I Could Rest Beneath Your Smile

Kris held Elise in his arms as he began telling her all about the Penguins road trip, which he had just gotten home from a few hours ago. He was now over at Brooklyn and Max’s house, along with Tia and Jocelyn, playing with the kids. “You know she doesn’t understand anything you’re telling her, right?” Jocelyn asked him with a laugh.

“Are you joking?” he questioned. “She is so her father’s daughter, meaning she was born with a hockey brain. Of course she understands everything that I’m telling her,” Kris said, going back to talking to Elise.

“You know, I can’t wait until you have kids of your own,” Jocelyn said without thinking as Tia looked over at her from beside her. The two of them took a few steps away from everyone else, trying to have some privacy. “You’re still not sure if you want to have any kids?” Jocelyn asked her, looking over at Kris. “Seriously, look at him. This is how he is with one of his best friend’s kids. Can’t you just imagine him when it’s his kids?”

“I know,” Tia sighed. “And, you know, I really am considering it.”

Jocelyn’s eyes went wide. “Really?” she asked excitedly. “You’re considering having kids now? Tia, you and Kris are going to be the best parents in the world!”

“Hold on a minute,” Tia told her. “Kris and I haven’t made a definite decision. I mean, we’re not even engaged yet, let alone married. And if, and that’s a big if, we do have children, I am going to be married to him first,” Tia promised.

Jocelyn beamed at her. “You two are going to be amazing parents,” she told her just as there was a knock at the front door. Brooklyn walked over to it, opening it up to see Sid standing on the other side. “Hey, I was wondering when I was going to see you,” Jocelyn smiled at him, walking over to him and giving him a kiss. She had told him she would meet him at the airport or at the very least his apartment, but he had told her to stay with Brooklyn and Max, along with the children, and he would meet her there.

“God, I’ve missed you,” Sid told her, giving her another kiss.

“Okay, you two need to get a room,” Tia joked.

“Oh, like you’re one to talk,” Jocelyn retorted.

“Hey, Kris and I keep it in the bedroom,” Tia argued, and Jocelyn conceded.

“Max, I need to talk to you for a minute,” Sid said, walking over to Max, who looked at him curiously.

“What’s going on?” Brooklyn asked, looking up from where she was feeding Noah. “Is everything okay?” she asked worriedly.

Sid looked over at Max, almost as if to silently ask him whether he should tell him in front of Brooklyn or not. Max nodded his head, wanting to know exactly what was going on. “So, I heard Daniel talking on the plane about how he was going to try to get you benched,” Sid began.

“Yeah,” Max interrupted him as Jocelyn, Tia, and Kris made their way over to where everyone else was standing, wondering what they were talking about. “He was angry that I left in the middle of the trip, and he told me that if I did leave that he was going to have me benched,” Max told him.

“Can he do that?” Kris spoke up. “Bench you? I mean he’s the GM’s assistant. It’s not like he’s the coach,” he argued.

“Apparently he can,” Sid answered, and everyone turned to look at him. “I heard him talking to Coach, and he was pretty adamant about benching you. Coach kept saying that he wasn’t going to do it since you’ve been so hot lately and everything, but Daniel must have said something because before long, I heard Coach saying that he was going to have to bench you.”

“What?” Brooklyn exclaimed. “Because he came home to be with his sick daughter? What kind of messed up people do you have working for your organization?” she questioned.

“I don’t know, but hopefully it was all a misunderstanding,” Sid said, and everyone nodded in agreement.

***

“So?” Brooklyn asked nervously as soon as Max had walked inside the house. He had been called in by Coach Bylsma a little while ago, and he was just getting home from the meeting. “Are you getting benched?” she asked, biting her bottom lip as she waited for the answer.

Max simply nodded his head sadly, and Brooklyn’s heart dropped. She felt partially responsible for him getting benched, and she wondered if she had made the right decision in calling Max and telling him about Elise. She watched as he silently walked back to the bedroom, and Brooklyn sighed, wondering what to do for him.

She slowly walked back to the bedroom, quietly opening the door to see him sitting on the bed, staring at the floor. She knew he was upset about being benched, not that he would say anything about it to her, knowing she would feel guilty. “I’m sorry,” Brooklyn spoke, and Max turned his head around to look at her.

“For what?” he asked her.

“For you getting benched,” she clarified. “If I hadn’t have called you and told you about Elise, then you wouldn’t have come home, and then you wouldn’t have gotten benched,” she explained.

“Brooklyn,” Max began, standing up and walking over to her. “You are not to blame for this,” he assured her. “And, I wanted you to call me if anything happened to Elise or Noah. I would have been angry if you hadn’t have called me. And, if I had to redo it all over again, I’d do the same exact thing. Like I’ve told you before, you and the twins mean more to me than anything else, and that includes hockey.”

“Max, I love you,” Brooklyn told him, and a smile formed on Max’s face. He still couldn’t get enough of hearing her say those words to him. Since they had finally made up, they had begun going to counseling, and they had started to express their love and their feelings for each other more often.

“I love you, too,” Max replied, leaning over and giving her a sweet kiss. “And, don’t blame yourself for me getting benched. It’s not your fault. I’m just going to get through these next five games, and then I’ll be playing again.”

“Five games?” Brooklyn questioned. “How is this fair at all?” she asked. “Seriously, all because you left the team to be with your family who needed you more? Any other team would have been fine with you doing that. Why are the Pens being like this?”

“It’s not the Pens,” Max corrected her. “It’s Daniel. Coach understood why I had to leave, and he was fine with it. He told me I should have taken as much time as I needed. He knew that Elise and you guys needed me more. Daniel’s a douche, though,” he continued. “And, he has no sympathy for anyone. It’s no wonder that he’s still single,” he muttered.

“Still, five games?” she repeated.

“Well, I guess I can go to the games with you and we can sit in a skybox,” Max told her. “We’ll spend some quality time together.”

“Ironic, isn’t it?” Brooklyn asked. “The fact that they’re benching you for coming home to your family, and now you’re going to be spending more time with your family,” she said with a laugh.

“You won’t hear me complaining,” Max said, happy to finally be back with his family and not fighting with Brooklyn anymore. “I love spending time with you three.”

“Aww, listen to you being all sweet,” Brooklyn said sarcastically.

“You know you love it,” Max smiled.

“Yeah, I do,” Brooklyn agreed, kissing him.