree angle to the left of the goalie’s right pad. You always slow down before you come towards Tim Thomas when he’s in net. You purposefully avoid Zdeno Chara when you have the puck and when you’re facing Eric Staal you tend to stay to the right side of the ice instead of the left because you know that’s his weak side.” I elaborated, feeling quite ready to continue. I caught Max, Marc and Colby listening, stunned, along with Gilles and the head coach as I stopped and smiled smugly. “Anything further, Mr. Crosby?” I asked in a business-like tone.
“No…” he trailed off, defeated and in thought about everything I’d just said, probably knowing that everything I’d said was completely right.
“You’re good, kid.” Max said, smiling widely. “It’s about time someone put Golden boy in his place.”
“Oh, I’m not trying to put him in his place. I’m just trying to get him to realize that I do pay more attention than he thinks.” I said, taking a seat on Sidney’s lap. “Maybe then he won’t challenge me when I say that I know what I know.”
“That was impressive, Miss..?” Michel said as he walked over to me, extending his hand.
“Bernie, Bernie Armstrong.” I said as I took his hand and shook it.
“Miss Armstrong. Quite a display. I’ll have to take your knowledge into consideration next time I plan plays.” he said as he walked away and into the coaches room. Gilles followed him and the whole locker room sort of looked at me. I didn’t really notice, though, I was already engaged in conversation with Sidney.
“So, did you ever notice those things about yourself?” I asked curiously.
“I did, but I never thought anyone else would. You’re very observant.” he said, snaking one arm around my back and my waist.
“I know.” I said happily, turning to see that everyone else was already half dressed. Jordan and Marc were just finishing putting on their shoes when I saw them coming over to me. I stood up from Sid’s lap as he began to remove his pads and met Marc and Jordan in the middle of the locker room. They pulled me away from Colby and Sidney and out of the locker room, into the lobby.
“You’re impressive!” Marc said, giving me a sweaty hug.
“I know.” I said, a little disgusted by the sudden introduction of sweat to my shirt.
“Do you want to just meet us at Starbucks after you see Colby and Sidney off?” Jordan asked, causing my eyes to become a little dull. I’d been putting off the fact that they were leaving today.
“Sure.” I said as happily as I could, “I’ll meet you guys there in a while.” I said, giving Jordan a hug before they began to walk away.
“Alright! I’ll text you!” Jordan yelled over his shoulder as they walked out. I sat down in a plush chair next to the locker room door and waited, watching as everyone except Colby and Sidney came out. Everyone waved goodbye as they walked out of the Mellon and finally, after around twenty minutes, a less sweaty Sidney and a peppy Colby entered the lounge with their bags in hand and walked over to me. I stood up and smiled as they joined me and we walked out together.
“Ahh, I’m feeling snow.” Colby said as we exited the Mellon and walked towards our cars.
“Oh please don’t jinx the nice weather, Colbs.” I begged as they jumped into Sidney’s car, Colby in the driver’s seat.
“Why? Don’t you want a white Christmas?” he asked, turning on the car. I shook my head no and got into my Lambo, turning it on and revving the engine. I followed them out of the Mellon’s parking lot and down the street, making a few slight turns through Pittsburgh before we made it to the airport.
They parked Sid’s car and got out, getting their bags from the trunk of the car, all smiles. I took a moment to take a breath and turn off the radio, which was now playing ‘Then The Morning Comes’ before I went anywhere. I wasn’t much too happy to have Sid and Colby leaving for Christmas. I knew that Colby needed to be back home to rest up for his team’s after Christmas game and I knew that Sidney wanted to be home for Christmas, but I wouldn’t have the two people around that I wanted for Christmas. Max and Marc would be home, as would Kris, Matt, Jordan and Geno, but it wouldn’t really be the same. I sighed as I opened my door and got out of my car, locking it up as Sid and Colby walked over to meet me, bags in hand.
“Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow!” Colby chanted with a sarcastic smile as we headed for the airport’s entrance.
“Oh haha, very funny.” I said, rolling my eyes and falling into step in between them monotonously. We walked in passed a huge crowd, most of which knew Sidney by name. None of them held him up, though, which I found pleasantly surprising. I guess they all knew they shouldn’t really bother him if he was to be in time for his flight. A few times, though, I caught people snapping pictures of the three of us, but I was used to it from being friends with so many people in sports.
“I’ll meet you guys up there.” I said, separating from them as they went to get their bags checked and go through security. It took a few minutes but soon they were through and we kept walking up to the gate. Colby and Sidney sat their things down on some chairs and took a seat together, leaving a chair in the middle for me. I fell into it and sighed.
“Why so glum, sissy? It’s not like we’re leaving forever. And I’m pretty sure you’re going to get a call on Christmas.” Colby assured, smiling over at me.
“Yeah, I know. But I like having you both in the same place at the same time.” I answered sort of sadly.
“Hmm…. I think we can make you a little happier about this whole ‘leaving for Christmas’ thing.” Sidney said deviously, eyes narrowed slyly. I raised an eyebrow curiously and they both stood up, as if on command and turned towards one of the gates. It wasn’t either one of theirs, Colby’s flight left from the third gate and Sid’s from the fourth. They were looking at the second one. Still confused, I turned around just in enough time to see three familiar figures coming towards us. As soon as they got close enough I almost erupted with happiness. I held my breath for a second until I knew for sure it was who I thought and then I ran towards them, watching my brother, Riley, drop his bags and open his arms. Jumping up, he caught me and swung me around.
“Hey, squirt!” he said, putting me down and kissing my head. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”
“Riles!!! I missed you!! What are you doing here?” I asked hurriedly. I hadn’t seen Riley since our trip to the beach and, as short of a time as that seemed, it was long for me. I’d kept up with all his games, of course, and I hadn’t missed a chance at texting him but never in a million years had I expected him to show up for Christmas.
“Well, we all decided that we should come in for Christmas this year. Colby called before the game and asked if we could all come since he couldn’t stay and we sort of jumped at the chance to all be together.” he explained, glancing to his flanks, which, up until now, I’d forgotten. Mom stood to the right and Dad to the left, both looking me over with happy smiles. I let go of Riley and gave Mom and hug, receiving a kiss on each cheek followed by a thorough once over. After that, Dad nearly crushed me in half before giving me another look over. By this time, Colby and Sidney had joined our little circle and Colby was getting his fair share of hugs and kisses.
I backed up for a moment to look it all over. I hadn’t seen my whole family together for a very long time. It’d always only been just three or four of us, never all five. Sidney laughed a little as he watched Colby and Riley begin to playfully mess with each other, pushing and punching before they finally gave in and embraced. I watched as Mom broke down and a tear fell, surely one of happiness, as she looked over her babies.
“Sidney! I haven’t seen you in such a long time!” my dad’s voice roared as he greeted Sid with a smile. Sidney smiled and nodded, not really feeling like he should be interrupting this moment. Instead, he broke his own rule and took my hand, lacing his fingers through mine quietly. My mother took immediate notice and winked at me approvingly, tapping my father on the back and glancing over, telling him to look in her own little way. Riley caught on and walked a few steps forward, looking Sidney straight in the face seriously.
“Just don’t hurt my little sister.” his voice was unwavering and his eyes were hard but they softened as Sidney nodded and he smiled.
“God, Riley. You and Colby are just obsessed with scaring the crap out of people.” I said, pushing him with my free hand.
“Hey!” they replied in unison. “It’s our job!”
“But still!” I said as Colby and Sidney turned back around and began to walk back towards their bags. Time to leave, I guessed.
“Colby! Come back here! I want a picture before you leave! It’s not often I get a picture of all three of you at once!!” Mom called out, almost a demand. Colby obliged and turned, coming back over to us. Sidney stood, a little awkwardly, a few feet away, not knowing whether to come back or leave. My father answered that question easily.
“You too, Sid.” and Sidney followed his direction. Walking back over my mother arranged us by birth, as always. Colby on the far left, Riley on his right, me, then Sidney. Dad took his place in between Riley and I and Mom stood back, trying to focus her camera. She smiled and snapped three pictures easily and quickly, knowing that Colby and Sidney needed to leave. As soon as she was done, I turned with them and walked back towards the chairs where I’d been sitting with Colby and Sid a few minutes before.
“Now boarding flight 67 to Atlanta.” was all I heard as Colby picked up his bags and sighed. Not more than three seconds later, another announcement. “Now boarding flight 102 to New York.” The excitement left me and I became somber. Time to leave. Colby picked up his things and walked towards his gates, sitting them down for a minute to give hugs. Mom and Dad went first, Riley, Sidney and then me. He picked me up and squeezed me, sitting me down after a minute.
“I’ll call you when I get to Atlanta, munchkin. Kovalchuk’ll want to talk to you anyways. You know how he can be. I’ll see you around.” he started, smiling. I nodded and laughed a little, knowing that Kovalchuk was just as crazy as Colby made him sound. “Bye all.” he said, picking up his things and walking a little further before stopping and turning around, “You better take care of my little sister, Crosby, or I’ll have your head.” and with that he turned and walked through the gate to his plane. I laughed and turned around, knowing that Sidney would need to get a move on as well if he wanted to be on time.
Our little group walked over to his gate and he sat his things down. He shook my father’s hand, received a hug and a kiss from my mother, a punch and a handshake from Riley and then he got to me.
“I’m going to miss you most, I think.” he said thoughtfully, “Maybe.”
“You’re such a liar.” I said as I watched him looking around to see if anyone was paying attention to us. No one was, and so he put his arms around my waist and gave me a kiss goodbye, probably making it last a little longer than it should’ve. Not that I minded, but we were risking being seen. He backed up and picked up his things before I laughed a little to myself, causing him to look back, confused. “But you lie oh so well.” I repeated his words sarcastically. He laughed and nodded.
“Yeah.” he said as he walked towards his gate backwards. “I’ll call you when I get there and tomorrow to see how your Christmas is. I’ll video tape Taylor’s reaction when she opens her present. Text me.” and with that he turned and went through his gate. I turned back around to see Riley eyeing me, a sarcastic comment on his tongue. I laughed and rolled my eyes.
“Dare I ask?” I said as we walked towards the exit to the airport, Mom and Dad trailing behind as I opened the door and we walked into the cold December air. I shivered, not ready for the frigidness of it and then stopped in my tracks as we all came outside. It was snowing, very lightly, and I could see a thin layer of snowflakes covering my black Lamborghini a few feet away. Riley and Mom stopped on either side of me and tried to find where my gaze lay, not being successful.
“What’re you looking at?” Riley asked, confused.
“My car.” I said, pointing and then starting toward towards it. “There’s snow on it.” I said disbelievingly. Colby had been right, it was going to snow.
“Your….. Bernie! You drive a Lambo!?” Riley exclaimed, surprised.
“Yeah. I told you about it before, remember.” I said, pressing the unlock button as my parents followed me over. I popped the trunk and all of them put their things in it before Dad pushed down the hatch easily, not wanting to hurt the car.
“How are you guys getting to my house?” I asked, feeling a little sorry that my car only had two seats.
“We called a cab. Take Riley with you and we’ll see you back there.” Mom said, waving to us as her and Dad walked away.
“Alright!” I called to them as I hopped into the driver’s seat. “I have to meet Staalsy and Flower at Starbucks. Care for a detour?”
“Anything to meet your boyfriend’s friends.” Riley answered happily, pulling his door closed as I started the engine.
“My friends, not just Sidney’s.” I pointed out as we pulled away, waving to our parents as we went.
And the rest of the day went fairly well. Riley and Jordan quickly hit it off and left early to go hit the ice at the Mellon for a shoot out. Both of them thought they were better than the other. Marc and I stayed together most of the day and we went out to lunch at Primanti brothers, one of the best sandwich shops in all of Pittsburgh. A few people stopped Marc for his autograph and he politely agreed, signing at least twenty in one sitting and fifteen more as we walked down the street to get back to my car. He never complained but I could tell that he was really tired and didn’t feel like being that personable.
Eventually, though, Marc and I parted ways and he went off for some last minute Christmas shopping. He promised, though, that he would come over tomorrow for dinner and to open his presents. That made at least ten people for tomorrow. And as I drove home, I tried to recount everyone that would be there tomorrow. Kris had said he would be, Jordan, Marc, Max, Riley, Mom, Dad, Matt, Geno. Most of them were going to leave before dinner, though. Geno wanted to be with his brother, Denis, and his parents. Matt had already made plans with his girlfriend and his parents.
But other than that, I would have to cook for Kris and his younger sister Lexi, Jordan, his brothers, Eric, Marc and Jared, Marc and his younger sister Marylene, and Max, not counting my parents and Riley. Jordan didn’t know if his parents were coming, nor did Marc, but I planned for them anyways, knowing that they would probably come as well. That made, what, sixteen? That was almost crazy. Almost. I didn’t mind it, though. It wasn’t as bad as last Christmas when I had almost everyone from the Pirates team at my house for the annual Christmas party. It had been my year, and much to my displeasure, everyone decided to show up.
I drove home the rest of the way in relative silence and arrived sooner than I thought I would, though I’d been thinking most of the way home and so I didn’t really notice exactly how long it took. But, as I parked in the driveway, I realized that I had a lot of work to do. I needed to make presents for Marc, The Staals, Geno and Marylene. I’d have to get right to work. Getting out of the car and locking up, I walked diligently up to the front door and pushed it open to find mass hysteria going on inside my living room. There were boxes of Christmas decorations everywhere, tinsel littered the floor and the tree was being erected in one corner of the room.
“What are you doing?” I asked Riley, slightly confused.
“Well you certainly can’t have Christmas without a Christmas tree, now can you?” he asked rhetorically as he put up some more decorations. I sighed and shook my head, knowing he was right. I’d been much too busy lately to put up the tree.
“What are you doing?” Riley asked, looking over his shoulder to where I now stood in the kitchen. I took out four huge boxes of chocolate brownies, three baskets of vanilla cake mix, six containers of icing in various flavors, some pastry melting sugar, marshmallow fluff, m&m’s and many other chocolate fixtures along with everything I needed to make some major candies.
“I, Riley, am making presents.” I said, pulling my hair back and starting the daunting task of making a multitude of different culture’s baked goods and chocolates. I knew, subconsciously, that they would all turn out alright, but I was still worried; so I made sure to check my recipes twice. In less than five minutes I had the Staal’s cake in the oven with Marc’s brownies and the Russian marshmallows were drying.
“Mmmmm! What smells so good!?” Mom exclaimed, coming through the front door with Dad.
“Sissy’s cooking.” Riley said, finally finishing up with the decorations and standing back to observe his own handiwork.
“That’s wonderful!” Mom said, walking to me and giving me a kiss on the cheek. “I knew you’d be a good cook one day, bijou!”
“Thanks.” I answered, smiling.
“Is there any left for a hungry man?” Dad asked, curious.
“Yes, there is, actually. I have some leftover Russian marshmallows if you want them.” I said, pushing a tray across the counter to him. He made a face and scrunched his nose up a little before picking one up and sniffing it.
“Those sneaky Russians. I don’t trust em.” he joked before taking a bite. His face contorted for a moment as all the different flavors hit him and then it fell into one of happiness. He tried to speak but the mouth full of marshmallows was unforgiving and he had to wait until he was done to say anything. “That’s delicious!!”
“Really?” Riley asked, surprised. He picked one up off the tray and took a bite, his expression following the same course as my father’s had.
“Let me just try this. It seems alright..” Mom said, still sort of doubtful. Obviously she remembered the last time she’d eaten something I’d made.
-Flashback-
“Mommy! Mommy! Try this!! Please!!!!” I begged, face twisted up in pure happiness. I’d just finished my first assignment for fifth grade home economics, which was baking crazy cookies, or cookies that had whatever you wanted to put in them, inside.
“Alright.” Mom replied, smiling. She took a cookie and bit into it. Her face immediately contorted with sickness and she spit the cookie out onto a paper towel that was close.
“Was it that bad…?” I asked, now discouraged.
“It wasn’t that it was bad…. It was just….. Yeah honey, it was. I’m sorry. Here, let me help you this time around, before you kill someone.” she answered, trying to make me feel better.
“Alright…” I agreed, now dishearten from the experience.
-End Flashback-
Immediately, when she bit into the marshmallow, she flinched back a little, almost as if the cookie were going to blow up in her very hand. But in a moment, her face relaxed and she smiled, swallowing a few minutes later before she spoke.
“That was really good.” she complimented, taking another bite.
“Better than those crazy cookies, huh?” I asked, picking up the last of the marshmallows for myself. I took a bite as Riley finished his.
“So, who’s the lucky kid getting these awesome things?” Riley asked, oblivious.
“Geno.” I said through a mouthful of the truly magical marshmallow delicacies. I really knew why Geno raved about them now. He’d talked about having them back in Russia when he was a child but I never saw the draw until now. I couldn’t even imagine what they’d taste like tomorrow when Geno made his Russian coffee.
“Well if that wasn’t the most obvious thing…” Riley said, shaking his head at his own stupidity. “Who’s getting the other stuff? It smells too good for me to not try to eat it.”
“Marc’s getting my super brownies and since all the Staals are coming, I decided to make their favorite, Napoleon Cake. They’ve been going on about that since I first me them in New York way back when.” I told him, turning around to take the cake and brownies out of the oven. I could almost hear the smile creeping across Riley’s face. “And if you touch them I’ll rip your hands off and bake them for dinner.”
“Awehh. Fun killer!” he joked, pushing me a little after I sat the trays down.
“Don’t be mean, Riley.” Mom said, semi-sternly.
“But Moooom!! She won’t shareeee!” Riley whined in a voice that mimicked his own when he was younger.
“Well you’re just going to have to deal with that, aren’t you son.” Dad said sarcastically, walking into the other room and plopping down on the couch. Riley and I broke into laughter while Mom looked around the corner at Dad.
“You don’t have to be such a smart ass all the time, you know.” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Well he doesn’t have to be stupid but that’s not stopping him, now is it?” Dad replied, smiling deviously around the corner at us. Riley stopped laughing, immediately dumbfounded for a second before he realized that Dad had just made a crack about his intelligence.
“Heyy!” he squealed, running into the other room and screwing up Dad’s hair before jumping down on the couch next to him.
“Men.” I said, rolling my eyes as I turned my attention back to finishing Marc’s brownies. I put the rest of the dressings on them and sat them down next to the Staal’s and Geno’s presents, smiling to myself at my accomplishment. Looking over at the clock, I soon realized that it was around dinner time, but I was too tired to make anything. Instead, I tossed a pile of order-in menus at Dad and Riley.
“What’re these?” Riley asked before even looking at what was in his lap. He and Dad had been far engrossed in an old hockey rerun of one of the Shark’s games.
“Dinner menus. Pick somewhere and call em.” I said, taking off my apron and letting down my hair as I walked passed the living room and into my room. I heard them debating in the living room over what to eat but I was much too busy to bother joining into the playful fighting that had now ensued. I needed to finish up Marylene’s present.
I’d been working on it now for three days and it still wasn’t done. Moving across my room, I pulled up a sheet that was covering a canvas I’d been using to draw on. I was almost taken aback by my own artwork. I had partially finished a painted skyline of Pittsburgh at night for her. She’d always been struck by the beauty of Pittsburgh at night and she favored its skyline to any other in the world, so this gift had been an obvious one from the beginning. And, though I’d only met her three times, we’d become quiet close and had kept in touch for a while before losing each other just after I started college. Picking up my brush, I began to paint, not even noticing when Riley entered the room.
“Hey, we’re getting some Chinese. Want the usual…?” he asked, plopping down on my bed and looking over my shoulder to see what I was doing.
“That’d be great.” I said, putting a final stroke on one building and starting on the shading on the water and the colors of the reflections.
“Who’s that for?” he asked, quietly.
“Well aren’t you just full of questions tonight, Riles. This is for Marylene.” I informed him, turning around and smiling.
“I see. Well, I’ll call you when the foods here then. Have fun painting, sis.” he said, walking out and closing the door lightly on his way.
I sighed and smiled, turning back to my work and finishing up with one shadow after another in no time at all. Soon, I heard Riley yelling my name from the other room, and walked out to find that a Chinese feast had been bought and that everyone was now eating except me. Lazily, I picked up my lo mien and rice and took a seat next to Riley on the couch just as Savran came on. I smiled to myself as I ate and relaxed. It had been so long since we’d all been in the same room, let alone sat around the tv eating dinner and watching reports on our favorite sport.
I took another bite of lo mien and was reaching for a drink when Stan Savran’s voice caught my attention. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up a little and then fall as I sighed.
“Today, the whole Armstrong clan could be seen at the Pittsburgh airport, along with family friend, Sidney Crosby. It seems that as Colby was leaving for Atlanta and Sidney for Cole Harbour, Riley and the Armstrong parents were coming in for Christmas with their daughter, Bernadette. Now Bernadette recently took on the challenge of teaching young children to play hockey and early yesterday morning she took it upon herself to introduce them to some very special people. Almost the entire Penguins team showed up to their practice and the children were ecstatic to be in the same room with their idols. Though the excitement could be felt in waves, the team had a sense of humor about the visit, and managed to get Bernie back into hockey gear from way back in her college days. She went to the net and did some great work defending against Pascal Dupuis, Max Talbot, Matt Cooke, Jordan Staal, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, though the last shot by her brother slipped past. It was a fun day for all and the kids got some memories that no one will soon forget. As for Bernie, she seems to have made quick friends with the Pens team, though the rivalry between her brother’s team and the Pens is strong…..” And he continued on, telling about my days in college and whatnot. No one really needed to know it but I suppose that now that I was in the limelight of things by being friends with Sidney, this is what my life would be like. Well, the limelight of dating Sidney.
“Wow. They really take time to cover everything about someone.” Riley commented through a mouthful of sweet and sour chicken. Mom and Dad nodded as they went through my college stats and played a highlight reel of me in goal. I just shook my head.
“I’m not worried if they show that but I need them to not find out about Sidney and I just yet. They can play as many highlights as they want to.” I said before taking a bite of my Chinese doughnut.
“Why’s that?” Mom asked, confused. “Self-conscious?”
“Yes, Ma, she’s self conscious of dating the most famous man in hockey.” Riley said, almost reaching across the couch and smacking her upside the head.
“It was just a question.” Mom defended.
“It’s because we don’t want everyone to flip out. I mean I know they will, who wouldn’t? But we saw Sid’s agent at the mall when we went shopping after practice Saturday and he wasn’t exactly happy about Sidney’s relationship with me. We just want to wait a while until Sidney can talk things over with Pat and Mario and stuff. Until he gets back from Canada.” I explained, finishing up with my food and sitting the plate down on the coffee table.
“I see. Well I wouldn’t be too worried about it. I’m sure that it’ll die down pretty quickly after everyone finds out.” Mom reassured caringly.
“Ha! They’d be on her about that until the day Sidney retires if they could!” Riley exclaimed, shocked at my mother’s assumption. It wasn’t her fault, though. After all, she wasn’t dating Sidney Crosby. How would she know?
“Oh hush, Riley.” Mom said, laughter in her voice. She always had a way to be serious and joking at the same time. I loved it, envied it.
“Bah.” Riley replied, finishing up his food and sitting his plate on top of mine before taking up the remote and proceeding to flip through hundreds of channels until he found one that had Chicago Blackhawks game on it. Dad finished a few minutes later and Mom helped me clean up with the guys stayed back in the living room to watch the game.
“So how long have you been dating Sidney?” Mom asked as soon as we were out of hearing range of Dad and Riley.
“Just since Friday night. But we’ve been flirting for a long time. We‘ve been friends for, wow, even longer.” I said, putting the plates into the sink and turning on the water as Mom took a seat on one of the stools that sat beside the counter.
“He really seems to like you.” she commented quietly, thoughtfully.
“Yeah. I really like him too. He’s pretty super.”
“Well, I’m happy for you sweetie.” she said, punctuating her sentence with a yawn. “Ahhh, I’m tired. I think I’ll get your father and go to sleep. It’s much too late for me to be awake.” she finished, giving me a kiss on the head before she turned and went back into the living room. I heard my father getting up off the couch and I watched as they walked back the hall to the guest room where Jordan had stayed yesterday. The door closed quietly and Riley came into the kitchen.
“So, how’s cleaning?” he asked sarcastically, taking a seat where Mom had been.
“Oh, it’s so much fun. How’s the game?” I questioned as I finished up with the last dish and sat it in the drying rack.
“It’s good. Chicago’s winning. 5-2 over Anaheim.” he said, smiling. My face twisted in fake disgust as I sat down beside him.
“Chicago! Psh! Anaheim’s super awesome!!” I said excitedly, laughing a little bit. He stuck his tongue out at me and laughed right along. We’d always gotten along well, laughing at stupid things.
“Oh sure. Just tell yourself that, sis. But anyways, I have to tell you that Jordan’s pretty awesome. Hanging out with him today was fun, and I beat him at everything.” Riley changed the subject effortlessly, smile widening in triumph.
“It’s not to hard to beat Jordy at stuff.” I informed him, turning to look at how the cake and brownies were doing.
“Jordy? Cutsy nickname, don’t you think?” he questioned curiously, leaning on the counter.
“He told me to call him Jordy, so I do.”
“I see. Well, he really thinks you’re pretty great, sis. Sid better watch himself or Jordy might steal you away.” he finished, voice serious but eyes joking.
“Sid’s got nothing to worry about.” I informed him, moving the brownies and cake to the other side of the counter and covering them up, moving through the kitchen to the side closet and taking out some wrapping paper and bows.
“I didn’t think he did….” Riley trailed off as he watched me bring the supplies over to the counter and sit them down. “Wrapping presents, are we?”
“Yep. I didn’t get to do it when Sid and Colby were here so I thought maybe I should do it now. You know, before everyone shows up tomorrow to unwrapped and unspecial looking presents.” I said, smiling as I pulled out a box that was sitting behind the counter. It held everyone’s presents, everyone’s except Riley’s.
“Who’s coming over tomorrow, anyway?” he asked as he took the presents out of the box, looking them each over caringly.
“Max, Matt, Marc and his little sister Marylene, Jordan and all of his brothers, Kris and his sister, Geno and then we have the Staal parents as well as the Fleury’s. Then you and Mom and Dad, of course.” I said, picking up Max’s World Series tickets and putting them into a small red polka dotted box before wrapping it carefully.
“Wow. Lots of people. So who’s getting what?” he continued, egging me on.
“Your present’s not here, if that’s what you’re wondering.” I started, laughing a little at the disappointed look on his face, “And these tickets are for Max.”
“Who’s is this?” he asked, picking up the small envelope that held Mom and Dad’s present.
“That’s Mom and Dad’s. It’s a trip to the Caribbean.” I told him, taking it from his hands and wrapping it up in some striped paper.
“And this is for…?” he kept going, picking up Kovy’s shirt.
“That’s for Alexi Kovalev.” I said, taking the shirt and folding it, wrapping it gently.
“I didn’t know he was coming over.” Riley said, voice souring. He’d never been a huge fan of Kovy since they’d gotten into a fight a while ago when Kovy had downplayed Colby’s skills.
“He’s not. But he’ll be in town in a week for a game against the Pens so I figured I’d buy him a present now and give it to him then.” I explained calmly, trying to make his mood better, though as soon as he heard that Kovy wasn’t coming he immediately perked up.
“I know this is for Kris…” he trailed off, picking up a framed picture of Luc and Kris from the counter and handing it to me with care, “But who’s are these?” he asked, sliding the Avenged Sevenfold tickets towards me.
“Those are for Kris’ sister, Alexis.” I said, wrapping both of them and sitting them aside.
“Alexis? Aren’t you fighting with her?” he asked, a little concerned.
“No no. That’s Alexandria. Alexis and I have never fought. We were best friends, remember?”
“Were?” Riley said, eyes confused.
“Well you see we lost touch a long time ago when I moved here and then when Kris came to play hockey, I just didn’t get a chance to get back to hanging out with her because of college and everything. I’m hoping that we’ll be able to hang out more after this.” I elaborated, smiling.
“That makes sense. Well, one last question before I go to bed. I know those marshmallows are for Geno, the brownies are for Marc and the cake is for the Staals, but what did you get for Sid and Colby?” he said, standing up and stretching as he yawned a little bit.
“I got Colby tickets to the metal fest in Germany and Sidney got the newest version of Zelda.”
“Wow. They’ll both be thrilled. Well, I’m going to bed, sis. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight.” Riley said, walking over to me and giving me a warm hug, not letting go for a few minutes. When he finally did let go, a wide smile was on his face and he turned to walk back to his room, the one where Sid and Colby had slept the night before. I sighed as I stood in the silence of the kitchen, listening to the quiet rumble from the hockey game that was on tv in the living room.
Picking up everyone’s presents, I put their names on the packages and placed them back into the box before turning my attention to the baked goods. I put each thing into a box, being very careful not to squash any of it or screw anything up. I wrapped the boxes slowly and when I was done, I went into the living room and placed the box of presents under the tree. Shutting off the tv, I walked back into the other room and turned off all the lights, locking the door and heading down the hallway to my room. I wrapped up Marylene’s present and took it into the living room before going back to my room one last time and shutting the door. Glancing over to the clock, I noticed that it was 10 and I remembered that Sidney had wanted me to text him before I went to bed.
Taking my phone out of my pocket I quickly texted him and then got ready for bed while waiting for a reply. A few minutes later, I got a text back.
‘Hey sweetie. How’s Pittsburgh? I miss it already.’ I smiled to myself and texted him back,
‘It’s still Pittsburgh, only a little crazier because of Christmas. We had some awesome Chinese and Savran did an expose on me. They didn’t catch us, though. ;) How’s Nova Scotia?’
I sent the message and turned my attention to setting my alarm clock for 8 the next morning. Almost as soon as I sat the clock back down onto my nightstand, my phone went off again.
‘It’s alright. Beautiful here with the snow. I’m glad they didn’t catch us. God I sound horrible. I’m sorry. Mom and Dad say hello and Happy Christmas. Taylor said that you sounded like a puck bunny but I told her you were a goalie and she’s ecstatic. I miss you.’ I read the text twice before writing back as I climbed into bed.
‘Tell them all I said Happy Christmas. I miss you too, Sid. I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself until the 30th.’ I hit send and laid back, phone in hand, onto the pillow. Closing my eyes as I waited for a reply, I finally had time to reflect on the last few days. Everything had fallen into place so easily, it just made me wonder what could possibly be better, what could possibly go wrong. But as soon as I got to the negative side of things, I was stopped by the vibration of my phone in my hands. Opening the message, I read it quietly.
‘I promise I’ll call you tomorrow morning and every morning and every night and trust me I’ll be texting you all the time. You won’t have time enough to miss me. I’m going to bed now, though. I love you, Bijou. Goodnight, and happy Christmas eve.’ I closed my eyes, smiling before texting him back.
‘I’ll hold you to that, Mr. Crosby. I’m going to bed. I love you too, Mon Ame. Goodnight.’ And as soon as the message sent, I closed the phone and shut it off. Sitting it down on the nightstand I closed my eyes and almost immediately fell asleep, dreams of hockey and Sidney floating through my head as well as a dream about the Stanley cup coming to Pittsburgh. It made me smile in my sleep and I completely fell into happiness.
