While You Were Away

Carrie gave me a quick hug before making her way down the aisle, hers and Justin’s arms linked together. I big my lip as my dad walked over and stood next to me.

“Are you alright?” He asked quietly, nudging me gently with his elbow.

“Yeah, just nervous,” I said, giving him a small smile.

“As long as you don’t get cold feet and leave the poor guy up at the alter, that’s just fine.” I shook my head slightly.

“I don’t think it’s physically possible for me to leave Val up there,” I said, smiling as I heard my song play.

“That’s what I want to hear. Now are you ready?” He asked as an excited look passed over his face. I bit my lip and nodded, linking my arm in his. When the alter came into view, I suddenly felt even more nervous. The entire Red Wings team was watching me, along with multiple members of the organization, family and friends of both Val and I.

“Make sure I don’t trip and make a fool of myself,” I muttered quietly to my dad and heard him stifle a laugh.

“Don’t think about it and it won’t happen.” Soon enough, we were standing in front of the alter. Val was beaming at me from his spot on the alter. I smiled at him before turning my attention to the priest when he spoke.

“Who gives this bride to this man?” He questioned loudly and I felt my dads grip on my arm tighten for a moment.

“Her mother and I do,” He stated and I watched Emily’s grin grow even bigger as he did so. He turned to me and kissed my cheek before stepping aside, allowing me to join Val up at the alter. I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face to save my life. Standing there with Val in his dark grey suit made it all seem too real all of a sudden.

The priest began speaking, inviting people to join in the ceremony of our marriage or something… I had gone over what would be said multiple times but I couldn’t even pay attention for a whole minute. I just kept thinking how this was really happening and that I was going to finally be married to Val. Then the priest turned to him.

“The woman who stands by your side is going to be your wife. She will look to you for comfort, for support, for love, for understanding, for encouragement, and for protection. You must never take her for granted, and always stand by her for good or ill,” He said and Val nodded, signifying that he understood. The priest then turned and repeated the same to me, replacing wife with husband and whatnot.

“Valtteri, since it is your intention to marry, join your hands and declare your consent. Do you take Amy to be your lawful wedded wife, to have and behold from this day on, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?”

“I do,” Val said as his eyes locked with mine, his lips turned up into a smile.

“And Amy, do you take Valtteri to be your lawful wedded husband, to have and behold from this day on, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?” I nodded before responding.

“I do.” We went through the exchanging of the rings and once it was over I bit my lip, glancing back at the priest.

“Amy and Valtteri, you have given and pledged your promises to each other, and have declared your everlasting love by exchanging the rings. Your vows may have been spoken in minutes, but your promises to each other will last until your last breath. As have pledged themselves to meet sorrow and happiness as one family before God and this community of friends, I now pronounce them husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.” At this, Val turned to me, a grin plastered on his face as he lowered his head down to place a kiss on my lips. We pulled apart, both grinning like mad.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Filppula.” At this, the entire church erupted in applause, causing me to blush and turn my head down. Val wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me into him. I smiled up at him and he leaned down to kiss me again.

-

I laughed as I danced around with Kris’ son Kienan. He had refused to get on the dance floor with me until he saw that I had brought his sister, Kennedi out and got jealous. The reception was going off with a bang. We had gotten through dinner and all the speeches right away, so it was basically just a party now.

“Do you mind if I steal my wife away from you for a minute?” Val asked, kneeling down so he would be Kienans height. He looked up at me before nodding, a big smile on his face.

“I’ll be back to dance with you later,” I told him with a wink and I let Val lead me off the dance floor. “Where are we going?”

“Emily wanted me to get you,” He said, glancing back at me. I grinned as I walked up to my sister for maybe the tenth time already that night.

“What’s up?” I asked, taking a seat next to her.

“Just wanted to talk real quick. So how’s it feel being a married woman?” She asked, pushing my arm gently and I smiled even bigger.

“Great, you’ll see soon hopefully,” I said, shooting Jack a look. He just raised his eyebrows before shaking his head with a smirk on his face.

“I think we have enough on our plate right now,” Emily said, rubbing her belly.

“Has he been active tonight?” I asked, placing a hand on her stomach, instantly feeling a kick.

“Oh yeah. I think he likes the music. He gets really active every time Avenged Sevenfold comes on,” She said and I let out a laugh.

“Like mother like son.”

“Exactly. Can you go to the bathroom with me real quick?” Emily asked. “I would ask Jack to go help me out, but it’s the women’s room, and he refuses.”

“Sure thing,” I said laughing, standing up as I did so.

We got to the bathroom to find it was completely empty. I checked my makeup and hair in the mirror while Emily made her way into one of the stalls. Suddenly I heard something that made me stop.

“Em…did you just piss yourself before getting to the toilet or…”

“That was definitely my water…” I felt my eyes widen.

“Oh shit, I’ll go get Jack,” I said and rushed out of the bathroom, looking for the only Kings player in the sea of people.

“Hey Amy,” I heard from beside me and turned to see Justin standing there.

“Hey Abby, have you seen Jack?” I asked quickly.

“Uh, no, I haven’t. Why?”

“Emily’s water just broke,” I told him, scanning the crowd as quickly as I could.

“Her what?!” He asked and I turned to see his face had paled significantly.

“Oh Jesus Justin, really? It’s not even that bad, we just need to get Jack and get to the hospital. Now help me find him!”

“O-..okay,” He stuttered and I rolled my eyes at his reaction.

“Are you going to be like this when you have kids of your own?” I asked, not giving him enough time to answer before I dove into the crowd of people, searching for my sisters boyfriend.