Rescue Me (Sidney Crosby)

Chapter Twenty Five

"Oh Sidney," I walked into my apartment kitchen and saw the feast that he and Josh had worked on. I saw the flowers in the middle of the table and that the table was set for three. I looked up to see Sidney leaning against the counter smirking and I looked down towards Josh, who was still holding my hand, smiling up at me, "Thank you guys."

"Mommy, Sidney didn't burn the house down!" Josh said and I laughed and then walked over towards Sidney and smiled.

"Thank you," I said as I placed my hands on his chest and reached up to press my lips against his. His hands perched themselves on my hips and then pulled away and kissed my cheek.

"Any time," he whispered as he leaned his forehead against mine.

-Sidney-

Dinner went well, and it was finally time to put Josh to bed. He had fallen asleep sprawled across the couch with his head on Julie's lap as we watched a movie. I laughed as I watched as Julie tried to pick her son up, but that wasn't happening. I stood up and the scooped up her son and walked with Julie to his bedroom. I laid him on his bed and then backed up and watched as Julie tucked her son into bed and kissed his head.

"You're a good mother," I said and she looked up and smiled towards me.

"Thank you," she said and then the two of us walked out of the room and walked back in the kitchen because we were going to do the dishes, "Thank you for all of your help, Sidney."

I looked down towards her and saw that she was looking up towards me, "Of course," she looked towards the ground and then back towards the sink and started to dry some dishes. I watched her and saw that she was getting uncomfortable, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Julie, it's all right," I said and then turned to look at her and placed my hand on her shoulder. She flinched a little and then looked up towards me, "It's all right."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just not use to this. After running for seven years, I got use to not having that home feeling," she said and then I pulled her face up to look at me.

"So, you don't believe this to be your home?" I asked sounding disappointed.

"No!" her eyes wide and she stared at me, I could see tears starting to fall down her pretty face, "I do, that's the problem."

"I don't see a problem," I said and she sighed.

"I'm afraid that I'm going to lose this," she whispered and then I saw her rubbed her arm nervously, "I'm afraid that I'm going to lose you."

I smiled down at her and then captured her lips with my own. I moved my hands to her waist and then picked her up and propped her onto the counter. I pulled my lips away and I'm towards her, "You're not going to lose this, Julie. I won't let you."

She smiled towards me and then I grabbed her hands and laced them with mine. She kissed my cheek and then laid her head on my shoulder.

"Thank you, Sidney," she said and then I looked at her and wiped away her tear stained cheeks and then walked over towards the freezer and pulled out the gallon of ice cream that I had bought for us, "Hello, sugar rush."

I laughed and then watched as she grabbed two spoons and then we walked back over towards the couch and ate the ice cream while flipping through the channels on the TV, cuddled up next to each other.

-Julie-

I woke up the next more sleeping on Sidney's chest, still on the couch and an empty carton of ice cream between us. I shook my head and then stood up and looked at the time to see that it was about seven in the morning. I sighed and then walked back over towards Sidney and stood in front of him, watching him sleep. There was a knock at the door and I walked over and opened it to see a sleepy Tyler standing there.

"Tyler?"

"Is Sid here?" he asked and I nodded my head, "We have morning practice."

"All right, I'll wake him up," I said and he nodded his head and turned to leave. I closed the door and then walked over towards the couch and then plopped myself on the couch next to Sidney and placed my hand on his shoulder, "Sidney."

"Hmmm."

"Come on, you have to wake up," I whispered and he turned his head towards me and opened his eyes slightly. I laughed because he just looked adorable and then I ran my fingers through his hair, "You have practice."

He sighed and then leaned his head back, "I forgot."

"Tyler came and told me to get you up," I stated and Sidney stood up and stretched. I stood up next to him and placed my hand on his chest, "Be careful."

"Always," he said and then bent down and pressed his lips against mine, "I'll see you later."

"All right," I said and then he walked passed me and then went out the door.

I sighed and then walked over towards Josh's bedroom and opened the door to see that he was still sleeping. I smiled and then walked over towards him and shook him a little. Josh woke up and looked at me and I smiled towards him.

"Mommy?"

"Time to get up sweetie, you have school," I said and he plopped back onto the bed.

"Holiday," he said and I looked at him confused.

"Holiday?" I asked and he nodded his head and I saw him going back to sleep, "We'll see."

I walked out of his bedroom and then out of the apartment. I didn't hear anyone moving around downstairs so I walked over towards Mildred and Harold's apartment and knocked on the door. Mildred answered it and then smiled towards me.

"Julie! What's up, sweetie?"

"Is there school today?" I asked confused not seeing Conner up and walking around like he normally would.

"No, it's some kind of teacher in-service today," she said and I nodded my head.

"I must have forgotten, all right, thanks," I said and she nodded her head.

"Sweetie, why don't you take the day off, you've been working so hard. Spend the day with Josh," she said and I smiled and nodded my head.

"Thank you," I said and then walked back over towards my apartment and decided that I was going to shower and get dressed.

-Sidney-

It was about nine in the morning and all of the guys were doing the drills out on the ice. Coach was pushing us like he usually did, and I could tell that the guys were getting a little tired, but were trying hard not to show it. Coach had told us to take a five minute break and we were all catching our breath.

"Your girl's here," Kris said as he tapped my shoulder and I looked to see that Julie and Josh were sitting in chairs behind the home team bench.

I smiled and then skated over towards her, leaning against the poles, "What are you guys doing here?"

"Josh doesn't have school today, teacher in-service, and I wanted to spend the day with him. I asked him what he wanted to do and he said come here," Julie answered and I smiled down towards Josh and ruffled his hair.

"Are you going to let us make a hockey player out of you?" I teased and he laughed and nodded his head, "All right!"

"I think you have practice," Julie said and I turned back towards my team to see that they were waiting for me.

"I'll talk to you after practice," I said and they nodded their heads and I skated back over towards the team.

"Shouldn't the kid be in school?" Pascal asked and I shook my head.

"No school today, some kind of teacher in-service," I said and he nodded his head, "Come on, let's get back to practice."

Practice went on for about another hour and I kept on looking over towards Julie and Josh to see that Josh had his face pressed up against the glass and had a huge smile on his face.

"All right guys, that's it for today!" Coach called and then walked off of the ice.

I skated over towards Julie and Josh and smiled towards them, "You ready?"

I laughed when Josh's face lit up and he climbed under the bars and walked onto the ice. I held onto his hand and we walked over towards the center of the ice where some of the guys were.

"Let's get this party started!" Josh yelled and jumped up and down, almost falling.

We all laughed and Geno held one of Josh's hands, while I had the other.