Keeping Up With Toews?

KAROLINE POV:

After waking up from my little nap with Jon, I slowly escaped his grasp and went to the bedroom to get ready for tonight. I was in the process of putting on my jeans when my cell phone rang obnoxiously on the bedside table. I rolled my eyes when I saw my mom’s name on the caller i.d. sighing I slid to answer the call and a mumbled hello left my lips.

“Karoline? It’s mom.” She said, ‘obviously’ I said in my mind, “Yeah, I know.” I told her, “I just wanted to see how you’re doing, I really think we need to talk about things and kind of sort our issues out between you, me and Kim.” She explained, “Okay,” I said “Me and Kim are flying out to Chicago tomorrow at 8:00, and I was thinking we can talk this over lunch, what do you say?” I glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost 7 and I needed to leave soon, “Sure, just text or call me when you land and I’ll come pick you up and we can eat lunch.” I told her while trying to slip on my black flats. Looking at my appearance in the hall way mirror, I grabbed my wallet, Jon’s keys and kissed Jon goodbye and whispered in his ear as I still had my mom on the phone and left the condo. “Sounds good, I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing then. Love you honey.” She said and we both said goodbyes and hung up. I quickly got into Jon’s Tahoe and made my way to the bar hoping to enjoy my night with friends and forgetting about all my worries.

Kim’s POV:
After mom got off the phone with Karoline, I glanced at her wearily. “Do you think this is a good idea?” I asked her, “Kim, she’s your younger sister. She’s getting married and we need to be there for her.” Mom answered, “I know, but I still can’t believe she would blame all those things on us, I feel like such a bad sister for not being there for her, but how can I when she blamed them on me?” I explained, my voice cracking, I looked up to the ceiling to keep myself from crying, but it didn’t do justice. I felt tears slipping from my eyes, thinking back on that night seeing and hearing the things Karoline said.

“Kim, I know what she said is something we can’t forget or something she can’t take back, but we all just got to learn from this and make it better. That’s all that we can do now.” Mom said softly as she grabbed my hand from across her desk. “Now, let’s pack for tomorrow. We leave at 8:00 in the morning.” I nodded, said my goodbyes and headed back to my house.

“Kris? Why are there boxes everywhere in the house?” I yelled as I walked in through my door, I kept walking up the stairs into my room. “I was unpacking,” Kris said as he exited the bathroom, “Seriously, all these boxes is giving me an anxiety attack, can you please clean it up? I have to pack tomorrow and I really don’t like leaving when the house is all messy.” I complained walking into my closet, I started picking out clothes when I felt arms wrap around my waist. “I’m sorry about the mess, I’ll clean it up.” Kris whispered in my ear, I sighed feeling bad about yelling at him. “When are you coming back?” Kris asked as I moved out of his arms and around the closet to pack my suitcase. “I think we’re coming home on either Monday or Sunday.” I replied, I managed to pack all my shoes and clothes into my luggage and Kris and me decided to head out to dinner. I hope we can put our past behind us, and we can all be a family again, I thought to myself.

KAROLINE POV:

“Oh my gosh, I haven’t been this drunk since the Stanley Cup parade.” I said to Jack, Mackenzie, and Martin. They nodded and we both grab another round of beers and just sat at our booth enjoying the night ahead of us. “So have you guys started planning for the wedding Kare?” asked Jack as he ate some peanuts. “A little, we managed to get our wedding party together, and we have the color scheme. We’re just waiting for the appropriate time and place for our wedding, and the whole dress and tux thing also.” I told them, Martin was about to say something when a fake blonde came up to him and asked him for a dance. I rolled my eyes as I sipped on my beer while Jack tried to hold in his snigger. “Uhm, I’m Martin.” He said uninterestedly, but the blonde didn’t get the hint and pushed her chest up closer to his face, “But come on, a handsome guy like you needs someone beautiful like me in your life.” Mackenzie chocked on her beer and I patted her back quite roughly as she tried to clear her throat. The blonde glared in our direction and sneered at us, “I’m sorry, but I’m clearly not interested.” He said again, she was about to say something again until Hayden-Martin’s boyfriend came up to our table and teasingly kissed Martin on the cheek, “Sorry honey, but he’s currently taken by me. He doesn’t like cats.” He said and the blonde’s eyes widened and she huffed and stomped away to the bar.

Our table busted into a fit of obnoxious laughs getting glares from others. We quieted down after a few minutes and greeted Hayden. “I can’t believe you bitches started without me!” He yelled jokingly as he ordered up a beer from the owner of the bar who was a good friend of the Blackhawks. “You five sure are havin’ a good time tonight, any celebration?” Ray asked, “Sure is Ray! You’re looking at Mercy’s newest addition to the surgical staff!” Mackenzie yelled excitedly, already feeling the buzz from the beer we’ve already consumed. Ray shook his head and laughed, “Well how about the rest of the night, all beers on the house? And Karoline, you better make sure Captain brings us another cup home.” I raised my bottle and nodded my head, “Will do boss!”

The rest of the night was full of laughter and fun banter and by the time we all stumbled out the bar, it was nearing 2:00 in the morning, and I was in the car with Hayden and Martin while Mackenzie and Jack got into Jack’s car and went home. “Thanks for the ride guys!” I told them as they pulled up to the front of the condo. “No problem! Have a good night Kare! Say hi to Jon for us!” Hayden yelled back and they left as Ben opened the door for me and gave me a little smile. “Miss Karoline, late night I see?” Ben asked as he closed the door behind me, the lobby was quiet as there was only the usual night staff. “A little, I’m surprised I’m not stumbling and can still talk clearly.” I said quietly. He nodded and bid me a goodnight and I headed to the elevator and up to the 25th floor.

I quietly unlocked the door and went inside the dark and quiet condo, the small kitchen light was still on as I saw a few beer bottles and bags of chips on the breakfast island, meaning that Jon had some of the guys over. I quietly walked to our bedroom and heard light snores fill the room, I glanced and saw Jon sprawled out on the bed, his left arm hitting my pillow and his leg on my side of the bed. I laughed to myself at the scene and quickly changed out of my clothes and into the bathroom to wash my face.

After cleaning myself up, I slowly got into bed and tried to move Jon’s arm when he wrapped my body in his arms and mumbled something in my neck. I softly pecked his cheek and cuddled into the warmth of his body and lulled myself to sleep with Jon’s even breathing and steady heartbeat.
THE NEXT MORNING.

Waking up this morning, I found the bed empty and the condo quiet. I looked towards the bedside clock and saw it was 11:30. Mom and Kim would land around 2:30, and I got up from the bed and trudged into the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day. Taking a long hot shower, I wrapped myself in my robe and toweled my hair, and made my way to the kitchen. Making a quick little snack, and made my way back to the room to pick out my outfit.

“Karoline?” Jon yelled when I heard the door open, “In the room,” I yelled back and grabbed my teal American Eagle V-neck and dark skinny jeans and my teal vans. “What are you getting ready for?” He asked as he took off his shirt and shorts leaving him in his briefs. “My mom and Kim are flying in today. They want to talk and kind of rekindle our relationship as you can say.” I told him as I slid off the robe and slipped on my bra and underwear. “Is it just you three? Or do you want me to go with you.” He asked as he saw the weary look on my face, “I would absolutely love that!” I said and changed into my outfit, Jon nodded and he quickly pulled out a simple white V-neck and dark wash jeans with his Nike’s. “Oh! Before I forget, Mackenzie showed me this cute color scheme on this website, and I totally am in love with it, here look!” I told him while pulling up the photo of the reception colors. “I really like how they contrast, I’m pretty sure since we haven’t done much of the planning we can still involve this in.” Jon said and I squealed and wrapped my arms around him, “I knew I was marrying you for a reason!” he laughed and we both looked down to my hand where my phone was vibrating viciously. I glanced towards the clock and saw that it was already 2:00 and told Jon that we should go ahead and leave.

AIRPORT:

While Jon and I were waiting at the airport, paparazzi were already piled outside taking picture of me and Jon, they yelled out if the feud between me and Kim and Mom were still going on and I rolled my eyes as they shoved their camera’s in our faces.

“They should be landing in 10 minutes,” Jon said as we looked at the arrival screens. I nodded and sipped on my water bottle, anxiously waiting for their arrival. 20 minutes passed and I saw a crowd of photographers flashing and clicking their cameras at a big group, and I knew it was them,. When they saw us, they hastily made their way to us and we gave each other awkward hugs and headed out to the Tahoe and piled their bags in the back.

“How was ya’lls flight?” Jon asked as we headed to Millennium Park to eat at Park Grill. “It was tiring, better than flying to New York.” Mom replied, I nodded and the whole car ride was just an awkward silence, I could tell Jon was a little uncomfortable at the atmosphere and I could tell he made a mistake in coming along. I just hope to God and myself that this lunch wouldn’t be anymore awkward.

“Hi welcome to Park Grill Mr. and Ms. Toews, will you be dining in or out today?” Candice our hostess asked, “Outside please.” I told her sweetly and she grabbed 4 menus and led us to the deck. “And Tanya will be with you shortly, enjoy your meal.” Candice said as she placed our menus in front of us, I thanked her and looked down to my menu, “What’s good here?” asked Kim as she sat in front of me. “I love the Shrimp Fettuccini, but for something light, the Kobe Burger is really good also.” I told her, we all sat looking at the menu when Tanya our waitress showed up, “Well if it isn’t one of my favorite couples, if you were here 30 minutes ago, you would’ve seen good ole’ Swede Hammer and Elina.” She told us and grabbed her pad from her apron pocket, “So the usual drinks for you two?” she asked us, me and Jon both nodded and Tanya then turned to Kim and Mom. “I’ll have a Cherry Noir,” mom told her, “and I’ll have an iced tea with lemon please.” Kim replied and Tanya jotted those down. “Alright, and I’ll be back with your drinks then we’ll take your orders, sound good?” We all nodded and she left to get our drinks.

“So, let’s just break this awkward tension. I’m sorry about what happened a couple of months ago. It wasn’t my place to make those rash judgments, and I’m sorry for ruining your day Kim.” I said getting it off my chest, “And I’m sorry for being a horrible big sister, I know that you are just looking out for me, but I just want you to realize that I’m happy with Kris despite on how long we’ve been with each other. I feel so horrible about that night and I wish it didn’t end in how it did. I’m your older sister and I’m supposed to be the one you go to when you have trouble or need someone to lean on.” She replied and wiped her eyes with the napkin. Soon after Tanya showed up again, dropped our drinks, and took our orders feeling the tension at our table and hurriedly went back into the kitchen.

“I know that you’re my sister, and I love you. I just wish that sometimes that it’s not just always about you, and I may sound harsh, but it’s like that. You hardly visit me here in Chicago, and I feel like you’ve forgotten me.” I told her as I sipped on my ‘Blue Mo’. “I know, and I’m sorry, it’s just I’m always on the go, and I feel like I hardly have time to just spend time with everyone. I know it’s not much of an excuse, but maybe we can put all things aside and just be the family that we’re supposed to be. Dad would be so disappointed in all of us on how we’ve been acting towards each other.” I nodded, and I felt Jon grab my hand and held it on top of his left leg. “Both of you are right in each way, and Kim is right, You’re father would be so disappointed in how everyone has been acting, and I feel like a horrible mother in letting all of this drag on. I wish we could all erase back into time and change it, but that’s how life is. We learn from our past mistakes and we make sure it doesn’t happen again in the future.” Mom continued.

“So are we all cool now? Because I’m pretty sure Jon and this whole restaurant is feeling the tension,” I blurted and Jon shifted and laughed. “Karoline,” Jon said, Mom and Kim laughed also, and nodded. “We’re a family. We’ll always be a family no matter what.” With that being said our moods were brighter, our tension was broken, and our stomachs was over joyed at the sight of our food being placed in front of us.

“Karoline, have you and Jon done any planning on the wedding yet? Or engagement party?” Mom asked, “All we did was the Wedding Party and the color scheme, I haven’t scheduled a dress appointment yet, and I still have to send out the Wedding Party invitations. The color is like a peacock color scheme with the whole purple and turqoiuse, one of my friends I’m in class with had pulled up this reception décor and I immediately fell in love, here I’ll show you.” I said and pulled out my phone and showed them the picture like I did to Jon. “Oh, I love that. That’ll be so perfect.” They both agreed, and I took my phone back and pocketed it. “Yeah, at first we had purple and silver, but when I saw this, I changed it quickly.” I told them, “How many guests, bridesmaids, groomsman, are you having?” Kim asked, “Around 150-200 guests, about 8 bridesmaids and groomsman plus the flower girl and ring boy.” Mom smiled, “That’s quiet the party, and have you decided on a date, theme, location yet?” “Jon was thinking about having it back in Canada, the scenery is really lovely out there, but then we both thought about just having it here in the outskirts of Chicago at this really scenic venue, it’s called Independence Grove just about 50 minute drive from the city. It really is lovely. But as for the date, we are waiting until the hockey season is over and have it in the late fall or early winter.” I told them, they nodded and we continued finishing our lunch.

“Thank you for lunch Jon,” Kim said, “Yes, thank you. You really didn’t need to pick up the tab.” Mom replied, Jon smiled and shook his head, “It’s no problem, so where are we off to now?” He said, “Mom, Kim, do you guys wanna go to the hotel and get in a nap, or do you want to sightsee around the city?” I asked as we made our way back to the Tahoe. “We can head to the hotel, get settled and relax for a bit, then we can go sightsee around 6:30?” Mom asked, I nodded and we headed off to their hotel.

2 Days Later.

“Thankyou for coming to Chicago, I’m happy we rekindle our relationship.” I told them when we three hugged each other tightly. “I’m happy also. I’m glad we’re back to a big family again, and Jon make sure you keep this one in check.” Mom said as she hugged Jon tightly. Shortly after their flight was called and they both gave us one last wave and headed to their terminal. I sadly waved back and soon it was just Jon and I and we both headed back to the condo and just relaxed for the rest of the day.
“I’m happy that all this past drama is gone and now we can have everyone at our wedding like a big family,” I told Jon once we were in the comforts of our sofa. Jon wrapped his arm around me and I snuggled into his chest, “I agree, it was nice for Kim and your mom to come down and visit you.” I nodded and we both turned our attention to the TV and watched until we both fell asleep. Things were back, and now she had her family back like before.