Miles Away

The telephone ringing woke me up rather harshly. "Come on bro, morning time." Drew said and I peeked at the clock.

"Really Drew, it is five o'clock in the morning." I said as I threw the covers off.

"I know bro, but we have an eight o'clock flight, east coast bound. Homecoming, Richie." I groaned. I wasn't looking forward to playing in Philly. The media was bound to make it an ordeal and aside from Raina and Scotty, I hadn't spoke to anyone there. I still sent my godson truckloads of Kings stuff, but I hadn't spoken to Danny or Claude.

I got dressed and Drew and I hit the hotel restaurant. "So you excited about going back?" he asked. I just laughed.

"Only a little. Not looking forward to the media circus but one of my best friend lives in Philly so I will be glad to see her. Not really sure how the fans will react. Just trying to ignore all the hype and focus on winning the game.

Drew nodded and we finished breakfast quickly.

Hours later, we were touching down in Newark. A quick ride to the hotel and I was relaxing in the room, watching a movie and drinking beer with Drew, Brad and Jack. We were spending four nights in Jersey and then one in Philly so I wasn't in a rush out the door tonight.

We were about twenty minutes into the movie when the desk called up and said I had a visitor who wouldn't give their name. I groaned, knowing it was probably someone from the media and Brad offered to go down.

He came back into the room a few minutes later and smiled. "Dude she is pretty and she said if you don't come down and get her she will kick your ass." I grinned as I ran out of the room. There was only one person I could think of and I knew it had to be her.

I walked up to her and threw my arms around her. She grinned. " What are you doing. Where is my lil babies?" I asked.

"Mike I need some time off, besides they should have been in bed an hour ago. Their father is watching them for once. I will bring them up tomorrow to see you."

I couldn't help but be giddy. "Come on, I have some people I want you to meet." We went back up to the room quickly.

The room got real quiet when we entered. "So guys, this is my best friend Raina." Jack almost fell over himself getting up to take her hand. The guys made asses of themselves for the next ten minutes as Drew flashed me a knowing smile.

"So wow, you know a lot about hockey." Brad commented as we talked about our last game.

"Honey, I live with five people that play. I should." She said and Brad cracked up.

"Wow Richie, she has five brothers, better watch out."

Raina cracked a smile. "I like him, he things I'm young. Actually, my husband plays professionally, my three stepsons and my son all play in peewee."

Brad looked at me confused. "Her husband is in the NHL?" he asked. "Is he a Devil?"

Raina cracked up. "No way Brad, he is a Flyer."

"So who is it. Didn't Mesz just get married?" he asked and Raina shook her head.

"He married my sister in law and besides, I always preferred offense."

He finally caught on. "Ok, Mrs. Briere. I got you."

She leaned back against me and kicked her shoes off. She handed me a envelope of pictures. The guys said their goodbye and Drew was on the balcony on the phone. We sat and looked through the pictures she had given me.

"Wow Rainy, Danny looks just like you. Even more so now. So things are better now?" I asked.

"Not great, but ok. Things are hectic with the boys so I stay busy." she said looking a little down.

We ended up talking for an hour before she got up. "I have to go. The boys have school tomorrow and he has practice. I will be up as soon as I drop the boys off."

As we walked out I asked her to have Danny call me. "Time to close old wounds Raina. No sense in sweating bullshit." She let me know she would and I walked her to the car and gave her a hug. "See you tomorrow baby girl." She waved and I went back upstairs.

Drew came back in from outside. "So that seemed like it went well huh?' I nodded.

"Yeah, things are a little more normal between us now." Drew was pretty good at listening and had basically heard my life story as it related to Raina. He had some good advice and it helped me sort out my feeling for her. He told me I had a complex with her because I felt like I needed to take care of her.

The next morning I got to the rink early. I knew she was coming up early and she was already sitting in the stands, fully decked out in Kings gear with the babies. The media was in full force and most of them stopped to say hi to her. She stood behind the bench smiling and handed Daniel over to me. She held Jolie as we talked and I was amazed at how well the twins were talking.

They were almost eighteen months old and were images of their mother and father.

"Oh so Danny says he will call you later on tonight." He wasn't sure how long he would be at practice today."

I gave her a small smile. "Good, we have to get over this nonsense." She looked adorable in a pair of jeans and a LA t-shirt.

Some of the guys joined me out on the ice and Drew came over. "Look at how freaking cute they are. I love the little "48" chain."

I had to crack up. "Didn't Sid and Geno give him that."

Raina grinned. "Of course. I just saw them a few weeks ago, we all went out. And of course I have access to Maxime all the time now."

We talked for a little longer before practice started. I promised I'd shower quick so we could hang out and get lunch before she had to drive back. The guys gave me a hard time about her of course. I was rushing through a shower and stressing about whether or not they were torturing her. When I came back out I had to laugh. She was sitting with her feet up while Drew and Brad occupied the twins.

"Ready to eat baby girl?" I asked.

She gave me a small smile. "Let's go baby boy."

We ended up just going back to the hotel room and ordering food so the twins could run around. Jolie climbed up on the bed with me after she ate and put her head in my lap. "You know she is gonna crash right" Raina said as she sat down next to me with Daniel against her chest.

"So you are smiling again. That is important Raina." I stated and she leaned her head against me.

"Things aren't perfect Mike, but nothing ever is. Losing you and Kris killed me. It felt like I was losing my own family. Gaining Max has been nice, but it isn't the same. I am just a little lost still without you. Sometimes I think that everything was so rushed with Danny we never really got to know each other. So I'm learning and trying every day to make this work. I have a beautiful family and I'm trying to make things happy for them. I love him, but we weren't ready for the twins. I'm trying to make it work. He is really distant though, ever since the season started. Last season the mood swings were terrible, but this is worse. I don't know what is going on."

I just shook my head and she continued. "We barely see each other, he spend all of his time at the rink and then comes home and goes to bed. I don't even go to practice at all, he never asks me. Even on his off days, he has lost interest. He doesn't even show at the boy's practices anymore. He fakes it when people are around. I don't know."

"I'm sorry Raina. He will come around. You two always work things out." I said and I was hurting inside for her. She deserved better. We sat there in silence for a long time, watching tv. I rubbed her forehead with my thumb and she closed her eyes. Something about her drew me in and before I even knew what I was doing, I kissed her.

Her little hands pushed me back. "Please Mike. I know it isn't fair to you. Everything is so screwed up right now and I don't want to hurt you either. I need to figure stuff out. He is my husband regardless. If you want me to keep my distance, I will do that. I know this is a bad spot for you."

I hugged her. "I'll keep my hands to myself if you promise me that if you decide to leave him you will give me a shot." She nodded.

Drew came in and she called Danny. I heard her side of the conversation. "Seriously Dan, why are they there." she asked and she looked pissed. "I thought practice was at 9 am. Oh really, you are the only person I know that can make a practice on time, but can't pick up the kids on time. I'm leaving, I'll pick them up from her house." She ended the call and shook her head.

"Syl has the boys because he didn't pick them up. I don't get him. I have to head back, I'll see you in Philly ok." I gave her a kiss on the forehead and walked her down to the car.

"Love you baby girl" I said as she drove away.

Notes

Thoughts?