Islands
Plans
December 2, 2010 Capitals 1 @ Stars 2
December 4, 2010 Thrashers 3 @ Capitals 1
December 6, 2010 Leafs 5 @ Capitals 4 (SO)
December 9, 2010 Panthers 3 @ Capitals 0
December 11, 2010 Avalanche 3 @ Capitals 2
December 12, 2010 Capitals 0 @ Rangers 7
December 15, 2010 Ducks 2 @ Capitals 1(OT)
December 18, 2010 Capitals 2 @ Bruins 3
December 19, 2010 Capitals 3 @ Senators 2
December 21, 2010 Devils 1@ Capitals 5
December 23, 2010 Penguins 3 @ Capitals 2 (SO)
“So where are you guys going?” Rochelle asked, standing in the doorway of the bathroom.
I was running my hair through the flat iron, getting it straighter than it already was—bone straight—for my Christmas Day date with Nicky. “The Botanic Gardens.”
“Really?” she said. “Won’t it be tourist infested?”
“I guess,” I shrugged. “We don’t really have a lot of options. There aren’t many places open on Christmas.”
“Just be back in time for dinner, please,” she requested. “I need your help. I want Kristin to just relax.”
Our parents—our dad and step-mom—had gotten into DC from Denver late the night before. I hung out with them while Rochelle, Tanner, and Jaden went to Ashburn to have Christmas Eve dinner with Tanner’s family. Our own family dinner party was in a couple of hours. Our mom and dad had divorced when I was in pre-school and Kristin, our stepmom, really became the mother figure in our lives when I was 6 and Rochelle was 14.
We were definitely still on good terms with our actual mom. She’d never abandoned us but she’d taken more of a secondary role when our dad remarried. Our mom became more of a free spirit, a hippie of sorts, the older she got. Her independence outgrew her family. Usually she was traveling to destination locations during holidays. She recognized that being in a family household was something she wanted for her girls and she even encouraged us to live with our father. Kristin was really good at the small stuff, including helping out with Jaden, so it was no wonder Rochelle wanted her to just chill out and let us handle everything for this visit.
“I’ll be here,” I assured my sister as I unplugged the flat iron.
“That sparkly red nail polish looks cute.”
“Thanks.”
“And the straight hair. And the frilly top,” she went on. “Congratulations, you look like a Christmas present. Nicky’s gonna love it. He’ll want to unwrap you.”
I shook my head at her in the reflection of the mirror before I started applying a matte lipstick. “Shut up, Chelle.”
“Whaaat,” she slurred. “I’m just telling it like it is.”
“Well to be fair, he’s probably not even gonna see what I’m wearing. We’ll probably be wearing our coats the whole time,” I answered.
Rochelle rolled her eyes. “You are just no fun.”
During Christmastime, the US Botanic Gardens had a Season’s Greetings exhibition. There was, of course, a big tree decorated with ornaments. More notably, there were model trains on display and little replicas of the most famous monuments in the nation’s capital. Nicky and I found a quiet place to sit on one of the benches some way away from the featured exhibit. The line to see the model trains was fairly long, and it would have been weird to walk around holding wrapped presents anyway.
For a moment, after we handed each other our presents, we debated who should open their present first. The present I was holding matched my nail polish, sparkly red. It was rectangular, a simple green bow on top. Attached to the bow was a handwritten tag: God Jul, Erin! ‘Merry Christmas’ in Swedish.
“Okay,” I went for the clear tape on the side of the red wrapping paper. “I’ll go first.”
Nicky watched me carefully as I peeled the paper from a black box, similar in size to a brick. I set the paper off to the side before opening the box. When I did, I pulled out a red horse carved of wood. I held it up and saw intricate details in the design. Several other colors were used on the horse’s face and saddle area. It was unique from any other toy horse I’d come across before.
“This is so pretty,” I told my date.
“It’s called dalahäst,” Nicky informed me. “They’re like souvenir from Sweden. Hand carved, then dipped in red paint, then each one is hand painted.”
I smiled. It was very Nicky. Cute and thoughtful. I doubted there were many girls in the district getting the same present as me from the guy they were dating this Christmas. He’d probably had his brother or one of his friends bring it over with them from Sweden in order to give it to me.
“I love it,” I said honestly, kissing his cheek. “I’m going to put it on my desk.”
The grin on his face told me that he was pleased with my reaction.
“Now you have to open your present,” I urged. “It’s actually really silly.”
“More silly than a horse?” Nicky lifted up the present he was holding to his ear and shook it, but it didn’t make a sound. “What is it?”
“Open it.”
His present was rectangular, too. But it was wider and thinner, like a book. I sealed it in wrapping paper with a candy cane design and just wrote his name on one of those premade gift tags with a border and a picture of a snowman off to the side. Nicky ripped off a corner and eyed me curiously before he continued. I could see a pearly white background and the word city written in capital letters just as well as he could. I knew I had to explain.
“I didn’t really know what to get you. I thought I could find a clue online,” I began. “So I went on the CSN Washington website, hoping there was a video of the team saying what they wanted for Christmas. Instead I found an interview with you from October.”
The video of Nicky I found was a three-minute clip of him describing how he felt at home in Washington and what it was like to adjust to speaking English every day since he moved to North America. In the interview he said that he watched a lot of TV, which helped a lot. At one point the interviewer asked him to name shows he liked and he said he was embarrassed because he felt like some of them were ‘girl shows’.
“The interviewer said your choices weren’t ‘girl shows’ unless you were talking about something like Sex and the City,” I went on. “And you corrected her, saying actually you do like that. I was cracking up and I thought it was adorable. So I thought I’d get you my favorite season of Sex and the City.”
Nicky had ripped off all the wrapping paper by the time I finished my explanation. He held in his hands the 3-disc set of Sex and the City: The Complete Fourth Season. He was also sporting a goofy grin on his face.
“Fuck,” he swore, then proceeded to start laughing. I joined in, glad that he saw the humor in the present like I did, and we were both giggling like little kids for a few solid seconds.
When the laughter subsided, I nudged him, “Told you it was silly.”
“Is perfect,” he answered as he set his present down on the bench, going for something in his jacket pocket. “I’ll watch when I’m home alone.”
Nicky produced an envelope from his pocket and held it out to me. “Here’s for Tuesday, before I forget.”
I took the white envelope from him. A slip of paper was stapled to the flap. Backstrom, Nicklas was written at the very top without the umlauts over the appropriate letters, followed by an account number, the date, an opponent, and the number of tickets inside the envelope.
“Thank you,” I answered.
The following Tuesday was the last Caps game before the new year. They were playing the Montreal Canadiens, the team that had ended their playoff run the previous season. When Nicky asked me if I wanted to go, I said I’d see. It turned out that Tanner had that night off, and since it was still winter break, he and Rochelle were down to let Jaden miss bedtime (again) and they would all go with me.
It was a win-win. Jaden would get to go to the game with his family and favorite aunt, and Nicky and I wouldn’t have to worry about him afterward. Rochelle had asked me if I could get the tickets instead of picking them up at Will Call on the night of the game. It was one last Christmas present for Jaden to go along with his new Caps gear he’d gotten earlier in the day.
Nicky took my hand. “Do you have plans for New Year yet?”
“Not really…” I replied. “Why? You’re not gonna be here.”
The Washington Capitals were set to play in the Winter Classic in the afternoon on January 1st. I knew that they would be in Pittsburgh at least two days before.
“Come to Pittsburgh.”
“What?”
“Come to Pittsburgh,” he repeated, squeezing my hand.
“Nicky—”
“It will be fun,” he interrupted.
“Go to Pittsburgh…” I spoke slowly. “Like, just go by myself?”
“You won’t be alone,” he shook his head, “I’ll be there.”
I protested, “You’ll have practice and media stuff.”
“Not the whole time,” Nicky shrugged. “Is not like normal games. Mostly there’s downtime.”
“Would I be going to the big game?” I couldn’t believe I was even considering it. “You’re playing in it. Who would I even go with?”
Quickly I was learning that I really had no local friends—people who were actually from DC. All of my college friends went home for the holidays. Actually, without Rochelle living in Washington, I probably would be back in Denver for the holidays, too. Not having local friends who stayed over winter break meant that my options were limited. I’d never had a problem with it before because Rochelle and I had gotten so close. But it was either her or no one.
I definitely couldn’t ask her to ditch her husband and child to go to Pittsburgh with me just so I could kiss the guy I was seeing when the ball dropped at midnight before the Winter Classic.
“Mike’s friends from Calgary are going,” Nicky responded. “And Stoffe will be there, too.”
It certainly was an interesting thought. I was pretty sociable and I already knew Nicky’s brother. Regardless of the teams playing, I’d seen all of the previous Winter Classic games since the event’s inception. The games were in huge stadiums with much greater capacity than indoor hockey arenas. The atmosphere of 70 thousand people in a stadium watching an outdoor hockey game always looked like a huge party. I would be lying if I said I had no desire to have that experience.
“Is the team having a New Year’s Eve party?” I asked.
I thought back to what Mike said at the last party I went to. Life on the road was definitely familial for any hockey club. Regular game or not, it was still a road trip game for the Caps. They would all be staying together. If they were all partying together then I’d be meeting all of his teammates, too.
“There’s a friends and family skate for everyone after practice, but no party. We’re supposed to lay low since the game’s pretty early the next day,” he clarified. “Only time you’ll be alone is alone with me. Go get dinner or stay in for dinner. Whatever you want.”
“Are you sure that’s how you want to spend your New Year’s Eve?” I wondered. “No party? Just with me?”
“Absolutely,” he answered, adjusting our fingers so that they were intertwined. “I wouldn’t ask if I want different.”
I bit my lip, thinking about all that could happen alone in a hotel room with Nicky over a few days. I would be in Pittsburgh but I wouldn’t even have to see what the city had to offer.
“Will you think about it?” he sighed, mistaking my silence for hesitation.
“I don’t have to,” I returned, smiling as he watched me for approval. “I’ll go.”
“Really?” A new grin spread out on his face. The corners of his eyes even crinkled a little bit. “You will?”
“Yes,” I nodded.
He pulled me into an open mouthed kiss. My eyes fluttered shut and I moved my palms to his cheeks as I kissed him. Dry matte lipstick had been a good choice – otherwise I would have made a mess all over his face. We probably looked strange, stealing kisses on a park bench amidst unwrapped presents and colorful paper. There wasn’t any mistletoe in the Botanic Garden.
“God Jul, Erin,” he whispered after.
I kissed him again, just a short peck on his lips. “Merry Christmas, Nicky.”
December 4, 2010 Thrashers 3 @ Capitals 1
December 6, 2010 Leafs 5 @ Capitals 4 (SO)
December 9, 2010 Panthers 3 @ Capitals 0
December 11, 2010 Avalanche 3 @ Capitals 2
December 12, 2010 Capitals 0 @ Rangers 7
December 15, 2010 Ducks 2 @ Capitals 1(OT)
December 18, 2010 Capitals 2 @ Bruins 3
December 19, 2010 Capitals 3 @ Senators 2
December 21, 2010 Devils 1@ Capitals 5
December 23, 2010 Penguins 3 @ Capitals 2 (SO)
“So where are you guys going?” Rochelle asked, standing in the doorway of the bathroom.
I was running my hair through the flat iron, getting it straighter than it already was—bone straight—for my Christmas Day date with Nicky. “The Botanic Gardens.”
“Really?” she said. “Won’t it be tourist infested?”
“I guess,” I shrugged. “We don’t really have a lot of options. There aren’t many places open on Christmas.”
“Just be back in time for dinner, please,” she requested. “I need your help. I want Kristin to just relax.”
Our parents—our dad and step-mom—had gotten into DC from Denver late the night before. I hung out with them while Rochelle, Tanner, and Jaden went to Ashburn to have Christmas Eve dinner with Tanner’s family. Our own family dinner party was in a couple of hours. Our mom and dad had divorced when I was in pre-school and Kristin, our stepmom, really became the mother figure in our lives when I was 6 and Rochelle was 14.
We were definitely still on good terms with our actual mom. She’d never abandoned us but she’d taken more of a secondary role when our dad remarried. Our mom became more of a free spirit, a hippie of sorts, the older she got. Her independence outgrew her family. Usually she was traveling to destination locations during holidays. She recognized that being in a family household was something she wanted for her girls and she even encouraged us to live with our father. Kristin was really good at the small stuff, including helping out with Jaden, so it was no wonder Rochelle wanted her to just chill out and let us handle everything for this visit.
“I’ll be here,” I assured my sister as I unplugged the flat iron.
“That sparkly red nail polish looks cute.”
“Thanks.”
“And the straight hair. And the frilly top,” she went on. “Congratulations, you look like a Christmas present. Nicky’s gonna love it. He’ll want to unwrap you.”
I shook my head at her in the reflection of the mirror before I started applying a matte lipstick. “Shut up, Chelle.”
“Whaaat,” she slurred. “I’m just telling it like it is.”
“Well to be fair, he’s probably not even gonna see what I’m wearing. We’ll probably be wearing our coats the whole time,” I answered.
Rochelle rolled her eyes. “You are just no fun.”
During Christmastime, the US Botanic Gardens had a Season’s Greetings exhibition. There was, of course, a big tree decorated with ornaments. More notably, there were model trains on display and little replicas of the most famous monuments in the nation’s capital. Nicky and I found a quiet place to sit on one of the benches some way away from the featured exhibit. The line to see the model trains was fairly long, and it would have been weird to walk around holding wrapped presents anyway.
For a moment, after we handed each other our presents, we debated who should open their present first. The present I was holding matched my nail polish, sparkly red. It was rectangular, a simple green bow on top. Attached to the bow was a handwritten tag: God Jul, Erin! ‘Merry Christmas’ in Swedish.
“Okay,” I went for the clear tape on the side of the red wrapping paper. “I’ll go first.”
Nicky watched me carefully as I peeled the paper from a black box, similar in size to a brick. I set the paper off to the side before opening the box. When I did, I pulled out a red horse carved of wood. I held it up and saw intricate details in the design. Several other colors were used on the horse’s face and saddle area. It was unique from any other toy horse I’d come across before.
“This is so pretty,” I told my date.
“It’s called dalahäst,” Nicky informed me. “They’re like souvenir from Sweden. Hand carved, then dipped in red paint, then each one is hand painted.”
I smiled. It was very Nicky. Cute and thoughtful. I doubted there were many girls in the district getting the same present as me from the guy they were dating this Christmas. He’d probably had his brother or one of his friends bring it over with them from Sweden in order to give it to me.
“I love it,” I said honestly, kissing his cheek. “I’m going to put it on my desk.”
The grin on his face told me that he was pleased with my reaction.
“Now you have to open your present,” I urged. “It’s actually really silly.”
“More silly than a horse?” Nicky lifted up the present he was holding to his ear and shook it, but it didn’t make a sound. “What is it?”
“Open it.”
His present was rectangular, too. But it was wider and thinner, like a book. I sealed it in wrapping paper with a candy cane design and just wrote his name on one of those premade gift tags with a border and a picture of a snowman off to the side. Nicky ripped off a corner and eyed me curiously before he continued. I could see a pearly white background and the word city written in capital letters just as well as he could. I knew I had to explain.
“I didn’t really know what to get you. I thought I could find a clue online,” I began. “So I went on the CSN Washington website, hoping there was a video of the team saying what they wanted for Christmas. Instead I found an interview with you from October.”
The video of Nicky I found was a three-minute clip of him describing how he felt at home in Washington and what it was like to adjust to speaking English every day since he moved to North America. In the interview he said that he watched a lot of TV, which helped a lot. At one point the interviewer asked him to name shows he liked and he said he was embarrassed because he felt like some of them were ‘girl shows’.
“The interviewer said your choices weren’t ‘girl shows’ unless you were talking about something like Sex and the City,” I went on. “And you corrected her, saying actually you do like that. I was cracking up and I thought it was adorable. So I thought I’d get you my favorite season of Sex and the City.”
Nicky had ripped off all the wrapping paper by the time I finished my explanation. He held in his hands the 3-disc set of Sex and the City: The Complete Fourth Season. He was also sporting a goofy grin on his face.
“Fuck,” he swore, then proceeded to start laughing. I joined in, glad that he saw the humor in the present like I did, and we were both giggling like little kids for a few solid seconds.
When the laughter subsided, I nudged him, “Told you it was silly.”
“Is perfect,” he answered as he set his present down on the bench, going for something in his jacket pocket. “I’ll watch when I’m home alone.”
Nicky produced an envelope from his pocket and held it out to me. “Here’s for Tuesday, before I forget.”
I took the white envelope from him. A slip of paper was stapled to the flap. Backstrom, Nicklas was written at the very top without the umlauts over the appropriate letters, followed by an account number, the date, an opponent, and the number of tickets inside the envelope.
“Thank you,” I answered.
The following Tuesday was the last Caps game before the new year. They were playing the Montreal Canadiens, the team that had ended their playoff run the previous season. When Nicky asked me if I wanted to go, I said I’d see. It turned out that Tanner had that night off, and since it was still winter break, he and Rochelle were down to let Jaden miss bedtime (again) and they would all go with me.
It was a win-win. Jaden would get to go to the game with his family and favorite aunt, and Nicky and I wouldn’t have to worry about him afterward. Rochelle had asked me if I could get the tickets instead of picking them up at Will Call on the night of the game. It was one last Christmas present for Jaden to go along with his new Caps gear he’d gotten earlier in the day.
Nicky took my hand. “Do you have plans for New Year yet?”
“Not really…” I replied. “Why? You’re not gonna be here.”
The Washington Capitals were set to play in the Winter Classic in the afternoon on January 1st. I knew that they would be in Pittsburgh at least two days before.
“Come to Pittsburgh.”
“What?”
“Come to Pittsburgh,” he repeated, squeezing my hand.
“Nicky—”
“It will be fun,” he interrupted.
“Go to Pittsburgh…” I spoke slowly. “Like, just go by myself?”
“You won’t be alone,” he shook his head, “I’ll be there.”
I protested, “You’ll have practice and media stuff.”
“Not the whole time,” Nicky shrugged. “Is not like normal games. Mostly there’s downtime.”
“Would I be going to the big game?” I couldn’t believe I was even considering it. “You’re playing in it. Who would I even go with?”
Quickly I was learning that I really had no local friends—people who were actually from DC. All of my college friends went home for the holidays. Actually, without Rochelle living in Washington, I probably would be back in Denver for the holidays, too. Not having local friends who stayed over winter break meant that my options were limited. I’d never had a problem with it before because Rochelle and I had gotten so close. But it was either her or no one.
I definitely couldn’t ask her to ditch her husband and child to go to Pittsburgh with me just so I could kiss the guy I was seeing when the ball dropped at midnight before the Winter Classic.
“Mike’s friends from Calgary are going,” Nicky responded. “And Stoffe will be there, too.”
It certainly was an interesting thought. I was pretty sociable and I already knew Nicky’s brother. Regardless of the teams playing, I’d seen all of the previous Winter Classic games since the event’s inception. The games were in huge stadiums with much greater capacity than indoor hockey arenas. The atmosphere of 70 thousand people in a stadium watching an outdoor hockey game always looked like a huge party. I would be lying if I said I had no desire to have that experience.
“Is the team having a New Year’s Eve party?” I asked.
I thought back to what Mike said at the last party I went to. Life on the road was definitely familial for any hockey club. Regular game or not, it was still a road trip game for the Caps. They would all be staying together. If they were all partying together then I’d be meeting all of his teammates, too.
“There’s a friends and family skate for everyone after practice, but no party. We’re supposed to lay low since the game’s pretty early the next day,” he clarified. “Only time you’ll be alone is alone with me. Go get dinner or stay in for dinner. Whatever you want.”
“Are you sure that’s how you want to spend your New Year’s Eve?” I wondered. “No party? Just with me?”
“Absolutely,” he answered, adjusting our fingers so that they were intertwined. “I wouldn’t ask if I want different.”
I bit my lip, thinking about all that could happen alone in a hotel room with Nicky over a few days. I would be in Pittsburgh but I wouldn’t even have to see what the city had to offer.
“Will you think about it?” he sighed, mistaking my silence for hesitation.
“I don’t have to,” I returned, smiling as he watched me for approval. “I’ll go.”
“Really?” A new grin spread out on his face. The corners of his eyes even crinkled a little bit. “You will?”
“Yes,” I nodded.
He pulled me into an open mouthed kiss. My eyes fluttered shut and I moved my palms to his cheeks as I kissed him. Dry matte lipstick had been a good choice – otherwise I would have made a mess all over his face. We probably looked strange, stealing kisses on a park bench amidst unwrapped presents and colorful paper. There wasn’t any mistletoe in the Botanic Garden.
“God Jul, Erin,” he whispered after.
I kissed him again, just a short peck on his lips. “Merry Christmas, Nicky.”
Great story!
11/16/18