I'll Be There

Ava laughed evilly as she sat on Geno’s shoulders, mussing his hair as he held tightly onto her ankles while they crossed the parking lot with Rachel and his parents. She was in an exceptionally good mood that day and didn’t protest when the Russian slung her over his shoulders.

Ava was excited for the game; she had on her Crosby jersey, a small Penguin temporary tattoo on her cheek and a brand new roll of film in her little yellow camera. Geno kneeled under the doorway as Ava ducked so she wouldn’t have to get down in order for them to enter the building.

“Can I come into the secret room?” Ava asked leaning down to whisper into Geno’s ear.

“What secret room?” Geno asked, not sure what she meant.

“The secret room.” She pointed to the double doors that lead to the Penguins locker room that some of the players were already disappearing into the doors to get ready for the game. “Can I go in it?”

“Da, sure, just let me make sure no one is naked.” He laughed, taking her off of his shoulders as she burst into giggles. Geno slipped into the locker room for a few moments, then after that, he took Ava’s little hand and led her into the room. “This is my stall.” He picked her up, setting her on her feet on the small bench. The first thing that Ava did was grab his gloves off of the top of the shelf and stick them on her hands, watching as they dropped down almost to her elbows. She struggled to grab the helmet with the blocky fingers, dropping it down onto her head as it engulfed her. “Do you want me to take your photo?” Geno asked to which she nodded, letting him take her yellow camera and snap a photo of her in the gear.

“Hey Ava!” Jordan boomed as he entered the locker room. “You playing tonight?” He asked, walking right over to the little girl and placing his hand on top of the helmet. It was then that she noticed Jonathan Staal behind Jordan with his typical goofy smile on his face as he gave her a wave.

After that, many players started to file in at once, overwhelming Ava as she took off the gloves and helmet, reaching for Evgeni who took her on his hip as Dan came in to grab a few things from one of the trainers. Dan grinned upon seeing the little girl with Geno and decided to scope things out as he walked towards the big Russian.

“Who’s your buddy, Geno?” Dan smiled.

“Dis’ is Ava, Ava dis is Disco Dan, he is my Coach.” Geno introduced.

“Hi Ava, how’s it going?” Dan stuck his hand out to shake hers. Ava moved wordlessly as she brought her camera up to her eye and snapped a photo of Dan, the flash making him flinch a bit as Geno smiled sheepishly.

“She likes to take pictures.” He explained, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.

“Do you like to watch hockey?” Dan asked, smiling softly, his scar tissue catching the light. Ava nodded before bringing her camera up to her eye again and leaning in to take a photo of the Coach’s scar. “Well you have a good time at the game, Ava, it was nice meeting you!” Ava waved goodbye to her new friend as Geno carried her from the locker room.

“How come you’re shy all of a sudden?” Geno asked, nipping her in the ribs before she could squirm down to her feet and run to his mother. Geno walked to Rachel and she grinned, rocking up to her tiptoes to kiss him gently on the cheek.

“Good luck babe.” Rachel smiled, “score a goal for me.” She winked, “and one for Ava, too, yeah?” She teased as he laughed, giving her a soft nod. “Watch this.” She whispered, “Ave, give Geno a smooch for good luck.” She insisted, looking down at Ava who was peering past Geno’s long, tree-trunk legs to where some of the other players were standing and taping up their sticks. Ava looked up at Geno with weary eyes. She was torn – she didn’t want to kiss Geno, but she wanted the Penguins to win. She sacrificed her pride and reached her arms up to him, letting him snag her under her arms and settle her on his hip as she kissed his cheek before wiggling down again and walking over to her Baba and Deda who were both grinning. “I win.” Rachel teased, giving Geno another kiss on his other cheek before he, too, could disappear into the locker room to get ready for the game against the Detriot Red Wings. It was hardly a pivotal point in the season, but the wings were always fierce competitors.

Ava continued to snap her little camera as they made their way up to their seats – opting to sit with the general public tonight. Ava bounced in her chair, wedged between Baba and Deda while her Mama sat on the other side of Geno’s Mom. The game started off nicely, both teams scoring twice in the first period, the Penguins goals credited to Sidney and Jordan as the whole arena stood up with cheers. Ava frowned as the people around her raised their hands, all she wanted was a photo of the little group of Penguins that congregated on the ice, but their arms were in the way.

During the second period, Ava shared a meatball grinder and onion rings with her Deda when they appeared on the scoreboard screen. Ava waved excitedly, a big smile on her face and Rachel looked down to see Geno on the bench pointing up to the screen as the crowd cheered – Malkin’s parents always being a crowd favorite in Pittsburgh. Ava’s eyes trained on the screen as she watched the camera pan around to the other patrons of the game. Ava stood on her feet as the players lined up for faceoff.

“Daddy!” She shouted, eyes wide. Geno’s parents smiling warmly at the thought of Ava calling Geno her Dad, but Rachel knew better as her daughter crawled over her lap with fervor. Rachel took off after Ava, also having seen her ex-husband on the big screen with his new wife.

•••

“Good evening!” Nathalie Lemieux smiled as she opened their front door to Evgeni Malkin, his girlfriend Rachel, and Ava. “Happy Halloween!” She greeted, ushering them into the house as she took in the costumes. Rachel and Geno were dressed as a cute, Raggedy Andy and Annie while Ava flounced around in a costume that definitely looked like an original. Rachel hardly had time to call after Ava as the seven year old took off into the spacious living room where Sidney and his fiancé were already situated; launching herself at him while Geno went straight to the kitchen to get something to drink.

Geno had been making such progress with Ava up until Rachel told him about the incident with her father at the home game about two and a half weeks earlier. She had been more set than ever to keep him out of she and Rachel’s life once she had caught a glance of her father for the first time in a very long time.

“Hey buddy, what’s your costume?” Sidney asked with a grin as he hauled Ava up into his lap where she was already eyeing some of the Staals who ran rampant around the home.

“I’m an astronaut, duh!” She said, placing her hands on her hips in her shimmery pink jumpsuit complete with rhinestones and sequins. “A girl astronaut.” She cleared up, pointing at the Nasa logo on her chest that was bright neon pink. “My Mama made it for me.” She smiled proudly. “Do you have candy?” She asked.

“I don’t have any on me, but I know that Mario has a lot of fun games planned that you can win and find candy to eat all night.” He insisted, giving her little shoulders a shake as she spotted Jonathan Staal, coming right at her in a cowboy get up.

“Oh no.” She sighed, making Sidney stifle a giggle – which in turn, made Brianna laugh – as the cowboy tugged her down as she chased him out to the backyard where lots of other kids were running around, playing games and having fun.

“Hi Ava, would you like to go on a hay ride?” Mario smiled, nodding his head over to the John Deere he had rented to go around the acres of backyard, pulling a trailer filled with hay stacks. Ava looked at it plainly before looking back to Mario and shaking her head.

“Yeah!” Jon smiled, excitedly, pulling Ava with him to the trailer as they climbed up onto the hay, sitting down on a blanket-covered bundle. Ava sighed as Mario gave the little blonde boy beside her a thumbs-up before starting the engine and taking off on a slow pace. “I like your costume.” Jon insisted, his white blonde eyelashes fluttering at her.

“If you kiss me, I’ll hit you.” She countered, making Mario cough loudly to cover up a laugh. “And I like it too.” She added softly, placing her hands on her knees.

“Did you go trick or treating?” He asked, swinging his legs.

“Yes.” She replied curtly.

“With your Mama and Geno?” He pressed.

“Yes.” She replied again, rolling her eyes.

“Do you like Geno now?” He asked, swinging his little feet that were tucked into brown cowboy boots.

“No.” She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away as the house grew smaller and smaller as Mario drove deeper into the acres of open land.

“You should be nice to Geno.” Jon frowned.

“Why?” She asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

“You need someone to protect you,” He began indignantly, “until I’m big enough to do it.” He finished. “And he’s nice to your Mama.” He added, “they’re gonna get married and have babies, my Mommy said so.” Mario couldn’t have been more intrigued in their little conversation as he turned and headed back towards the home that was big and glowing with warmth and excitement. “Ouch!” Jon yelped, rubbing his arm where Ava had pinched him.

“Don’t say that.” She hissed, crossing the little trailer to sit on another haystack far away from Jon who scowled and rubbed his arm, his little cowboy hat flopping down in front of his face. When they returned to the house, Ava made sure to give both Jordan and Phoebe a stern look before finding her Mama who was sitting with Geno, the two of them eating ribs from the smoker that Mario had been preparing all day.

“How was the hay ride, sweetheart?” Rachel asked as Ava took a seat next to her mother and immediately began eating the food off of her plate.

“Stupid.” Ava mumbled, “I want to go home.” She insisted, “this party is stupid.”

“Ava, sweetie, - ”

“Sometimes it’s not all about you, Ava.” Geno said sharply, looking down at the little girl who was hell bent on ruining his life. “Can’t you just enjoy the party and have fun?” He asked as Rachel squeezed his arm softly.

“Geno, I hardly think that you need to speak – ”

“If you’re never stern with her, she’ll always be a little brat, Rachel. She gets away with everything and she never has any consequences.” He gestured to the little girl who was stewing in her own anger. “If I ever talked to my parents like that, they would have punished me.” He finished. Rachel wasn’t sure what to say, she wanted to be a united front with Geno but she didn’t want to alienate her daughter who was looking up at her helplessly. She’d never had behavior problems before, but it seemed like Evgeni really brought out the worst in her.

Ava hopped down from the chair, looking up at her Mama and Geno as she willed herself not to cry.

“I hate both of you! You’re a bad Mama and I never want you to be my Daddy!” She shouted, garnering the attention of the other few players and their significant others in the room.

“Yeah well guess what, I don’t want to be your Dad, either.” Geno snarled, making big, crocodile tears fall from Ava’s eyes as she ran from the house.