Those Will Be The Best Memories

Matthew laughed and giggled as Ben lifted him over his head and onto his shoulders. Ben and Matt were sitting on the dock, Ben with his legs dangling in the water, as Maddy sat on the deck at the back of the cottage. She smiled as she watched Matthew place his hands over Ben’s eyes and giggle uncontrollably.

Matt’s hair had finally been cut, after a terrible day full of screaming and crying, and was now buzzed just like his fathers. Ben had shaved his beard off, and it no long felt like kissing a bear instead of her boyfriend.

The summer, so far, was a busy one. They had gone back to Ottawa for a few weeks at the beginning of summer to see Ben’s family and friends, and had made a trip down to Toronto to see Madeline’s family, but had decided that the new cottage was the best place to be.

It was huge and had lot’s of land to play on. The lake was directly behind the cottage, with a dock, a few canoes, paddle boats, and a sail boat. Ben had bought it directly after he had been signed to the Blackhawks a few years ago, but hadn’t gotten a good use out of it until now.

“Mommy! Mommy look!” Madeline leaned forward and looked towards the lake as she saw Ben and Matthew now just in their swimming shorts.

Ben hugged Matthew tightly to his chest as he slowly walked down the steps to go into the water. It was shallow near the rocks but the farther in you went the deeper it became. They had also been assured that there was no undertow. Matthew splashed around a little bit as Ben waded in a little farther.

“C’mon in Mads! The water’s nice,” Ben yelled out, keeping a tight grip on his son.

Madeline sighed as she stood up, placing her bookmark back into her book, and pulled off her blue cover-up. She straightened out her plain red bikini top and started to walk down the wooden stairs to the lake. Maddy pulled down her glasses to cover her eyes and pulled up her hair into a pony tail to prevent it from getting wet.

She slowly walked into the water and smiled as Ben opened his arm and placed it around her waist when she got close enough.

“Your bump’s showing already,” Ben noticed, rubbing his large paw over her slightly expanded stomach.

Maddy nodded, “I know, I realized this morning when I put my bathing suit on.”

Ben leaned over and kissed her quickly on the lips, “Well, I like it.”

Madeline laughed, “You like the bump?”

Nodding, Ben leaned down and press a small kiss to her bump, “Oh yeah.”

Maddy rolled her eyes as Matthew began to complain, “Swimming daddy.”

Ben reached up and placed Matthew on the dock before turning to Madeline and pulling her into his arms, all the while keeping an eye on his son, “You gonna stay in here or go back?”

Shrugging, Maddy pushed her hands through Ben’s hair, “Maybe I’ll just sit on the dock and watch you guys for a while.”

Nodding, Ben wrapped his muscular arms around her waist and lifted her into the air, gently sitting her on the dock. He placed a kiss to her bare thigh before smiling cheekily at her and picking Matthew up off the dock. Matthew squealed and hugged his father’s neck as Ben waded farther into the lake.

Madeline sighed and leaned back on her hands as she watched her boyfriend and her son play in the water; this was going to be a good summer.

---

Madeline groaned as she felt the light being turned on in the bedroom and the bed sink slightly. She opened her eyes slowly and yawned as she saw Ben sitting on the side of the bed with his head in his hands. He was only wearing a pair of blue boxers, leaving his back and chest bare.

Madeline slowly pushed herself up, yawning a few more time and pulled herself over to Ben, leaning on his smooth, pale back. She kissed his shoulder a few times as the blanket fell from her body, leaving her in a pink nightie.

“What’s going on, Ben?” Madeline asked, her words lightly drawn out.

Ben just shook his head and took a sharp intake of breath. Maddy continued rubbing his back, just the way he liked, and placing small kisses on his shoulders until he was comfortable enough to tell her what was wrong.

Ben sighed as he lifted up his head and stared straight at the wall, “I was just traded to Atlanta.”

Maddy immediately stopped her actions and slumped into a seated position, her back curling as her eyes widened. The two adults were silent for a few minutes as they let the information process.

“They traded you? But, but how could they do that? They need you!” Maddy tried to reason.

Ben shrugged and chewed on his lip thoughtfully, “They don’t need me Mads. What did I do besides get penalties and the odd goal?”

Frowning, Madeline crawled over to beside Ben and leaned her head against his arms. She threaded her fingers through his and looked up at him, “They were fools for letting you go.”

Ben nodded, agreeing with what she said, but shrugged, “They could find anyone that can do what I do. I’m just, worried about us.”

“Why are you worried about us? Matt and I will be fine, we’ll just be… oh,” Maddy finished.

Ben looked over at her, “Yeah, exactly. Oh. Do you really want to move to Atlanta?”

Madeline looked down at her legs and her white-painted toes as she thought over the question in her mind, “I mean, it wouldn’t be that bad. We could move to Atlanta. The only rule, and it was the same with Matt, is I want the new baby born in Canada.”

Ben nodded, running his hand over his tired eyes, “Of course, our babies have to be Canadian citizens. Are you sure about moving to Atlanta though? You’d have to pick up and leave everything, your friends.”

Madeline nodded with hesitation, “They may be my friends, but you’re my boyfriend. I’ll miss everyone, especially Carli, but I have a phone, I have a computer. We’ll deal with it.”

Ben gave a snort as he let his arm wrap around her shoulders, “Colin was traded to Edmonton.”

Gasping, Maddy looked up at him with her hand over his mouth, “They traded Colin? Carli’s going to have an Edmonton baby! I have to call her!”

Ben began to laugh as he tightened his grip on her shoulders, “You can’t call her right now, it’s 1:30 am. Call her tomorrow.”

Madeline sighed and nodded, “Yeah, I’ll call her tomorrow.”

She stood up from her spot and went and stood in front of Ben as he looked up at her. She grinned down at him and straddled his legs, sitting down on them and wrapping her arms around his neck.

She pressed a kiss to his plump lips and lightly played with his blonde hair, “Everything will be just fine. It’ll be slightly weird playing hockey in such a warm place, but we can do it. It’ll work out.”

Ben nodded and gave a long sigh, gripping his girlfriend’s waist with one hand.

“Oh, and Dustin and Brent are coming with me.”