I Can't Do It Alone

Tia was over at Jocelyn and Brooklyn’s apartment, getting ready for the charity event. Brooklyn had done her makeup and hair, and she was now looking at herself in the mirror. She smoothed out her pink dress, looking over at Brooklyn with a smile. “Thank you so much,” she told her.

“No problem,” Brooklyn told her. “Um, guys,” she began, looking at herself sideways in the mirror. “Do you think my pregnancy is noticeable?” she asked, putting her hands over her stomach.

“Sorry to break it to you,” Jocelyn said. “But, yes, it’s obvious that you’re pregnant. But, that’s not a bad thing,” she added quickly. “Everyone knows that you and Max are madly in love with each other and are going to have a beautiful baby.”

“No, everyone’s going to think I’m a whore who got pregnant before she was married,” Brooklyn cried.

“Is this one of those times where your emotions are all out of whack?” Tia laughed. “Brook, no one’s going to think you’re a whore. You and Max have been going out for over two years. And, you two are engaged. Besides, don’t worry about what anyone has to say about you.”

“Yeah, if anyone does say anything about you, they’re just jealous that you’re going to marry the man of your dreams, and you’re having his baby,” Jocelyn said with a smile.

“And, if anyone says anything, I’ll totally kick their ass,” Tia assured her. “I’ll take these heels off and I will kick their ass. And, I’ll look good doing it in my pink dress,” she added with a smile.

“Thanks,” Brooklyn said, giving her a hug. “What would I do without the two of you?” she asked as the doorbell rang.

“I’ll go get that,” Tia told them, walking out into the living room. She opened the door, seeing the three men on the other side, and Kris stared at her for a moment, his eyes roaming her body before looking her in the eyes.

“You look gorgeous,” he told her, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you,” Tia smiled. “You don’t look too shabby yourself. Come on in, guys. Brooklyn and Jocelyn are in Brook’s bedroom. Jocelyn’s still trying to calm her down,” she added jokingly.

“Calm her down?” Max asked. “What do you mean?”

“Well, she thinks that everyone’s going to think she’s a whore because she’s pregnant and not married. But, I told her I’ve got it covered because if anyone says one word to her, I’ll kick their ass,” she explained, and Sid laughed at her. She looked over at him. “What?” she asked. “You don’t think I’ll kick someone’s ass if they say something about it?” she questioned.

“Oh, no, I know you will. That’s why I’m laughing. Because I can totally see you getting into a fight with some girl at a charity event,” Sid replied.

“That’s my girl,” Kris laughed, putting his arm around Tia as Brooklyn and Jocelyn came walking out into the living room.

“I hate you,” Brooklyn sarcastically told Max, pointing a finger at him.

“What did I do?” he asked.

“This,” she said, pointing to her stomach. “I just wish I could give you a pillow to stuff under your shirt so everyone knew that you got me pregnant,” she stated.

“Aw, Brook, I’m sorry,” Max apologized, looking at her with his brown eyes, kissing her on the temple. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she told him, kissing him on the lips, and Tia and Jocelyn laughed.

“Are you about ready to go?” Tia asked, interrupting their moment, and everyone nodded, as they all walked out of the apartment and down to the limousine that was waiting for them. “Wow, you guys pulled out all the stops for tonight, didn’t you?” Tia asked, getting into the limo.

“Anything for you three,” Sid replied, and Jocelyn smiled up at him, giving him a kiss.

As they walked into the ballroom for the charity event, Tia clung close to Kris, as her mind raced. She couldn’t help but think that maybe tonight would be the night the stalker would reveal himself. He had said that he was going to come forward soon, and Tia thought that he might do so tonight.

“Is everything alright?” Kris whispered, putting his arm around her as they walked up to Sergei Gonchar, his wife, Evgeni Malkin, and his date. Tia discreetly nodded her head as she said hello to everyone. Kris looked down at her, trying to figure out if she was telling the truth or not, but he let it go as they began interacting with his teammates.

A little while later, Kris and Tia were sitting at a table with Brooklyn and Max, after Jocelyn had finally dragged Sid out onto the dance floor. “He’s hating this right now,” Tia said with a laugh, pointing towards Sid.

“Oh, definitely,” Brooklyn laughed as the song changed.

Tia looked over at Kris. “So, when do I get this dance that you promised me?” she asked him.

Kris sighed, looking Tia in the eyes. “Do we really have to?” he whined.

“Please?” Tia begged, and Kris knew he couldn’t say no to her. He stood up, holding his hand up to help her up, and they walked out to the dance floor.

“Well, this should be interesting,” they heard Brooklyn say. “Sid and Kris both dancing,” she laughed.

Tia spun around to look at Kris, as his hands went around her waist, and her arms travelled up to wrap around his neck. Tia was pleasantly surprised to see that Kris really knew how to dance, as he took the lead and spun her around. “I’m impressed,” she smiled up at him. “Why didn’t you tell me you knew how to dance?” she asked.

“Because I didn’t until just a couple of days ago,” he replied, and Tia looked up at him, scrunching her nose in confusion. “I had someone teach me,” he explained.

“You took dance lessons?” Tia asked. “Why?”

“For you,” he stated. “I knew you wanted to dance, so I figured I wouldn’t embarrass you,” he smiled.

“That’s so sweet,” Tia told him, leaning forward and kissing him. “Thank you.”

***

Kris had been pulled away by Amy, their public relations person, as everyone on the team had, in order to take some pictures. When he went back to the table, he saw Brooklyn and Jocelyn sitting there, but Tia was nowhere in sight. “Hey, where’s Tia?” he asked, sitting down.

“She went to the restroom,” Jocelyn told him. “But, she’s actually been in there a long time. I wonder if she’s sick or something.”

Brooklyn looked down at her watch. “Yeah, she’s been gone for probably ten or fifteen minutes or so,” she stated. “Maybe we should go check on her.”

“Thanks,” Kris said as the two of them stood up and walked towards the bathroom, and Sid and Max took their empty seats.

“Where are they going?” Max asked, looking at the two girls.

“They think Tia’s sick, so they’re going to go check on her,” Kris replied, and Max and Sid nodded.

Two minutes later, Brooklyn and Jocelyn walked back towards the table without Tia. “Is she okay?” Kris asked, nervous that she was really sick.

“She wasn’t in there,” Brooklyn told him. “And, I have no idea where she would have gone.”

“Let me ask around,” Jocelyn said.

“I’ll go with you,” Sid told her, standing up and following her.

Brooklyn sat down, looking over at Kris who seemed extremely worried. “Kris, I wouldn’t worry about her,” Brooklyn told him. “I’m sure she just went out for air or something,” she said. Kris gave her a small smile and nodded his head.

Sid came running back over to the table, and Kris stood up, knowing something was wrong. “Gonch said he saw some guy dragging her out of here by the arm like five minutes ago,” he told them.

“What?” Brooklyn cried.

Kris didn’t waste time responding, as he bolted towards the door, pushing people out of the way, calling a quick ‘I’m sorry’ behind him. He had a bad feeling, and he wasn’t about to let anything happen to Tia.