Last Chance

"I'm so excited to actually be going to the mountains!" Kelly was so excited that she hadn't stopped talking since we got into the car. "The last time I was in Banff it was winter and we went skating, it feels like ages ago."

I turned to her "The last time was in Banff I was twelve and I don't really remember anything because we spent the whole time at the rink."

"Oh yeah, I remember that. I was so jealous that your team got to go and ours didn't. You brought me back the stuffed moose. I still have that you know."

-----Winter 1999-----

"I heard you guys won!" Kelly flung her arms around me as I was setting up the net, nearly knocking me over.

"Yeah, it was pretty fun. I got MVP and scored twelve goals. The teams out west are good, like really good."

"We won our games this week, I got eighteen penalty minutes and a game misconduct when I accidently hit the blonde chick in the back. Ooops." She tried to sound like she was really upset but I knew she wasn't. She had a temper and hated when people got in her way. I watched her tie up her skates before I skated over to her.

"I got you something." I let the bag hand from my finger in front of her face. She looked up at me with a big smile and tried to reach for it.

"Nope. You're going to have to work for it." I teased. For once it was me teasing her not the other way around."

"Oh come on Sid, can I please have it?"

"You can have it after you hit the net five times in a row."

"I hate you for making a drill out of this." She huffed before skating over to the blueline on my backyard rink and lined the pucks up. A look of sheer determination on her face as she wound up and shot. Three went in, one hit the cross bar, and another bounced off a tree. She turned to me and scowled, making me laugh. She fetched the pucks and lined them up again. This time she stopped when the first one missed wide and grabbed another puck. At this rate I would be out of pucks before I could even take a shot. I saw her take a deep breath before she closed her eyes. Visualization was something they were teaching all of us now. I could almost visualize it with her. She let out another slow breath and focused on the net as she wound up and shot the first puck straight into the back of the net, she made sure to breath between shot and when the next three went in she looked at and smiled before she took her last shot. When it bounced off the post and in I heard he squeal with delight as she threw her gloves off and skated over to me.

"Hand it over Crosby."

I handed her the bag. "Nice work Kel."

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We got closer to the mountains and she got more and more excited, as the terrain went from flat, to foothills, to mountains in less than an hour. We drove through the gates of the park and down main street before we found a parking spot. "Okay Kel, now that we're here where do you want to go?"

"Can we just walk Main Street? It's my favourite, and then maybe go for lunch?"

"Anything you want." I replied quietly as I grabbed her hand. The place had changed a lot since I was a kid.

"Oh look!" She pointed her finger at the window of the Fudge Factory as we walked by. "Chocolate! Let's go in." She pulled me inside the shop and we watched them make chocolate and sampled some treats. "This is so against my diet when I'm training, but I don't care. Here, try this one." She shoved a chocolate caramel into my mouth. She was so happy, this is Kelly I remembered. We left the shop with a bag full of chocolate that Kelly swore she would save until after she got back from Europe, but two minutes down the road she was digging into the bag. She stopped and looked at me as she licked the chocolate off of her fingers. "What?" I shook my head at her and smiled at the Chocolatety kiss she placed on my lips. "Come on crosby, have you ever eaten crocodile?" She gave me a wistful smile and dragged me along Main Street until we reached a little restaurant nestled in between two buildings. "This is the Grizzly House. Best fondue you will ever have."

*****

She was right. I sat back in my chair to let my stomach expand. It was the first time I had ever eaten crocodile and ostrich. I even tried rattle snake, the food was amazing but my company was better. Plus, I liked Banff and how no one seemed to care who I was. "Do you want to go up the gondola?" She said as she finished up her plate.

"Sure. I can only imagine that the view is spectacular."

"You won't be disappointed."

We drove up to the parking lot at Sulphur Mountain and got in the line for the gondola. I wrapped my arm around he waist as we waited quietly for our turn. When we got into the gondola and the operator shut the door she looked up at me. "I know this probably isn't the best time to bring it up, but I um, well, I, I um, I just wanted to let you know that I'm on the pill. Well, actually the shot, and not because I you know, sleep with guys a lot. It's just easier when you play a sport competitively to not have to worry about getting your period. I just thought you should know. Yeah. Before last night it had been a very very long time." She was clearly nervous as she tried to tuck a loose strand behind her ear only to find that there was nothing there because her hair was tied up.

"I'm glad you told me that, because well, you're the first person I've ever gone bareback with. Not that I've been with a lot of women but with my 'reputation' I have to be very careful about my extra curricular activities so to tay. And let me tell you, being with you with was a million times better than anyone I'd been with before." She was looking at me now and seemed to be a little more at ease. "So now that that's off our chests, can we enjoy the rest of the ride?"

"Yes." She whispered, leaning over to kiss me.

When we got to the top we made our way over to the look out. I definitely wasn't disappointed, the view was nothing short of spectacular. It was a three sixty panoramic view of nothing but mountains. This was quickly becoming one of my favourite places and I could see why Kelly insisted we make the trip. "Wow, this is amazing."

"Isn't it? I'm glad you like it. Should we take a picture? When was the last time we took a picture of the two of us?"

I thought about it, it had been forever. "Probably prom." I took my phone out and pushed the camera button. I put my arm around her shoulder and we leaned our heads together, like we always did when we were kids. The picture captured the background perfectly and when we both agreed that we liked it we took another one. This time she turned at the last second and squeezed her eyes shut and stuck her tongue out. She was the cutest thing ever. I laughed when I saw the photo and decided this one was going to be my new background on my phone. We took one more where I kissed her gently and you could see the outline of a smile on her face.

"Have you told your mom yet?" She asked before we walked the trail that lead to the gift shop.

"Um, no. She will be excited though. She loved you so much Kel and when everything happened she was really really mad at me. She told me that I was making the biggest mistake of my life and she went on and on about how selfish I was acting." Leave it to my mom take make me feel like a bigger pile of shit then I already felt.

"Oh Trina, I miss your mom a lot. I talked to my mom after I made the team. She told me to give you a chance. To hear you out."

"We'll remind me to thank your mom next time I see her. Maybe I should send this picture to my mom and see if she gets the hint." I showed her the picture of her sticking her tongue out.

"Send it to me too. We could have some fun with this."

I texted her the pictures we took and then we both sent the first picture to our moms. Within four minutes both of our phones were buzzing with messages..

Trina: Is that Kelly? Sid you didn't tell me you were going to see her! Looks like you patched things up. Call me soon with the details. Xo

Joy: So you gave him a chance to explain. I'm glad you did. Love u

We both laughed. Our moms had been not so secretly hoping we would reconcile for years. We both replied with the second picture.

Sid and Kel: Having fun in the mountains.

A few minutes later they had both replied again.

Trina: So it seems. What's going Sid? Call me

Joy: You look so happy Kel.

We then sent the third picture.

Sid and Kel. Nothing to tell. :) xoxo

We knew that would get both of them going and this time my mom didn't reply, instead she called.

"Hi mom"

"Sidney Patrick, what have you been up to? You better not break that poor girls heart again!"

"You're on speaker phone mom"

"Hi Trina! I've missed you!" Kelly chirped in so my mom would know to watch what she said.

"Kelly honey! Seems my son finally came to his senses. I'm so happy for you guys. I do hope you come visit soon! "

"Thanks Trina! I made the national team too! We will catch up soon okay?"

"Okay sweetie. Make sure my son behaves himself."

"I'm right here mom. I can hear everything you say. I'll be on my best behaviour. Don't worry". My mom never understood the concept of speaker phone. "Bye mom. Love you."

"Bye Sid. Love you too."

"Did your mom write back?"

"Yeah." She showed me the text

Joy: I am so happy for you. I will frame these. Xo

"Well that went over well. Now I just need to tell Jack and Max. They are the only two people I ever talked to about you."

"I can't wait to meet them. Or talk to them, or just hear about them I guess."

We caught the gondola down to the parking lot and started the drive home. She tuned the radio before grabbing my hand kissing it. "This day was awesome."

"I'd say." I replied, trying to keep my eyes on the road and not on her.

"Can we stay at the hotel tonight? I mean, can I stay at the hotel tonight?" She asked sheepishly.

"Of course. Do you want to stop by your place and grab your gear and stuff? I can drive you to practice in the morning if you want."

"That would be great. I'd like that."

The next time I looked over at her she was sleeping quietly, he hand still wrapped in mine. "I love you Kelly." Expecting no reaction, I said it mostly for myself.
She opened her eyes. "I love you too Sid." She whispered back before closing her eyes again.