The Diary of an Unintentional Puck Slut

December 28, 2014

Dear Diary,

Okay, so when Caeleigh said she’d pick us up at the airport, she meant she’d send Dougie to do it so she could have sex with her boyfriend. And the worst part was they hadn’t even finished by the time we got to their apartment.

But Dougie was very nice about meeting us at the airport and helping us get the twins strapped into the car (he is so adorable with babies, omg!). But once we got back to their apartment it got awkward. It was very obvious what was happening, and Brandon and I exchanged awkward/nervous glances. Dougie banged on Caeleigh’s door, “Guys, come on!”

He looked a little embarrassed, and invited us into the living room. Caeleigh was right; it does have an excellent view of the Charles River and from what I could see it was pretty close to the Garden too. Brandon and Dougie talked about hockey stuff for a few minutes while I attended to the twins until Caeleigh and Freddie emerged from her bedroom, still doing up buttons and fixing their hair.

“Hey! How was your flight?” Caeleligh asked casually, as if she hadn’t just been having loud sex down the hall from us.

“It was okay, as good as a cross country flight with two babies can be,” I replied, exchanging glances with Brandon.

“Awww how are my little babies?” She picked up Ellie and cradled her so she could look at her face. “I swear you’ve gotten bigger since I left.”

“Yeah, they’re babies, they grow pretty fast,” I replied, realizing Erik had said the same thing when he saw Ellie the day before.

“And what are you wearing, little girl?” Caeleigh asked, holding Ellie up to inspect her shirt. “Is this a Hurricane’s jersey?”

Dougie and Freddie started to look a little confused and I tried to figure out a way to explain it without having to actually tell them.

“Yeah, I used to play for them,” Brandon said, saving me from an awkward explanation that would probably have resulted in me just telling them about Erik (I’m really bad at keeping secrets, oops. At least no one with the Sharks knows about it. Well, except for, you know. I’m getting side tracked, I’ll get back to that later.)

Teddy was crawling around on the floor and ended up under the Christmas tree somehow, but it was so cute! However, seeing Caeleigh and Freddie holding Ellie was…. weird, cute, adorable, and so ridiculously real. It’s like it was meant to be. They looked so happy and she’s so natural with the twins, I had to take a picture. It’s the lock screen on my phone now. (That reminds me of another picture, last Christmas, with Sid and I and little baby Flower at the Pen’s family skate….)

But that’s depressing, and sad, I don’t need to talk about that.

We had to leave at 2:30 in order to get to my mom’s house in time for the Christmas Eve church service. I was sad to leave Caeleigh, and she promised to visit whenever Freddie got called up (which she was sure would happen soon). We got the twins strapped back in the car and Brandon insisted I drive because ‘I know the roads better.’ That’s true, but I still hate driving in Boston. It’s scary. But we got on to rt. 93 okay and from there it was about two hours until we arrived at my mom’s, or Nana as she refers to herself now.

Cliff, Maria, and little Burgundy were already there when we arrived. There was about three or four inches of snow on the ground and it looked so beautiful! I hadn’t really noticed it until we were pulling into the driveway, but Brandon was kind of nervous. He wouldn’t admit it, of course, but he was nervous about meeting my brother, his wife, and seeing my mom again. While I had been overwhelmed by the amount of Sutter’s I had to meet last summer, this was kind of the opposite. There were only five of us, and three babies, which made it harder to blend in. And the Czech foreign exchange student staying with my mom, Petr. Petr, or Pete as his American classmates call him, was actually pretty cool. He’s a huge hockey fan, so he was excited to meet Brandon. He asked Brandon if he knew Tomas, and we both laughed and told him as many fun stories about Tomas that we could think of.

Not only was Brandon meeting some of my family for the first time, he was seeing the small community I had grown up in. Everyone in church knows me and my family, and while we tried not to stand out, we were ‘that annoying couple who had a crying baby in church.’ Except we had three, and they seemed to take turns having issues and being loud. We sat in the back so it would be easier to leave quietly, but it was still embarrassing.

After the service was over, we visited my father’s grave and left a wreath on it, like we have every Christmas since 2009. My mom got emotional again about how he wasn’t going to meet his grandchildren, and how they’ll grow up without a grandfather. And, sadly, all I could think of was how Elli was going to have to grow up without her father, and Eric could only watch her instead of being an active part of her life.

…..ugh I don’t want to talk about Eric right now… I’m mentally working up to that….

Christmas morning was amazing. My mother made buckwheat blueberry banana pancakes, because she’s the one I learned that recipe from, and Brandon just laughed. I realize how ironic it is now, that I make breakfast for guys I’ve slept with, using a family recipe. Kind of gross actually.

But opening presents was really fun for the twins and Burgundy. They didn’t really care, but they only cried a few times, which was nice. Brandon and I got everyone Sharks’ things, because we are flying them all out in February to watch a few games. (We even got Tomas to sign a jersey for Petr, because my mom called us a few days before we left for home and said he had been asking her about Tomas, and if we knew him) (it’s really cute, actually)

Petr is very much looking forward to meeting Tomas this February, and I’m pretty psyched about it too! Just to see his reaction, and Tomas’ cute smile!!!! : )

Sadly we had to leave that night so Brandon could be back in San Jose for practice the next day : (

Okay. Now for Erik.

(I’m going to cry while writing this, I know I will)

The Canes got to San Jose on the 22nd, the night before their game. So of course, I invited Erik over for dinner. And to see Ellie. The look on his face when he first saw her was heartbreaking. It was like someone had taken everything he loved away from him, but told him he could spend on last night with it. And he spent the entire night with her. She fell asleep in his arms, and he curled up on the couch in the nursery with her. I’m not sure how well he actually slept, but every time I got up to check on the twins, he was still with her.

He left for practice in the morning, but came back before the game to spend more time with her. While Brandon was at practice, I sat with Eric and Ellie for a while. He said he had gotten her something for Christmas, a tiny E. Staal Canes jersey, #11. He carefully put it on her and set her on his knee, admiring her light blonde hair and blue eyes.

“She’s beautiful,” he said quietly and I leaned on his shoulder, wrapping my arm around his waist. I could tell he just needed a hug, and I wouldn’t have even known what to say to him anyway.

Yup, I’m crying again. (I knew this would happen).

It was really hard watching that game, and I was kind of hoping the Canes would win (just for Eric) but it ended with a Sharks win 3-2. At least it was close.

The Cane’s left after the game, so I didn’t get to see Eric again. But I have that tiny little Canes’ Jersey, with his name on the back, to remind me of everything; of his sad, lost, forlorn expression, mixed with the sheer joy of seeing his daughter.

I don’t know how he does it, or how he keeps this a secret from everyone, mostly from his family. I feel like it’s going to fall apart one day. If his wife finds out she’ll leave him, and then he’ll have nothing.

Well, there’s someone who knows now that shouldn’t know. I mentioned this earlier, but during the Canes/Sharks game, I got kind of emotional. I had been watching the game up with the wags, like I usually do, but I left a little earlier than I normally would for ice girl things. I sat in the hallway near the locker room after putting my skates on and just started crying. I don’t really know what triggered it, but I was sobbing. Adorable Tomas Hertl left the game a little early for a minor injury (he was fine, ended up playing the rest of the game and scoring a goal) but he saw me crying and sat down next to me.

“Are you okay?” He asked as I tried to dry my tears without messing up my makeup.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just a little upset about this game,” I replied.

“Is it because we’re tied 2-2?” He asked, sounding so innocent.

“No, it’s…. a little more than that. I used to skate for the Canes, and Brandon played for them a few years ago,” I lied, and he could tell I was lying.

“Is that how you met?”

“No, we met in Pittsburgh. But when I was in Carolina last season, I became close friends with Eric Staal, and seeing him here, playing against Brandon, is weird because they’re also friends,” I realized I was rambling, and even though English is not his first language, he could tell I was hiding something.

“So you and Eric are… are you having an affair?” He whispered and looked around to make sure no one could hear us.

“No, nothing like that. Well, a little bit like that, but it’s more complicated,” I looked over at his cute, adorable confused face and realized he probably wouldn’t tell anyone. And, I thought maybe talking to someone about it might help. Someone other than Brandon, or Caeleigh. “This is going to sound weird, and don’t ask how it happened, but one of the twins is not Brandon’s, it’s Eric’s.”

He was quiet and stared at me for a minute before slowly nodding his head. “I’d heard you used to date Crosby, and now you’re with Brandon, I didn’t realize there were…more.”

I laughed. I should have been upset, but he was so cute when he was confused. “Yeah, ‘more,’ you don’t even know half of it, but that’s all behind me now. I’ve got Brandon, and the twins, and we’re with the Sharks now, so everything’s going pretty well.”

I smiled at him, and he hesitantly smiled back, so I leaned over to give him a friendly peck on the cheek (he was so cute, how could I not?) We heard the rest of his teammates coming down the runway toward the locker room, so he got up to join them.

So, Tomas knows my secret, and I think it’s safe with him.

Sincerely,

Emme

______________________________________________________________________

January 5, 2015

Dear Diary,

Does that say 2015?!?! Yes it does!!! Wow I can’t believe it’s the New Year already!!! 2014 was sooo long and crazy, I’m not even going to try to recap it.

To celebrate New Year’s, the Sharks had a family skate before their 1:00 game on the 1st against the Canucks. I was very excited to bring the twins in their cute Shark’s jerseys and all of the players’ wives/girlfriends wanted to hold them.

There was one girl I didn’t recognize, and I still haven’t figured out who it was. At first I thought maybe she was with Tomas, because I thought I heard her saying ‘Tom’ or something, but I asked him and he said he still doesn’t have a girlfriend. She definitely was not Logan’s girlfriend, because I saw him flirting with someone (I think she was Thornton’s niece? I’m assuming she’s at least 18, because she’s going to college in LA, either way, Logan’s in trouble with Jumbo…). Tomas didn’t know who she was, and of course Brandon doesn’t gossip with his teammates about their girlfriends, and the ice girls didn’t know.

I haven’t seen her since, but she was definitely someone’s girlfriend, and not a relative. And I am determined to find out who she is.

Sincerely,

Emme

P.S.: I should find Tomas a girlfriend. I don’t know any girl’s his age. That might be a problem.

Notes

So, Penguins are out of the playoffs and there are many trade rumors. Not cool.
That's pretty much my mood right now.

Did you like the letters last chapter, instead of the diary entry? I might do that again, it's a good way to tell Caeleigh's story without Emme sounding repetitive or creepy for writing about her friend in her diary haha.

But anyway, feedback, suggestions, whatever- Thank you for reading, and thank you for subscribing/voting!!!