*Jon*

It’d been a little over a week into their relationship and he was going to drop a bomb. His parents were planning to stop by for thanksgiving. Not that they really celebrated it, they were Canadian but they had a few days off and he hoped Callie would want to meet them. Especially with the circumstance with hers, for all he knew, she could hate all parents.

He watched as she floated around her room, getting ready to watch practice. That in itself caused him to inwardly groan. Despite his teammates knowing about their relationship, it didn’t stop them from flirting and begging her to be around, it’s not that he didn’t want her around. Jon generally played better if she was in the vicinity, it’s just he always worried that his teammates were making the moves on her. Pat, for the most part, helped ward them off.

But that didn’t stop her from being nice. She made them treats for this practice. He hated that she was so nice to them, it only encouraged them. “Stop pouting.” Her voice snapped him out of it. She stood in front of him, wearing one of his old college t-shirts, really tight black pants, and warm moccasins. He stood and kissed her, Jon loved when she wore his clothes. He could smell himself on her and nothing was sexier.

“You’re just so nice to my teammates. It gives them ideas.” He groaned. She slapped his stomach. It stung a little and he immediately reached to rub it.

“Who do I let take me home?” She smirked. He gave a sigh and just kissed her nose.

“What’re your plans for Thanksgiving?” Callie shrugged at him and didn’t say anything. She was turned toward her vanity, glancing at him in the mirror, fixing her hair. “What do you think of meeting my parents?” Her eyes went huge in the mirror.

“Isn’t it a bit soon? We haven’t even been dating two weeks.” Jon felt dejected but he wouldn’t give up.

“Does it feel like we’ve only been dating two weeks?”He maintained eye contact with her in the mirror.

“I guess not.” She paused, shoving her chapstick into her pocket and faced him, her head was cast down. “I’m hardly the kind of girl you introduce to your parents.”

Jon walked to stand in front of her and tipped her small chin up so she could looked into his eyes again. “First off, yes, you are. You’re amazing. Everyone loves you. Second, not only do I want you to meet my parents, it’s important to me and I’m sure that they’ll love you. Plus, it’ll only be for a day, they’ll be leaving later that night.” He kissed her to put a stand on his point.

He rested her forehead on hers while she caught her breath. Callie gave him a small smile. “You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you?” He shook his head. “What do I wear?”

“It doesn’t really matter, we’re Canadian.” She laughed. Jon knew everything was going to be alright.

***

“You hog up all her time.” One of Jon’s teammates and close friend, Patrick Sharp, told him. Nodding in Callie’s direction, who was currently surrounded by a bunch of players and staff.

“I was just about to say the same for you fools.” He retorted. Sharpy just shrugged.

“Sure, she hangs out with the team but she hasn’t gone out to eat with us or to parties or anything. You keep her locked up in your apartment. It’s like she’s off limits when we’re not at the rink, even when you guys were just friends.” Jon thought about his teammate’s reasoning. It was true. He was hoarding all her time. A part of him couldn’t help it. He got extremely jealous with her, she was his. Jon had a difficult time convincing her to even give him a chance, he guessed it was part of the reason he kept her so close.

Sharpy snapped him out of his thoughts. “Look, take her out to dinner with all of us after the game tonight on. No biggie.” His friend walked away.

Jon spied Callie across the room. She was so happy, so animated talking to everyone. Was he keeping her from having friends? He shook his head as she walked up to him, giving him a peck on the cheek before sitting next to him in his stall.

“Do I keep you from spending time with other people?” Her pretty little face furrowed and she cocked her head. She looked generally confused. “Do I, Callie? Do I hoard up all your time?”

“I like the time I spend with you.” He gave her a small smile. It was nice to hear her say that but it only confirmed what Sharpy was saying. “It’s not like I have that many friends. It’s okay.”

“You have plenty of friends.” He gestured to the people milling about the locker room. “The guys all consider you their friend. You know, you don’t have to let me keep you cooped up all the time.”

She just smiled at him. “I told you, I like spending time with you.” Her teeth pulled on her plump bottom lip. “But I don’t mind hanging out with the guys, if you don’t mind.”

“It’s perfectly okay. They know I’ll kill them if they make a move anyways.” A few people who could hear them laughed.

“Like it would be that hard.” Nick Leddy, a teammate he noticed tried to preoccupy Callie’s time whenever he could at the rink, piqued up. It caused a few more laughs.

Jon just send a glare towards the defenseman as he and Callie made their way out of the locker room. “Anyways, the guys are going out tonight after the game. Do you want to go?”

She just smirked. “Like I’d miss an opportunity to hear the guys rib you.” Jon was left slack mouth as his girlfriend continued her way to her office, leaving him to go home for his pre-game nap. For a while, he’d thought taking a step in their relationship had caused her to lose her teasing edge. He was so glad she didn’t.

*Callie*

Callie fidgeted in the seat of the taxi as it weaved its way through the Chicago. The Blackhawks had won the game, she had texted Jon congrats and told him she would meet him at the restaurant so she could head home and change during their after game interviews. Now she was nervous over what she had chosen to wear.

All the players would be dressed in their suits still and restaurant was a tad more high end, she couldn’t get it out of her mind that it was a bit much. The soft black fabric was tight but that was the extend of its sex appeal, it was more business-like, the way its straps were thick and the neckline only hinted at her cleavage. The hem hit mid thigh. Deciding for the last time it was okay, Callie told herself to stop fidgeting.

She smiled as she thought about how she rushed home to shave her legs and curl her hair to perfection. Laughing at herself for being nervous, it was kind of her and Jon’s first date. Callie nearly killed herself trying to rush out the door and put on heels. The taxi came to a stop, she bundled the sides of her long coat together to try and protect her from the late fall chill.

The wind whipped her hair around. “There goes my hair.” She muttered, walking towards the entrance. When she gave her name to the hostess, she was lead to a backroom. A bunch of WAGs were there. A few smiled at her and waited to be introduced while others sneered. Patrick was at her side immediately.

“Well, this is my new girlfriend.” Everyone laughed. Jon came and pushed Patrick back to his seat. Callie chuckled.

“Well, if Pat’s done being an asshole. Ladies, this is my girlfriend, Callie.” He kissed her cheek, for a minute she leaned into it, earning mocking awws from a few players. Jon introduced her to the women, most were nice, they shook her hand and asked them questions about what she did, where she was from. The few that had sneered at her before just gave her an up and down before turning to whine at their boyfriends or husbands.

Finally, all the introductions were done and Jon led her to the end of the table. She was seated next to Jon and Patrick, Ryan sat across from her. He gave her a small smile, when she returned it, he blushed. He was a cute kid. “Hey, Ry.”

“Hey, Callie. How’s it going?” She felt Jon’s hand on her collar, she let him pull off her jacket. The rookie, Patrick, and a few other men, slowly, got quiet.

“What?” Jon asked before he moved to see her. His jaw dropped. Callie immediately sat, feeling like a whore for trying to pull off the dress, she turned to grab her coat from Jon, with every intention of wearing through dinner. “No.” he told her firmly.

Patrick spoke first. “Um, Callie. You look amazing.” She could feel her cheeks warm. Men at the table nodded, WAGs who had been kind nodded in approval while others glared.

“Wow, Callie. You’re drop dead gorgeous.” That earned Ryan a slap in the back of the head from Jon, who had sat on the end of the table. The entire table laughed and continued to go back to their conversations.

Jon leaned over to whisper in your ear. “I have no clue how you managed to look so damn sexy and classy at the same time.” While they all ordered, Jon chatted with Ryan and a few other teammates.

She turned to Patrick, who just smiled at her for a minute. “You should listen to me more often.” He looked her up and down. “You certainly look like a Captain’s WAG. Good job, Cal.”

“Thanks Pat.” She paused. “For more than the compliment.” Her eyes shifted to Jon, who was animatedly talking about a play with the rookie. The eighteen year old was doing everything he could to absorb the information in. “Who does the rookie stay with?” she asked Pat.

“Me.” The answer surprised her. She looked at him. “Well, the kid was staying at one of the rentals near the rink. Got lonely, so I asked him if he wanted to stay with me for a season or two, until he was used to the city. He’s a good kid, good company.”

Callie was just getting a grip on how lonely her friend was and how nice it was of him to take a rookie under his wing. Her heart ached for the truly kind man he was. “You’re a good guy, Pat.” He just rolled his eyes and got into conversation with Jon and Ryan discussing what he would do in a few days time for his birthday.

“So, Callie.” She turned her head to a venomous voice from down the table. Everyone’s attention turned to the extremely thin blonde woman who was eyeing Callie, her name was Sarah, she remembered. She tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder before leaning in, making sure to capture everyone’s attention.

She continued. “What makes you so special to be able to bag a captain, the face of a franchise? You seem pretty…” she thought about it. “Normal to me.” She spit the word normal out of her mouth like it was a bad thing. Everyone seemed to hold a breath as they waited for Callie to respond. It only mildly bothered her that a woman she’d never known before decided to attack her.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I feel pretty boring. You’ll have to ask him yourself.” The woman’s eyes lit at not being challenged. The conversation changed for a while, most people were just asking her questions about college and such. One of nice wives asked about her parents. Callie made it a point not to flinch.

“Actually, I don’t really get along with my parents. We’re ex-communicated of sorts.” People were quiet for a moment.

“Oh, I’m sorry, dear.” She reached out to pat her hand across Patrick. Callie felt as Jon’s hand reached to rest on her knee and gave her a small squeeze.

“It’s perfectly fine.” She smiled at everyone at the table.

“What did you do?” Sarah’s voice cut through the idle chit chat that had started. Her eyes focused on her. Like a predator trained on its prey. “What did you do?” She repeated. “Did mommy and daddy not give you everything you wanted? We’re you a little spoiled daddy’s girl?” She felt herself flinch. “Did they not love you?” Sarah continued to taunt, she sounded like she meant to make it a joke, but they all knew better. “Did you runaway?”

“God, you’re an annoying cunt. You’re just jealous Jon wouldn’t give you the time of day.” Ryan rolled his eyes. When he saw that everyone was looking at him, his eyes got wide. He looked to his teammates. “I said that aloud?” he squeaked. Patrick just nodded.

Jon laughed, the other teammates joined in. Sarah stood, red-faced, fuming. “You’re going to let a rookie talk to me like that?” she screeched at her boyfriend, who looked helpless. She stomped her way out of the room, glaring at her and Ryan the whole way.

Her boyfriend, Nick Leddy, who was generally a good guy, stood to follow her out, when he walked past them, he paused next to Callie. “I’m so sorry, Bennie.” He brushed a hand on her shoulder, using his nickname for her as an apology.

Ryan piqued up. “I’m sorry, man. That was meant to be in my head.” Nick just smiled at the rookie.

“No problem kid. You’re going to make dumping her so much easier.” Patrick laughed really loudly as Nick left. Ryan was getting thumps on his back for standing up to Sarah.

When everyone continued with their own conversations, she leaned in to talk to Ryan. “Thanks, Ry. You saved my ass out there.” She gave him a huge smile.

He flushed again. “She was being a twat.” Jon laughed, hearing this. The rest of the dinner went smoothly, slowly couples were starting to leave. A few teammates joked and laughed about it while saying goodbye to their captain. A few apologized for Sarah’s behavior. A few of the girls who had been friends with her whined that what Ryan did was mean.

In the end, only Patrick, Ryan, her and Jon were left. They all agreed to head back to her place so she could whip them up dessert. When Callie and Jon were alone, he pulled her hand into his.

“Babe.” He started.

“No, don’t worry about it. Ryan was right she was just being an annoying cunt.” He lifted her hand to kiss it.

“You know, I think a few guys were thinking about how to steal you away from me when I took off your coat.” Callie ran her hand through her hair.

“You have no idea how much time I spent thinking it through.” She laughed. He just merely nodded, checking her out again.

“The only thing I could think of was getting you out of that dress, you looked so good.” Callie let the words sink it as they rode home.

*Patrick*

All three men watched Callie prance around the kitchen, barefoot, still in her formfitting dress, whipping them up chocolate mousse. Every part of him wished he could find a girl like Callie so he could stop feeling like he was missing out on something. He could see that Jon was head over heels for the girl.

“You.” She pointed at Jon. “You stir this until I tell you to stop.” He groaned and rolled up his sleeves.

After showing him the proper technique, Callie turned to turn on a radio. A popular song came on, Callie was singing to every word. She danced around Jon, who just laughed at her.

Suddenly, she pulled Ryan to her and danced with him. Getting him to waltz her around the kitchen. They all laughed at how the rookie turned bright red. She peaked over his shoulder to check the dessert and told Jon to stick it in the fridge.

When his friend finished, he made a notion for Ryan to beat it. Callie pouted and they started to banter. It was so adorable, he didn’t know if he wanted to puke or laugh. “She’s something isn’t she?”

Ryan stood next to him. Patrick just nodded. “Think there are more girls out there like that?”

“We can only hope, kid.”

*Ryan*

The smells of breakfast filled Ryan nostrils as he awoke. He hadn’t been woken up to smells like this since he’d been drafted. For a moment, it felt like he was home again. That it might be his mother in the kitchen. Instead, his back ached with a night spent on a couch.

He peaked his eyes open, he was still in Callie’s apartment. Immediately, he jumped up. Oh, god, Jon is going to kill me, he thought to himself. A soft chuckle came from somewhere behind him. When he turned, fearful it might be his captain, he saw Callie.

Ryan had a tiny crush on her. She was just so outgoing, happy, supportive, and beautiful. A perfect image of what the Captain’s wife should look like. It bothered him the night before when the random puck slut picked on her. Although, he hadn’t meant to let it slip out at the time, he was glad it had. From the smile she had given him, he knew it was the right thing to do.

Callie was standing in front of him in loose sweatpants and a baggy tank with her hair piled all on top of her head. She didn’t wear any makeup and dark framed glasses were perched on her head. God, was she gorgeous. Right now, she was giving him a knee weakening smirk. Only then did he notice what she was looking at.

A stream of profanities rang through his head as he realized his morning wood stood proudly in his wrinkled dress pants. He felt his cheeks permanently stain red. “I’m sorry. It’s morning.” He managed to stammer out. It only caused her to laugh harder.

“It’s okay. I grew up with brothers. No biggie. I’ve got breakfast ready once you use the bathroom.”

She turned and made her way to the kitchen. Ryan had made a fool of himself in front of the woman he would follow around the world, he sulked as he made his way to the bathroom.

Less than five minutes later, he was making his shy entrance into the kitchen. Callie merely smiled at him. On the table was a massive amount of food, more than for two people, even with his appetite.

He looked around, everyone was gone. “Where is everyone?”

She shrugged. “Patrick and Jon left last night and we just left you asleep on the couch. They should be back in about ten minutes with a couple more of the guys. With that being said, I think you should pick out what you want because as soon as they get here, it’ll be gone. Those guys will eat anything.”

Ryan followed her instruction. When his plate was full, she started to make her own, much smaller than his. “You know, don’t be embarrassed, stuff like that happens.” She eyed him. “You’re about my youngest sister’s age. I’m practically like your sister. So don’t make a fuss.” With one sentence, his heart deflated. Even though he didn’t stand a chance against the tall broody captain, it still hurt.

“I bet Jon doesn’t embarrass himself like that.” He murmured. Again, he had blurted out something he hadn’t meant to. Callie merely shook her head at him.

“I’ve never woken up with him to know that.” Her answer was so flat, so honest. Could it be that his captain was getting any? How was that even possible? Right then, Ryan figured that Jon was more whipped that any of them thought possible. He took a bite of her French toast. Then again, she was definitely worth it, he thought to himself.

A knock on the door made Callie pop out her seat and jump for the door. When it opened, her arms were wrapped around his captain. Her hands tunneled through his hair, her face buried in his neck. Jon’s eyes were closed as he held her close, he pulled her full against his body. Suddenly, Jon’s eyes were open and looking down on his girlfriend.

It hit Ryan then. It all made sense. The look that Jon gave Callie was one he’d only seen from one couple. His mother and father, Jon’s eyes were filled with love. His captain was in love with the employee. Ryan wondered if they knew themselves, probably not, he mused. Couples that are perfect are always dumb like that.

*Jon*

“Surprise!” The entire party yelled as Patrick walked into the door. He sure seemed surprised. Jon wasn’t sure if his friend was excited or not about it. He felt Patrick’s sisters brush past him. The moment he saw them, the curly headed blonde’s face lit up.

Jon watched as he hugged each of his sister’s. His smile was iridescent. “You did a good job.” Callie murmured. Her arms slipping around his waist.

“I knew they would make him happy. He loves them.”

“I bet he loves you too.” At that moment, Patrick’s eyes met Callie and himself. He mouthed thank you before being bombarded by family. Jon just shrugged at Callie’s statement. He loved Pat too. All the adversity, success, and time they spent with each other had grown.

Jon worried about his friend’s happiness. Lately, it seemed to be on a downward spiral. But for right now, he knew that he was alright.