Who Wouldn't Want To Be Me

Parker couldn’t sit still through the morning practice; he had his hands and face pressed to the glass the entire time. Whenever Jordan or Cam even looked in our general direction Parker was waving like crazy and hollering for them to look at him. The whole team got a kick out of it, and even Dan was finding it hilarious. By the time practice was over the guys were all making faces at him every time they skated by. He was loving it, and when practice was done he was a little put-out, until we went to the player’s lounge to wait for Cam and Jordan. All of the guys came and said hi to him, and when Jordan came into the lounge he immediately scooped Parker up and held him. It only took another eight or nine minutes for Cam to join us, and Steve Sullivan came to say hello to her.

“Hey Cam, good practice,” he said, pulling her into a one-armed hug. We were the only people still in the player’s lounge, and I realized a few moments later that he must know about her being a girl. Just something about the way he acted around her made it seem obvious to me.

“Thanks Steve; how was your break?” she asked, and he shrugged.

“It was all right; we went and saw Shelley’s family, so the kids had lots of fun,” he said, and she nodded.

“I assume you guys had lots of fun; brought half the Staal clan back with you?” he asked, and Jordan laughed, while Parker hid behind Jordan a little bit.

“Yeah. Parker, this is Steve,” Jordan introduced them, and Parker peeked out from behind his uncle and gave Steve a shy wave.

“Hi. Me Pawker,” he said, and Steve chuckled.

“Hi, I’m Steve. Are you here to watch your Uncle’s game?” he asked, and Parker nodded enthusiastically, coming out of his shell rather quickly.

“Yeah! Unca Cam an’ Unca Jordy pway hockey!” he announced, and Steve gave Cam a look I didn’t recognize, but knew it had to be about our nephew calling Cam “uncle”.

“That’s right! See you later, okay?” he asked, and Parker nodded excitedly and waved goodbye. Cam waved as well, and then we headed to Jordan’s Escalade and I buckled Parker in before climbing into the backseat on the passenger side.

“So, ready for the zoo?” Cam asked, and Parker hollered his excitement, making all three of us laugh.

The zoo was a fun way to spend the afternoon; Parker all but drug us through the entire zoo, and Cam and Jordan had a lot of fun pointing out different animals and naming all of the team’s Penguins – Parker insisted we take pictures of the penguins named Jordan and Bates, as well as the tigers and zebras. When we saw a polar bear Parker immediately declared it was Cubby at the top of his lungs, and gained attention from several people around us. By the time we got back to Jord’s apartment it was four thirty in the afternoon.

“Naptime,” Jordan announced as we walked in the doors, Parker nodding off as he walked in behind Jordan and in front of Cam. Cam nodded, yawning herself as I picked up Parker and his stuffed Giraffe. He’d named it Gronk after Cam had teased Jordan about being almost as tall as the giraffes and called him by the nickname his old teammate had given him.

“Ready for a nap too bud?” I asked, and Parker nodded.

“Snack fiwst?” he asked, and I looked to Jordan, not sure what was in his kitchen.

“Do you want a Nutri-Grain bar?” Jordan asked, and Parker nodded as he pulled a box of Strawberry flavored ones out of a cupboard. He opened it and handed it to Parker, who demolished it even though he’d eaten a big lunch.

“Tiwed; nap now?” he asked about thirty seconds after eating his snack, and I nodded. I reclined Jordan’s Lazy-Boy as far back as it would go and pulled a couple of blankets on it, because Parker wanted to cuddle with me instead of sleeping by himself. Between his “Gronk” and “Cubby” he was pretty comfy and fell asleep on my stomach in a few moments. Jordan and Cam were standing behind the couch, not sure of what to do.

“I’m just gonna sleep here with him; you two do whatever you normally do for a nap,” I said, and saw my brother take Cam’s hand softly and they went down the hall, probably to Jord’s bedroom. I laid my head back, and took a deep breath, closing my eyes and hoping my mind would relax enough to let me sleep. That was one of my downfalls; I couldn’t fall asleep on demand like my brothers could.

I laid there for an hour and forty-five minutes, and only opened my eyes when I heard footsteps padding down the hall, and then the bathroom door shut. Parker didn’t stir, so I laid still and wondered who was up and about. A few minutes later Jordan came out into the living room, and smiled at the little blonde boy sleeping on top of me.

“He’s still just out for the count eh?” he asked, softly ruffling Parker’s hair and tucking the blanket around him a little tighter.

“Yeah; the zoo must’ve tired him right out,” I agreed, and Jordan yawned, stretching and making his back crack loudly.

“Yeah, Cam’s out for the count too. She usually only sleeps about twenty minutes longer than me, but I think I’ll let her sleep until she wakes up,” I nodded, and wondered why Jordan was standing so awkwardly in the middle of his living room.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course Jord, what’s going on?” I asked, and saw him run a hand through his hair, something he did when he was nervous.

“Is it weird to want to marry someone you haven’t known all that long?” he asked, his voice hardly louder than a whisper. Jordan was serious; he wanted to marry Cam.

“Not if you’re in love,” I answered, my voice the same volume as his. My brother had changed more than I’d thought; the Jordan I’d seen leave Thunder Bay for training camp in August would never even be thinking about these things. That Jordan didn’t understand what it was like to be in love; he didn’t ever care about a girl enough to get truly nervous. Sure, he’d worry about what she’d think, or about hurting her feelings, but not let something eat away at him every minute of the day because he was worried about losing her. Not changing his entire lifestyle to become the person he thought she deserved. Now here he was, worrying about being in love, about doing the right thing and being the right person. It was beyond words for me to see that in a matter of months my brother had become a whole different person, one I had to get to know all over again.

“Just wondering. I’m not planning on proposing anytime soon,” he informed me, and I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding in. “But I wanted to know, I guess.”

“I understand,” I nodded, and he smiled softly at me before laying down on the couch.