The Hockey Life

PART FIFTY-FOUR: PLANS
As the internship continued, I got to know the interns a little better. After being with them for five days, I found out that they all were really nice and none of them were the slightest bit interested in stealing my boyfriend. Things were going well overall at work because of both that and the fact that the Hawks didn’t have any critical injuries that I had to tend to. As much as I would have liked to be able to say that I had helped a Blackhawk heal, I didn’t want anyone to get badly hurt either. The guys on the team were almost as much of a family to me as they were to Patrick, or that was at least how it seemed.
Before I knew it, it was December 20th, which was Tess’ birthday. I did the same thing to her that she had done to me on my birthday. Unfortunately, she was born at 9:25 A.M., so it didn’t bother her when I woke her up to say happy birthday. She actually was okay with me waking her up at that time, and she got up a few minutes later. I made her a birthday breakfast, which she greatly appreciated. It was the least I could do. She wasn’t having a big party. I would throw one for her, but she wanted to keep the day relatively low-key. She had plans to just hang out with her parents who were coming to visit her and then go out to dinner with Jonathan.
“Here. Happy Birthday,” I said as I handed her a present at around eleven.
“You couldn’t wait til my parents got here?” she asked.
“No, I wanted to give it to you now.”
“Why, is it inappropriate?” she smiled.
“No, you freak!” I laughed. Tess was too curious at that point, so she sat down and tore ribbon and paper off of the box. She opened it up and gazed at the pair of custom Converse I had ordered her.
“Where the hell did you find these?!” she asked as she snatched them out of the box and tried them on.
“The internet. I customized them. They’re the ideal pair you described to me!” I told her, reminding her of the time we were out shopping, looking at shoes and she couldn’t find a pair that she really wanted. “They even have your name on them, on the back,” I added. She found her name and smiled.
“These are awesome, Lean. Thank you,” she pulled me into a hug. We cleaned up a bit and her parents arrived. They brought lasagna which we heated in the oven and enjoyed. She got some money from her parents and we all had a slice of cake, which was also brought by her parents. They left after a few hours and before too much longer she was off with Jonathan at dinner. I decided that this was what I wanted next year. A very relaxed, quiet birthday celebration with just my best friend, family, and Patrick.
Speaking of Patrick, with Christmas just around the corner, we had to figure out plans. It seemed he was spending a lot more time with his teammates lately, but we did get a chance to talk about it a day after Tess’ birthday.
“We have more plans to make,” I told him. “First it was Thanksgiving and now it’s Christmas.”
“I know. It should be easier this time, though. We’ve already had a holiday in Buffalo with my family, so we should probably stay in Illinois with your family this time,” he replied.
“Are you sure about that? I mean, Christmas is a bigger deal than Thanksgiving. Your family wouldn’t be able to come since I always go to my grandparents’ houses for Christmas,” I reminded him.
“I know, but you celebrate on Christmas day, right?” I nodded. “We usually do, but I can just spend Christmas Eve with my family. It’s okay for me to break tradition every once in a while, Lena.”
“Yeah, but you won’t be able to see all of your family.”
“I saw a lot of my family for Thanksgiving. I’d love to see everyone else, but we can switch the order next year so you come to Buffalo instead to be fair. All that matters is that I get to be with my parents and sisters at some point, and it’ll work out on Christmas Eve,” he said.
“Well, if you’re sure that’s okay, you can come home with me for Christmas,” I decided.
“It’s a date,” he smiled.
When I told my parents, they were excited. They adored Patrick, and they hoped that him being around would make Christmas a little more light and fun. Usually being around all of our family caused some type of drama. It was unfortunate, but it was true. The even more unfortunate part was Brian and I had practically chosen a favorite side of the family, which should never have to happen. However, my dad’s side of the family was full of mostly wealthy aunts and uncles and cousins. Sure, we got really nice gifts, but that didn’t matter when our family on that side was so judgmental. Half the time, we didn’t give them details about our lives, just because the information would spread and there would be gossip in the family. I usually didn’t feel comfortable at Christmas with them, except for when my dad was around. It was so strange to think that he was from that family, just because he was so different from them. And then there was my mom’s family. They didn’t have or give a lot, but the love was there, and they didn’t do a lot of judging. They were very accepting and the atmosphere at that grandparents’ house was laid back instead of stuffy. I just hoped that with Patrick at my mom’s parents’ house, everything would still be fun and with him at my dad’s parents’ house, they would be accepting and a little less uptight.
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On Christmas Eve, we had the Christmas party for the interns. The Hawks unfortunately didn’t have practice, so the interns didn’t get to party with them. Instead they partied with Brad, Dylan, and I, but we still managed to have fun. We still did the ugly Christmas sweater theme and my sweater was still the best. The party for Dylan and I the year before was definitely better than this one, though. It felt strange to not have practice beforehand or the players to make things more interesting. I wished Patrick could have been there, but I knew he was having fun in Buffalo with his family, so I wasn’t too worried about it. He had gone there the night before and he was coming back to Chicago that evening so we could head to my parents’ house and spend the night there. Even though I was a little worried about how some of my family members would react to him being there, I was still excited. Christmas had always been my favorite holiday, and I really wasn’t in the mood to let anything ruin it.

Notes

Filler chapter. I'm sorry that it's short and not very exciting, but chapters like these are necessary. I'll make it up to you guys in the next few chapters, I swear! Anyways, thank you so much to those of you who are still reading. I really appreciate your support and I hope you're still enjoying the story :)