Chapter 52: A Promise.

Sorry, this is short. I've been a little ill this week and lacking in creativity. I hope you like it though.

''Guys I need to go. Somethings wrong with Megan, she's not herself,'' All eyes were on me after I hung up the phone. As soon I started telling them they each let out a heavy sigh which made me think they knew that at some point this situation would arise.

''Man, you are so whipped.'' Army shouted.

''It's fucking crazy dude,'' Sid chimed in.

''You of all people!'' TK just had to have his say as well.

''Guys you aren't hearing me right now. There's something very wrong with her. I'm going over there. Don't expect me back anytime soon.'' I watched their faces drop the smiles and their mouths form into O's.

I picked up my jacket from the couch over by the fire and put on the Timberland boots I had invested in before we came and added a scarf and essential extras for braving the biting cold. Making my way down the drive proved a little more difficult than I had imagined - the fresh snow breaking easily under foot with my feet sinking in. I used my long strides to my advantage and reached the girls house in under 5 minutes.

As I ran up the steps I could feel the butterflies in my stomach doing a merry little dance. Still the thoughts of pregnancy loomed in my head, should she of been drinking? How the fuck do I broach the subject? Do I just go right out and say it?

I reached the porch, stopping a little wondering whether to ring the bell. Fuck it. I grabbed the door handle, turning it and flinging the door wide open. I turned to look into the living room, where I saw her wrapped in a duvet. Only her head poking out from the top, it made me smile. Just knowing she was okay, relieved a little of my anxiousness.

I quietly closed the door, mulling over my options. I decided the best way to be slow and steady, comfort her and listen to what she has to say.

''Baby, are you okay?'' I said as I made my way over to her small form. I knelt down beside her looking straight at her, looking for signs of physical damage.

''I don't feel like myself, Jordy. I've put on weight and I constantly need to pee.'' Her face broke into a small smile as she said the last part.

I stood up and walked over to the couch, sitting down in the corner and patting the area beside me I motioned for her to come join me. Everything she just said confirmed what I already thought. She has to be pregnant. I'm a guy and even I can see that all the signs are there. How can she be so blind. I chuckled a little.

''How can you laugh? It's not -'' I halted her midway through her sentence.

''I think we have to entertain a definite possibility, Megan.'' What I thought in my head and how it came out were two completely different things. I sounded like a posh twit, which might of been the reason she burst into a fit of giggles. Mood swings, sad to happy. Another sign.

''And what would that be Mr Staal?'' She said in a ridiculous English accent.

''I might be way out of line here but, ehh, do you. . . emmm ..... think you ... ehh ... might be... pregnant?'' I stuttered a little. ''I mean I could be completely out of line but surely it's possible, we weren't always the safest.'' I said quickly whilst smiling a little - remembering some of previous adventures.

I watched her face go blank. Nothing. Except for a single tear and then she erupted. She buried her face in my shoulder and sobbed uncontrollably so much that I was sure she was in danger of making herself sick.

''Sshhhhh baby,'' I whispered as I rocked her small body against my own, wrapping my arms firmly around her with the intention of never letting go

''I'm ... 2 months .... late,'' She said in between short heavy breaths. She moved her head to look me at me.

''Listen I want you to know that I'm not going to leave you. I'll be here every step of the way. It's not the best time but so what when is it ever? I'll support you, this baby will be so spoiled. First we need to confirm it, okay?'' I'd said my piece now we had to figure out if it really was happening. ''First thing in the morning we'll go to the store and get a test - together.'' I finished.

''Please will you stay with me tonight?'' She asked pleading with me with her eyes.

''Of course I already told you, I'm never leaving you. Promise.'' She smiled and I could only hope she knew I was telling the truth.

Chapter 51 - Falling Apart

Sorry this is short, I have a major headache, and I have to go shovel the 800 feet of snow outside LOL.

Megan's POV

I couldn't believe I was here. I couldn't believe that I had been hoodwinked into going on this stupid excuse of a trip.
Not only did they want me to share a cabin with a bunch of women I hardly knew, but I was also not going to be able to have sex, AT ALL. Oh, and who could forget the fact that the girls wanted to go flirt with other men, that was the last thing I wanted to do.
Trying to make people jealous didn't usually work out so good for either party; especially not Jordan and me. I had to find some way out of this.

I glanced out the window as we drove towards the snow-covered town; looking very much like the inside of some touristy snow-globe.
My new phone vibrated and I saw that I had a message from Jordan - damned if I knew how to get to it though. It was a blackpod or an iberry; one of the two - but it looked more to me like the communicator Shatner use to use whenever he needed to get in touch with the Enterprise...
Speaking of Captain Kirk... didn't he die falling off a cliff and getting crushed by a bridge?
I swallowed hard as I felt the SUV cruse onto the icy bridge... this is not good at all.

It also didn't help that I was the size of a good-year blimp.

Of course no one would say anything, but they were all looking at me with that condescending 'someone had too many chocolates' smirk.
Even Jordan was looking at me funny, although, with the mood I'd been in lately, he knew better than to say anything; if he valued holding onto the family jewels that is.


I watched the other girls walk down the drive in front of me; their arms all interlocked as the giggled and slid along the ice. They stopped abruptly and so did I, not wanting to catch up to them.
They wanted to go find guys and dance; I wanted some stiff shots of liquid cocaine.
I looked up as they started laughing, catching sight of the boys wearing bathrobes and drinking - having a jolly old fucking time. That son of a bitch... I thought miserably as I saw Jordan standing beside Sidney and some other guy I didn't recognize. He gave me a sad smile, as the other girls started walking, realizing that I wasn't actually going out 'with' them. I shot him daggers with my eyes, repeating the words 'I'm going to smoother you while you sleep', over and over in my head; hoping his subconscious would pick up on it.


I was on my fifth shot of poison when the Mel girl wandered over to me. "Hey! You wanna come dance with us?"

"Nope." I said, popping the 'p' as I tipped the burning liquid down my throat.

"Should you really be drinking that...?"

I turned around to face her, exhaling loudly as I slammed the glass down on the counter top. I tilted my head towards her hand - pointedly reminding her of the fruity Smirnoff she was holding. She bit her lip and stared down at my noticeable stomach roll. "Listen, I'm gonna be honest. I don't give a shit about calorie intake if that's what you're getting at... and stop looking at me like that!" I snapped, turning around on the bar stool and ordering another drink.

She shifted her weight uncomfortably before finally backing off, I watched her leave, rolling my eyes as she went.
Normally I wasn’t so blatantly horrible to people - at least not to people that didn’t deserve it - but for whatever reason, I was raging mad all the time. It also didn't help that I was surrounded by women that looked like they could be posing for a magazine shoot at any time. They were all perfect and pristine, I was pushing pudgy.

Not only was I moody, but I was incredibly horny and disgusted with the thought of sex, at the same time.
I also had an uncontrollable urge to kill Jordan, while eating some Krispy Kream doughnuts… fuck I want doughnuts.

I allowed my mind to wander over Jordan, and what he was doing right now. Suddenly, I was overcome with the need to cry; I hated the fact that he was so close and so far at the same time.
Shouldn’t I just be allowed to spend as much time with my boyfriend as I wanted? And really, what the hell is wrong with these girls?
Our men are gone like 99% of the time, and then they want to waste all this time off by ignoring them?
The more I thought about it, the more upset I got… there was no way I was going to sit in this bar and watch a bunch of girls I hardly knew, hit on random guys. They might enjoy spending time away from their boyfriends, but I certainly did not.
I grabbed my bag and coat off the stool beside me and headed for the door. I could see the girls all laughing and dancing in the room - Harley among them - but I kept going, trying not to gain their attention.
I stumbled home, not actually realizing how much I drank until I was trudging through the cold slush; barely able to keep my footing.


I took a deep breath, almost in tears as I bent over to unzip my boots. I couldn’t believe how much weight I had gained in the past month, it was disgusting.
I peeled myself out of my clothing, throwing it down onto the floor of my room. I walked over to the mirror, turning sideways as I examined my curves. I exhaled loudly, pushing all the air out of my lungs in an attempt to make myself skinny.

Finally giving up I grabbed a quilt off the bed and wrapped it around my naked body; tears falling freely down my face as I headed out into the empty cabin. I walked into the kitchen, grabbing the phone off the wall and punching in Jordan’s number.

“Hello?” He yelled, music and laughter pounding in the background behind him.

I sighed. “Having a good time?” I asked, my voice hostile.

“Megan? Are you crying? Turn that off Army… I can’t hear anything.” He said, shooting the last part away from the phone.

“No.” I spat, once the music got quieter. “I’m not crying…” I sobbed, taking a deep breath to steady my voice. “I was drinking… that’s all.”

“Oh…” He said slowly, suddenly sounding upset. “How much did you drink babe?”

“Why does it matter? Why the fuck is everyone so concerned with how much I drink?!”

“Megan I didn’t…”

“I’m leaving tomorrow Jordan. I’m going home. I don’t want to be here with these stupid girls, in this stupid cabin, in this stupid fucking ski town. I DON’T EVEN LIKE SKIING! I FUCKING HATE SNOW!
Did you even know that? No, cause you didn’t fucking ask me when you just assumed that I wanted to be here… this is not my thing Jordan! These are your fucking friends, you spend time with them.”

“Megan, where are you?” The room around him was deathly quiet now, and I could only assume that they could all hear me. Normally I didn’t like to air my dirty laundry in front of people, but I didn’t care; and even if I did, I couldn’t stop the emotions that were welling up inside of me. “Megan, where are you?!” He asked again, this time anxiously.

“Jordan… I’m fat!” I cried, flopping down onto one of the kitchen chairs.

“Ugh… what? What did you drink?” When I didn’t answer he pressed on. “Babe, I’m coming over, I’ll be there in a minute ok.”

I nodded, not even realizing that he couldn’t see me. The line went dead and I allowed my forehead to slam into the kitchen table.
I felt like I was falling apart. My body was aching, a mixture of alcohol and actual physical pain pulsing through me. I was an emotional wreck, and I hated myself for it.
I was never one of those girls; the 'if you don't know I'm not going to tell you' type. I was usually able to control myself better, unless I was really pushed; which in this situation, I wasn't.
Jordan hadn't done anything to me and neither had any of the girls... there was just something wrong with me, and I didn't know what it was.
I pulled the quilt around me tighter as I glanced up at the front window. I could already see Jordan running across the street towards me; pulling his hood down low over his face.

I felt horrible as I saw him reach the front steps. I had just ruined not only his entire night, but his whole trip as well.
His friends were going to assume that I was completely crazy, and were never going to let him forget it.

I sighed deeply as the front door flew open and Jordan’s eyes fell on me.

Chapter 50: The Chase

Harley's POV:

I stood in my newly redecorated kitchen, completely not getting the point of what these girls were trying to explain to me.

“So you’re saying that we’re taking a ‘traditional’ girls weekend… but the boys are… coming along…?” They nodded each and every one of their eyes lighting up at my comprehension.

“And their coming with us… but staying in the house across the street from us…?” I asked still puzzled, their head bobbed with excitement. I let out a heavy sigh… “You hockey wives are truly weird people…”

“Hey! You’re one of us” Kelsey, TK’s girlfriend laughed, tossing a silver wrapped chocolate at me. I laughed popping it into my mouth, “Fine, where are we going?” I asked moving to it on the counter top.

“Well, we leave after their game tomorrow night, and since they have a lot of games off, where staying there for four days… three nights” Vero said, stirring her hot chocolate. “Where going to a little ski town in Quebec… it called Mont-Tremblant, we have two little cozy cabins ready to go!”

“Do we get to see them at all… you know maybe a little ‘hey’ here and there?” Megan asked, trying to sound nonchalant about the fact that she couldn’t spend mere minutes without Jordan.

“Occasionally… but usually it’s more fun to watch them chase after us…” Mel Armstrong said walking through the kitchen door. The girls all yelped and I could recognize that this was Mel Armstrong from the pictures… Colby’s wife.

“Hey! You must be Harley, I’m Mel… Colby’s wife, sorry to barge in; your door was unlocked, and our schedule’s all worked out and, it looks like I’m heading down with you guys. She elated as she threw around hugs to the girls around me.

“We must go shopping” Oksana smiled as she texted on her blackberry, an item everyone seemed to have now… even me.

Shopping was a good idea and we all decided we would go tomorrow before the game.

As the girls were walking out, Sid was walking in and met my smile with his own, placing a kiss on my forehead. “So, I guess after that little meeting you know all about our adventure that’s taking place tomorrow…” I smiled, it turning out more as a grimace and nodded… “I just don’t know what I’m getting myself into here…” I laughed, letting my forehead fall onto his chest.

“What’s it like?” I asked my eyes looking up form my spot on his chest. “I wouldn’t know… only couples go every year… I haven’t had a girlfriend when this was going on… now I do…” he said kissing me.



* * *



I woke up groggily finding myself now in a car instead of on the plane we had just been on. I looked up expecting to see the boys, but there were none. Strange.

“Hey… what did you guys mean by the ‘chase’?” all the girls looked around at each other and smirked. “Meaning… on these trips were not allowed any contact with the guys… but only the penguins guys… not other guys.” They all laughed
simultaneously. This could not be good.

“Oh don’t worry Harley… we don’t have sex or hook up or anything… we just flirt. It makes our men realize that we’re worth working for… that were not easy to just have around.” Mel answered.

I contemplated it in my mind, and even though this seemed like a very complicated way of getting attention… it made sense. I like every other girl or wife in this car sometimes felt under appreciated… however, I think I don’t like that as often as they do, which I am very grateful for.

We drove from the top of the mountain downwards toward the beautiful ski town of Mont-Tremblant. The view was spectacular, and a little tinge of happiness erupted inside of me at the thought that these girls considered me their friend.

That I had girlfriends… I had never had those before, not besides Megan… who now come to think of it was being very quiet, especially compared to her usual rambunctious attitude.

I turned towards her and also saw her drinking in the reason why our boys loved their homeland so much… well most of them anyways. Once we reached the bottom we drove through a narrow path and down a long road aligned with cabins, coming to a stop outside a gorgeous, cozy looking house.

If I could be any house it would be this one. It was my personality through and through. Every last thing about it made me happy, and I hadn’t even made it inside yet.

We all looked over our shoulders as the guys yelped and howled as they moved from the car to house with kegs as they bobbed to the music blasting from the car.

“These trips are like the college experiences they never had… it’s kinda cute in a fucked up way…” Kelsey said, handling her suitcase and rolling it up the snow covered pathway.

We all found our respective spots in the house, and decided that we all had to get this operation jealousy underway… if that’s what we were calling it now.

A half hour later we all emerged in the outfits we had purchased together. Each outfit telling our personalities apart from one another.

Oksana, true to her roots.

Kelsey, looking fresh out of college.

Mel, looking fabulous… like she had walked off a runway.

Megan, looking like she couldn't help but amp up her personality with her confident outfit.

Vero, looking as classy as ever….

And me. I had managed to put together an outfit with the help of Sid’s visa. He forced me, I had to finally give in after the trillions of phone calls he was sending not only my way, but every other girlfriends way while we were shopping. That was the last time I told him about my playdates.

We marched out of the house laughing and holding onto each other as we tried not to slip down the drive way. We came to a halt at the end, where we had a perfect view of our men in their bathrobes, drinking and laughing. Their laughter, however, stopped immediately at our sight.

They looked us all up and down respectively, earning a smirk from each girl, and a blush from me.


“Hey girls… I think we’ll walk into town, oui?”

Chapter 49: Questions?

Not the longest but quite an informative chapter haha ;)

I was pretty sure Megan had enjoyed Christmas with my family. After she had started crying I knew I had broken down her defenses, she was now attached to more than just me. An emotional tie to my family could be a good thing, couldn't it? Well unless she starts being best friends with my mom and calling her all the time, that would just be freaky.

I lay in bed watching her sleep whilst thinking about everything. God, she's so beautiful. I was content. Something I wasn't sure I'd ever felt before. I didn't have any worries, everything was in place, everything just seemed right.

I felt her shift a little and she let out a deep breath. Her eyes began to open and once they focused on me she smiled, it was a genuine one. Then a look of panic came over her face and she put a hand to her mouth, darting out of bed to the bathroom. I thought I'd never move as fast in my life when I followed her and pulled her hair up from her face and out of the way.

''Ughhhhhhh, must be the plane food. I should of never of ate that shit.'' She said once she had finished throwing up. Moving to the sink she began brushing her teeth, obviously wanting to eliminate the taste from her mouth.

''I think you should just stay in bed today, sleep it off.'' I gathered her into hug, inhaling her naturally sweet smell.

''Yeah, I think I will.'' Smiling weakly she treaded carefully back to bed and poured herself tiredly into it.

---------------------------------------------------------------

''Hey man, how was Christmas?'' Sid shouted as I walked into the locker room catching sight of his naked ass. What a lovely sight this early in the morning.

''It was good man, real good. My parents love Megan.'' I chuckled a little as I recalled everything that happened. I figured I should ask Sid about Harley and everything.

''How's Harley?''

''Yeah, she's fine. I finally managed to get her far away from that bitch she calls a step-mom.'' He said the last part a look of disgust on his face, something you don't see from Sid very often, sometimes never.

Practice went by as normal although Coach made us do a few extra drills to burn off those 'christmas calories'. Yeah right, he just wanted to see us sweat harder. Occasionally I think he gets pleasure from our pain. Next came the shoot out and I sure as hell wasn't going to be 'juice boy' that would just be too much to handle and Crosby did such a good job last time, I chuckled a little to myself.

''Alright Staalsy, get this one in and Crosby gets his favorite job again.'' Bylsma shouted from the corner of the ice with a massive grin on his face.

I crossed the ice and gathered a puck, skating quickly up to goal net and shooting as accurately as possible. The puck went flying past Flower and into the top right hand corner of the net.

''Crosby get to work!'' Bylsma laughed as Sid's face turned to horror and erupted into a bunch of his well known giggles. He truly was a 10 year old at heart, most of us were.

As we changed in the locker room I couldn't help but think about Megan. She had literally taken only two bites of her sandwich on the plane, that small amount couldn't be making her this ill. Maybe all the jell-o she'd consumed had turned her stomach? Surely that wasn't possible either. There was one other option that even as man I'd have to consider. She was pregnant? No, she can't be.

Buzz

Buzz

Buzz

I looked at the caller id. Megan. I prayed nothing awful had happened.

''Hey babe,'' I tried to sound as upbeat as possible.

''Hi sweetie, I was just thinking you should get some new furniture, it would just make your place so perfect.'' She giggled a little and I could just see her smiling on the other end.

''Ughh, yeah can we talk when I get home?'' I didn't mind but this definitely wasn't the Megan I was accustomed too.

''Sure, but we should make a decision soon. Bye baby.'' She said as she ended the call. I was more than a little worried.

As I thought more and more about it. A conversation with Eric entered my mind, when Tanya had gotten pregnant almost immediately something kicked in, she was constantly making the house just right for when the baby came, even before she knew she was pregnant, Eric noticed the change. Every detail had to be perfect. Could this be Megan? Is she nesting?

I gathered my thoughts. Crying? Check. Sickness? Check. Mood changes? Check. And now nesting? Check. Maybe she is pregnant? Sweet Jesus, I feel kind of happy?

Chapter 48: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

I'm dreamin' tonight of a place I love
Even more then I usually do
And although I know it's a long road back
I promise you--

"HEY! Loverboy!" I jumped startled and raised my glance, away from the ice at morning skate in Florida, to find Billy staring at me with a stupid grin on his face. "Get your head back on the ice. Stop thinking of your pretty little girlfriend." The rest of the guys chuckled and I could feel a slight blush grace my cheeks.

"You're just jealous that my girlfriend's prettier than you're wife!" I called as he skated off, shaking his head. The young guys around me chuckled, patting my back gently as we moved into the next drill coach set up for us.





"Crosby! What the hell!?" Coach screamed at me as I came off the ice from another bad shift.

"Sorry, Coach..." I mumbled into the bench, taking a long drink of water, before turning back to watch the guys head down towards Vokoun. I watched attentively for a few seconds before my mind wandered back to Harley. What was she doing right now? Did she have the house decorated? The tree up? I sighed softly before feeling a loud tap on my helmet.

"Go shower, Sid. You're done tonight..." Coach Granato called into my ear; sighing deeply I pulled myself up, knowing he was right. My head was thousands of miles away curled up with Harley in front of the fire, opening presents. I took a quick glance at the clock before turning down the hall. 6:20 left in the 3rd; two hours after that to get to the plane, 20 minute drive to the airport, 4 hour 30 minute flight home. Just over 7 hours until I was home. Just in time for Christmas.

I jumped into the shower quickly, wanting to get Coach Bylsma's screaming at me over with. I sat in my stall waiting as the guys filed in and headed to the showers. We won... I saw the pleased faces as they walked in. Plus, we were up by 3 goals when I left. But everyone kept giving me the same strange look, like I wasn't me anymore.

I was still me. I was still 110% hockey, but after being on the road for a week, I was missing my girl! I can't help that I can't do anything less than 100%. Bylsma was the last one through the door. I glanced up quickly and saw him nod for me to follow; which I did quickly, no need to be in more trouble than I already was. I stood stoically in the hallway as he stood off to the side waiting for someone. What the hell was going on?

My stomach dropped as soon as Mario walked through the door, with my father directly behind him.

"Sid..." Mario started holding his hands out like you would to a dog getting ready to attack. Was I that tense? "What happened out there?"

"I know what happened!" My father cut in, stepping in front of me, in attack mode. And I'm the angry animal? "You lost your focus over a cute piece of ass! What are you thinking, Sidney! You cannot let this Harley girl get in your head like this!" He was going to yell at me about Harley? He was going to yell at me about my girlfriend?!

"Harley's in my head 100% of the time, dad." I bit, finally over this bullshit. "However, this was the first game it's affected ever. And only because I'm going on 9 days of not seeing her and we're finally good again. I miss her, I want to go home and spend Christmas with her." I took a deep breath waiting for, and watching as the reaction hit; his face slowly turning pink, then red, and finally an angry burgundy.

"You're not even coming home for Christmas?" He whispered. Oh shit... This isn't good. "Your sister is waiting for you to come home with me.

"Well then you told Taylor wrong, Dad. I told you all at Thanksgiving that Harley and I were spending Christmas in Pittsburgh and that I'd see you all in February for the Olympics. Mom and Taylor were both fine with it." I sighed; wishing, for once, he'd listen to me instead of living out his dream. "Now I'm going home, as long as Mario and Coach are done with me, and I'm going to spend most of the day with my girlfriend." I glanced over at Bylsma, then Mario as both men nodded their accent to my plans.

"See you on the plane, Sid." Bylsma grinned at me, patting my shoulder as I walked past him, back into the locker room.

"Come on, Troy... Let's get you back to!" Mario chuckled, adding softly as he left with my dad. "You know I remember being like that with Nat... Couldn't play to save my life. It was honestly kind of sad." I chuckled lightly, pushing the door open.




"Joyeux Noel, Sid!" Flower shouted as I jumped out of their SUV, Vero waving from the passenger seat.

"Merry Christmas, Flower!" I called back waving as I slowly walked up the steps to home. "See you in a couple days!" I turned my attention to the door and slid it open as quietly as possible, turning the alarm off before re-arming it, so it didn't wake Harley. It took me a minute before my senses were attacked with what was going on in the house. She really went all out... My mind wandered to Christmases back home as I entered our front room to find garland and lights on every available surface...

Table centerpiece, on the mantle, over the stair railing. And the tree... The tree was a masterpiece all to itself. It looked even bigger than when I bought it, all done up with red and silver garland and ornaments. God, she was the best girlfriend ever to do all of this... I was one lucky son-of-a-bitch. Well not really son of a bitch... cuz my mom's not a bitch.... Whatever.

I slowly and quietly snuck upstairs to our room and found Harley curled up in bed in red and white pajamas. I smiled gently as I stripped down to my boxers, gently hanging my suit and placing on the to-be-dry-cleaned rack. I'd have to take them in on the 27th. Then I finally climbed into bed, kissing my girl's shoulder as I pulled her close.

"Sid...?" She groaned, half waking up. "'S that you?"

"Yah, babe..." I whispered. "It is... Go to sleep... I'm home."

"Merry Christmas, Sid..." She whispered closing her eyes, smiling subtly.

"Merry Christmas in 2 days, Har. Good night..." I whispered back, letting her steady breath draw me to sleep.

Chapter 47: J-E-L-L-O

Sorry this is short... I don't really have a lot of time! Finals, exams, papers... etc... hopefully you still like it =)

''We'd ask you if had a good morning but we won't because we heard you two pretty clearly this morning,'' I groaned inwardly, feeling my face heat up as Jordan’s family exploded into laughter.
So much for a good first impression… I thought unhappily as I tried to hide behind Jordan on the couch. Now his parents probably think I’m a total slut…

Jordan - who was laughing louder than anyone - wasn’t going to allow me to hide. He wrapped his arm around me and dragged me upwards until I was sitting up straight beside him. I bit my lip and glanced around the room, the only other person who wasn’t laughing was Marc; he looked bitter.

I tried to ignore him as the gifts were unwrapped and the men of the family reverted back to their childhoods, but it was hard to overlook the daggers being aimed at my head.
I knew Marc didn’t actually have feelings for me, or anything like that; but he apparently viewed my relationship with Jordan as the ultimate brotherly betrayal. I hated coming in between family, but there was no way Marc was going to scare me off.


Once the Christmas dinner had been consumed, the Staal boys and I flopped down in front of the TV; watching old hockey games.
They fought with each other about everything. Good calls, bad calls, good hits, bad fights, nice saves, poor shots. Everyone had a problem with something, and it got to the point where I was sure a fight was going to ensue. I tried not to get involved as I picked away at the Jell-O in my lap.
It wasn’t that I didn’t like apple pie, which was evidently a huge hit; judging by the pile of empty dishes on the coffee table. I had been craving Jell-O all day. Sweet, delicious strawberry Jell-O.
Luckily enough Jarred had a sweet tooth for lunchbox snacks, so I was positive we wouldn’t run out anytime soon.

I nestled in against Jordan, taking another bite of Jell-O. “Do you realize you’ve eaten like four boxes of this stuff?” Jordan asked, pointing down at my snack.

“Are you calling me fat?” I quipped, finishing off the container. I looked up at Jordan as he rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to the TV.

“Blimp.” Jared, remarked from the other side of the couch. I started to giggle as Jordan sighed leaning away from me to whack Jared on the back of the head. This time it was my turn to roll my eyes as I silently prayed; if I ever have kids… please, please don’t let them be boys…



“Sad to be leaving?” Jordan asked as I gazed out the window of the air plane. In truth, as glad as I was to get out from under the watchful eyes of Marc, and away from the embarrassment of his entire family hearing us have sex; I was actually sad to be going.
It was nice, being part of a family like that. Even though I loved my dad and brothers dearly, we weren’t that close. We had all gone our separate ways and we didn’t talk as much as I like; Jordan’s family made me rethink that.

His brothers and him were literally spread out around the country; and they still maintained contact - even if it was a little strained.
There was no reason for me, not to be able to do the same. I was going to do that when I got home; I was going to reach out and break the ice. Begin to pull my family back together.

That was just another thing I had Jordan to thank for. Not only had he changed my views on love, but he was making me a better person; you couldn’t really ask for more than that.
It also doesn’t hurt that he’s deliciously handsome with a body to die for… I thought, a smile spreading across my face. “What are you grinnin’ about?” He asked cheekily, leaning over to kiss my neck.

“Hmm… just about how fantastic my boyfriend is.” I laughed, as he nodded.

“He is pretty great… but you know, a man is only as good as the woman behind him.” I choked. For no reason, tears began to pool in my eyes, cascading down my cheeks without abandon. “Meg… Megan… baby why are you crying?” Jordan asked, concern filling his voice as cupped my face in his hands.

“I don’t know…” I sobbed honestly, shrugging my shoulders. “I’m just… happy.”

“Happy?” He asked incredulity. “Let me get this right… you’re crying, because you’re happy?”

I nodded, leaning over so that I could rest my head on his shoulder. He sighed, kissing the top of my head as we got comfortable for the rest of the flight. “Megan…” Jordan said absently as I began to pull myself together.

“Yah?”

“You’re not gonna cry during sex are you?” I turned my face, giggling into his shirt as his chuckles shook his body.

“Of course… sex’d be the first thing you think of.”

Chapter 46: Strong Arms

I walked into work the next day, knowing that I had to get back to the shop before Fiona had my head. The dawn had just broken over the morning’s dusty rose dust and I pulled in hearing my car shot again. Damn.

I was an extremely anxious person, it drove Sidney crazy, and it was the main force behind me forcing the mustang out of the garage before it was ready. I walked in juggling my coffee and files, directing my moves towards the locker rooms in the back.

Rhonda waved from her office with a huge smile, she was on the phone and held up a finger indicating she would be a minute.
I nodded and kept going, dropping my stuff on the benches in the back.

I don’t remember it being laundry day? I thought looking at the empty hangers, only seeing my ‘Hall Scott body shop sweater’.
I heard Rhonda hang up and called out in confusion.

“Rhonda!...” I said searching under the benches frantically, then moving and not seeing my schedule anywhere. “oh…no, no, no, no…. shit! Fiona is going to kill me!”

Rhonda smiled form her spot at the door frame I and turned exasperated. “What are you smiling about… you’re going to have to plan my funeral!” Rhonda chuckled at my complete confusion and made her way over to me.

“Someone bought the dealership and shop yesterday anonymously… the buyer appointed me co-owner… and you, the manager…” Rhonda smiled hugging me. I was speechless. This is what my dad always wanted. It was in our plan; that when I was in university he wanted to help run the shop, keep the place family-run.

“What does this mean?” I asked looking around the shop realizing all the old equipment was back in its respective spots. “I means that you make your schedule, you can work upfront at the shop or back here. And since you’re the manager… you can spend as much time as you want working on the ‘stang. “ She smiled brightly passing me my sweater… waiting for me to pull it over my head.

“We’re also changing the sign back to Scott Motors… it’s fine with the owner and its being done right now….” She said, being cut off by me jumping into her arms, sobbing uncontrollably with happiness.

“Thank you…. Thank you so much…you don’t even- I cant even-… Just thanks.” I whispered into her black hair.

“No problem baby girl… but last time I checked your supposed to be working on that cute little car of yours” she smiled genuinely pushing me lightly towards my car, throwing a towel at me.

I spent the rest of my time at work working on my car, I however made sure Rhonda knew that that even though I was now the ‘manager’ that I still wanted to keep my clients and work on cars.

I covered my baby up and got into the other car in the lot that was left with the store after Fiona left, my old Chevy truck. I have no idea why originally she took the car from me, even though she could rode around in her fancy sports cars. She was doing it to punish me. But I loved that Chevy. It was perfect. It was warn in and ran like new, it still smelt like home. My old home, not the hot pink mess Fiona had turned it into. Now it smelt like my new home… my home with Sidney.

I drove listening to the radio, singing along as I tapped at the wheel. This had been a perfect day. The moment I found out about the shop, it felt as though a two-ton whale had been lifted from my chest… I felt free. I officially had no connection to that family anymore. The only family I had to work on and worry about was the new one I belonged too.

I drove the car into the driveway, throwing it into park and I ran up the stairs, feeling that largest smile break out on my face. I pushed the door open and threw off my shoes.

“Sidney…?” I yelled. “Yah, babe…” he said back from the kitchen.

“Sidney, Sidney, Sidney, Sidney!!!” I yelled like a small child often would. He rounded the corner and I dropped my back running towards him. I bolted into his arms and he caught me, lifting me from the ground as I entangled my legs around his waist.

I took his face and kiss him with the most force and passion I could muster. “I had the best day!” I smiled wiping the grease from the car I had gotten on his check from my own off.

“Oh yah? What happened?” he said returning my childlike excitement.

“You’ll never believe it… someone bought the shop and the dealership… they made Rhonda the co-owner and me the manager! Can you believe it?! All I had to do today was work on my baby, and I can make my own schedule which means I don’t need to miss classes anymore or work at 6 in the morning!” I beamed at him. He kissed me again and tightened his grip.

“I’m so happy for you, baby… so does this mean more time with me?” he said cheekily, wiggling his eyebrows. I laughed and kissed his luscious lips. “if you play your cards right” I smirked, taking this opportunity to look at his outfit.

“Nice apron…” I giggled playing with the strap around his neck.

“Yah well I had to make my woman something to eat, we don’t want her starving do we…” I shook my head and squeaked lightly as he walked into the kitchen placing me down on the counter. “I love you” he said looking into my eyes smiling.

“Love you” I said lightly kissing his nose.