I'll Be There

Evgeni groaned lightly as he drove back from the Consol, tucking his hair – which Rachel insisted was too long – under his cap. Thirty-five years old and still producing, he had signed a three-year contract with the Penguins. He suspected it to be his last contract. He was ready for a slower pace of life, and while he loved Pittsburgh and would undoubtedly spend the rest of his days there, he wanted to see his jersey hang in the rafters and attend the games each night sitting up in the executive suite.

“I’m home.” He called once he stepped into the house, dropping the keys on the table, they had come a long way from his three-bedroom house in Fox Chapel, moving to a six-bedroom in Shadyside.

“Hi Dad.” Evgeni turned the corner into the kitchen where his oldest son, Malcolm, was making a sandwich, piling on a pound of roast beef. Evgeni walked by, rubbing his hand across Malcolm’s curly-brunette head before grabbing a bottle of Gatorade out of the fridge.

“Where is everyone?” He asked, leaning against the charcoal granite countertops and taking a long pull from the blue bottle.

“Ben is downstairs hitting the net and Ava is upstairs.” He trailed before taking a giant bite of his sandwich. “…with John.” He added, dodging out of the kitchen. Evgeni could practically see red as his thirteen-year-old son camped out in the family room, leaving half of the fridge out on the counter. He tucked the perishables back into the fridge before grabbing one of the hockey sticks from the entryway and heading up to the second level where he could hear music playing from what he knew was Ava’s room.

“Ava.” He called out, tapping on the door with the blade of his stick. She knew the rules. The door opened a moment later and he immediately stuck his head inside past Ava, seeing Jonathan Staal sitting at his daughter’s desk with his laptop open.

“Hey Geno.” He smiled innocently. Evgeni knew better. He knew that his father, Jordan, had caught them in compromising positions at his house more than once where there was less supervision (thanks to the higher volume of Staal children running around their giant eight bedroom home just ten minutes away in East Shadyside).

“Hi Daddy.” Ava Malkin chirped with a happy smile, winding her arms around his middle and hugging him tightly. “How was practice?” She asked, her big blue eyes looking up at him. Unfortunately for Evgeni, Ava had grown up into a gorgeous young woman, and the boys were taking notice.

“Ava, you know the rules, no closed doors when John is over.” He replied, tucking a stray piece of blonde hair behind her ear.

“I know, but Ben was upstairs and playing his music really loudly, and Johnny and I are doing homework, so I closed the door.” She pouted as a sleek grey cat wound from around her feet and rubbed up against Evgeni’s ankles.

“Where’s Mama?” He asked, picking Maggie up and holding to his chest.

“She ran to the grocery store for lunch tomorrow, but she wants to go out tonight for Mexican food.” She explained. Evgeni nodded, dropping a kiss to her forehead before walking down to the opposite end of the second floor to he and Rachel’s master bedroom. Mimi was already asleep on Rachel’s pillow as he took off his belt and dropped it to the floor before crawling into bed beside the two family cats. He exhaled slowly and felt his bones melt into the mattress as he set his alarm for half an hour, hoping to catch a short nap before they went out for dinner.

Even up on the second floor of the home, he could hear the faint scrape and slap of the hockey stick and hockey puck against the cement floor in their sub-basement. Ben was in the basement every day practicing his shot in the room that Evgeni had designed for their practice.

Malcolm and Ben were the newest additions to the Malkin family, being adopted from Agapovka, Russia, only a few minutes away from where Geno grew up in Magnitogorsk. They adopted the boys when they were three and four years old just after Ava turned eight. Now at thirteen and fourteen, they were in the thick of high school, hockey, and girls.

After their marriage, Rachel and Evgeni tried to conceive for about two years before they decided they couldn’t wait any longer and wanted to adopt – more specifically from Russia. They hadn’t purposely tried to have children since, but Geno could see them trying again sometime soon. Evgeni prayed for another boy.

“Hello handsome husband of mine.” He peeked one eye open to see Rachel standing in the doorway, looking more beautiful than ever as she kicked off her shoes and crawled on top of the bed and curling up beside him.

“John is here.” He frowned, pouting out his lips as his wife shared his pillow, letting him snake his arms around her waist and holding her close to him.

“I know, we can kick him out when we go to dinner.” She insisted, kissing her husband with a soft smile.

“Jordan needs to keep a tighter leash on his monkeys.” He mumbled, making her giggle as they both rest their eyes, slipping away into a light nap. Down the hall and across the house, there was a similar situation unfolding in Ava’s bedroom as she curled up in Jonathan’s arms. Jonathan Staal knew it had a sweet life when she crawled up on top of him, leaning down to kiss him as his hands fixed at her waist.

“If Geno catches us, he will literally kill me.” He pointed out as she kissed down his neck.

“You let me take care of Daddy.” She insisted with a grin, dropping her body down on top of his, making him groan loudly.

Ava had grown up despising Jonathan – that was no secret. When they turned thirteen and started hanging out more with the Penguins kids at school, he stuck up for her and kept her entertained so she eventually saw him in a new light. He was tall, 16, 6 foot and growing, light strawberry blonde hair and the same bright blue eyes his father had. That, and he had been scouted from the moment he turned fourteen by colleges, junior teams, and everyone else under the sun.

Jonathan Staal was hopelessly and utterly in love with Ava Malkin, and there was nothing their parents could do about it.

•••

“Mama, tell Daddy that Jordan can come to dinner.” Ava sighed as she entered her mother’s closet where Rachel was sorting out an outfit for dinner. Evgeni was taking them all out to a swanky restaurant that night to celebrate good grades from the first semester.

“Ava, be nice to your Dad, he has a hard time with Jordan and this is a family celebration.” She reminded, stepping into a black dress and turning her back to have Ava zip her up.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but is this not a celebration for my hard work?” She pointed out as Evgeni stepped into their bedroom, overhearing their conversation.

“Ava, yes, this is a reward, but this is for family only.” She said in a final tone. “Besides, Johnny comes with us every where, it won’t kill you to spend a night away from the poor kid.” She gave her daughter’s shoulder a squeeze before passing her out to the bedroom. Ava turned on her heel and followed suit, tossing a glare Geno’s way as she passed him.

“Ava.” Geno sighed, but she simply put a hand up in his direction before walking back to her bedroom. “She is a piece of work.” He shook his head, passing Rachel and grabbing a button down shirt from the hanger.

“She’s a sixteen year old girl who think she’s in love with her first boyfriend. She’s a trainwreck.” Rachel corrected, kissing his cheek and sliding her hand down his back to give one of his buns a squeeze before sauntering into the bathroom. Evgeni shook his head before finishing getting ready.

Ava stepped into the navy, lace dress that she had gotten for her school’s winter semi-formal earlier that year. She knew her Dad hated it because it was too tight and showed off too much of her curves. She curled her hair quickly and did her make up before stepping into a pair of tall black suede ankle boots. Standing in front of her full-length bathroom mirror, she took out her cell phone, taking a picture and sending a photo to Johnny.

“Ava! Let’s go!” Evgeni called up the stairs. She grabbed her purse, carefully heading down the stairs. Evgeni’s lips pursed and eyebrows knit together as she passed him to the garage, knowing full well that she had picked that outfit just to displease him. “Coat.” He reminded, watching as her arm shot out and grabbed her black pea coat from the coat rack near the door.

Ava settled in their SUV between her two brothers, resting her head on Malcolm’s shoulder. He slung his arm around her shoulders as the car moved quietly towards downtown Pittsburgh.

“I wish we lived in the city.” Ava sighed, feeling as though her life would be much more exciting if they lived closer to all the action.

“It’s fun, but it’s no place for family.” Rachel replied as she and Evgeni held hands between themselves. “I lived there for a bit after med school, but the suburbs are just a better fit.” She explained. Malcolm and Ben took after Evgeni in the way that they were quiet by nature and were more expressive through their looks than with words. Ben was closer to Ava in age, being fourteen years old, but neither of them had ever had as serious girlfriend before. However, the two boys were already taller than their sister and Geno had instilled a serious value of protection in them – they were always looking out for Ava and keeping Jonathan at arm’s distance.

Pulling up to the restaurant, valet parked their car and Ava held Ben’s hand as they walked in carefully on the thin ice of the sidewalk.

“Thanks, Daddy.” She whispered as Geno took her coat, hanging it up and pulling out her chair between he and Ben. The first thing Ava did was slide her phone out of her purse, hiding it in her lap, but when the large screen lit up with a text message, Geno thought he was going to have an aneurism seeing a message from Jonathan Staal that simply said: Sexy ;)

“No phones at dinner, Ava, you know that.” Rachel said lightly as she pulled open her menu. Evgeni was quick to order a bottle of wine. The more time that passed, the more conversational the boys and Ava became.

“Daddy, let me try a bite of yours.” Ava insisted, eyeing up one of his two filet mignons. There was no avoiding the hockey diet, which had him consuming between five and six thousand calories a day. He paired his steaks with two servings of twice-baked potatoes, sautéed asparagus and a side of grilled shrimp.

He sliced a piece of steak for Ava who without fail always ended up enjoying whatever he ordered more than her meal – since she was 6 years old whether they were at Perkins or Red Lobster.

“New James Bond movie out this weekend, when are we going?” He whispered to her as the boys talked with their mother. Ava and Geno were both big movie buffs, always planning to catch a flick when a good movie caught their interest.

“Johnny wanted to go to see it.” She frowned, looking up at him with those same big green eyes that had him melting for the past ten years. “But he can wait.” She bumped her shoulder into his, making him grin and drop a kiss down on her forehead. Rachel simply smiled from across the table.

Boys would come and go, but she’d always be her Daddy’s little girl.