Maybe Someday

With wide, blue eyes Ellen stared at Pierre. She had no doubts in her mind that he had just gotten off of a plane; his strawberry blond curls were a mess, his green eyes were tired, dark circles surrounded them, and he wore a simple pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, something he never did. One of the things Ellen always had—and would continue to—admire about the Frenchman was how he was always so put-together. He was really seen in anything less than a suit, even when he was working in his restaurant’s kitchen.

“I had to try to get you back, Ellen.” She sighed, her hands running over her face as she glanced back toward Mellon Arena. “I’m not here to cause trouble,” Pierre continued. “I couldn’t take a phone call as the end of our relationship.”

“I know,” she agreed. “I hate that I had to do that, but—”

“You didn’t have to do that at all,” he insisted, his green eyes sad as he looked down at her, taking a step toward her, grabbing her small hand in his much larger one. “You can come back to Paris with me, and we can continue with planning our wedding.”

“You’re willing to forgive and forget everything from the past few months, and take me back?” Ellen asked, running a hand through her hair as she stared at her former fiancé curiously.

“Of course I am, mon amour; I love you.”

She was sure Emily had told him she’d gone outside to take a phone call, and Ellen was sure that any second Sidney—a constant worrier—would come outside to look for her when she didn’t come back within a few minutes. She had to wonder what his thoughts would be when he saw Ellen standing with Pierre. She stared at her feet as she felt the man in front of her step closer, his arms wrapping around her body. She shut her eyes tightly, trying to stop the tears—from what, she wasn’t sure—from spilling from her eyes. She shook her head feeling she and Pierre were no longer alone, taking a step back and out of his arms.

Pierre’s sad eyes looked into hers, and she knew she had hurt him again. Looking back toward Mellon Arena, she saw Sidney standing just outside the doors, Emily, Jordan, and Max next to him. He seemed hesitant, worried, and hurt. She could practically feel the emotions radiating off of him, and that was just reassurance of what Ellen already knew. It didn’t matter if she and Sidney were right next to each other, if they were ten feet, one hundred yards, or one thousand miles away. They were always connected and could feel each other. She turned from Sidney and back to Pierre, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans as he glanced between the girl he loved and the man she loved.

“I can’t say I’m happy about this, Ellen,” he began to say, before she interrupted him with a few words of her own, but Pierre stopped her. “But, because I love you, I want you to be happy, and if that’s with him, then be with him.”

“Thank you,” she said, giving him a sad smile. “I really am sor—”

“Don’t, Ellen,” he laughed. “You would have lived your life wondering ‘what if,’ and I wouldn’t have wanted that, but mon amour, if things do not work out with Sidney, Paris will be waiting for you.”

She smiled, nodding her head, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around him. “I am sorry you came all the way out here for nothing,” she told him.

“For nothing?” he questioned, pulling away from her and keeping his hands on her shoulders. “This was not ‘nothing’, Ellen. This was me making sure I didn’t leave my own ‘what if’ out there,” he laughed. “I tried, and that’s all that matters.”

“You’re a special guy, Pierre.”

“And you’re a very special woman, Ellen. Don’t ever let him,” he said, jerking his head toward the arena doors where Sidney, Jordan, Emily, and Max still stood watching the two of them, “forget it, okay?”

“Okay,” she smiled, hugging Pierre again and kissing his cheek before he turned and walked back to his car. Ellen watched him leave, letting out a large breath, realizing how free she finally felt. She knew, no matter how much she tried to deny it, that the phone call she had made to him not too long before then hadn’t been the end. As he climbed into his car, Ellen nodded, realizing she’d probably seen Pierre for the last time, and while she had mixed feelings about it, she looked toward Sidney and felt all of her confusion drift away.

Sidney took a few steps toward Ellen as she wrapped her jersey-clad arms around herself. She gave him a small nod and a smile, and Sidney broke into a run, not stopping until his arms were tightly around Ellen and his lips were on hers.

As hard as leaving Pierre had been for her—he really was such an amazing man—she knew she had might the right decision. As she felt herself wrapped up in Sidney’s arms, she let out a deep sigh, completely at ease with him. She nodded her head against his toned, Under Armor covered chest, her arms wrapped around his waist.

“I didn’t expect to see him here,” he whispered.

“Neither did I,” she admitted. “He came to get me back.”

“It didn’t work,” he stated, a small smile spreading across his face.

“No, Sidney, it didn’t,” she told him, her petite hand grabbing onto his much larger one tightly. “I love you.”

“I thought I was losing you,” he whispered again.

Ellen stopped walking, reaching her other hand to grab Sid’s. Giving his fingers a quick kiss, she looked up at him with smiling, blue eyes. “Never.”

---

The weeks following Pierre’s surprise visit flew by more quickly than the happy, blissful couple had anticipated. With Sidney busy with games, practices, appearances, interviews, commercials, and everything else a famous hockey player was expected to do and Ellen spending days volunteering at the local children’s hospital, neither seemed to realize that Christmas had crept up on them. Twenty four hours before their families were due in Pittsburgh, the couple realized they had no presents for anyone and no decorations¬—or tree—up at their condo.

Leaving Sidney to discover his inner interior designer, Ellen made what would hopefully be a quick trip to the mall to grab gifts for her family, Sid’s family, and the Lemieux family. When she had returned home, six large bags in hand, she found Sid tangled in garland, a frustrated look on his face, and the decorations lying all over the floor.

“What happened?” Ellen had asked, unable to stop a laugh from escaping past her pink lips.

“I need help.”

After she had laughed a while longer, Ellen and Sidney got to decorating their condo together, making sure their first Christmas tree together was perfect before they placed their perfectly wrapped presents beneath it. Sidney had wrapped his arms around Ellen, capturing her lips in a kiss, smiling at their last minute work before he had taken her into their bedroom for some much needed rest.

Ellen and Sidney’s families had arrived the next morning—December twenty third—dropping their things off at their hotel before spending the day with the Lemieux family as Sid was left to do his routine for the game, and Ellen was left to play hostess to their families. The day was spent talking, eating, catching up, and then finally, at the Penguins game against the Ottawa Senators. Sitting in the stands, the fans and families of the players were treated to an eight to two win and an Evgeni Malkin hat-trick. Everyone was glad the team would be taking their short Christmas break almost completely turned around from their less than stellar start to the season.

The Lemieux house was packed on Christmas Eve, many of the players and their families coming to join the festivities. Ellen stood, her shoulder leaning against the doorway from the living room into the kitchen, her blue eyes fixed on Sidney’s smiling face as he laughed with his teammates. She felt someone come to a stop beside her, a glass of eggnog shoved her way. She smiled and looked at her twin sister, who wore an identical smile on her face. “I always knew you and Sid would get back together,” Kelcey said, a sly twinkle in her eyes.

“Well, why didn’t you tell me that?” Ellen laughed, taking a sip of the eggnog.

“Would you have believed me?” her twin questioned, obviously knowing her sister better than anyone else.

“No, I wouldn’t have, but I’m glad things worked out this way.”

Kelcey laughed, nodding her head as she took a sip of her own eggnog. Ellen felt a bump on her lower back, and she turned around to see the goofy, smiling face of Max Talbot. Ellen grinned and motioned for her sister to turn around as well. “Max, this is Kelcey. Kelcey, this is the famous Max Talbot.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Kelcey. Ellen never mentioned her sister was her twin and just as beautiful as she is.”

“Real smooth, Max,” Ellen laughed, watching as Max kissed the back of her sister’s hand, and her sister’s cheeks went red. Shaking her head, the blond slowly backed away from their pair who seemed to be holding a silent, staring contest. She walked toward Sid, putting a hand on his shoulder to get his attention away from his teammates for a second.

“Hey,” he smiled, craning his neck to give her a kiss before moving over and making room on the couch for her. Sitting down, Ellen motioned toward her sister and Max, making the small group turn and let out laughs.

“Are we going to be seeing more of your sister around here?” Emily asked, her fingers laced with Jordan’s as she smiled at the pair.

“If luck’s on my side, then yes; being away from my sister is the one thing I hate about being in Pittsburgh.” Sidney grinned and gave Ellen’s hand a squeeze as he kissed her cheek. Before he could comment, Mario’s wife stepped into the living room, a wide smile on her face.

“Who’s ready for presents?” she asked, eliciting a loud cheer for the crowd. Ellen laughed, squeezing Sidney’s hand back, whispering a barely audible ‘I’ve already got mine’ in his ear.