Therapy is Good for the Soul

“All right girls, I need help pickin out an outfit for tonight. Tyler’s takin me to a holiday event for the Bruins and their families.” Bailey told Emily and Christina.

“What kind of event is it?” Emily asked.

“All Tyler told me was everyone brings their loved ones to celebrate the holidays. It’s at the TD Garden and there will be tons of food. The kids get to skate with the team and they have Santa come to bring them gifts. If they are goin to skate I can’t imagine it will be a dressy party, but I’m not sure. A lot of the wives and other girlfriends dress in designer clothin and get pretty fancy for the games. I don’t want to embarrass Tyler and go under or over dressed.”

“You know, Tyler could care less about what you wear. He just wants you there with him.”

“I know Christina, but I still want to make a good impression. There will be cameras there so it’s not just about Tyler’s opinion. I don’t want his reputation to take a hit because of me.”

“You’re joking right? Pretty sure you’re the best thing that ever happened to his reputation! Dating you has cleaned up his image big time.” Emily retorted.

The girls all laughed knowing Emily’s comment was accurate. The press has laid off Tyler and have even been complimenting him and his game since he started taking an interest in Bailey.

“Ok, guys, back to me and my wardrobe dilemma. What should I wear?”

“Let’s see if we can find some pictures from last year to see how casual everyone was.” Emily said as she grabbed her iPad from the coffee table. Emily did a quick search and started scrolling through various images when she suddenly burst into a fit of laughter.

“What’s so funny, Em?”

Christina grabbed the iPad from Emily when she couldn’t stop laughing. Christina looked at the picture and immediately knew what Emily was laughing about. “Oh boy, Bailey your outfit is the last thing you need to worry about at this party!”

“What are you talkin about?” Bailey started to get annoyed at her friends who were both laughing hysterically. “Will y’all please cut it out? Tell me right now what’s so funny!!” She demanded with her hands planted firmly on her hips.

Emily pulled herself together to respond to Bailey. “What did Tyler tell you about skating again?”

“Just the kids skate with their dads and the rest of the team. But what does that have to do with the price of eggs?” She was aggravated she didn’t get a straight answer.

“Bailey, it’s not just the kids skating. In these pictures everyone is. You’re going to a Bruins skating party.” Emily chuckled out.

“Are you serious? That can’t be right! Let me see.” Bailey took the iPad from Christina. She sank into the couch, dropping it beside her after she saw the photos. “What the heck am I gonna do? I can’t skate!”

“We know! Why do you think we were laughing so hard? We immediately remembered skate night at BU.” Emily and Christina started laughing again.

“It’s not funny, that was traumatizin. I almost broke my tailbone and took out BU’s star hockey player with me. Thank heavens Matty was so forgivin and no permanent damage was done!” Bailey sighed and put her head into her hands. “I need to make up an excuse and tell Tyler I can’t go.”

“Bailey, you can’t do that; he already RSVP’d for the both of you. It wouldn’t be fair to cancel on him at the last minute. Besides, Tyler is probably a good teacher and maybe you’ll be better this time. I mean you really can’t be worse.” Christina tried to comfort her friend.

“That’s not very reassurin. Why didn’t he tell me everyone is expected to skate? I never would have agreed to go with him. This is goin to be a disaster!! Please help me figure out somethin so I don’t make a complete fool of myself!”

“Why don’t you tell Tyler the truth? I’m sure he’ll understand why you won’t want to skate if he hears the whole story.”

“Em, I don’t want to tell Tyler one of the most embarrassin moments in my life. Besides, I don’t think it will matter; he probably won’t believe I was that bad and will want me to skate with him anyways. There’s got to be another way around this.”

“Will Brittany and Looch be there with their daughter?” Christina asked.

“I think so, why?”

“Why don’t you call Brittany and ask her if everyone will be skating or not. If she says yes, I think you should tell her your story so she can have your back at the party. Maybe you can watch their daughter so she and Looch can enjoy some time together. That will give you an out for at least part of the time. She may have some other ideas to help you avoid having to tell Tyler anything.”

“That’s a great idea! There are a few other players with some babies; maybe I can offer to help them too. I’ll do anything to avoid gettin on the ice! I’m gonna call her now. In the meantime, will y’all please go through my closet and help me find somethin to where?”

“We’re on it!” Emily said before she and Christina headed to Bailey’s room.

Brittany answered her phone after a couple of rings. “Hey Bailey, I’m putting you on speaker phone so I can change Valentina’s diaper, ok.”

“No problem.”

“Are you excited about tonight?”

“That’s actually why I’m callin. Is this a skatin party for everyone or just the players and kids?”

“Oh, Everyone joins in the fun and gets on the ice.”

“Great, that’s what I was afraid of!”

“Why? If you need a pair of skates, Katie and I both have an extra pair. What size do you need?”

“That’s very sweet of you, but that won’t solve my problem.”

“What problem?”

“Promise not to tell anyone, especially Tyler?”

“Of course, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know how to skate and I’m afraid I’ll embarrass Tyler. When I agreed to go tonight, I had no idea that everyone was expected to skate. He told me it would just be the kids and the team.”

“Bailey, Don’t worry about it. Tyler and all the guys can help you. They always help the kids; it’s so cute to watch. I’m sure you’ll have fun!”

“No you don’t understand. I tried to learn before and it was a complete disaster! When I was in school, BU had this midnight skate night where everyone could skate at Agganis arena with the hockey team. Growin up in Georgia I had never been on skates; heck I’d never seen an ice rink except on TV until I went to BU. Anyways, I always loved watchin figure skatin, so I thought it would be fun to try. I went with my best friends and we borrowed skates at the arena. I had no clue what I was doin and fell as soon as I got on the ice. My friends tried to help, but I kept takin them down with me. I didn’t want to ruin their fun, so I told them to go on and skate without me. They got me to the wall and I just held on for dear life tryin to stay upright and move a little bit at a time. Eventually, Matty, the star player of the hockey team approached me and offered to help. I tried to tell him I was a lost cause, but he insisted. He tried to model for me, and then came behind me to show me how to shift my weight to get a better base of support before he came in front and took my hands. We went slowly and he gradually got me off the boards. For a while things went pretty well so he started to speed up. Some of the other players were crackin up as they lapped us multiple times. We just ignored them. Matty was super nice and was very patient with me and tried to carry on a conversation to help me relax. His teammates got silly and gave both of us a little shove as they skated by again. I completely lost my balance and fell hard on my ass and took Matty with me. When I fell my legs kicked in the air and the boot of my skate hit Matty hard in his groin and the blade of my skate grazed his penis and made a massive cut just above it. He had to be taken to the hospital and got 40 stitches and missed a few games because of me. I severely bruised my tailbone and had difficulty sitting without pain for almost 2 weeks. Needless to say, Matty’s teammates relentlessly teased both of us, some of them right up until graduation. Thankfully, there was no permanent damage, Matty forgave me, and we became good friends.”

“Wait, so you nearly took a guy’s manhood because you couldn’t skate? That has to be one of the most bizarre and funniest things I’ve ever heard.” Brittany chuckled.

“Yes, and I haven’t skated since. I certainly don’t want to take any chances of hurtin Tyler. I love him and hope that one day we’ll have children together. I don’t want to take any chances of causin him permanent damage and ruinin that possibility. Heck, I just want to have the chance to enjoy that part of him one day so I’m takin no chances.”

Brittany eventually stopped laughing. “Bailey you are the cutest thing ever. I’m so glad Tyler found you. I understand your dilemma but I’m not sure how I can help. It’s not like I can put Tyler and his penis in a protective bubble.”

“Christina suggested that you could let me watch Valentina so you and Milan could skate together.”

“I don’t have a problem with that, but Milan bought Valentina her first pair of skates and is planning on giving her, her first lesson tonight.”

“Didn’t she just turn two? Y’all are already teachin her how to skate?”

“It’s in her blood, Milan is very excited to get her out there. I bet Jonny’s wife would welcome some help with the twins though. That way you can hang with Valentina a little and have a back-up plan when Milan steals her away to skate.”

“I don’t know Sheena very well, would you talk to her with me?”

“Sure. Bailey I’m sure Tyler won’t mind you helping his teammates out, but he’s still going to expect you to skate with him at some point in the evening. What are you going to tell him?”

“ I obviously don’t own any skates, so I won’t be bringin any. Since Tyler didn’t tell me I needed them, I don’t know if he’s bringin some or if there will be extras there. I’m hopin it’s a detail that just slipped his mind, so that gives me an automatic out. If not, I’ll just have to think on the spot and come up with some excuse that will hopefully work. Will you have my back?”

“You know I’ll have your back and I’ll never pass up a chance for someone I trust to watch Valentina so I can have some time with Milan. I still think you should give Tyler a shot at teaching you how to skate, but if you’re really set against it I’ll support you.”

“Thanks Brittany, you’re the best!!”

“No problem. I’ll see you later tonight.”

“Bye”

Bailey ran to her room after she hung up to fill Emily and Christina in and to see if they found an outfit for her. They picked out a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, a hunter green tank top paired with an oversized brown sweater that fell off her shoulder on one side, a matching green scarf, and a pair of brown boots.

The girls hung out the rest of the day gossiping and watching movies on Netflix. Bailey started getting ready for her date around 3:30. She curled her hair and wore it down for the evening. She put on her under eye concealer, a tiny bit of forest green eye shadow with a dusky gold in the inner corners and centers of her lids, and her tinted lip gloss.

Emily headed to the door when she heard a knock. “Hey Tyler, come on in. Bailey’s almost ready. Do you want anything to drink while you wait?”

“No thanks.” Tyler took a seat on the couch next to Christina. “So what trouble will you two be getting into tonight?”

“None, it will be a pretty low key night. We’re meeting Freddy and Stephen for dinner and a movie later.” Christina replied.

“Sorry I kept you waitin Tyler.” Bailey said as she came into the living room and walked towards the couch.

“You’re always worth the wait. You look beautiful.” Tyler said as he stood up and pulled Bailey in for a kiss.

“Thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself.” Bailey smiled as she gave Tyler the once-over admiring his stunningly good looks. He looked like a GQ model in his dark blue and white checked shirt and blue down vest paired with dark jeans.

“Thanks. Shall we head out?” Tyler offered his elbow to Bailey and she immediately latched on.

Bailey grabbed her coat out of the closet by the front door. “Wait, you forgot your skates.” Tyler told Bailey as they were exiting through the door.

“What are you talkin about?”

“Bay, I told you we’re going to ice skate at the party.”

“NO, you said the team was goin to skate with their kids. You never said I needed skates.” Bailey corrected him. She gave her friends a glaring look as they sat on the couch chuckling at the scene in front of them.

“Are you sure?” Bailey nodded yes emphatically. “Well it doesn’t really matter, ‘cause I’m telling you now. So please go get your skates.”

“Sorry Tyler, but I don’t own any skates.”

“Does Emily have any you can borrow?”

“No she doesn’t.” Bailey looked towards her roommate giving her a don’t you dare give me up glance. “Even if she did, I couldn’t borrow them, she’s a couple shoe sizes bigger than me.”

“Crap, I can’t believe I didn’t tell you! I was really looking forward to getting you on the ice too. Maybe we’ll get lucky and somebody will have an extra pair that will fit you.”

“One can only hope.” Bailey said with a half smile.

“Well, we better go or we’ll be late. Bye ladies, have fun tonight.”

“You too!” Christina and Emily replied in unison. Bailey waved goodbye and the girls mouthed “Good Luck!” to her.

Once they reached the TD Garden, Tyler escorted Bailey inside to the party. The Bruins organization had gone all out and decorated a banquet room like a winter wonderland full of twinkle lights resembling icicles, Christmas trees, glittering snowflakes hung from the ceiling, snowmen, and cute polar bears.

“Oh, Tyler it’s lovely!” Bailey took Tyler’s hand to explore all the details of the white, silver, and blue room.

“They really went all out this year! This must be where Santa will sit.” Tyler stated when they came upon a sparkling throne that resembled an igloo. “The kids will love it!”

“Thank you for bringin me. This is goin to be so much fun!” Bailey turned to face Tyler, stood on her tiptoes and gave him a sweet, gentle kiss.

Bailey and Tyler were having a blast at the party. They enjoyed the gourmet feast that was set-up buffet style for everyone to enjoy. They also joined forces with Andrew’s family, Brad, Adam, his date, and Dougie in the gingerbread house decorating contest. Thanks to Bailey and Andrew’s creativity paired with Brad and Tyler’s sense of humor they created a fabulous gingerbread village that included a train, lollipop trees, skateboards, sleds, and a hockey rink with mini Bruins taking down a diving Habs team. Bailey, Tyler, Brad, and Andrew had just as much fun if not more than Andrew’s daughters. Their team effort easily took first place in the contest and Andrew’s girls were excited to take home the masterpiece.

After the contest everyone grabbed their gear and headed to the ice for the family skate. Bailey sat on the Bruins’ bench holding Zoey, one of Johnny’s twins, while his wife Sheena sat next to her holding their other daughter Kenzie. They watched as everyone laced up their skates.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to hang out here with you?”

“Tyler, I’ll be fine. I’m going to get to know Sheena and these two beautiful little girls. I also promised Brittany I’d watch Valentina a little later so she can have some time with Looch.”

“I feel bad. I didn’t bring you here to be my teammates babysitter.”

Bailey gave Tyler a quick kiss. “I know you didn’t and there’s no need to feel bad, I’m happy to help them. Besides, I love watching you skate. Go have fun!”

“You’re the best!” Tyler leaned down and kissed Bailey before heading onto the ice.

Bailey had a blast watching Tyler on the ice interacting with his teammates and their kids. He was a bundle of energy and all the kids seemed to love him. Bailey couldn’t help it as her mind wandered off and started imagining if this is what it would be like if they had children together. She sitting on the bench holding their baby, while Tyler taught their toddler how to skate. The precious images she pictured made her smile.

“He’s going to be a great dad one day.” Sheena said recognizing that look in Bailey’s eyes as she watched Tyler.

“I know he’s so good with the little ones.” Bailey’s grin continued to grow as they watched Tyler pick up Valentina, spin her around, and burst into laughter when the little girl started giggling uncontrollably.

“You’re not so bad yourself. The two of you will make great team and be wonderful parents.” Sheena said looking down at her normally fussy girl now sleeping in Bailey’s arms.

“Thanks, but I think that’s still a ways away. I don’t want to jinx anything by lettin myself think too far in the future.”

“I understand, but from the way he keeps looking at you, something tells me it’s not as far off as you think.”

Before Bailey could respond, Johnny skated up to them. He took Kenzie from his wife to skate around and show her off to his teammates. As he took off Zoey woke up and started fussing.

“Here, let me take her. I bet she needs to be changed.” Sheena reached out to get her daughter from Bailey. Once in her arms, Sheena got up with their diaper bag in hand to take her little girl for a walk and change her.

As soon as Tyler noticed Bailey was alone, he skated towards the bench. “Come here, Bay.” He said as he leaned over the bench with a smirk on his face.

“What are you up to Mr. Seguin?” She questioned as she got close to him. Tyler reached for Bailey’s cheek and drew her in for a light, sweet kiss. Her stomach dropped twenty floors as he kissed her again and again. Just like eating chips, they couldn’t stop at just one kiss. “So that’s what you wanted?” Bailey giggled.

“That and this!” Tyler wrapped his arms tightly around Bailey and pulled her over the boards just as Brad skated over and grabbed her legs. Bailey screamed and squirmed in their arms as they skated around the rink with her.

“Put me down!” Bailey cried out but her protests fell on deaf ears. In fact the more she objected the faster Tyler and Brad skated. Everyone was watching and laughing at the mischief.

After several minutes, they finally set Bailey down on the ice. She immediately started swatting Tyler’s chest. Brad and Tyler both started to laugh. “Stop laughin! It’s not funny!”

“We didn’t want you to miss out on all the fun.” Brad said with a shit-eating grin on his face, causing Bailey to punch him in the arm. “You know you loved it!” He chuckled and skated off.

Tyler gently grabbed Bailey’s wrists and leaned down and kissed her lips. “I love you!”

“Well I don’t love you very much right now.”

Tyler displayed his best wounded look and put his hands over his heart. “That hurts.”

“Good. Now please take me back to the bench.”

He pulled Bailey in for a hug and kissed the top of her head. “I’m not ready to let you go just yet. Do you trust me?”

“Not at the moment.”

“Step on top of my skates.”

Bailey gave him a skeptical look, before hesitantly taking Tyler’s hands and stepping up on his skates. Afraid she might fall, she wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed as tight as she could.

“You can ease up a little, I promise I won’t let you fall.” Tyler said reassuringly, reading her mind. Bailey relaxed into Tyler’s chest and released some of the tension in her grasp.

“I’m going to start skating. I’ll start slow ok.” Bailey just nodded her head into Tyler’s chest. As soon as he started to glide, she tightened her grip around his waist. “It’s ok Bay, I’ve got you. Just relax and enjoy the movement.”

Tyler took his time and went at a snails pace around the rink. It took him a few minutes to adjust to having Bailey in his arms and on top of his skates. He also didn’t want to scare her by moving too fast. They completed 3 full laps together before Tyler stopped at the penalty box and opened the door. Bailey hopped down and they both went inside and sat down. Tyler took Bailey’s hand in his.

“That wasn’t so bad now was it?” Tyler gave Bailey’s hand a gentle squeeze.

“No, it was actually kind of fun.”

“Good, because I thought we could take it a step further.” Tyler pulled Bailey’s legs into his lap.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll see.” He pulled her boots off one by one and then reached for the box under the bench.

“No, Tyler! I can’t skate!” Bailey became very nervous when he pulled out the Black soft boot Bauer hockey skates with a purple and lavender paisley design on the side.

“Bay, I’m going to teach you.” Tyler continued to put the skates on Bailey and laced them up tightly.

“NO, NO, NO! Tyler you don’t understand; I’m not teachable.”

“Bay, you have to trust me. I promise you won’t get hurt or hurt me.” He leaned in to her ear and whispered, “My manhood will be safe and whenever you’re ready you can take it for a nice long ride.”

A hue of red spread throughout Bailey’s cheeks as they burned from embarrassment. Her eyes were like saucers as she stared at Tyler in disbelief of what he just said. “I can’t believe Brittany told you! She promised she wouldn’t. I’m so embarrassed!” Bailey dropped her head into her hands.

Tyler pulled Bailey’s hands away from her face and lifted her chin to look at him. “Bay, Brittany didn’t betray your trust. She had you on speaker phone; Looch overheard the conversation and told me.”

“Oh, I wish he’d kept his big mouth shut!”

“I wish you’d been honest with me.”

“I know; I just feel stupid! After my last experience, I didn’t want to be an embarrassment to you in front of your team and coaches.”

“Bay, I could care less if you knew how to skate or not. In fact, I’m kind of excited that I get to teach you something.”

“So you’re not mad?”

“No, I’m not mad. Even though you were wrong, your heart was in the right place.”

Bailey pulled herself fully into Tyler’s lap. “I love you!” She leaned in and kissed him.

“I love you too!” Bailey gave Tyler another kiss. “As much as I love your kisses, they won’t get you out of skating. Stop procrastinating and stand up.” Tyler helped Bailey onto the ice and turned to face her. He supported her at her forearms. “Just keep your eyes on me and relax. You can do this!”

Bailey was very stiff, but Tyler’s continued words of encouragement helped her slowly relax. At first he told her to just walk on the ice so she could get more comfortable. As they moved along he guided her to start gliding on the ice. He held onto her and supported her weight preventing her from falling a several times. He made sure they stayed close to the boards and steered her away from others as they skated by. Brittany, Looch, and Valentina skated with them for a bit to give Bailey positive encouragement and let her know that she was doing great. As Bailey became more confident, Tyler released one of her arms and gradually moved to her side just holding her hand.

“You’re doing great Bay! Do you want to try to skate by yourself for a little?”

“You think I’m ready?”

“Yes. Come to me.” Tyler let go of her hand and skated backwards so he was facing her. He stopped when he was about 10 feet away.

“I did it!” Bailey squealed with joy when she reached Tyler and he pulled her in an embrace.

“I told you I was a good teacher!”

“Thank you Tyler! This has been wonderful. I can’t believe I actually skated without breaking anything!”

Tyler laughed as he took Bailey’s hand and they enjoyed skating together for a few more laps. Everyone headed back to the banquet room when they heard jingle bells in the background. Santa entered the room with a large red bag full of presents for all the kids. He took his place in the igloo throne and called the kids over one by one. He asked them if they’d been naughty or nice and what they wanted for Christmas. Each child had their picture taken with Santa by a professional photographer and received a gift from Santa’s red bag. Bailey was cradled into Tyler’s side as they watched each child taken their turn. They kept themselves entertained by trying to guess how a child would react before they sat on Santa’s lap.

“Ho, Ho, Ho! It looks like we have one more present to give out. Bailey will you please come here?”

Brad tapped Bailey lightly on the shoulder. “It’s not nice to keep Santa waiting.”

“What?”

“He called your name.” Brad replied.

“He’s here for the kids. Somebody must have the same name as me.”

“Now don’t be shy Bailey Thomas, Santa doesn’t bite! Ho, Ho, Ho!”

“Told you so!” Brad smirked and gave Bailey a little nudge.

Bailey looked quizzically up at Tyler. “Don’t look at me. Go see what he wants.”

Bailey hesitantly let go of Tyler and walked towards Santa.

“Don’t be shy dear, have a seat.” Bailey sat on Santa’s lap. “Now tell me Bailey have you been naughty or nice this year?”

“She’s with Tyler, so she’s definitely been naughty!” Brad hollered and received a quick punch in the arm from Tyler for the remark.

“Marchy, you got it wrong. Being with Tyler is what makes her a saint.” Andrew chimed in causing the room to burst into laughter.

“Geez, what did I do?” Tyler replied

“Well Bailey, who’s right? Have you been naughty or nice this year?” Santa asked again.

Bailey’s cheeks of course were flushed with all eyes in the room waiting her response. “I’m most definitely on the nice list!”

“That’s what I thought and since you’ve been such a good girl I have a few gifts for you.”

“Thank you Santa, but you didn’t need to do that.”

“I know, but I wanted to. Besides one of my elves has quite the crush on you and wants you to have a Very Merry Christmas!”

Santa reached into the red bag and pulled out two lovely wrapped gifts tied with red bows. Bailey’s eyes lit up like a child on Christmas morning as she took the packages and started to open them. She opened the larger box first, which had a Bruins jersey inside in her size. When she pulled it out of the box completely she realized it wasn’t just any jersey, it was a Seguin jersey. Bailey giggled because it had become quite the joke that she always wore her Little Ball of Hate shirt or her Bergeron jersey to the games and didn’t have any clothing to represent Tyler.

“It’s about time! Now you don’t have any excuses not to support me. ” Tyler shouted causing the room to burst into laughter.

Bailey then moved on to opening the small black velvet box. She gasped when she opened the small black box to reveal a beautiful platinum chain with 4 black onyx gems spaced around the chain with a small platinum Bruins logo charm with a diamond 19 dangling underneath it at the center of the necklace. Tears started trickling down her cheeks. “Oh my goodness! This is beautiful!” She stood up and ran into Tyler’s arms.

“Do you like it?”

“Of course I do, but you shouldn’t have done this. It’s too much Tyler.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Bay. I didn’t do anything, that’s from Santa. You’ve obviously been very good this year.” Tyler replied and gave her his infamous boyish grin. “Can I put it on you?”

“Yes, please.” Bailey turned so her back was to Tyler. He gingerly moved her hair out of the way and reached around to place the necklace on her neck. Once he clasped it, he planted small kisses along her neck and jawline. Bailey smiled and turned to face Tyler. She looked into his eyes and leaned in close until their lips grazed slightly. She ran her tongue along his bottom lip and then took his lip lightly with her teeth. The kiss continued soft and teasingly until they could no longer hold back their passion. When they finally broke free to catch their breath the room broke out into a thunderous applause. Bailey’s cheeks flushed as she tried to hide her face in Tyler’s chest.

Tyler relished in their embrace and whispered in her ear. “They’re jealous of what we have. What do you say we get out of here so we don’t have to torture them any longer and can pick up where we just left off?” Bailey slowly pulled out of Tyler’s hold and smiled as she took his hand. They said goodnight before heading back to Tyler’s condo.

Notes

Sorry it has taken so long for me to update!! School has been crazy lately. This chapter is a bit of a filler, but I didn't want to leave y'all without anything while I work on my Christmas chapter. I hope everyone hasn't given up on this story and will continue to read. Things should slow down a bit for me in a couple of weeks allowing me more time to write and hopefully post multiple chapters. I hope y'all can be patient and will stick around!