I Could Rest Beneath Your Smile

“Mom!” Elise yelled at the top of her lungs, and Brooklyn ran out of the kitchen, where she was trying to make breakfast, to see what all the yelling was about. She looked at the ten-year-old twins, wondering what had happened this time. “Tell Noah to give me my skates back! He hid them somewhere, and he knows I need them for my game today!” she exclaimed.

Brooklyn sighed, and opened her mouth to scold Noah before she heard Max come out from the bedroom. “Noah, give your sister her skates back,” Max told his son. “And, just for that, you now have to sit with your mom and me at the game today.”

“What?” Noah cried. “That’s not fair! I was going to sit with Jake since his parents are making him go to watch his sister!” he exclaimed, referring to his best friend, Jake Matthews.

“That’s what you get for hiding Elise’s skates,” Brooklyn said, backing Max up. “Now, go get them and give them to her. And, then go get your brothers and tell them breakfast is ready. Hurry up! We have to leave in a half an hour,” she told him, and Noah ran up the stairs to go get his two little brothers, six-year old Brandon and four-year-old Nathan.

“So, you ready for the game?” Max asked Elise as they sat down at the kitchen table, getting ready to eat.

“Yeah,” Elise answered, nodding her head. “Rebecca’s going to be in net today,” she said, referring to her cousin, Sid and Jocelyn’s eight-year-old daughter, Rebecca, who played on Elise’s hockey team. “So, we’ll get a win for sure. I don’t get why they don’t have her play all the time. She’s the best on the team!”

“They have to give everyone a chance to play,” Brooklyn told her. “And, they have three goalies on the team. That’s why Rebecca plays in the other league, too.”

“I know, and she loves it. Next year, can I try out for that team, too?” Elise asked as Noah, Brandon, and Nathan ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, Noah throwing Elise’s skates on the floor next to her.

“Sure,” Max answered Elise as they all sat down for breakfast.

Just as they were finishing up, the doorbell rang, and Elise ran to go get it, saying that she knew it was Rebecca. Rebecca and Elise had always been extremely close, having obviously grown up together and always being on the same hockey teams, even though they were two years apart. They were each other’s best friend, and Brooklyn figured they would continue to be as they grew up.

Just as Elise had predicted, Rebecca stood on the other side of the door, already clad in her hockey gear, minus the skates, and she ran into the house, going up to Elise’s room with her. “Hey, guys,” Brooklyn smiled at Jocelyn and Sid, along with their three-year-old daughter, Daniella. “How are you doing, Dani?” Brooklyn asked, bending down to the little girl’s level.

“Good, Aunt Brooklyn,” Daniella smiled as she walked down the hallway, most likely to go try to find Nathan.

Max walked out of the kitchen, saying, “Do you guys know if Tia and Tanger are coming today?”

“I think so,” Jocelyn said. “When I talked to Tia yesterday she said she and Kris were planning on bringing Patrick and Seth.” After some back and forth between Tia and Kris after getting married, they had finally decided to have children, and they had since had three-year-old Patrick and one-year-old Seth.

“Good!” Brooklyn exclaimed. “I haven’t seen those kids in forever!”

“You saw them last weekend,” Max reminded her. “Remember, you went shopping with Tia. You picked her up at her place.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t get to spend much time with them,” Brooklyn argued. “Either way, I’m happy that they’re coming.”

***

Everyone sat on the bleachers, watching Elise and Rebecca play, already winning two against one going into the second period. Rebecca seemed to be on fire today, stopping every shot that came her way, and Elise already had a goal and an assist.

“So, when are you guys going to get Patrick playing on a team?” Jocelyn asked Tia jokingly. She knew that Patrick would eventually play hockey. All of the children played hockey, not that any of the parents had pushed any of them to do so. It was as if it were in their genes to play.

“Whenever he asks to be, and not before,” Tia told her. “I know he’s going to want to play. I mean, he sees his father play all the time. It’s only a matter of time before he asks us to put him on a team, but I’m going to wait until he comes to us and asks us,” she explained.

“Good call,” Brooklyn nodded. “But, I really wouldn’t be surprised if he asks soon. I mean, Nathan asked when he was about three. I still don’t know how they even have teams for three year olds, but they do,” she laughed.

“Well, for now, he’s just content going out back and skating around with Kris,” Tia told her.

“That’s how Dani is with Sid,” Jocelyn told them. “She loves just going outside and skating around. I think she might break the mold and not play hockey, though. She seems to love the ice skating portion more than the hockey part of it all. I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets into figure skating instead,” she commented.

Brooklyn’s eyes widened. “How does Sid feel about that?” she inquired. She knew that Sid had always wanted to have a son so that he could grow up to play hockey just like his father. Not that Sid would have pushed his son into playing hockey. If he had wanted to do anything else, he would have supported him one hundred percent the entire time. But, then Jocelyn had had two girls and no boys. Sid couldn’t have been happier, but Brooklyn still wondered if he hoped that both of his daughters played hockey all their lives.

“He’s okay with it,” Jocelyn told her. “It’s not like he’s going to force her to play hockey. And, we may be wrong and she may end up playing hockey, especially with Rebecca playing. But, like I said, she seems to be more into the ice skating than the hockey.”

“Sidney Crosby at a figure skating competition. That will be great to see,” Tia said jokingly.

“And, you know that if Dani’s in it, he’ll be sitting front row cheering her on,” Jocelyn said.

“As will all of us, including Max and Tanger. I can picture it now,” Brooklyn said, laughing.

“Me, too,” Jocelyn smiled just as Rebecca made a spectacular save, and all three men started cheering for her.

“How did we get so lucky?” Brooklyn asked, looking over at her husband and his best friends.

“I don’t know,” Jocelyn told her. “But, we are the luckiest ladies in the world.”

“That, we are,” Brooklyn agreed.