The Fleury Life

Marc-Andre’s PoV:
A gentle touch swept the hair away from the side of my face, causing me to stir slightly from the deep sleep I was in. I rolled over and sighed, resting deeper into the mattress.
A quiet giggle danced through my ears.
“I close my eyes and see his eyes, so soft and warm and clear,” sang the source of the giggles.
A slight smile appeared on my face.
“I dream away of holding him, I dream that he is right here.” Those aren’t the right lyrics... but I knew that. “I sense in all his silences, more than his words could say.”
I turned my head towards the direction of the voice, taking in the sweet song. “Stop pretending you aren’t awake!” So much for the rest of the song.
“Sing me the next verse and maybe I’ll open my eyes,” I mumbled, and pretended to snore.
She snorted and laughed, but sang again. “Trust your feelings says my heart.” A pair of lips crossed gently along my cheekbone, feeling like a fluttering butterfly. “A heart I will obey.”
I opened my eyes and stared into the beautiful hazel ones that belonged to Sierra, my beautiful, amazing Sierra. She smiled warmly, her eyes bright and cheery. I brought my hand up and cupped her face, stroking just under her eye with my thumb gently. “That’s one way to wake me up,” I mumbled, blinking away the sleep. “Good morning, beautiful.”
“Good morning.” There was a cheerfulness about her that was snapped away since the game yesterday afternoon. Seeing her this way, being happy like this, makes me smile and pushes all the pain away. “I made you breakfast.”
“Did you?”
Sierra smiled that perfect smile and bent down, placing a kiss upon my lips and I eagerly kissed back. “Mmhmm.”
“What type of lecture am I getting?”
She gasped in pretend shock, bringing her hand up to her chest. “Lecture? Now why would I do that?”
I took a hold of her hand and brought it to my lips. “I think you have a lot to lecture about.”
Her eyes dimmed slightly, and I regretted bringing anything up, but she quickly recovered. “Well, lucky for you, I’m not lecturing you. Just Sidney later today. You just get a pep-talk.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “What type of pep-talk?”
She laughed, a real, hearty laugh. “That depends,” she said, her eyes glowing with something a little darker, a little sexier. “Let’s get through breakfast first and actually talk.”
I sighed dramatically. “If we must.”
She giggled and rolled through her hip and got up off the bed.
I shoved the covers off of my body and stood up slowly, noticing Sierra standing against the doorway, watching. I pulled on a pair of shorts and glanced over at movement from the doorway. Sierra was putting on one of my Penguins sweaters; I gave her a curious look. “Breakfast is being served out on the back deck,” she said. “It’s a little chilly outside still. Dress warm.”
I nodded and grabbed a sweater of my own to throw on, and then I followed her downstairs.

Sierra’s PoV:
I was delighted to see that Marc seemed happier this morning, even if just a bit. I could still see the sadness in his eyes, could still see how upset he was. But after a good nights sleep, he was a little bit better. And that boosted my spirits. I was hoping that after talking with him, just him and I at breakfast, would help him sort through the rest of the emotions he had.
I took him downstairs, forced him out onto the deck before I brought out a couple plates filled with french toast and bacon. I already had a picture of orange juice on the table, same with utensils.
“You didn’t have to do this,” Marc said, staring at me as I set the plate down in front of him.
“No, I didn’t.” I took my seat, sliding in carefully in order to prevent hitting my ever-growing belly against the table. “But I wanted to.”
He smiled and poured some syrup on his french toast and began to eat. As I did, and we made chit chat before I got down to things after we finished eating.
Marc knew it was coming. “Well, let’s do this,” he said not unkindly.
I gazed at him sympathetically. “Honey, I know you’re upset, but you can’t do this to yourself.” He gazed down at his hands in his lap. “I understand you’re upset and frustrated with yourself, but it’s not just you. You shouldn’t be putting the blame only on yourself. You have 18 other men that shouldn’t let the puck get through to you as much as it has.”
“But it’s my job when it happens to stop it from going into the net,” he said sadly.
“Marc, I’m not saying that you played well. Babe, you didn’t. I’m not going to sit here and lie to you.” He nodded in understanding. “But you need to know, and deep down you DO know, that you are so much better than that. You are an elite goaltender, no matter what anyone says. You were tied with the most wins this season. You are a phenomenal goaltender, and I think you have forgotten that lately.”
He nodded again, but this time, he looked up at me. I stood up and walked over to my husband and sat in his lap sideways, and wrapped my left arm around his neck. I turned my head to stare at him as I continued to speak. “You can do this, Marc. I know you can. Don’t psyche yourself out. You can go into game four and go, ‘I can do this’, and you would be great. I believe in you, my love, and the team believes in you too.” I brushed some of his black hair away from his face as the wind blew against us gently in the chilly morning. “But no matter how much we believe in you, nothing good will happen if you don’t believe in yourself.”
“I know.”
I kissed him along his jawline. “Believe in yourself, Marc-Andre, because you are one of the best. You can be the backbone of this team, you will need to be.” I stared deeply into his eyes. “With you at the helm, or, well, behind it I suppose, but with you as the backbone for this team, we can beat this Flyers, upset them, and continue on in these Playoffs.” He nodded, lost in thought as he was truly taking in my words. “I believe in you, my darling. You just need to believe in yourself.”
“You are too good to me.”
I smiled, stroking his cheek lightly with my fingers. “That is true. You could let it a hundred goals and you’d still be the best in my eyes.” Marc chuckled lightly. “But you know I’m being honest here.”
“I do.”
“Think about all I have said, Marc.” I smiled lovingly at him, to which he responded. “No amount of support will be enough if you don’t believe in yourself first.” I pressed my forehead lightly against his. “And you can do this.” I pecked his nose lightly with a kiss. “Plus, don’t make your six-month pregnant wife go through all the emotions of defeat before she’s ready.”
He laughed a real laugh before kissing me softly. “Am I really that amazing?”
“To me? That and much more.” I smiled at him and stroked his hair lovingly. “I know you can do this, Marc. Everyone just needs you to know too.” He nodded and smiled thoughtfully. “Use today to just think on that, ok?”
“Ok.”
I kissed him again and he wrapped his arms around my waist and held me close. When we pulled away from our kiss, I could see the real Marc-Andre there, his eyes twinkling and a smile upon his lovely lips. “Now that’s more like it.”
He laughed and hugged me tight. “You are the best, ma chérie.”
I grinned mischievously. “You just save that comment until after I come back from lunch with my brother.”
Marc raised one dark eyebrow. “Oh?”
I kissed him with a little more fire than before. When I pulled away, he looked intrigued, very intrigued indeed, but I quickly hopped off his lap and giggled as I danced away from him. As I began to grab the plates from our breakfast, Marc grabbed a hold of my scarred wrist, tracing the scars lightly with a bit of romance in his dark eyes. “Let me,” he said as he let go and picked up the plates.
I giggled and wrapped an arm around his waist.
I had my Marc-Andre back. It took a while, but the man I loved was back to his normal self, and no matter the outcome on Wednesday, so long as it isn’t as nasty as it was yesterday, that wouldn’t change.
And I have a feeling that game four will finally be the game my boys are looking for. A win? I sure as hell hope so, but for sure not as bad as a loss like games two and three.
I looked up at Marc as he placed the dishes in the sink, and he gazed down curiously. “Oui?”
“Nothing.” I pecked his cheek lovingly with my lips, and he smiled at me.
Yes, he was back. And I couldn’t be any happier.