We Are Here and Now

Sidney hated one game road trips the most, he decided. The quick turn around made him more tired than anything else. If he had a say on how the schedule would function, he would make certain that road trips involved more than one stop. He was lost in thought when the plane returning from Carolina landed at Pittsburgh, and was shaken from them by Marc.

"Alright Cappy, get a move on. Its unloading time." Marc nudged Sidney from his seat. "I want to get home to my ladies tonight."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm moving. I wish I could say the same though. Probably one reason why I am moving so slow. I know Ci isn't home tonight." He knew he was rambling on, but he couldn't help it. He had reason to talk about his home life. It involved more than when his next practice would be.

"She staying with her parents?" Marc asked, having been filled in on the details of the texting drama.

Sid nodded. "She will be home tomorrow."

"Did the school give her crap for resigning?" Marc asked as they made their way through the terminal to the baggage claim.

"No. What could they do to her anyways? She feels badly for leaving without telling her students, but she is happy to be away from whatever is going on there."

"Is she still getting texts?"

"No, they have stopped."

"Still, it's fucked up."

"I know. I know she had to be at the police station today, but her parents were driving her down. I haven't talked to her yet to know what all happened there." They got their luggage and made for the lot where they parked for the trip.

"Off day tomorrow, any big plans?" Sid asked when they arrived at their vehicles.

"Nah, laying low with the girls," Marc said.

"Cool, tell Vero I said hi. If Ci is back early enough maybe we can get together for dinner. Bring the family over."

"Alright, sounds like a plan."

"I'll text you in the morning."

"See ya!" Marc said as he got to his car before Sid reached his. When he got settled in he tapped into his Bluetooth and called CiCi. He knew it was late, and she was probably sound asleep, but he hadn't heard from her all day.

After the third ring she picked up and said groggily, "Hey, are you home?"

"Leaving the airport now. Were you sleeping?" He knew she had been just from the way she answered the phone.

"Yeah, but I wanted to hear from you too. I saw you won."

"This was an easy game."

"How's Jordan? Did you see him?"

"I did actually! He's feeling good. He's itching to get back on the ice."

"I can't believe he missed the whole season. It didn't take Stamkos that long."

Sid laughed a little, thinking about this woman who made it a point to learn everything she could about hockey. "Are you laughing at me?"

"You're just cute."

"Why?"

"No reason, you just are. Go back to sleep baby. I'll see you tomorrow when you get home. Oh I invited the Fleurys over for dinner if that is okay."

"You'll have to grocery shop, other than that it sounds like a good time."

"Alright. Sleep. I'll text you when I make it home safely. I love you."

"I love you too!" CiCi said before she hung up. Sid turned off his Bluetooth and selected the CD player to play. He was just curious as to what was in it since he generally drove without music or has the radio on. And he couldn't hold back another laugh when Mumford & Sons blasted through the speakers. No matter how hard he tried, CiCi had been listening to them nonstop as of late when she drove. Apparently in either of their cars.

He didn't turn it off as the music brought some good thoughts of the last two years with CiCi and got lost in singing along to Not with Haste when he realized he was entering his neighborhood. He turned the music down, and made a couple more turns towards his house. He managed to forget how tired he was, but he was now looking forward to sleep.

But when Sid pulled through the gate, which was open, he turned the music off completely. His heart started to race and anxiety set in. He closed the gate when he left the previous day. He was certain of it. He drove around the house to the garage, his phone poised to dial the cops, when his heart slowed minutely. The garage wasn't opened. Why that gave him some relief, he wasn't so sure. He was tempted to call CiCi back to ask if she stopped at home today before heading back up towards her parents' house. He decided against it. He would see her in mere hours and then he would ask. He parked, grabbed his bag, and walked to the door that led into the kitchen.

When Sid reached for the handle, it was unlocked and panic set in once again. He was certain CiCi wasn't that forgetful, and he knew he wasn't either. Why would the door be unlocked? He creaked the door open, noticed a stream of light from the kitchen and immediately dropped his bag in the door and pulled his phone out ready to call the cops.

Sid took a step into the house then turned back and reached for one of his old hockey sticks in the garage. He knew it wouldn't be much by way of protecting him, but knowing he had something that could be used as a weapon have him just enough courage to go further into the house. He creeped around the corner and looked to the left into the open family room off the kitchen. It was dark and as far as he could tell empty and everything was in place. He turned to the right and came face to face with a frying pan.

"I'VE ALREADY SET OFF THE SILENT ALARM! THE COPS ARE ON THEIR WAY!" CiCi yelled from behind the pan.

"Jesus Ci! Put the fucking pan down! What the hell are you trying to do?" Sid yelled back immediately seeing the pan fall and a sheepish looking CiCi standing in her pajamas. She placed the pan on the counter and jumped right into Sid's arms. He hugged her back then pushed her away, holding her at arm's length.

"What the fuck? Why didn't you tell me you were home?" Sid asked visibly upset.

"I don't know, I'm sorry!" CiCi tried to move into his embrace again, but he held her in place.

"The gate was open, the door was unlocked, the light was on. I thought someone broke in here! Where is your car?"

"It broke down."

Sid glared at her waiting for a better explanation.

"At my parents'. The fuel pump went bad."

"The car isn't even two years old."

"I know, it's still under warranty so it was towed to the dealership I got it from and it will be ready sometime Monday or Tuesday. So since my parents were bringing me down here today I told them it would be silly to drive back up there and turn back around tomorrow. They didn't want to leave me, but the detectives have caught the culprits, so I wasn't as scared to be home by myself for a few hours."

"You should have told me, I nearly had a heart attack babe!" Sid eased up on his grip and stepped closer to CiCi, never letting her go fully.

"I'm so sorry! I was sound asleep when you called that I didn't grasp fully what was going on. Then I must have fallen back to sleep and woke up again because when I decided to come get a drink I thought I had just hung up with you."

"Obviously not. Why was the gate left open?"

"Dad must have forgotten to close it when they left. I didn't think to look and close it from here."

"And what were you going to do with the frying pan?"

"Hit the intruder in the face with it."

"Oh good. I'd have lost all my teeth again."

"Hey! It was better than a hockey stick. If I were an intruder I think getting a sting from a flexible stick wouldn't stop me."

"Alright, smart ass. Why were you down here anyway?"

"Thirsty."

"You don't have a drink."

"No, I don't. I was about to reach for a bottle of water when I heard the door creaking open. So I grabbed the pan off the rack and was winding up to smash your teeth in."

"I especially liked the 'I set off the silent alarm', nice touch."

"I didn't have my phone nearby! I had to think of something."

"It was clever babe, good work."

"Thanks," CiCi said and spun out of Sidney's grasp, "Where is your bag?"

"Inside the garage." CiCi went to grab the bag without question and carried it to the laundry room.

"I'll do that tomorrow. Now, I want you in bed."

"Can we talk a minute? You said they got the guy?"

"There were three responsible. All students and all got expelled already."

"That's it?"

"Sam got a paid suspension for allowing students to get that personal with him."

"How do you know that?"

"He called me."

"Oh."

"He felt so badly for everything, and he figured since the students were caught it was safe to call me."

Sid nodded his head, but kept his lips shut tight with a small scowl on his face. CiCi studied him as he turned his back and walked towards the steps. She secured the garage doors, shut off the lights in the kitchen and followed behind him. She was somewhat surprised by his reaction to her telling him about Sam. She caught up to him halfway up the stairs. "Are you okay?"

"Just tired."

"No, Sid." She caught his elbow to stop him and he spun around to look down at her.

"What Ci?"

"I know something is bothering you. Talk to me."

"I just...it's like this..." Sid stuttered. But he couldn't finish what he was saying. Instead he pulled her up to his step and captured her lips in an almost possessive manner. CiCi was surprised by Sid's actions, considering he had no reason to feel jealous or possessive of her. What turned her on even more was knowing that he was jealous of someone showing an interest in her. She liked how the roles were all of a sudden reversed and that he could feel how she felt almost every time they were out in public together. It didn't matter how many times he assured her that the feelings weren't reciprocated, she still felt jealous.

Sidney didn't stop and managed to gently push CiCi against the banister. That was when she felt him, his heart racing, his grip on her hips tightened, and his knee pushing between her legs as he ground against her. She moaned when she felt his arousal and managed to gasp for air when he broke away from her lips and started for her neck and collarbone.

"Babe, let's go to our room," CiCi managed to say between quiet moans and loss of breath. She felt Sid nodding his head as though he understood, but he didn't make any sudden move to go in that direction. "Did hearing that Sam called me get you jealous?"

"Fuck him," Sid said as he dragged his teeth along the sensitive skin at the top of her breasts.

"It's hot how possessive you're being," CiCi tugged at Sid's dark curls so he would lift his face to look at her. "Do you have any idea how hot you're being?"

"He needs to lose your number."

"Babe!"

"No, approved list of men who can call you: Joe, Dad, Tom, Derrick, and Geno."

"Just Geno?"

"All the other guys have girlfriends or wives who call you instead."

"Seriously, this being possessive is turning me on like you wouldn't believe."

Sid backed away slightly, "I'm sorry. I don't know how to handle being jealous. I don't like it. I'm always in control of the situation, and this makes me feel like I'm not."

CiCi reached out and brushed her fingers along Sid's plump lips. "I'm going to assure you that you have absolutely nothing to worry about. You've got me."

Sid laughed at the absurdity of the situation and that CiCi was throwing his own words back into his face. "Now take me to bed and show me how possessive you can be!"

*****
"That never happens," whispered CiCi to Vero the following evening. They were sitting in the kitchen waiting for the Mexican lasagna to finish baking in the oven.

"Never?" Vero asked incredulously. She grabbed a pepper stick and took a bite as CiCi checked the oven. It wouldn't have been her first choice, but Sid requested it. She just hoped she did her mother's recipe justice.

"Never." CiCi turned towards her friend and slumped in a chair across from her.

"I wouldn't be concerned. He was just getting in from the road trip," Vero shrugged it off.

"He was so ashamed that he was out of bed before I woke and had a workout in, made a list for the grocery store and was showering to get to the store and back before it was too busy." CiCi recalled how Sidney avoided her most of the morning until she requested to go with him to the grocery store. Then he couldn't avoid her anymore.

"You didn't laugh or anything, did you?" Vero asked.

"No! Of course not!" CiCi would never have dreamt of it either.

"This morning is completely a pride thing. He's under a lot of stress with the season winding down and everything else personally."

"But he never lets stress get to him. He's amazing under pressure, so the hockey season isn't bothering him." CiCi worried.

"Well, what happened before you two attempted to do the nasty?"

"He was acting completely jealous over me mentioning my old coworker."

"Now THAT may be why he responded the way he did." Vero pointed at CiCi as though they just nailed it.

*****
"Have you ever not been able to, you know, perform?" Sid flopped against the overstuffed chair in the entertainment room in the basement. He watched as Estelle flipped through a book on the floor paying no attention to the cartoons on the large television screen. Marc was stationed in an identical chair completely absorbed by "Lilo and Stitch."

"I don't follow." He barely looked over at Sid, still focused on the various aliens appearing on screen.

"Have you ever had problems with keeping the soldier erect?" Sid asked finally getting Marc's attention. He looked over at his friend and realized Sidney meant.

"Oh fuck, I can't believe you just said that!" Marc broke down and giggled making Estelle laugh too.

"And I can't believe you just said the f-word in front of a very impressionable toddler." Sid watched Estelle as she stood up and walked over to the diaper bag for a new toy to entertain herself.

"Eh, it won't be the last time. Back to what you were asking. Are you having a problem?" Marc glanced over at his daughter then turned back to Sid.

"Last night was the only time I have ever been unable to perform. Don't tell any of the guys that, please," Sid begged. He didn't need that to go around the locker room.

"Wow. No, I won't. You alright?" Sid could tell Marc was being completely sincere.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Sid got slightly defensive.

"Because let's face it, you've got the cream of the crop girlfriend wise. She probably could be a supermodel if she wanted." Sid blushed at Marc's declaration. He knew the guys razzed him for how beautiful CiCi was, but he knew at that moment Marc wasn't being an ass, but entirely honest. Even if it wasn't the most eloquent way to say it.

"She is beautiful," Sid admitted with a half smile.

"Are you attracted to her anymore?" Marc asked.

"Of course I am! She owns any room she walks into and she doesn't even realize she does. She is amazing at anything she puts her mind to, and I'd be crazy not to be turned on by that." Not to mention she still gave him butterflies when she looked at him.

"Maybe you're tired." Marc shrugged his shoulders having nothing good to come up with.

"I was just as tired the last time we slept together, didn't stop me then." Sid knew it wasn't his exhaustion. He was in peak physical condition. On any other night he was able to play thirty plus minutes in a game and come
home to sate his girlfriend.

"How often do you guys do it?" Marc asked, honestly curious.

"I don't know, a couple times a week." Sid never kept track, but he knew he and CiCi had sex more frequently than the average couple.

"And how is she not freaking pregnant? Better? I didn't say fuck." Marc laughed at his own attempt at a joke.

"She can't have kids. She doesn't have the parts." Sid knew that wasn't the best way to explain all the trauma CiCi had gone through, but he was talking to Marc. Not his mom.

"Whoa, what? News to me! Now if that got spread around the locker room then everyone would suspect homosexual." Marc chuckled at his new attempt at a joke.

"Oh for the love of God, she had surgery to have everything removed over a year ago! She had complications. You don't remember her being sick in the hospital?" Sid was flabbergasted, he knew Marc was aware of CiCi's situation. This wasn't the first time they talked about it.

"I was losing a lot of sleep then and not for the reasons why you lose sleep now." He looked pointedly at the little girl tearing the diapers out of the bag.

"Yeah, I know." Sid bit back a laugh as he watched Marc tell Estelle to stop, she sit and pout for being put in her place and he clean up the mess she just made.

"Let's look at it this way, what could have caused this," Marc said as he placed the diaper bag up out of the little girl's reach.

"I got really mad at her when I got home over stupid stuff. She left lights on and doors and gates open. But I thought she wasn't even here."

"Angry sex is always a good time," Marc reasoned.

"But then I wasn't angry. I was scared of losing her." Sid finally admitted it. He was scared that CiCi would get tired of his lifestyle and look for someone who was around more than he could be.

"That's ridiculous! Why?" Marc interrupted Sid's thoughts.

"Because she was talking about her old coworker," Sid revealed quietly. He waited for the words to sink in when he finally looked at Marc who was wide-eyed at his captain.

"You were jealous," Marc concluded.

"Yeah." Sid was ashamed for it, he had no reason to be.

"You really are human." And that one statement made by his longtime teammate and friend made Sid feel a bit better about how he acted and reacted since returning home the night before.

*****
"The coworker. Is he good looking? Are you attracted to him?" Vero asked as she finished slicing up some garnishment for the salad.

"He's goofy cute. Like a theater geek. Nothing like Sid. I still get heart palpitations when I see him do something as simple as lift a grocery bag." CiCi pulled a bottle of wine out of the wine cooler and searched for a corkscrew.

"You totally hurt his pride. I don't know why or how, but he's sad," Vero reasoned as she finished tossing the salad and secured the Tupperware lid.

"You don't think he is getting tired of me, do you?" CiCi asked. She could see that happening. How could he not get bored? His closest friends have kids and families and are adaptable to the hockey lifestyle. Until three days ago, she wasn't so much.

"Why? You've been dealt a somewhat shitty hand as of late, but it's by no means a reflection of your character. He knows that and he adores you."

CiCi poured the women each a glass of wine and passed Vero her glass. Then she took a sip of her own before she expressed what she was thinking. "So how should I show him that he has me?"

*****
"So I'm ready to marry this girl," Sid revealed. He hadn't told anyone but their parents this, but he trusted Marc.

"I don't think jumping into a marriage is what you should be doing if you are insecure in this relationship," Marc said.

"I'm not insecure! I am telling you she is it. I want her for the rest of my life. I already spoke with her parents."

Marc listened and gathered that no matter what he said Sid wasn't going to listen. But all the vets agreed, they knew CiCi would eventually become a Crosby. "Then we need to figure out how to execute a proposal man."

Notes

Thanks for all the new subscribers! Glad you are loving Sid and CiCI! Well, what do you kids think? I'm getting nothing on this end.

On a side note, I'm super excited for Thursday! And I am going to Toronto on Saturday for the game there! (We do this every year, it's usually later than the second game of the season though!) Anywho, Let's Go Pens!