Never Look Back

Jon stood by baggage claim at O’Hare for what felt like the millionth time in his life. Amy held his hand snugly with one hand and rubbed the top of it with the other. Checking the board for arrivals once more, he was trying to remember why he agreed to let her go to a school so far away.

“She’ll be here, babe.” Amy squeezed his hand, kissing the underside of his jaw and watching his spine relax. “Don’t worry.”

“I know.” Jon nodded, not blinking as he watched the board. Her plane was in by now; she should have been down in baggage claim.

“You know Tyler, he probably forgot his phone on the plane or something.” She giggled, making Jon grin. Tyler would lose his head if it wasn’t screwed on tight. Thankfully, Jordyn kept him in line for the most part.

“Oh, there they are!” Amy pointed out with a smile upon seeing Jordyn’s favorite tennis shoes appear at the top of the escalators, shortly behind her was Tyler who stood with his hands tucked into the straps of his backpack over the front of his shoulders.

“Dad!” Jordyn shouted with a big smile, leaving Tyler to grab her bags as she ran to Jon who had a giant smile stretched across his face. Jon caught Jordyn up in his arms, hugging her tightly as his eyes drifted shut, remembering the day he sent her off to Georgetown University in Washington DC.

Now, she was finished with her freshman year and Tyler had also finished another season as a Washington Capital, fulfilling his rookie contract.

“I missed you so much.” Jon sighed, rocking her back and forth before he could kiss her temple, moving aside some of her blonde hair that had gotten longer with time and lighter with the sun. Amy squeezed Jordyn next as Tyler approached with all of Jordyn’s suitcases and two duffels tossed over his shoulders. He was visiting for a few days before heading back to Washington to do some summer training.

“Good to see you, Ty.” Jon smiled, pulling Tyler into a quick hug before Amy could kiss his cheek and hug him as well.

“Hi Mom.” She smiled happily, “where are thing one and thing two?” Jordyn asked, “where are my babies?” She added.

“Patrick’s got them at home, they were being too fussy to bring along, but they’re excited to see you.” Amy smiled, interlocking her hand with Jon’s as he took a suitcase and a duffel from Tyler, leading the family out of the doors and out to the car that was waiting in the rotunda.

“We brought them some things.” Tyler said, taking Jordyn’s hand as they all put on sunglasses and in the boys’ cases, a hat. Now that Jon was reaching legendary status in his hockey career at thirty-one years old, he was more recognizable than ever around Chicago – the one team he had been with for almost his entire career. He’d play for free if it meant he got to stay to finish out his time in the NHL

“Oh babe, did you grab that bag off of the night stand before we left?” Jordyn asked, looking over at Tyler as they got situated in the car. Amy gave Jon’s hand a little squeeze, reminding him to keep his cool. When Jordyn had picked Georgetown over the other universities she had been looking at, Tyler immediately invited her to stay at his apartment while she was in school. Jon quickly shot that idea down and reassured her that she would be staying in the dorms and then when the time came, she’d be living off campus with some girlfriends.

“Yeah, I grabbed it, it’s in your carry on.” Tyler nodded in approval.

“Good, I got Mikey and Bry the cutest little Georgetown sweatshirts.” Jordyn smiled. “They had a giant sale for the end of the year.”

“Hey what about me?” Jon asked with a grin, looking back at her through the rearview mirror.

“Don’t worry, princess, I got you stuff too.” She laughed as he reached back to give her knee a squeeze.

The ride back to the house went by quickly. After Jon and Amy had reconciled and gotten back together, they bought a house a few blocks up from Patrick and Sara’s and settled down seriously. Not so quickly after they had married in a small, quiet ceremony were they surprised by another development.

“Jojo!” Mikey Toews screamed excitedly upon seeing his big sister, running at her full force. Jordyn dropped her purse and caught him up in her arms, smothering his little face in kisses. Mikey was older than his brother by two minutes, and younger than his big sister by almost seventeen years. “Hi!” He shouted, giggling wildly as she squeezed him again.

“Hey baby brother!” She greeted, looking down at what appeared to be a tiny version of her father, down to the two moles on his face. He had the same deep, dark eyes, and tapered forehead as her father – and being an identical twin, his brother Bryan looked exactly the same.

“You’re home!” He smiled as she carried him into the family room where Patrick and Bryan were laying on the floor, working on a four-piece puzzle.

“Bry! Jojo!” Mikey called, making Bryan’s head turn to look up at his sister. Bryan steadied himself on his feet before scantering over to Jordyn in a mix between a jog and a run, flailing his arms. Jordyn kneeled down to his head and gave him an equally as large bear hug.

“Ty! Ty!” Mikey giggled as Tyler lifted the toddler up over his head, resting him on his shoulders.

“I missed you so much, baby boy.” Jordyn smiled.

“I mees you, sissy.” Bryan giggled, snuggling up into her as she swayed back and forth with him in her arms. Bryan and Mikey were both a few months away from their third birthday and were more talkative than ever, stunning Jordyn when she would receive videos of them while at school.

“I’m so happy to see you guys!” She laughed as she swung Bryan around in her arms, setting him down only to give Patrick a hug. She had been more than fortunate to be able to have both her father and essentially another Uncle stay on the same team together for the duration of their careers.

“Missed you, kid. Glad you’re home for the summer.” He grinned, teasing her for being just about his height with her pair of big, chunky cork wedges.

“Do you mind if we crash for a bit? I’m exhausted.” Jordyn leaned her head against Jon’s chest, liking the way he raked through her hair with his fingers and the familiarity of his cologne. She smiled at the necklace he wore, the same chain with ‘JT’ that she had given him so many years ago.

“Of course, baby girl.” Jon nodded, “Amy’s making dinner and then we’ll probably have some pool time.” He reassured. It was Jordyn’s one request when they had gotten a new house – she wanted a pool for the summer heatwaves so that she and Prince Max could cool down in the backyard.

Max was asleep on Jordyn’s bed, slowly wagging his tail upon seeing his favorite person arrive.

“Hi there, Maxie.” She smiled, “is Daddy treating you well?” She asked as he leaned into her touch, the Rottweiler was going on six years old now and was lazier than ever, but had been clutch a few times when people would sneak into their backyard at night.

“Jord, baby, your bags.” Tyler said, walking into the room behind her with both his and her bags.

“Just set ‘em anywhere.” She insisted as she crawled into bed, causing Maxie to take to his bed on the floor under the window. It wasn’t but a few moments later that Tyler joined her, taking her into his arms as the snuggled together in the cool air-conditioned room. “It feels so good to be home.” She said with a smile.

“This is nice.” Tyler sighed, reaching down to capture her hand within his, twirling the ring around her small ring finger. “I’m surprised Amy didn’t notice.” He remarked, “I thought she would.”

“Dad’s gonna be… he might flip a lid.” Jordyn laughed, “but we’ll see, eh?”

“Eh? Do you think so, eh?” Tyler laughed, the years of Jon’s accent rubbing off on her that her friends up at school loved to give her crap for.

“Hush, I’m tired.” She sighed, letting out a yawn before closing her list after a busy morning of packing and movie and finally flying before arriving home.

“Love you.” He sighed, closing his eyes, pressing his nose to the back of her neck.

“Love you, too.”

•••

Jordyn was having the time of her life in the backyard the next day. Jon had invited a bunch of the boys over for a get together and a chance for Jordyn to see some of the friends she had grown up with.

“Catch me!” Mikey threw his head back with a wild giggle, his hands braced on Tyler’s forehead before he tossed his body off of Tyler and into Jordyn, tiny arms with water wings spread wide.

“Dear lord, Jon.” Patrick sighed as Jordyn carried Mike out of the water in her arms, covering her midsection – and more of her body than her tiny bikini.

“I know.” Jon grimaced.

“But really, Jon.” Patrick raised his eyebrows as she fixed her bottoms and took a seat on a lounger beside Amy who had Bryan resting on her chest.

“Cut it out, dipshit, I know!” Jon insisted, smacking Kaner upside the head. Some things never changed.

“It’s a good thing we know Tyler is a good guy.” He frowned, rubbing his scalp. “What’s their situation, are they shackin’ up?” Patrick asked, cracking open a new beer for his longtime friend and teammate.

“No, not happening.” Jon shook his head. “She’s barely nineteen, he’s twenty-one. Maybe if they’re still together when she’s a senior, but no, not for a long time.” Jon shook his head again, as if to shake the thoughts right out of his head like an Etch-a-Sketch.

“Whatever you say, Cap.” Patrick sighed just as Gabe came running up to him, begging his Dad to play catch with him in the grass with Andrew Ladd, who, after a few years with the Winnipeg Jets came back to the Blackhawks where he felt most at home. Sara was off with Patrick Sharp’s wife, tending to she and Patrick’s newest babies, four-year-old daughter Bailey and two year old son, Trevor.

Jordyn couldn’t have been more excited when her Dad and Amy told her that she was pregnant – with twins no less. Ever since she was little, she always wanted siblings – her own family. Now she had a Mom and her two little brothers that made her happier than anything else in the world.

“Mom?” Jordyn asked, looking over to Amy as they shielded their eyes from the warm sun in late May.

“Yeah babe?” Amy asked, crossing her legs as she tried to ease Bryan’s thumb out of his mouth.

Jordyn wasn’t sure what to say, so she didn’t say anything, but simply lifted her left hand, making Amy’s jaw drop open as she lifted her sunglasses up.

“Jordyn Rose, what is that?” She asked, looking at the princess-cut emerald that was encircled by a row of small diamonds. “Please don’t tell me that’s what I think it is.” She bit her lip, not being able to deny that it was a beautiful ring.

“It’s not… it’s just a promise ring.” She explained. “Lord no, I would never get engaged in college, you know Dad would kill me.” She insisted. “It’s just… it’s nice and it was from Tyler and I like wearing it.” She tried to explain what it meant to her.

“Jord, I just don’t want you making a big commitment when you’re so young, but if this is just a promise ring, then I don’t see Dad getting too… riled up.” She worried her lip between her teeth.

“I know that it won’t sit quite right with him, but what can he do, you know?” She asked, already know the answer to that.

“But there’s still a chance that he’ll kill Tyler in his sleep.” She pointed out, to which Jordyn nodded, “but if you’re happy, I’m happy for you.” She added, leaning across and kissing Jordyn on her cheek. “Now let me get a closer look at that thing.” She took Jordyn’s hand in hers, looking over the beautiful rock.

“Babe, you want me to grab some of the food out of the – what is that?” Jon asked, his demeanor switching from sweet puppy to guard dog in a split second. Jordyn took in a deep breath before getting out of her seat.

“It’s a promise ring, Dad.” She began. “It’s not a commitment, it’s not an engagement ring, and it’s just a gift from Tyler.” Jon looked long and hard down at the ring before glancing out to the pool where Tyler was now playing with Bailey Kane on his shoulders and Mikey in his arms, pretending to shout for help as they ganged up on him. A few more moments passed and Jordyn thought she was going to pass out from anticipation for him to say something to her.

“You know I like Tyler, Jordyn, I like him more than any of the other guys you’ve dated. But that doesn’t change a thing, you let me know the second he messes up – I’ll break both of his knee caps.” He assured. “I want you to happy, but I don’t want any more funny business and nothing behind my back. You be safe, and you be smart.” He insisted.

“I know, Dad, I know.” Jordyn nodded as he drew her into his arms and placed a kiss on top of her wet head.

“Do you know how hard it is to watch you grow up?” He asked as they walked into the house together. “I feel like it was just yesterday that you came home, like we just signed the papers and you were finally mine.” He smiled, “and now you’re all grown up, in college, got some silly boy following you around.” He grinned, willing himself not to get emotional. “What happened to my little girl, huh?” He asked, pushing her blonde bangs out of her eyes, those same bright eyes he had fallen in love with all those years ago.

“I’ll always be your little girl, Dad, I’ll always be yours – you saved me.” She tucked herself into his arms.

“No Jordyn, you saved me.”