I'll Be There

Geno was out that night against the Senators as a precautionary scratch. He had woken up the other morning with a low fever, but Bylsma and Shero insisted that he not take any chances and take a day or two to mend.

Rachel was at the hospital that night and Geno was more than happy to take his little sidekick with him. Ava felt like a rockstar as she held his hand from the parking lot to the Consol to the player’s entrance. Evgeni was dressed in a suit his soon-to-be-stepdaughter picked out, a light gray with a very faint purple plaid. She skipped along to keep in step with him wearing her favorite Jordan Staal jersey, blue jeans, and braided pigtails.

“’Geni.” She looked up at him from just below his hip

“Da?” He asked as they moved through the throng of people in the family lounge, moving to the locker room for Dan’s pregame talk, after which, he would head up to the suite to watch the game.

“I’m hungry.” She smiled, showing off the newest gap in her teeth that the tooth fairy awarded her a handsome five dollars. It was burning a hole in her piggy bank.

“We can get food after we listen to Dan, okay?” He spoke softly as they stood in the doorway. She stood between his legs, the back of her head resting against his bellybutton as they quietly listened to Dan talk to the room of dressed hockey players before dishing out the starting lineup. As the players exited, they skipped out on Geno’s proffered fist and high-fived Ava instead.

“All right, myshka, let’s go see what Mario has for food.” He said, swinging her up onto his hip and leading her through the last of the stragglers that had yet to take to their seats for the game. Once they were up to the suite level, Ava blushed deeply as Mario greeted the two of them. Ava hid behind Geno’s knee and Evgeni laughed as he pulled a menu from the counter, ordering up chicken strips, a steak sandwich, a chocolate milk, and two liters of water. “It will be here soon.” He kissed the top of her head as they grabbed a seat near the front of the suite; the little girl perched on his lap as the skaters prepped for faceoff.

True to his word, it wasn’t long until they were both able to chow down on their goodies. Evgeni made sure to keep a wad of napkins on his lap, learning his lesson from the last time they shared a meal and she continuously and mindlessly wiped her hands on his lap – effectively running a twelve hundred dollar Hugo Boss suit.

“Good baby girl?” He asked, wiping his mouth before taking the last bite of his sandwich. She nodded, leaning back against his chest and closing her eyes for just a moment. He knew she always got sleepy for a few moments after finishing a meal. Rachel would be less than thrilled that she would have had CEC chicken strips for dinner for another night.

Geno lightly rubbed her belly and bounced her on his knee as he watched her eyes flutter shut for a moment, a firm arm wrapped around her middle. He couldn’t wait to be her father – for him to call her Daddy or Papa for once.

“Doesn’t get much better than that.” Mario spoke up from a few seats over with a warm smile. Evgeni figured she woke up from her little kitten nap a few moments later after the Penguins scored their first goal. After that, she was a ball of energy, hopping around the chairs, cheering with the crowd, and holding on to the restraint bar as she swung back and forth.

“I’m going to go pee.” She announced, running towards the door of the suite.

“Ava!” He called after her.

“I know where it is!” She squealed, dancing in the doorway, shifting from foot to foot. “Stand here and wait.” She instructed, positioning him in the doorway where he could see the women’s bathroom from about thirty feet away and across the hall. He was thankful that there was hardly ever any foot traffic in the suite hallways as he watched her disappear into the ladies room.

A few minutes had passed and he had turned his back to the hallway to watch the game as he waited for the little girl.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” He all but growled in Russian as Rachel’s ex showed up on the big screen again, holding up his jersey for the camera in the designated concourse fan hot spot that they always walked past on their way up to the suite.

“Daddy.” He heard her quite voice and before he could turn to find Ava, she was already running down the escalator to the main concourse. Evgeni took after her like a rocket in dress shoes. He was thankful for the way she kept yelling ‘Daddy!’ as she fought the intermission crowds, her tiny body weaving through legs as she ran to the spot she knew she saw up on the screen – the same place she often saw IceBurgh.

“Daddy!” She called, running towards Dave as he was oblivious to the little girl. Ava all but stopped in her tracks, going from sixty to zero in 2 seconds flat as another woman slid her arm around his shoulders and another little girl leapt up into his arms.

“Hi Daddy.” The little girl smiled – being much younger than Ava. She didn’t understand. He was her Daddy – not this girl’s. Dave made eye contact with Ava, not even batting an eye as he turned his back on her for the last time and walked away with his new wife and his new daughter. Ava knew she wasn’t needed anymore. Sobs immediately escaped her mouth the moment Evgeni crushed her into his chest, having seen the whole exchange.

“Why doesn’t he want me?” She bawled into his neck. Evgeni turned on his heel, not knowing where to go, but knowing he wanted to get out of the main concourse with his crying little girl. “What did I do?” She asked, just wishing her Daddy would love her.

“Nothing, you did absolutely nothing, baby girl.” Evgeni insisted, moving swiftly through the arena and down to the player’s concourse as they sat down in the empty family lounge. “Sometimes, people don’t know how good they’ve got it.” He rubbed her back as he sank down into one of the leather couches. “You did nothing wrong.” He whispered into her ear.

“Don’t leave me, Geno.” She cried, clutching his suit coat in her tiny fists as she continued to cry.

“Hey, look at me.” He whispered, wiping at the tears under her eyes with his thumb gently. Her big eyes looked up at him almost hopelessly. “I’m never going anywhere. Ever. I’ll always be here.” Evgeni insisted, making sure she heard him loud and clear.

“I love you, ‘Geni.” She hiccupped softly.

“I love you too, Ava, I love you so much.”

•••

“Papa chase me!” Ava squealed as she took off across the park in her full snowsuit. Evgeni pretended to run, but had a hard time keeping upright as he laughed, watching her waddle in the suit that kept her from essentially bending her knees. Just before Evgeni could catch up to the little girl, she turned on her heel and launched a snow ball at him, hitting him right in the stomach. “I got you!” She cheered, pink cheeks lighting up as Rachel laughed from the sidewalk.

“You got Papa!” She laughed, making Evgeni’s ears burn with a blush as he gathered Ava in his arms, burying his cold nose into her warm neck, making her wiggle in his arms as they made their way back to their shared home in Fox Chapel. “Papa?” Ava asked as she looked up at Evgeni.

“Yes baby girl?” He asked, swinging their hands between them.

“I want a kitty.” She pouted, making Rachel roll her eyes as the two of them turned their heads to look at her. Evgeni and Ava both had been wearing her down for weeks now about adopting a kitten for their home.

“Maybe Papa will take us to the pet store just to see what kind of kitties are there.” Evgeni offered, making Rachel’s eyes narrow.

“Yes! Let’s go see the kitties!” Ava squealed, running towards the house and throwing open the front door that they left unlocked as they went for their afternoon walk.

“You’re going to regret that.” Rachel sighed as Ava disappeared inside. “Now I’ve got the both of you against me.” She added.

It had been three months since Ava’s final encounter with her father, and since then, she had entirely accepted Evgeni into her life, and in three months time, she would be accepting him as her step-father. Their wedding was set for the first weekend in July when they would be getting married in Pittsburgh seeing as more guests would be from North America than Russia.

Evgeni looped his arms around his bride to be, dipping her down low before pressing a hot kiss to her lips, one of his hands cradling her neck as the other held her waist tightly.

“But it is a good place to be, da?” He asked with a smug grin as she giggled and blushed like a teenage girl.

“Come on, Papa, you’ve got a little girl that is expecting you to buy her a kitty.” Rachel reminded with a tap on his nose. Evgeni smiled, not remembering a time when he was this happy – a beautiful fiancé, a bubbly daughter, and a bright future. He’d do anything to ensure that everyone around him stayed happy.

It wasn’t another few minutes before they were loading up in Evgeni’s new Range Rover, a ‘much needed’ addition to their home after his most recent signing bonus, arguing that he could hold on to the older Rover for when Ava started driving. Rachel scoffed at the suggestion.

”Because I know full well that when that little girl turns 16, she’s going to have whatever car she asks you for sitting in the driveway when she wakes up. As if you’d have her driving around a ten-year-old Range Rover.”

Evgeni carried Ava into the pet store on his hip as they went straight back to the cat station – where they often frequented to pet the cats that needed homes when Rachel was off working at the hospital.

“Ohh, I like this one.” Ava wrapped her pudgy little fingers around the metal bars of the cage for a small orange kitten who hopped up at the contact, rubbing it’s body all over the little girl’s fingers.

“She is a nice girl.” Evgeni agreed, eyeing the grey kitten near the back of the cage – both cats were small and could most likely fit in the palm of his hand. “What do you think, Mama?” He turned to look at Rachel who stood in the doorway of the room, not getting especially close to the cages because she already knew her opinion would be null.

“She is very cute.” She agreed. Evgeni sighed as he looked down at the girl on his hip, turning and leaving the adoption center as they approached the wall of collars ranging every size and color. He picked up a light green one, knowing it would look good with her orange fur, while Ava grabbed a purple one.

“For the grey kitty.” She grinned with a gleam in her eye. Evgeni barked a happy, loud laugh as they met back with Rachel near the room with the kennels. Her eyes zeroed in on the two collars in Geno’s hand, her eyes widening as she slowly shook her head from side to side.

“You are an absolute sucker.” She sighed with a small smile as Ava wiggled out of Evgeni’s grip and ran back towards the six week old kittens.

“You guys are coming home with us!” She announced happily as Rachel went in search of a sales associate.

An hour later, Rachel sighed as she watched from the kitchen as she watched her two children playing on the family room floor with their new kittens, an orange kitten named Mimi and a grey kitten named Maggie. It was no secret that Evgeni loved cats, and she knew he was in heaven right now with two kittens of his own – or at least two that he had to share.

“Are you happy, ‘Geni?” Ava asked, looking up at Geno who was cradling Mimi to his chest with a wide smile.

“Very happy.” He replied as the little kitten nibbled innocently on his fingers. “How about you, malyshka?”

“Very happy.”