A Second Chance at Love

It was finally our wedding day. I was sitting in Jeff’s living room at his beach house, feeding Daniel while Mike and Jeff struggled to get the boys dressed. A photographer was taking pictures of the chaotic scene and all I could do was laugh. It was crazy, but it was my life. I was anxious to see Raina. I hadn’t seen her or Jolie since yesterday morning and it was killing me. I was nervous, but more so because of the amount of people spectating the wild scene erupting at the house.

Teammates were showing up left and right. The deck was littered with invitees and people had started to get curious. We were easily recognizable down the shore and most people kept tabs on what Jeff did to begin with. Sidney and Evgeni stepped out of a car that had pulled up and the growing crowd collectively started chattering. Mike, being himself, hung over the balcony and yelled “the prince of Pittsburgh has arrived”, causing even more mayhem. I was glad her and Jolie were at a quiet little hotel a few blocks away. Megan had stopped by earlier and said that they were just relaxing, waiting for more of the girls to arrive.

Carcillo handed me a beer as Mike took Daniel off of my hands. He took him out onto the balcony as he talked to Sid and Evgeni. I drank it and talked to Matt and Kris for awhile. We were still in celebration mode from the cup win. Kris was currently trying to convince me that I should have gotten Raina a gift for our wedding. Honestly, I forgot. After we won, the parade was scheduled and last minute things were completed for today. I didn’t have any free time on my hands to actually go out and get her something. Kris started to make me nervous. I ended up asking Mike and he felt the same way I did. Raina wouldn’t care. She wasn’t materialistic.

Finally it was time to head down to the beach. There had to be thirty people in the house. I was trying to figure out how to get the little ones onto the beach without getting too dirty and definitely not getting wet. I just prayed all of this would go off without a problem. It was beautiful out, sunny and warm, with a light breeze coming in off the ocean.

Raina had definitely outdone herself. This was a perfectly relaxed atmosphere. There was a gazebo set up, with white chairs surrounding it. There was a fair amount of people already fairly close to where everything was set up. It looked like most of our guests were on time and waiting patiently for us to begin. Mike handed Daniel off the Kris and approached me. “So you ready for this?” he asked smiling. I just nodded and looked towards the part of the beach she would enter on in anticipation.

People stood as the music started. Danielle walked towards the gazebo, tears falling down her cheeks as she stopped and gave me a kiss. “I love you, and I am so, so happy for you two.”

She took my breath away when she appeared, Max’s arm firmly gripped around hers. She looked perfectly amazing, absolutely stunning. The white dress draped across the sand and I noticed she had white flip flops on underneath and it made me smile. Her hair hung loosely down her back and she had on very little makeup. She grinned at me as Max whispered in her ear. I tried to contain the flood of emotions that were going through me. I couldn’t believe the over the course of one hockey season my life had changed completely. Mike leaned over and whispered to me “Amazing isn’t she?”

I stepped forward and met Max. He leaned over, gave me a hug and said “Now she is your problem” quietly. I cracked up and he handed me her hand. I leaned in and kissed her.

Mike smacked me on the back of the head. “Not yet bro, you have to be patient” and th entire crowd laughed. It was a quick ceremony, Raina cried through most of it, which in turn made me tear up and Mike snicker. The boys cheered loudly when they announced us as husband and wife.

We took pictures on the beach together as a family, with my mom and sister, with her family and with our friends. She elbowed me when we were off to the side alone. “You know how many concealers I had to try to cover the bite mark from last week.” I just smiled and kissed her neck softly. People congratulated us as we headed off the beach and towards a waiting car.

She was holding Daniel and I held Jolie and the four boys followed behind us. A reporter who was doing a story on the beaches at Sea Isle has caught most of the wedding and had asked us how we felt. I looked at Raina smiling as the boys ran past us. “It couldn’t get any better than this.”

Notes

The End, of this one anyway. Thoughts are much appreciated. Look for a story called the Gentle Giant tonight. It features Danny's sister Danielle and the entire Philly makes constant appearances.