Redemption of a Puck Slut: Part II

March 20, 2014

Dear Diary,

My Skype date with Sid went well. He told me in detail about every game they had played since I last talked to him, even though I watch all of his games. He said he framed the two ultrasound pictures I sent him last week. He even set them as the background of his phone.

“Once Flower saw it on my phone he had to show the rest of the guys,” he said smiling. “They all seem really happy for us.”

I wondered how Brandon had reacted to seeing the first ultrasound images of what might be his child/children. I didn’t want to ask Sid; he was too happy and that would only make him suspicious.

“And Duper asked if we were going to name the boy after him,” he added laughing.

“Is he back at practice already?” I asked. I thought he would be out the rest of the season.

“No, but he’s walking without crutches and he wanted to visit. I hadn’t realized how much I missed just having him around in the locker room until he was back and making fun of us like he used to.”

“So are we going to name the boy Pascal?” I asked laughing.

“Umm, I hadn’t thought about it, but if you really want to-”

“No, I don’t. It’s a nice name, but I don’t want to think of Pascal Dupuis every time I yell at my son,” I laughed, “No, I actually really like the name Maxwell. Or Axle; It’s Swedish, and my mom’s side of the family is from Sweden.”

“Really? I didn’t know that. Is that where Zelda came from as well?”

“Yes, that was my great grandmother’s name. And I also like it because of Zelda Fitzgerald. She was F. Scott Fitzgerald’s wife. He wrote The Great Gatsby, but she was a writer too. Kind of.”

“So it wasn’t because of the video game?” He asked smiling.

“What video game?”

“Legend of Zelda? You’ve never heard of that? That game was pretty popular when I was younger.”

“You had time to play video games?” I laughed.

He frowned, “I wasn’t playing hockey all the time; sometimes I did normal things.”

“I don’t know, I picture little Sid playing hockey all the time,” I teased him. “I mean, how else do you get to be that good?”

Sid shook his head smiling. “You know, you’re going to have to be a hockey mom.”

“I think I already am,” I joked.

Sid and I talked for nearly two hours about names and hockey and random stuff. I was so tired after that I fell asleep with my computer in my lap. I guess being pregnant is really tiring.

I hadn’t even thought of telling Sid about seeing Cam. He’s already so worried about me, I don’t need him freaking out about this too.

-

Last night was the first of four home games in Chicago, and also my last four games skating. My doctor said I can’t spin or jump or do anything too physical, so I’m already not skating much anyway. At least I can still coach the ice girls. Because they need it. A lot.

Jon has been very nice to me now that he knows I’m pregnant and have a creepy ex-boyfriend who may or may not be stalking me. He offers to drive me home after practice every day and ends up finding some reason to stay at my apartment for a while. He wants to make sure I’m okay and that Cam hasn’t found out where I live, which is very nice of him.

Tonight he insisted he stay to watch the Penguins game with me. They were playing the Red Wings, ironically the team Chicago had played when I confronted Cam.

“So your girlfriend doesn’t mind you visiting me all the time?” I asked sitting down on the couch next to him, putting the bowl of popcorn in between us.

“No, she knows you’re Sid’s girlfriend, and you’re pregnant. I’m not really into that kind of thing, no offence.”

“None taken. I’d be a little concerned if you were.”

“Some guys really dig that,” he picked up the remote and tried to find the channel the game was on. “Sid doesn’t mind that I’m here, does he?”

“I haven’t mentioned it to him, but I’m sure he doesn’t.” I paused, “Actually, I haven’t told him about seeing Cam, so he might wonder why you’re here. But if he knew he’d definitely be okay with you looking after me”

“Wait, you haven’t told him that your crazy ex-boyfriend is in Chicago and possibly stalking you?”

“No, I don’t want him to worry.”

“I think you should tell him. I know I’d want my girlfriend to tell me if something like that was happening, especially if she was pregnant. And speaking of your boyfriend, he just scored a goal!” He smiled and high-fived me.

“I just don’t want him to worry, or make me go back to Pittsburgh.”

“Why don’t you want to go back? You’re going to have to anyway, I mean once the season ends you’ll have nothing to do out here.”

“I just don’t want have to be around him all the time. I feel like he’s going to be so suffocating, and I’m just not ready for that. And I don’t want to be a distraction,” I said looking down.

“That would be really hard,” he said after thinking about it, “especially with playoffs coming up. But what’s more important, winning or being with your pregnant girlfriend?”

“For Sid? Winning.” I replied rolling my eyes.

“What? No, winning is not that important. Besides, if Sid isn’t playing well that doesn’t mean they’re going to lose. And it might even make him play better, you never know.”

“I hadn’t thought of it like that,” I sighed.

“Where are you planning on having them?” He asked pointing to my stomach.

“I actually don’t know yet, and I probably should. I was kind of hoping to have them in Canada, because then they would be Canadian, but I don’t know how that works. I mean, they’ll spend most of their time in Pittsburgh probably, so maybe they should be American.”

“Or, you could get them a dual citizenship. I’m not sure how that works.”

“Brandon Sutter has a Canadian/American citizenship,” I remarked. “He was born in America, but, he’s Canadian, so he gets to be both.”

“How do you know so much about Brandon?” Jon asked turning to look at my suspiciously.

I blushed, “My cat lives with him.”

“Oh, that’s right. Waffles or something,” he replied laughing.

“Pancake.” I corrected him, still blushing.

Actually, Brandon and I had been talking about that, because regardless of who the father actually was, he was Canadian. And I’m American, so wherever they are born they should be able to be Canadian/American. I personally don’t care if they’re born in the US or Canada, but I think Sid would want them to be born in Canada.

I have been researching dual citizen laws since Jon left.

This is really complicated; I should talk to Sid about it.

Going to sleep now,

Good night!

Emme


_____________________________________________________________


March 26, 2014

Dear Diary,

I am writing this on the plane back to Pittsburgh. The last few days have been very crazy.

I thought about what Jon had said. It may seem like hockey is the most important thing to Sid, but it obviously isn’t. He wouldn’t get mad at me for distracting him or making him worry about my problems, he loves that kind of stuff.

I have a feeling Sid is going to become very domestic once I get back. He’s already insisted that I not clean or bake or do anything that I used to. Once school ends I’ll be pretty bored. Maybe I’ll try knitting or needlepoint. Something one of Jane Austen’s heroine’s would do.

Or maybe I’ll try writing a book or short story. Then I could actually use my college education in the ‘real world.’

Nah, that sounds too hard. What would I even write about?

After the Blackhawks game against the Predators on Sunday Jon asked if I was okay getting home on my own because he had a date with his girlfriend.

“Sounds romantic, have fun!” I said as we parted.

“Just let me know if you need anything!” He said getting into his car.

I laughed and walked out into the cold night to catch the bus. There were still a lot of people around after the game, so I felt pretty safe. I was texting Sid the whole bus ride home and almost missed my stop. I had a craving for chicken soup so I stopped in a little shop near my apartment.

I was sitting at a table next to the window slowly eating my soup, when I looked up suddenly. I probably would not have seen him, because he was walking so fast, but he was directly under a streetlamp. He paused for a second and we made eye contact long enough for me to know he’d recognized me, but then he continued walking. I tried to look after him to make sure he kept walking.

He didn’t even look back. He continued walking with his back to me and his hands in his pockets until he was too far away to see.

As far as I could tell he hadn’t turned down some side street to come back and sneak up on me. Either way, I left as fast as I could. (After finishing my soup of course)

I ran up to my apartment and locked my door with both locks. And then I made sure all of my windows were locked.

I hesitated, and then called Jon.

“I saw Cam. He didn’t stop or try to talk to me, but he might still be in the neighborhood.” I explained, suddenly starting to get emotional.

“Are you okay? Do you need me to come over?” He asked sounding genuinely concerned.

“No, I don’t want to ruin your date. I’ll be fine. I just wanted you to know.”

“I really don’t want you to be alone,” he thought about something for a moment. “Would you be okay with someone else coming over? Like Kaner? I think he lives near you.”

“Patrick? Yeah, I guess,” I looked around my apartment realizing I should clean if I was having someone over.

“Okay. I will call him, but don’t go anywhere or let anyone in unless it’s him.”

I cleaned up a bit and started making dinner. Half an hour later Patrick Kane knocked on my door.

I looked through the peephole to make sure it was him. “Hi, thank you for coming over.”

“Hey, no problem. Jon told me everything. I know I wouldn’t want my pregnant girlfriend alone while her stalker ex-boyfriend was on the loose.”

“I made some food, I didn’t know if you’d had dinner or not,” I gestured to the kitchen.

He smiled, “That would be great.”

We spent the night watching movies and talking until I fell asleep.

Jon came over for breakfast the next morning and the three of us had buckwheat and blueberry banana pancakes.

“Wow, is this what Sid has for breakfast every morning?” Pat asked. “That must be his secret.”

“Are you going to tell him now?” Jon asked.

“Yeah, definitely. Though it’s not like Cam tried to follow me or anything. I think he just happened to walk past me while I was eating. And he looked surprised to see me,” I explained.

I went to practice with them and worked on some homework. It was fun just watching them practice.

-

I called Sid after the Blackhawks last home game, and my last time skating for the season.

When I explained how I’d seen Cam several times in the past few weeks he got very quiet.

“So, I just thought I’d let you know that that was happening,” I said after a minute’s silence.

“Emme, you are getting on the next plane back to Pittsburgh immediately,” he replied sternly. “Why didn’t you tell me the first time you saw him?”

Oh boy. He was angry. “I didn’t want you to worry, and Jon’s been looking after me.”

“Jon? As in Jonathan Toews?” Yup, he was definitely mad. “That is my job to look after you!”

“Sid, calm down. He hasn’t been sending me threatening letters or waiting for me outside my apartment. I don’t think he even knows where I live.”

“And you’re sure he’s in Chicago for work? He didn’t follow you out there?”

“No, but-”

“Emme,” he cut me off. “There is a flight to Pittsburgh in six hours, can you be packed and ready to leave by then?”

“Um, maybe?” I looked around at my few belongings.

“Okay, I bought you a ticket, it’s under my name. Can you handle getting to the airport okay?”

“Yes, Jon can probably help me.”

“Okay. I will be waiting for you tomorrow morning at the airport.”

I called Jon and he came over to help me pack. It didn’t take that long, because I don’t have much stuff. We got the airport on time, and now I am somewhere over Ohio writing this.

It’s such a short flight from Chicago to Pittsburgh I don’t think I’ll have time to sleep.

But once I get to Sid’s house I’m sure I’ll fall asleep fast in his arms.

Sincerely,

Emme

Notes

Suggestions for baby names?