Those Will Be The Best Memories

Ben skated his heart out that night, giving passes to everyone on his line and taking shots on the goal whenever he had a good view. He knew Madeline and Matthew were watching from the box that night; his son dressed in his miniature ‘EAGER’ jersey. Ben was playing for his family tonight.

By the end of the night Ben was credited with 1 assist, and 3 penalties (one served by Kopecky); a good game in his books. The fact that the Hawks had won only added to the success of the night. They celebrated on the ice, giving the stick salute, and high fiving each other. Everyone lined up to get off of the ice, shaking hands with the kids leaning over the tunnel.

As soon as he walked into the locker room, a loud cry of ‘Daddy!’ caught his attention and caused his head to snap to the sound of his son. He was wrapped in the arms of Cristobal Huet, one of his favourite people on the team, and was pumping his arms in the air as he celebrated with the rest of the team. Ben shook with laughter as he placed his stick in his cubby, along with his helmet and gloves, and walked over to Cris who was still dressed in his full uniform, helmet and all.

“Hey buddy! Did you enjoy the game?” Ben asked, holding his arms out as Matthew reached for them.

Cris handed him over, giving a small smile, and walked over to his cubby to start taking his stuff off. Matthew nodded excitedly, babbling on with excitement.

“First, daddy, you, you hit him and boom!” Matthew yelled out, slapping his own hand to recreate the sound of Ben’s fist hitting BJ Crombeen’s face.

“And you gave mummy a heart attack as you did it,” Maddy said from behind him.

Ben turned and smiled, leaning and giving her a quick kiss as the sweat dripped down his face.

“And then, and then, you hit another one and boom!” Matthew yelled again slapping one of Ben’s shoulder pads, this time mimicking the fight between Ben and Barret Jackman.

Ben ruffled Matthew’s hair and placed him down on his feet as he ran towards Huet and Niemi to talk more about the game.

Ben went and sat down at his cubby, next to Niemi, and started to unlace his skates, pulling off the tape that kept them snug on his ankles. He could hear Cris laughing as Matthew continued talking about every hit, goal, and assist in the game.

He pulled off his socks, stuffing them into the bin under him, and pulled off his jersey, hanging it on the hook behind him. As he went for the elbow pads, he felt a soft hand pulling the velcro off and pulling the pad off his arm, doing the same with the other.

Maddy concentrated as she moved onto his upper body armor, undoing all of the velcro and pulling the padding over his head, placing it on the shelf above his head. She smiled and sat down on his lap, straddling his legs.

“Hi,” she said quietly, pressing her forehead against his, their noses touching.

Ben placed his hands on her back as Maddy pressed her manicured hands on his chest, lightly scratching the muscles, “Hi.”

Madeline smiled and kissed him quickly on the lips, “C’mon, get changed. Matthew and I are hungry.”

She stood up and walked over to where Cris and Antti were taking all of their padding off and Matthew was sitting on the floor in between them both, still going on about the game.

Ben watched her hips sway and groaned deep in his chest as his thoughts became immediately dirtier. Visions of his wife naked on their bed, her manicured fingers running over her own stomach as her eyes clouded over with lust filled his mind.

“Maybe later buddy,” Ben whispered to himself as he stood up to take his shorts off, thinking of the worst things possible to bring down his hard on.

That was the last thing he needed, especially in his Under Armor spandex pants.

He quickly changed back into his suit and pulled his tie over his head, tightening it, and running a hand over his buzzed head. He bent down to his hockey bag, full of extra pads and tape, and picked it up before walking over to his girlfriend and son.

He placed his arms around her waist, pulling her in close and kissing the top of her head, “Ready?”

Maddy looked up at him and nodded, “Yup, c’mon Matthew. We’re going to go home and eat, say goodbye to Cris and Antti.”

Matthew looked up at his parents from his spot on the floor and frowned, slowly standing up and running over to Cris, giving him a hug around the knees, doing the same thing to Antti.

“Good game guys!” Matthew said as Madeline picked him up off the floor.

Ben waved at everyone, nodding at a few, and stopping in front of Coach Q.

“Hey, coach. Thanks for putting me in a little more tonight,” Ben said, patting him on the arm.

Coach smiled, his mustache fitting around his mouth, “Hey Benny, no problem. We’ll be putting you in a lot more, I guarantee you.”

Ben nodded, a grin on his face, and followed Maddy and Matthew out into the hallway. They walked quickly out to the parking garage, Ben pressing the unlock button on his keys, and opening the trunk of the SUV.

“Up you go, buddy,” Maddy said to her son, putting him in his car seat and buckling him in.

Ben closed the trunk and hopped into the front seat, turning the car on. The radio came on loudly, some rock song playing, and Maddy turned it down as Matthew yelled and covered his ears with his hands.

The drive home was quick, the music softly playing and Matthew playing with the few toy cars he had, vrooming and braking constantly.

They pulled into the driveway, noticing a car already parked in the driveway and three people sitting on his porch. Frowning, Ben turned the car off and hopped up the steps of the porch.

Maddy’s parents and sister immediately came into view.

“Ben! Hi honey!” Maddy’s mother said, standing up from the chair on the porch and wrapping her arms around Ben’s broad shoulders.

Ben hugged her back, confused, “Kathy, hi. Sorry, what are you guys doing here?”

Kathy shot a look at her husband, “We’re driving to Indiana to see Jeff’s brother and he thought it would be a good idea to leave a few days early so we could stop by and see you. I’m so sorry we didn’t call! Jeff only told me this morning when we left.”

Ben waved his hands, “Don’t worry about it, it’s fine. I just thought something might have been wrong.”

“Mom? Dad? What’re you doing here? Shell?” Madeline asked as she climbed up the steps, Matthew balanced on her hip.

“Hi sweetie,” Kathy said, waving with Jeff as Shelly rolled her eyes.

Matthew started to fuss, “Nana! Grandpa!”

Madeline let him down as he ran to his grandparents and gave them huge hugs. Shelly walked around them and came to stand next to her sister and her boyfriend.

“Hi Maddy, Ben,” She said, her green eyes turning to focus on Ben as she said his name.

Maddy smiled and hugged her, pulling her to the door and unlocking it, ushering everyone in. Ben walked back to the car and got his bag, walking back up the porch.

Madeline was leaning against the door watching him, a small, apologetic smile on her face, “I’m sorry Ben. I had no idea.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. So they’re here for a few days, I’ve got practice and games anyways so you get to deal with them,” Ben said poking her nose.

Madeline rolled her eyes, “Yeah okay. And I was going to fuck you tonight. Guess that ideas gone.”

Ben paused, “What? No, that can still happen.”

“Not with my parents here, Ben, after they leave. Like you said, they’re only here for a few days.”