The Next Year

I sat down after morning skate and sighed. Tonight would be my first official home game as a Pen. As I peeled off the layers of gear I felt my leg get smacked. Glancing up I saw Olli. “Someone in lounge asking for you.”

I sighed. Since our return Brisson had done his best to find me more and more sponsors, I prayed this wasn’t one of those. My schedule looked almost as busy as Sid’s. Yeah I knew I was the only woman in the League but damn people, I need _some_ time to myself. I decided to get this over with and stood up. “Thanks Maats.” I headed to the lounge.

On my way Bells stuck his head out. “Mal you gonna need any of us?” I laughed and shook my head.

“Nah man, I’m good for now. Maybe later.” He nodded, waved and went back into the trainers room while I continued into the lounge. As I rounded the corner the only person I saw in there was my dad. “Hey dad, Olli said someone was waiting for me.” I looked around a bit.

He chuckled. “If he’s not recognizing me, I should come down more often. How was skate?” He hugged me, ignoring the stench. He sat back on the couch and I slid onto the nearby chair.

I shrugged. “It was morning skate, everything’s running good.” He laughed a little. “What? Are you meaning that it’s the first home game of the season and it was skate for that?” He nodded as he got himself under control. “I won’t lie, I’m a little nervous. I mean with _my_ wardrobe I have _no_ clue what to wear.” I smiled as I finished.

Dad patted my knee. “Such problems you have.” He grinned. “I know you have your routines you need to go through, but I wanted to catch you and check in.” Oh wow, it seemed I wasn’t the only one a bit nervous.

I leaned closer to him. “Dad, I can do this. You’ve seen that already. What makes tonight so different?” Yeah it was my first regular season game, big deal I’d done everything I could to keep myself in game shape since the Caps lifted the Cup. I heard a few of the other guys in the showers and knew that the reporters were probably in the room.

Dad sighed. “Because my little girl is going to get kicked around by all of these guys who don’t respect her and I can’t do anything about it. Because you seem to be more worried about what you’re going to wear rather than the team you’re going to be playing.” I put a hand on his and stopped him.

“Papa, stop. Yeah there are guys who flat out hate me in the League, but they don’t know me, they hate the idea of me. I know that _every_ single person who does know me, wherever they are, is behind me. So yeah, I’m concentrating on things that I _can_ control instead of the game which I can’t. I’m trying to decide if I want to blend in with the team and not make a big deal out of being here or if I want to _own_ the CEC and be true to myself.” I knew that Sid wouldn’t care what I wore as long as I rocked it out on the ice.

Someone cleared his throat behind me. I looked to see Sid standing there. “Press wants to talk to you, well both of us.” I sighed and stood up, I knew what was coming. “I bet you 2 hours that they ask if you’re nervous.”

“2 hours for that? Not even fair. Ok, how about 5 hours on if you’re worried about me playing tonight.” Yep, we were betting on what questions the press were about to ask. We’d found it a way to get through our joint interviews by betting free hours we had against control over what we did during that time. We never traded chore hours, cause we shared those already.

Sid laughed as Dad looked on confusedly. “Ok, ok… How about a full day against asking anything about the wedding.” Oh now that was playing dirty. They weren’t asking _me anything about our wedding anymore.

I shook my head at him. “I can’t believe you’d go that low… Ok, how about 2 days if they ask about the Olympics.” I stuck out my hand to seal the deal, Sid shook it and I leaned over and kissed dad. “Excuse me dad, I have to go earn 3 days and 7 hours of control over _everything_ in the house.”

Sid laughed as he started leaving the room. “Only if you win them all.”

Really seeing dad’s face I quickly explained. “It’s a game we started during the lock out. We bet free hours of control over like the TV, the radio and stuff like that against what questions we’ll be asked about _this_ time. It helps us keep sane during all of the questions.” I wandered back into the room and the guys tried to chirp me about where I was. “Shut up all y’all! My dad wanted to wish me luck!”

I was enfolded into the press, carefully walking _around_ the logo. When I sat next to Sid finally the questions started. “So how are you two feeling about tonight?” We both laughed.

Sid started us off. “We’re good. Looking forward to the game, I mean who isn’t. First game of the season and all.” He looked over at me.

“I’m great! It’s time to show everyone I’m not just a playoff wonder.” Sid bumped me a little bit. “What? You know most of the League thinks that. They’re wrong and they’re about to find out the hard way.”

That caused them to laugh and call for more attention. “What routines are either of you going to change to accommodate each other on game days?” I chuckled and took the lead.

“Actually we don’t have to change anything. Knowing each other’s routines means we can give each other the space we each need. We all know he’s got quite a few routines he goes through. I’m not as bad, but I do have certain things I need to do to feel right when I hit the ice.” Sid chuckled. He knew that my routines were nowhere near as bad as his were. I reached over and grabbed a towel to wipe my face.

Someone else asked the next question. “Can you give us any insight into _your_ routine Aleks and what helps you feel right on the ice?” A rookie I may be, but I am _not_ a dumb one.

I shook my head sadly. “I’m sorry I’m not telling anyone who doesn’t already know. You should know by now hockey players as a species are secretive about their routines. There’s a reason, we don’t want anyone messing with them.” Sid just nodded beside me. No one spoke about anyone’s routines.

Jen called the 5 minute warning and then the heavy hitters, the guys who didn’t know us, came into play. “So Sid, are you at all worried about tonight’s game and having Aleks in it and what would change if she were to get seriously injured before your wedding?”

I laughed, I couldn’t help it. Sidney just shook his head and answered the question. “If I wasn’t worried about her being in the Playoffs I have no reason to worry about her now. She’ll handle things if she needs to, I have no doubt of that. As for our wedding, that’s private and we don’t discuss it, you should have been told.” The tone of his voice was controlled but I heard that he was unhappy.

Before he could get anymore upset I stepped in. “Look, we’ll give 110% on the ice but off it, everyone deserves a private life. As for being worried about each other out there, we both know how things go. We trust that we each can handle anything thrown at us. Sometimes the best response to the chirping is the scoreboard and putting another tally on it.” I shrugged without a care. It was true, Sid and I knew how dangerous this game could be. We had to trust ourselves and our teammates to keep each other safe.

The final question we took tonight was about what I would be wearing tonight to the game. It was from someone I didn’t remember seeing before today. “Uh… clothes for sure. I can’t be more specific cause I just don’t know right now. Actually I was trying to think of might be good earlier. Who knows I might just ask the guys what they think I should wear.”

That’s when Duper laughed and called out. “I dare you to wear black and gold! In fac’ if you do I’ll pay you $100!”

I laughed, that was so Duper. Soon after the guys had hopped on the bandwagon and the amount I would net to wear team colors was $1600 all totaled. As I looked at Duper with that grin on his face I noticed out of the corner of my eye that PensTV was filming. “You know what, I’ll take that bet and _rock_ our colors to boot!”

The reporters who knew us wished us good luck as they were ushered out. Duper walked up to the white board and wrote on it. ‘If Mal wears team colors the following guys owe her $100 each’, he then signed his name and one by one everyone else did too. Sid just laughed. “You guys should just give her the money now. She’s gonna do it now!” When everyone else was done I went up and signed as the witness and payee.

We went to lunch as a group with the guys all trying to get me to wear different things, but I was set. I would win that money. However I was now standing in the closet looking at my wardrobe unsure how I should rock the black and gold. I sighed and was about to say screw this and go nap when Sid wrapped his arms around me. “What you think about so hard in here?”

I leaned my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes. “How I’m going to win that bet. I don’t have a lot of gold colored clothes.” He hugged me to his chest. “That and I don’t know if I should blend in with everyone or what.” The nerves had kicked in for sure.

Sid kissed my temple, moved to my jewelry armoire and pulled out one of my bracelets. “I believe this says what I’m going to say about this.” He handed me the bracelet and I read it. ‘To thine own self be true.’ He pulled me to his chest again and whispered in my ear. “Make your mark babe. No one ever said you _had_ to blend in.”

That kind of inspired me. I went to the back of my part of the closet and found the dress I had worn to Sid’s grandmother’s funeral last April. I pulled it out and moved to my jewelry. I hung the dress on the hook we had installed cause it was easier to pick jewelry if you knew what you were wearing. Opening all of the drawers I began picking out pieces. The first one being the bracelet Sid handed me. Next I picked out the Pens Logo necklace and earrings I had. I then picked up my gold timex and nodded, it was the right tone just bright enough. As I looked at my outfit take shape I knew something was missing. To try and help I went and picked out my shoes and bag, both gold and black and Jimmy Choo. Then it hit me. “Where is that belt?” I went digging on my belt hanger until I found the single gold belt I owned. I put it against the dress and it shined.

As I put everything together my nerves disappeared. This was what I needed to be reminded that yes I am a woman and damn I’m proud of it. Sid had also been gathering his suit for tonight on his side. He looked over and smiled. “Now _there’s_ a great first game suit. Come to think of it, you pretty much rocked it with the Caps too. Always looked incredible. I did get you a little something.” He grabbed a small box on his side of the closet.

I opened it and giggled. Inside were a bunch of hair pins, all unique hair pins. They were attached to cards. As I looked closer I noticed that each of the cards had a different saying about love on it. I got down to the bottom and found a black and gold rosette clip and a leather maple leaf barrette. On the verge of tears I looked at Sidney and laughed. “What are these for?”

He smiled at me. “For those stubborn locks of hair that like to fall out of your hairstyles. They’re all handmade. I even made sure to get some purple and Michigan State ones cause I know you love that.” He picked up the all gold set of stars. “I think these would go real well with your outfit tonight.”

I looked at the card he held, he was right, then I read the card they were attached to. ‘Somewhere between all of our laughs, deep talks, and little fights. I fell in love with you.’ I couldn’t speak, my husband had gotten me something I needed and made sure I knew how much he loved me at the same time.

“Hey, don’t cry if you don’t like them.” I put my hand over his mouth, cutting him off.

“Don’t you _dare_ send these back. You got me the sweetest gift and I’m not sure you realize it. You made sure I could put up my hair how I wanted to and keep my face clear. You also had sayings about love written on the cards they’re attached to. Not to mention the small travel case so they can go with me wherever.” I hauled him in and kissed him soundly. As we parted for air, I growled out. “You can be damned lucky I agree that sex before games is a bad idea, now let’s go cuddle the crap out of each other while we nap.” I put the gold pins on the top of my armoire, the rest of the bag inside it and hauled Sidney back into the bedroom for our nap.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I pulled into the player’s lot with Sid in the backseat, being very glad my back windows were tinted as I did so. “Let me guess I get to drive from now on don’t I?” I turned my car off and undid my seatbelt.

Sid smirked at me. “We got through without people hassling you for autographs, so… yeah.” He was in Captain mode but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t joke around a little. We got out and started into the CEC. Of course we’d be taking two different directions to get to the locker room. Everyone knew about Sid’s habit of taking a route that took him away from the visiting locker room.

I approached our locker room alone and found PensTV waiting for me. “Hi guys!” They all waved and grinned. “Did you guys edit the bet this afternoon?” That got me more nodding, with the camera this time. I stopped so they could get a good shot. “What do you think Pens Fans? Do I win the bet?” I motioned with my hand and started walking again. “Come on, let’s go see how many guys have my money waiting.”

As we walked, they asked a question. “So how are you going to spend it?” They followed me into the room as I answered.

“You know I hadn’t thought about that yet. I’ve been more concerned with teaching the guys not to make bets with me that you aren’t prepared to lose.” I wasn’t worried about it really. I walked into the main room to find Flower sitting in there. “Flower! How are you tonight?” My voice was very cheerful as I called over to me.

He looked up and then just shook his head. “I hate it w’en Sid is right.” He got up and went into the lounge, I and the camera crew followed him. There were some rules about where PensTV could go and the change room was _not_ on that list so we all waited in the lounge. Slowly a few of the other guys came in and saw what I was wearing. Flower came out and handed me 2 $50 bills. “T'ere, we’re even and I am never making a bet wit’ you again.”

I decided that I would wait here and collect my winnings from those who had it before erasing their names. It was a good thing I did cause after I got changed into my underwear there were 3 names still on that list. Those being James Neal, Evgeni Malkin and Pascal Dupuis. I expected Nealer and Geno not to have it, but for Duper not to have it when it was his idea to begin with.

As I sat in my stall I let my mind wander over what I needed to do for the game tonight. To keep my hands busy I braided my hair. It worked too well, I ran out of hair before I ran out of thoughts. I had to let some of it out so it looked right. I was positioned next to Flower who tapped me on the shoulder. “You ok? Look lost in thoug’t for a bit t’ere. Not nervous are you?”

I smiled and chuckled a bit. “No, just thinking about what I need to do tonight is all. Hey you wanna do some yoga with me?” He lit up. He had found he enjoyed doing yoga which was great for both of us. We got up and went out into the hall to have more room.

After we were both well stretched I looked at the clock, time to gear up. As I began putting on the physical armor, I also began putting on my emotional armor. Yeah it might seem silly but it was something I just did, not to mention that it had been well over a year since I had been on the ice with unfriendly chirping. I figured if I was less emotional things would get to me less.

Soon enough it was time for warmups. I was right behind Flower as we hit the ice. The crowd, what crowd there was that is, roared. While Flower scratched up the crease I did some laps. I wasn’t ready to feel the puck yet so I found a good spot out of the way and did a few more stretches. I was near the red line and ignoring the opposition. Until I felt a smack on my arm. Irked, I looked over and saw Jags smiling back at me. “So, the malý tučňák (little penguin) comes home.”

I shrugged wordlessly. I still hated that nickname but I wouldn’t give into him on the ice. I did noticed Elias take notice of just whom Jags was speaking to, that helped me make up my mind. “There is nothing wrong with coming home. God knows I’ve worked hard enough.” I switched positions and Jags switched topics.

“On zachází jste v pořádku? (He treats you right?)” I smiled at that, knowing what he was eluding to, and nodded. “Dobré pro jestliže neudělal to on by musel více než jen svého šéfa odpovědět na. (Good for if he did not he would have more than just your boss to answer to.)” He shifted position but did not leave.

I, on the other hand, laughed. “Ty by muset dostat v linie. Já vím mnoho lidí, kteří bude rozrušený, jestli jsem byl někdy špatně zacházeno, počínaje mou sestrou. (You would have to get in line. I know many people who will be upset if I was ever treated badly, starting with my sister.)”

Jags chuckled. “Yes, she would be first in line wouldn’t she. Have a good game můj malý tučňák (my little penguin), try to take it easy on this old man.” He tapped my shoulder again and was gone. I got up shortly after that and did some shooting, warming both myself and Zaks up.

The game itself wasn’t a big deal. Yeah I got a shot and a couple hits, but the chirping I was expecting wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. As I sat in the room during the second intermission I decided that I needed to just ignore the few chirps that had been aimed my way. I had played well but not as well as I felt I could.

Flower decided enough was enough too. He smacked my leg. “Quit t’inking so ‘ard. You’re doing fine.” He leaned over and put his sweaty head on my shoulder. “You know I love you t’e best.”

That made me laugh. “I’m telling V you said that.” He grinned and sat back upright. “Ever get trapped in the ‘I know I can play better’ loop?” He laughed and I remembered who I was speaking to. “Yeah.”

“You worry too much. Jus’ play and let t’e game take care of itself. We all ‘ave times we can play better, but it’s t’e firs’ game and we’re up. ‘Ave some fun Mal.” I took a swig of gatorade and sighed. Flower was right, it was time to forget about being too serious and have some fun. I cracked my neck and sank to the floor in front of my stall to have a more secure backrest. I closed my eyes and let all the negative thoughts drain away. Sounds drained away too as I drifted, soon I was floating in nothingness. I couldn’t tell you how long I was in that state, only that when I came out I felt more sure of myself and my abilities.

Moving back onto my seat Flower bumped and grinned at me. “I’m ok, needed a little peace is all. You were right, too much time in my head.” I put my gear back on and soon enough we were right back out there for the third.

The Devils started at a frantic pace but we kept stonewalling them. My partner was Maats which made sense, put the rookies together. It also meant that more often than not I was the one digging in the corners to clear the puck. It got me called a few names due to my diligence but nothing I couldn’t laugh off.

As the final minute ran down I felt elation building. Yeah I was a rookie defenseman and had a lot to prove but I knew we would do well this season. As Dan put me and Maats out for the final 30 seconds, I had to laugh. I knew the Devils were coming with everything they had and I knew it wouldn’t be enough.

The final horn sounded and I was in front of Flower. I heard him laugh and turned to see that brilliant smile he has. I cocked my head and grinned back at him. We crashed into a huge hug and bunches of laughter. He then turned me around and hooked an arm over my left shoulder to keep me close while the rest of the team congratulated him. When Sid saw he just laughed loudly. “You’re not keeping her Flower.” He said as he tapped the goalie.

Flower laughed right back. “She’s my favorite rookie D man I’m keeping her close!” To prove this he began skating off, towing me along in the process. I laughed as we went, getting my feet under me and going along with him. Little did either of us know at that moment we were starting something.

Inside the room the mood was happy. A win always was a good thing. I stripped out of my gear and threw on a dry shirt. I had a feeling even though I hadn’t scored I’d be called upon for the press. Well, either that or dragged into someone else’s scrum. I pulled off my skates, hung them up to dry and slipped into dry socks. It was one of the first things I did. I knew it would make it harder if I were to be asked to do press but I hated the feeling of my skates being wet.

Soon enough Disco Dan was coming in with the list. “Alright listen up. Here’s who’s doing press tonight. Sid, obviously, Flower, Addsy, Scuds and Mal. Mal, if you want to clean up first that’s fine.” I shook my head, I knew it would take Sid a while to be done with everything so I would have time after the guys were done.

I pulled out my step stool and set it up. I normally kept it in my bag so it wouldn’t get forgotten. I had every intention of getting something more permanent for our room but this was awesome for when we were on the road. Flower noticed and looked at me oddly. “It’s so they can see me.” I lifted up my foot and wiggled my toes. “I hate wet skates so I take them off when the game is over.”

Soon enough the press was in and surrounding those of us who were on the approved list. “Aleks! What were your thoughts when you took your first shift?” The scrum jostled a little bit as they tried to get a better angle on my answer.

I chuckled a little bit. “Well my first thought I can’t repeat, the second one however was don’t trip over the boards.” They all chuckled. “Which I was very glad I didn’t do.”

“What’s the best part of being a Pen?”, another asked without giving me much time. Something to get used to again.

I took a breath and let it out. “You know I’m not sure right now. Maybe I’ll have a better answer later for now it’s all about being close to family.” Flower bumped me with a grin.

“How did you find Training Camp? How was it compared to other Camps you’ve gone through?”

I wasn’t sure who asked that question but I rolled with it. “Camp is camp is camp. It doesn’t matter what level you’re on, the basics don’t change only the people. You learn the system they want to run this year, bond with the guys and work hard.” It was true too. I’ve been at many different training camps and not a whole lot changed except the people.

"How did you feel you played tonight?”

While I had played a couple pre-season games this was a different kettle of fish. “It’s only the first game so there’s room for improvement. Overall I think I did alright.”

Flower scoffed. “You did great! Don’ be so ‘ard on yourself. Mal’s my favorite rookie Defenseman.” I scoffed at that.

“There’s Maats and me Flower.” I said dryly. He just waved me off with his signature smile.

Jen called out loudly. “Last Question!”

“Are you going to celebrate tonight? What will you wear?” Oh I recognized that voice. It was the same woman from earlier who asked what I was going to wear _to_ the game.

“Plans have not been made for what to do tonight. Even just going home sounds good to me.” I took a breath to finish my answer and had Flower steal the question.

“Oh come on Mal… You ‘ave to go out wit’ us for a little bit at least. You look _so_ good tonight it would be a shame to waste t’at!” He looked at me with puppy dog eyes. He wanted me to go out? All I wanted was some food and my super comfy bed.

I sighed. “I’m not promising anything Flower. You know it’s not _just_ up to me.” He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

The reporters were herded out slowly so we could finish changing. The woman stopped before she left and handed me a card. “My boss wants you to call him. He wants to do an interview with you for Pittsburgh Magazine.” She left without another word. I looked at the card and saw the name Sean Conboy. As soon as word got out who wanted to speak to me it seemed everyone wanted to reassure me.

Once I was dressed again I found Sid waiting for me. “There you are. The guys have talked me into going out for a short time. Not going to Diesel, going out for dinner.” I sighed a little bit, food sounded very good. “We don’t have to go if you’re too tired.”

I smiled. “Tired yes but food sounds good. I don’t want to stay out too late though.” Sid smiled, nodded and crossed his heart like a little kid making a promise. True to his “word”, we were home before midnight.