Make It Back to Me

April 14th 2010
As the month of February came to an end and the month of March flew by, things continued on as normal for Ben Eager and his small family. With the weather warming up, they found themselves taking more trips out of the house as baby Ben grew bigger and more curious with every day. He was sleeping less, his big blue eyes opened more as he looked around at the world that surrounded him. He was a healthy, happy, fun-loving baby who loved to listen to his parents talk and to take walks around their neighborhood.

The Blackhawks winning season had continued on as normal, as well. They had clinched the Central Division rather easily, finding the competition no match for the young, powerful, and hungry team. Despite losing the last game of the regular season at home and to the Redwings in overtime, the young team of the Chicago Blackhawks were buzzing in excitement at the upcoming playoffs. The coaching staff made sure to tell their players to continue on with their lives as normal. The key to winning series after series, after all, was to not over think things and to simply play the game they knew they could.

As Evelyn Eager watched her husband prepare for the weeks (and hopefully months) ahead, she noticed him working out just a little more and eating just a little better. She would smile, give him a reassuring hug, and tell him he was going to be amazing. Ben couldn’t believe how happy he’d been throughout the past season. Not only had he personally made himself a valuable player and had his team become a top contender for the Stanley Cup, but he had made a wonderful life with his wife and his son, something he hadn’t expected but loved more than he loved the game of hockey itself.

As Ben finished his workout in his and Evelyn’s home gym, the doorbell rang. He heard his wife call from their son’s room, asking him to please answer it. Wiping his face and bare chest with a towel to rid it of sweat, he ran down the stairs and swung the front door open, his signature scowl on his face. He raised his eyebrows at the sight of Patrick Kane, standing at his door with his hands in his front pockets and a stupid grin on his face. “What do you want, Kaner?”

“I’m here to take Evelyn and the baby out on a date,” he grinned, shoving the larger winger aside and walking into the foyer of the house.

“This shit again?” Ben groaned, closing the door shut behind the twenty-one year old. “How often do you need to take my wife out on a ’date’?” Ben asked, narrowing his eyes.

“We agreed that once a month is absolutely necessary for the sake of our friendship,” Patrick grinned, watching as Evelyn carried her son down the stairs, the diaper bag slung over her shoulder. “Hey, beautiful,” he grinned, taking the baby from her arms before strapping him into his stroller.

Ben rolled his eyes, looking toward his wife for an explanation of what she was going to be doing with Patrick. “We’re going out to dinner and taking baby Ben to see How to Train Your Dragon. It’s been out for a while, so it should be pretty empty,” she commented, shrugging into her purple, velour hoodie, zipping it up halfway over her gold tank top before stepping into her sand colored Uggs, tucking her dark, skinny jeans into them.

“And what am I supposed to do while you’re gone?” Ben sighed, kissing the top of his son’s head, which was covered with messy, brown hair.

“I have dinner made for you in the fridge; you just have to warm it up,” she grinned. “As far as what you should do? Do whatever you want. We won’t be gone too long.” Evelyn leaned up and pressed her lips to Ben’s before helping Kaner get the stroller out of the front door and down the few stairs before setting it on the sidewalk.

“You look nice,” Patrick smiled, as he watched Evelyn strap Ben’s car seat (a removable feature of the stroller) into the back seat of his Tahoe. “You’re body looks amazing.”

“Ben would kill you if he heard you say that, but thank you,” she laughed. “I’ve been working out a lot.” She slid into the passenger seat, shaking her head as she took in her friend’s appearance. “You look ridiculous with that haircut.”

“I look sexy with this mullet and you know it,” he laughed, running a hand through his freshly cut hair, deciding growing a playoff mullet would be far easier than growing a beard. “I tried to get Burr to get one, but he wouldn’t go for it.”

“That man cherishes his hair more than anything,” Evelyn laughed as she and Patrick sped toward the pizza place they had decided to eat at. The two young people always enjoyed the time they spent together. Evelyn and Patrick looked at each other almost as brother as sister, and because Evelyn was two years older than Patrick and incredibly more mature, she looked at him as the fun, crazy younger brother she never had.

And while Patrick Kane had an entire team of older guys he could confide to, there were things he knew he could tell Evelyn without ridicule or smartass comments. She loved to listen and she loved to help him through his problems, and for that, the young winger would be eternally grateful.

“You think we can do it?” he asked, as Evelyn took a bite of pizza and he spoonfed baby Ben some mashed potatoes.

“I know you can,” she grinned. “Call me crazy, but I can just feel it.”

“I can too, but you can’t talk about this kind of thing in the locker room…”

“Hockey players are too superstitious for their own good,” Evelyn laughed. “There’s no such thing as good or bad luck when it comes to hockey. It’s a matter of who’s better, and you guys are better than any team in the league.”

“You always know just what to say,” he laughed, putting another small spoonful of mashed potatoes into baby Ben’s mouth before he took a bite of his own food.

“You’re really good with him, you know,” she commented, smiling as she watched the young man continue to feed her son. “But I suppose you had a lot of practice with your younger sisters, right?”

Patrick shrugged, “I had some. The baby thing just comes naturally, I guess; unlike Burish. He’s afraid of this little guy, I think.”

“He’s just afraid of what babies represent,” she laughed. “Even though he proposed to Kita, he’s still terrified of commitment, and we all know it.” Patrick laughed, quickly finishing off baby Ben’s can of baby food with a final spoonful. He and Evelyn finished their food just a few moments later, and as Patrick paid the bill, she gathered their things and tucked her son into his stroller seat, grinning as Patrick took the stroller from her and led her from the restaurant.

“Fans straight ahead,” she laughed, noticing the wide-eyed looks on some people wearing Blackhawks merchandise walking their way. Evelyn stood behind Patrick as he smiled and waved toward the three twenty-something men. They stopped, immediately asking Patrick for his autograph on their shirts. Quickly obliging, he signed for them before telling them he had to carry on with his date, leaving them completely confused as they looked between Evelyn and baby Ben.

“People are really going to start to think you have an illegitimate child,” Evelyn laughed.

“Oh well,” Patrick shrugged. “Let’s head to the movie theater, yeah?”

-

Baby Ben sat in his carrier, his ‘Uncle’ Patrick to his right and his mother to his left. Three sets of eyes were glued to the screen as the young, cartoon boy rode his dragon, taking wistful turns and twists as they went. Patrick coughed into his hand as he squirmed in his seat, realizing that the two Mountain Dews he had with dinner and the one he had with popcorn during the previews were catching up to him. Standing up, he quickly excused himself, making Evelyn laugh as she stood to let him out of their aisle.

His eyes squinted as he walked from the dark theater and into the brightly lit hallway. He scanned his barely opened blue eyes for the bathroom, sighing when he realized it was past the concession stand and well down the hallway. As he walked, he put his index finger into his mouth, biting the already short nail. A bad habit; he knew, but something he had done since childhood.

His eyes wandered to the concessions as he passed them, wondering if he should get something else to eat on his way back, but he knew he probably shouldn’t. Although he was young, he worked out, and he had a fast metabolism, the playoffs were just a couple days away, and he needed to be prepared.

Just before he reached the bathroom, and as his eyes were still on the concession stand, he felt something hit his chest. Snapping his eyes ahead of him, he realized it was not something, but someone. Glancing down at the petite raven haired women he (surprisingly) towered over, he let an apology float through his lips.

She shook her head, her pin straight hair moving with her. “It’s my fault! I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“Neither was I,” Patrick laughed, nodding toward the food stand, making the girl let out a small laugh. “I’m Patrick, by the way,” he continued, his blue eyes locking onto her pretty green ones.

“Charlotte,” she responded, her tiny hand grasping onto Patrick’s much bigger one. He smiled, not being able to help it as he looked at the beautiful young girl. She didn’t seem to be star struck or know who he was at all, really. She stared up at him with a gentle curiosity in her eyes, and he had to admit he was intrigued.

He was suddenly reminded of why he was in the hall as he heard the soda machine turn on next to him. “Charlotte, I have to run, but…” he hesitated, an unfamiliar feeling of nerves attacking his stomach. He was usually so calm and collected when he talked to girls. “Do you think I could get your number? Maybe take you out sometime?”

She seemed to hesitate, sucking her plump bottom lip into her mouth in a way that made Patrick squirm on the spot. As Patrick caught her eye, he smiled hopefully, and she finally nodded. “Sure, Patrick, I’d like that.”

Grinning, he quickly plugged the number into his phone, telling her he’d text her the next day, a plan she seemed to go along with. He watched her continue down the hall past him, her tiny body moving out of the doors of the movie theater and out into the dark, cool night.

When he finally returned to the movie, Evelyn raised her eyebrows as Patrick flopped back into his seat, wondering what had taken him so long. “Care to indulge me?” she asked, leaning over her son to get closer to Patrick.

“I met a girl, Lyn,” he told her, not able to stop the ear-to-ear grin from spreading across his face. “She gave me her number so I can call her and take her out. There’s just something about her.”

Evelyn smiled, too, her hand reaching out to grab Patrick’s forearm, giving it a reassuring squeeze before she laced their hands together, thrilled that her best friend had, at least for now, met a girl he was excited about. All she had to do was hope it would work out for the young winger. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could take seeing him be lonely.