The Next Year

*Aleks' POV*

As usual I went to sleep in my husband's arms and woke up in my Captain's. The biggest difference was that I could see hints of my husband coming through. He sat with me at both team meals, listened when I noticed something about one of the Rangers that could be useful and insisted on taking our normal game day nap together.

When we woke from that all hints of his softer side were covered. He tried rushing me into clothes so he could get to the arena on the first bus, which was not going to happen. "You know you could walk right?" I said as I slipped into the outfit I'd chosen for tonight. I heard him huff and throw up his hands. "You know rushing me is never a good idea, I'm nearly ready but you have forgotten to pack something."

I heard him turned from the doorway and go figure out what he'd forgotten. He still had his travel valet on the dresser I had noticed. It gave me a few minutes to finish my own dressing and packing, being careful to pack what little other jewelry I had safely in the soon to be locked suitcase. I had a special case I put our rings in while we were at the rink, it lived in my personal kit when not being used.

When I was done and sure we both had everything Sid sighed heavily. "Thank you, it would have killed me to lose that." I smiled and bumped his shoulder gently. We went down in the elevator to the ground floor. There we joined the few other guys who wanted to go in the first bus and got aboard. The good thing about going early was that you weren't rushed to get things done to feel right with the game. It also gave us all a chance to make sure our bags were secure.

Once in the room, no one worried about anything but the game. The guys had long since gotten over my gender and didn't even bother sneaking a peek. I was one of them and the golden rule was you didn't look. That's not to say they didn't have things to say to me, it was just more about my hair than the rest of me. Fortunately what they had to say was all good things, even if they did sound bad.

I already knew I was in the second defensive pairing with Borts tonight, with 4 other guys out due to injuries I wasn't surprised. So I ignored the board for now and began my yoga routine. I'd shown Andy over the summer what my routine was and he tweaked it a little bit so that I got a better stretch out with it too. Now I was getting muscles much better in my legs and lower back than I had before which translated to smoother skating on the ice. Partway through I had Zacks and Flower join me. Flower wasn't a huge fan of yoga but Zacks and I were converting him slowly. Duper showed up nearby as well with his routine. I should have known that was not a good sign. "So, did he like the dress?" Duper asked casually as we were transitioning to a new pose.

Once into the pose I rolled my eyes and spoke. "Yes he did, very much. Of course so did 3 guys at the bar who thought I was a working girl. Paulie got them to stop before I had to call security though." Had I said thank you to Paulie? I couldn't remember.

"I didn't hear anything going on in his room." That burned me up. We had done our best not to let the guys know what was going on and here he was asking about it.

Staring out of the corner of my eye at him, I answered. "Did you see him at breakfast and lunch? Shouldn't _that_ be your answer?" As much as we all lived in each other's pockets I was not going to give them all the details of our sex life, I drew the line at that.

I heard a distinctive giggle honk behind me. Peering over my shoulder I found Sid standing there. "I take it he's asking for things you don't want to give him." I nodded, making him giggle again. "Come on Duper, we don't ask for details when you and Carole-Lyn have adult time."

Duper made a face at Sid. "No, we have 4 children who do that. Alright I won't press, but things are back on track now right?" That made us both laugh.

I nearly toppled into Zacks, but Sid caught me. "We're back on track Pascal. It's gonna take some time for us to find the right balance of personal life and work. The Lockout gave us a lot of time together but not playing." He nodded sagely.

Sid smacked my ass and went to start his own stretching. I just shook my head as I watched him move off. Zacks spoiled the mood by speaking. "Aw, Mom and Dad are happy again. My brothers will be thrilled." Without a second thought I chucked one of Flower's tennis balls at him, which he caught. Everyone laughed and we moved on.

Soon enough it was time for warm ups. I followed Flower out and knocked our pucks onto the ice. While he went to scratch up the crease so he and Zacks could warm up, I started half laps. I nodded to the few guys I knew well on the Rangers and kept on moving. Once my legs felt good, I started taking shots getting a feel for how the boards responded. I looked up a few times to get a target and noticed a few signs in the crowd. That sort of thing you really have to block out or it could throw off your mental game. The one that caught my attention said 'Aleks and Sidney, first transgender couple in the NHL'. If I hadn't mentally rolled my eyes at it and kept going I could have been upset.

Back in the room, Flower asked me about it. "What's a transgender?" We were waiting on Disco to come in with the final battle plan.

"They're saying he's really the girl and I'm the guy. It's yet another dig at sexuality. Although it's the first time I've seen that one." We got a lot of hate around the league, him for being himself and me for "taking a real player's place". It was easing up slowly on me, after all I was making plays and earning my spot every game. "Just ignore it. It's original but still a lie."

Soon enough we were stepping onto the ice for puck drop. I had grabbed my rainbow scarf and had it tucked into my pants just in case. I believed love was love and the gender of the person didn't matter. It made me a bad Catholic but that's what I believed.

The game was fast paced and hard hitting. You would have thought this was a late season game by how stingy Lundqvist and Flower were being in the first. In fact neither team scored in the first at all. McDonagh tripped Sid about 10 minutes into the second, giving us our first power play. Dan sent out the first unit and then came down to me. "Mal, second unit crash the net. You're the wild card." I nodded as I watched, knowing what he was saying. I'd been working on occasion with the second unit as a forward, getting in front of the goalie and providing a screen they couldn't bitch about. It was how I got my second goal of the season, a tip in past Rask.

Soon enough I was climbing over the boards and going to work. I always made sure I was clear of the paint but I stuck to Lundqvist like glue. I heard him cursing a few times as shots rang off of the posts but nothing was going in. Then I got lucky and got my stick on it. I redirected it just enough so that it went under his glove and the goal light came on. My hands went up and I moved enough to get mobbed by the guys. After rocking down the bench it was time for another faceoff.

About a minute after I scored, I was moving around the crease back out to the point when I was viciously cross checked and ended up clipping Lundqvist. The whistle sounded and I got up from the ice. "What the hell is your problem?" I said loudly as I turned around to find Del Zotto behind me.

"You're my problem! Little girl thinks she can play with the big boys." I fought to control my temper, it would do no good for me to go to the box, it would just prove him right.

Instead I turned to Hank and asked the question going through my head. "You ok man? I didn't mean to clip you." That's when I got another cross check to the back.

I pushed myself up and saw Hank leaning over checking on me. "I'm fine." He said quickly, "But he's got it out for you." I rolled my eyes and shrugged a shoulder, nothing new there.

Again I got up, but this time I pushed him back. "Get the fuck off of me! I was making sure he was ok, it's called being a decent human being!" I was moving away from Hank, so if things blew up he wouldn't possibly be caught in the crossfire again.

"You don't touch my goalie, you don't talk to my goalie, Hell you don't _breathe_ on my goalie. Let's go!" He was calling me out. The rules on fight and penalties for them had been changed and I knew I wouldn't survive if I went at him straight on. Instead I let him throw the first punches. Yeah they hurt, or would later, but as long as I did nothing to start this fight I wouldn't be getting the major for it.

Once I was fully engaged and my helmet had been ripped from my head, I pummeled Del Zotto (Del Notto) into submission. When the Linesmen finally pulled us apart he looked cowed and I had a gash over my eye from where my visor had cut me. I did have to go to the box for 2 minutes but he went for 5. When I got into the box I mouthed Sorry at Disco who shrugged. I tried really hard to play a clean game, fortunately Disco knew it and wasn't upset this time.

The penalty was killed and I was set free. Del Zotto still had to sit though. Those 3 minutes flew by and what felt like seconds after he got out of the box, Carl Hagelin scored. We were now tied at 1 and about 4 minutes from the end of the period. Olli and I smacked gloves as we traded out at a stoppage. For being rookies we were both doing very well tonight.

During the second intermission Dan went over what we did right and wrong. Then he posed a question. "So, is what Mal did good or bad? The fight I mean." Everyone looked around the room, who would be the first to answer him...

I sighed and was the first. "Both. Good because I draw a penalty but bad because I took one as well." Dan shook his head negatively.

"Wrong, wait..." It was clear he was expecting a different answer. "No that's right. You also took 2 cross checks in front of the refs and made sure their guy was ok. Then you made him strike first. Just don't do it again." I saluted him and he finished his thought. "They lost control of themselves where Mal kept her head. Keep doing smart things like that and we will win this game." He then walked out to the coach's room and we relaxed a little bit.

I got up shortly thereafter and went to go pee. That was the down side of drinking so much like we did, pissing like a racehorse as soon as you can. I felt so much better after. I was washing my hands when Sid came in to do the same thing. He joined me at the sink and shoulder bumped me. "Have Stew check that gash, it's stopped bleeding but it's still needs attention."

I softly chuckled as I dried my hands. "Already my plan but I had to piss first. You know I'm ok right?" He sighed heavily. That was the sigh of a man who hated to see his woman hurt. I stepped closer and bumped him again. "Stop, I'll have a bruise and the gash but I'm fine." He just _looked_ at me so I tried another tack. "Fine, put it away for now then. You can fuss over me until it's healed, including making sure I go see Stew right now if you don't retaliate."

Sid smiled, took my elbow and all but pulled me to see Stew. I got checked and, as I thought, it was going to be a bruise but I didn't need stitches or anything special. I saw Sid exhale and felt lighter for it. We went back into the room and joined the brainstorming on how to get the lead and go home with another W.

Five minutes into the third, I checked McDonagh behind Flower freeing the puck. "Mount up!" I shouted as I began weaving my way as far forward as could so we could get at least a chance to score. I found myself at the hash marks with a free lane to our blue line. I had Sid and Duper in front of me and Kuni next to me after he checked one of the Rangers, I couldn't tell who. As I crossed the blue line I had 3 guys trying to strip me of possession, time to pass. I looked up the ice and saw Sid open. I nodded at him and got one back. I weaved past Nash and fired.

The puck rocketed straight to Sid's stick as if it was on a string. He and Duper took off towards Lundqvist. Before the hashes Sid was being crowded out so he somehow found Duper who miraculously had a straight line past the 'King'. Life erupted on the bench as the goal light went on. As I hit the celebratory mob Duper laughed. "There's our Gordie Girl!" Oh shit he was right, my first Gordie.

Kuni laughed. "Someone drinks free tonight!" I shook my head as we lined up to rock down the line. Our lead was added to a minute later with Suttsy's goal. Then for 12 minutes we held the lead, then Nisky high sticked Hagelin and they were able to convert. We were tied.

14 seconds into the OT period Kuni ran into Lundqvist and got called on it. We worked hard during the next 2 minutes and kept us tied. So tied in fact that we next went to a shootout. They were up first. Zuccarello was up first, Flower made the save. Joker was next and was stopped.

This went on save after save, Nash, Sid, Moore, Kuni, Richards and Duper; until round 5 when Pouliot missed. Then Suttsy was up again. The benchy was on edge, we could win it here if he could find a way. He circled and picked up the puck, I held my breath as he crossed the blue line. Nothing fancy with how he was handling the puck but something felt different about this. Flower was standing behind me having cleared the ice so he wouldn't be a distraction, he leaned forward as Suttsy moved past the hash marks. He was softly encouraging Suttsy whispering. "You can do it Suttsy." I'm still not sure if he was heard by anyone else but it seemed he was. Suttsy outwaited The King, putting the puck between his legs for the perfect 5 hole shot.

The bench erupted, we'd won! I had Flower bouncing behind me laughing gleefully. We stormed the ice to congratulate Brandon on his game winner. Flower also got love for his performance. We began filing off and I was tugged out of the line. "Stand here." I was told and then found Sid being told to stand in front of me.

He leaned back. "Can I fuss now?" He asked with a face flush with victory.

I smacked his shoulder. "Not until we're away from prying eyes." I answered. Then the announcer came over the arena speakers. It was time for tonight's three stars of the game. Third was Zuccarello to a chorus of cheers. Second was Sid, who got booed. Holy hell I was the first star of the night?! I did my mini lap of thanks and got a mixed reaction. Not that it mattered to me. Stepping off the ice again I was hurried into the locker room where Jen was waiting.

"You're up for media duty. Dana already packed your step stool so don't bother taking your skates off." That meant we were on a quick turnaround for home tonight. I nodded, already looking forward to my own bed. "You know what to say so I won't go over that."

Shortly I was hemmed in by reporters all wanting answers right now for them alone. There were the usual questions about how I felt I played that night and such. Those weren't bad to answer. Could I have played better, probably but I wasn't going to live worrying over what ifs. Then came the question about my Gordie. "So Aleks, how does it feel to be the first woman to ever have an official Gordie in the NHL?"

I chuckled. "Well seeing that I grew up knowing the man, I would hope he was proud that I stood up for myself. As for how I feel, I never go looking for a fight but I also won't back down if I'm challenged either. I know I have a lot to prove to most of the league and I would hope that this helps a little bit. I don't let the guys fight my battles, that's my job." I grabbed a towel and rubbed my head with it, fluffing my hair out as I did. "Next."

"What did you say to Lundqvist to set Del Zotto off like that? Do you even know?" That from a new female reporter.

I sighed and carefully answered her. "As I said, not everyone likes that I'm in the league. I accidentally clipped Hank, who I've known off ice for years as a friend, and was checking to make sure he was still good. Del Zotto took offense that I was talking to his goalie and things happened. As I said to him, it's called being a decent human being."

Flower laughed, our scrums had a tendency to run together so we commented on each others answers. "Of course you checked on him, Del Zotto doesn't know what a protective person you are to your friends. You check on everyone if you think you might have hurt them on accident." He pulled me into a side hug. "That's why we love her so much. Well that and she keeps everyone pretty happy." He winked saucily at me, he really meant I kept Sid happy.

I untucked my shirt and my rainbow flag fell out of my pants. Josh from The Trib saw it and pounced. "Aleks, I see your flag there and wondered what your feelings were towards the sign that was up during the game. The one about you being in the first transgender couple in the NHL."

I grinned ferally. "I'm so glad you asked that Josh. For the record I have always been female and Sidney has always been male. That sign is the most original one I've seen yet this season. I believe that love is love and that is what matters, not the gender of the people. I care more _that_ people love more than _whom_ they love. I hope one day there are LGBT athletes in the NHL, I wouldn't have an issue at all."

Josh smiled at me. "So you fully support You Can Play?" It felt like everyone leaned in.

Flower and I looked at each other and laughed loudly. "There's no reason not to support them. Who you love has absolutely no bearing on how well you can play."

"Besides," Flower added, "I think we all can agree that does not matter. Mal said it right, loving at all is more important than who it is that you love. There will not be a problem in this locker room about it at all, of that I can guarantee." We were backed up by several of the guys around us. They had no problem with a straight woman, why should anyone else have issues. I took a couple more innocuous questions before Jen called time and kicked the media out.

After the media was gone is when I noticed. I had been so busy during I hadn't registered, something was wrong. Guys weren't changing, not even those who hadn't had media duty. Finally Tony came in and explained. "Ok guys I'm sure you've noticed that no one is allowed to change right now. There's a reason, our change room has been vandalized." Everyone sat down heavily. "The cops are here and have asked that you come in pairs to check your belongings. We're going to start from our highest numbers so, Sid & Aleks you're up." I leaned over to take my skates off finally as my feet were killing me now and he stopped me. "Keep those on Mal, it's safer."

We stood, confused and wary. We followed Tony to the doorway we turned right at. He stopped just this side and introduced us to Detective Jenkins. "I wish we were meeting under better circumstances. Please come with me." We went into the change room in single file.

"Holy shit!" Sid exclaimed as we rounded the corner. I soon saw why. This wasn't vandalism, the room was wrecked. Detective Jenkins stopped inside the doorway.

"Clearly no one from your team would do this but until we know if anything is missing we can't move forward. Please check your assigned places and if there's anything of yours that's intact on the floor let us know. We also need whomever had luggage in here to identify their bags."

We looked at each other. "I'll take the cubbies if you check the bags." I offered, Sid nodded.

"It would be faster." We moved to do our plan, Sid explained to the detective. "We know what we were carrying, being a couple makes it easier."

I got to his cubby first and carefully opened it with the proffered pen. I was told so it wouldn't disturb any other fingerprints. Looking in I didn't see anything moved or out of the ordinary. "Wallet, watch and iPhone accounted for." I heard him sigh in relief. I had to move so they could take photos of the placement before I was allowed to move anything. I put them in his go kit which was untouched.

I then began looking for his suit. I found it on the floor tangled with Duper's. Again they took pictures and then I was able to pick only Sid's up. By now he had found our bags. "Good news! Our bags look mostly ok. Man is this a mess."

I chuckled and moved to my cubby. Using the pen again I opened it and gasped. It had been turned upside down. "Holy Fuck!" I exclaimed without thinking. Sid was by my side in a second.

"Breathe babe. Let's let them take pictures and then go through it." He moved me back carefully so I wouldn't trip over my skates. They took pictures and then we moved back in to go through everything.

Dana had brought a basket to the doorway after Detective Jenkins asked for one, so we just scooped everything into that and then began sorting it all out. My purse, as small as it was when we were on the road, had been turned out into the cubby. The makeup I travelled with in the purse was ruined. My phone had been smashed. I was starting to think this was personal. My wallet was empty, the items within scattered within everything else and the wallet itself all but destroyed. As I did the inventory of things I noticed something was missing. "Where is it?"

As I searched for the missing item, I was growing frantic. The baby blue jewelry case I kept my jewelry in during games was nowhere to be found. Sid went to speak to the Detective while I was trying not to tear everything further apart. I went through the basket 3 times before I felt the first tear hit my hand. Our rings... they were... gone.

When the realization hit me I couldn't stop the tears. It took me several tries to be steady enough to call Sid back over. The look on his face went from annoyed at the situation to very concerned. "What's missing?" He said.

In a trembling voice I answered. "My... My mini jewelry case." A look of horror flashed across his face. "It." I swallowed back tears to get this out. "It still had our rings in it." I felt as if I had just taken a punch from Tie Domi as I said it, sick and worried there was another coming.

Sid took a deep breath and let it out, getting himself under control. He couldn't fall apart just yet, it would make me worse and we both knew it. "It has to be here somewhere. What color is it again?" He began to survey the floor.

Detective Jenkins came over and laid a hand on my shoulder. "What's missing?" I looked at him as if he had grown a third head. "It's obvious something is. You're upset and he's looking for something. What is it?"

I drew in a shaky breath and spoke slowly and carefully. "The jewelry case I keep our rings in when we're at the rink. It's baby blue and about a 3 inch cube. If I'm wearing other stuff I keep those in there too. It was a gift for my first game this season." I knew I was crying and saying that last part out loud made me break down even further. It had been a gift, one that Sid had given me.

I was turned around and sat on the bench behind me. "Give us a minute, we'll check for it. Just stay right here." Jenkins said carefully. He then turned and helped Sid look. They combed the entire floor finding everything but the case. When they were about to give up Sid gave a shout. "A-ha! Found it, I think." Triumph turned to apprehension as pictures were taken carefully as the case was unearthed from the debris.

The room went silent as they got to it, then a soft curse came from Sid. "Fuck." I shakily got up and went over. He was right, he'd found it. What was left of it. It had been cut into pieces. He looked at me. "They aren't here babe."

Hearing those words made my knees buckle. We'd been so careful! I didn't see the look Detective Jenkins must have given Sid but I heard Sid's reply. "We've been keeping our marriage a secret from everyone who didn't need to know. Waiting for the right time to announce it. Then the lockout happened and we decided we didn't want to be front page news. We were going to make our announcement after the Olympics. Aleks keeps... kept our rings, all 3 of them, in that case. It keeps them in one place and I can't forget to put it back on." He pulled me to him as he spoke and began rubbing my back.

The detective nodded, now he understood what that case was and what it held. "I'm sorry. Hopefully they are here somewhere and just haven't been found yet. Why don't you let her go back out and bring someone back with you. She looks like she's close to completely breaking down."

Sid tucked my head on his shoulder and nuzzled my hair. "That sounds like a good idea. Have the bags been photographed yet? I could send her to take a shower and get cleaned up. It might help." He walked me over to where the bags had been strewn about.

"They have been, we just need to note which bags belong to whom."

"Perfect." I was close to shutting down and was relying on Sid to get me through until I could really break down. "I have to apologize to you babe." He said as we got to our bags. He let go of me and turned them around so I could see the zippers. "You insisting on having straps too probably saved our bags from being broken into."

While there was damage done to our bags, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Although mine was worse. In almost a monotone I replied. "We should get that looked at in Ottawa."

Sid picked up my bag and commented. "Wow you _did_ do a lot of shopping here didn't you. This was a lot lighter on the way here." He then took my hand and lead me back out into the room. The guys were all talking about what they now knew was going on. I got placed at my stall and had my bag put in front of me. Sid then whistled loudly.

Everyone stopped talking and paid attention. "It's a mess in there, so far there isn't a lot missing but it's priceless. Gentlemen, if you take your ring off check for it. Ours are missing and the case for it is destroyed." Everyone gasped and he held up a hand. "I know, I know. We're pretty shaken up. Aleks needs to get cleaned up and probably will need a spotter." Flower's hand went straight up like Hermoine Granger. "Ok then, we have a volunteer. Um... they want me to bring someone else in with me to start going through their stuff and maybe see if we can find our rings. I'm hoping they're in there somewhere."

Sid and Kuni went back into the change room and I sat in my stall. I wracked my brain to see if I could remember if I may have possibly put them somewhere else, but I know I hadn't. Without thinking I started finishing taking off my gear. I needed to do something or I was going to go back in there. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up at Flower. "Venez petite, nous allons te nettoyer. On les trouvera, et si on ne le fait pas, M. Gros cul peut en obtenir de nouveaux. (Come little one, we'll get you cleaned up. They will be found, and if we do not, Mr. Big Butt can get new ones.)"

I smiled and Joey V made a comment. "Was that an ass joke? I have a feeling that was an ass joke." Duper and Tanger were trying not to laugh, but failed at Joe's comment. That quickly sent most of the room laughing by which time Flower had gotten me moving towards the showers and being clean.

I didn't drown myself in the showers, though I felt like it. I didn't need Flower to do much really, so he cheated and cleaned up himself while I was. He could even get clean clothes, the rat, as his bag was not in the change room. Then I remembered mine was out of that room now and I could put something clean and new on.

To try and help my mood I chose the gold corset I got, my dark wash jeans, my new Armani leather jacket and a pair of kick ass ankle boots. I needed Flower's help to get the corset cinched correctly but he didn't mind. Once I was in and mostly comfortable he questioned my choices. "Why that tonight?"

I looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "Marc, my game day attire is mixed somewhere in that mess of a room. My purse was torn apart, my phone smashed and my rings are more than likely gone for good. Excuse me if I need some extra attention right now to keep from falling apart." I grabbed my makeup kit and without another word began doing a really hot smokey eye.

After I was as pulled together as I could be right then, I went back out into the room. I got a few looks but no one said anything out loud about how I was dressed. That is until Jen came in and saw me. "Aleks, can I talk to you?" I sighed and went with her. "I just saw how much of a mess the change room is and Sid told me what's missing so far. No one will blame you if you need to go for a walk."

I was now glad I hadn't yet put on my final lipstick as I put my hand to my mouth and tried hard not to break into tears again. Seeing how I was barely hanging on, she changed the subject. "Is that the corset you got yesterday? Oh wow that looks great with those jeans."

I could have kissed her. I got myself back under control and smiled a bit. "Yeah, Flower helped cinch me up. I'm really glad it's got a zipper front so I won't have to do that again. It's pretty comfy so far, we'll see how it is on the plane." I went over and grabbed my jacket. "Look I know it's not office attire really but I need the pick me up right now."

Jen nodded. "Hey no one is going to get upset about it." She took out a lanyard and handed it to me. "Take this and go for a walk. Clear your head." She then picked up a two way radio and handed it to me. "There, when we need you to come back I'll call you." She steered me out the door and let me go.

I went and stood on the bench for a while before my steps turned me towards the Rangers room. As I got closer there was a familiar ginger outside it. "Hi Marc." I said carefully as I approached.

He turned to look towards me and smiled when he saw me. "Hey Aleks. We've just heard about what happened in your room, is everyone ok?"

I shrugged. "The change room is a horrific mess and so far at least 3 very important rings are missing." I showed him my naked left hand. I knew he'd get it, I mean they might not have come but the Staals were all invited to our wedding. By the grimace on his face he did understand me. "So, while no one was physically hurt..."

He nodded. "The halls have cameras, maybe one of them saw something. I mean this _is_ New York, we have lots of cameras." He motioned back down the hall towards our room. We started walking. "Even if you didn't know, someone over there should."

Soon enough I brought Marc in and he relayed what information he could to be helpful. Detective Jenkins seemed honestly impressed. "I thought you all hated each other."

Marc chuckled, as did most of the room. "It's hard to hate people you know off ice as well as on. Aleks has just as many friends as foes around the league. My family is firmly on the friend side, especially after she helped us all during the All-Star Game the other year. She hosted the entire family and more without a blink or hesitation."

Flower snorted and in his monotone voice droned out. "I survived the Staal-vasion 2012." Those who were there from around the room chuckled and Marc flipped him off good naturedly.

Sid, by this time, was changed and was looking through his own suitcase. He came over and took me by my elbow. "Come here." We went into the trainers' area. "We'll deal with your phone tomorrow but I can do this now." He handed me a bag from Barney's. "This was supposed to be your Christmas present but you need it now. If you have any ideas for Christmas let me know."

I cautiously opened the bag and found... tissue paper. I dug through that and gasped at what was on the bottom. A Celine Nano bag. It was a dark purple, my favorite color. I looked over at Sid who looked anxious. I'd been looking for the perfect designer bag but most I'd found hadn't sparked me, this did. "How did you know?"

Sid now relaxed. "I looked through your browser history at home." He sounded ashamed.

I laughed. "Well at least you know me well enough to check it." I was now _very_ happy I had chosen his gift on the incognito setting which was never saved to the history. I kissed him lightly. "It's perfect and I love it. As for another gift, I kinda have pulled a fast one on you. I have 2 gifts for you but only 1 are our families going to see. The other is just between us. I will happily show this off if you want to do the same."

He eyed me suspiciously. "Just what kind of gift is it if I can't show it off?"

I got close to his ear and whispered. "You'll find out in a few days." I wasn't going to spoil my surprise after I'd worked so hard to find it in the first place.

He hugged me to him and darkened the mood. "It looks like only our rings are missing completely. As we've gone through the layers every other one has been found." I sighed sadly. "I think at this point we need to call Pat and let him know." I dug through his pockets and found his phone. Sid took it and dialed Pat's direct line. It was after 11 here but it was only 8 in L.A.

It rang a couple times before Pat answered. "Sid, to what do I owe this?" I heard because he'd put the phone on speaker.

I felt him squeeze my waist as he answered. "Pat we have a possible situation here in New York." Pat groaned. "We're both physically fine, but the change room here was completely trashed and Aleks' things took the brunt of it." I felt a tear slip down my cheek. "We're going to get her a new phone tomorrow as hers was smashed not to mention." He stopped and looked at me.

"Just tell him." I said while trying to hold on again.

"Pat our rings are completely missing and the case we kept them in during games was cut into pieces." Pat's gasp was loud.

"Please tell me the police are there and are taking this seriously." He sat on a piece leather furniture, it squeaked a bit.

I scoffed and Sid answered him. "They are, in fact they just found out there are cameras in the hallways so they're getting that footage right now. Our flight back to Pittsburgh has been delayed and every other guy who takes their ring off has found it."

Tanger came over and squeezed my shoulder. He knew exactly what those rings meant to both of us. Pat meanwhile sighed and began planning. "Ok, we may need to go public before the Olympics, hopefully nothing will happen until after the roster is announced. Our plan will still work but it will be tweaked a bit to play up the angle of 'we wanted to tell the world and then the lockout happened'. Make it seem like we wanted this to become public but not in a way that would hurt the season or the Olympics and this forced our hand."

I snorted. "If it gets out, it will have forced our hand. Don't get me wrong I want people to know, I just don't want to hear the inevitable she only made X squad because of him."

Sid glared at me while Pat reiterated. "No one who matters will think that. The Pens know, Hockey Canada knows, the IIHF knows. When it comes to hockey you're covered. I will strongly suggest that you replace them ASAP, but I'm hoping that you know that." I kind of tuned out while Sid and Pat spoke a bit longer.

Finally every bag was checked, every article of clothing was picked up and every needed picture snapped. Still our rings were gone and the only things gone at that. We sat with Detective Jenkins as he asked us all sorts of questions about how we knew they were gone and what they looked like. Then he got to one that made my heart stop. "How would you know if we recovered them?" Oh shit.

I felt myself pale as Sid answered. "They're all engraved. Hers with the same thing and mine with the reverse." He picked up the pen nearby and wrote out what was in our rings. 87♥78 & 78♥87 The detective smiled at us. "Some might think it's cheesy but it works for us."

We were finally allowed to leave the arena and head for our plane at 12:30 a.m., when we should have been getting into Pittsburgh. I sat alone in my exit row, curled up after having airplane food. I knew that the possibility was slim that they would be found but I couldn't help but pray. "St. Anthony, look around. Something's been lost and can't be found." Quietly while visualizing our rings. This had worked for me in the past and I hoped it would do so now.

**Sid's POV**

I wasn't happy that our rings hadn't been found, but there wasn't much I could do about it. Instead, after giving Aleks her Christmas gift early, I decided to start looking for a replacement set for her. It had always been my intention to find another set for her, I just hadn't found anything I liked yet. Now I had to find something.

I sat on the plane looking at a new engagement ring for her. Flower kept looking over at me and shaking his head. "Give me that." He said, taking my phone. He pulled up a website where I could design the perfect ring for her and handed it back to me. "This is where I went. You know how much Vero loves her ring." Everyone knew how much Vero loved her ring.

I spent the rest of the flight finding the perfect setting. It was a band of diamonds, .48 carats worth. It spoke to me, I couldn't explain it any better. Nothing else was right. Right before we landed Flower looked over. "Nice. She deserves some serious bling."

I chuckled. "She wouldn't probably care if I went to where I got the last one, but I've heard from Taylor that she caught some flak for not having enough of a rock. It's not like I can't afford it either. I don't know what shape of stone to get her though. Round is boring in this setting, Princess is too harsh."

Again he took the phone. "Cushion, that's what you want." He showed it to me, perfection. "Now, come over tomorrow and I'll distract her while you and Vero find the parfait diamond for it."

Tanger leaned over the seat, we'd landed and gotten to our terminal. "What's going on?" He saw and smiled. "That's nice, but here." He brought up another page on his phone. "She liked these prongs a lot when we were looking for Kallie's ring." He showed me some heart shaped prongs holding a trio of diamonds. "Let me send you the link. It'll have to be all custom work but she'll love it even more."

My phone beeped with the incoming text and I grinned. "You two are just so soft when it comes to the girls. I'm not sure I can thank you enough." We had now gotten up and off the plane.

Flower clapped me on the back. "Just bring her over and we will distract her for you while you and Vero find the perfect set for her. I'm sure we can think of something to do with the kids."

Tanger scoffed. "Only Estelle, remember Kallie and Alex are in Ottawa by now. However Alex's Christmas gift from us for here will be coming tomorrow and I could use some help putting it together. We got him a balance bike." The two of them went towards Tanger's car talking about how awesome the balance bike was while I was left waiting for Aleks and wondering what it was.

Soon enough I felt a chin on my shoulder. "Do _you_ know what a balance bike is?" I asked her as we began moving for the car.

"Um, I think it's a walking bike for kids who aren't riding a real bike yet. Why?" She said, popping the back.

"Tanger and Kallie got Alex one for Christmas. He says he needs help putting it together tomorrow cause Kallie and Alex are with her folks." Due to the lateness of our flight and what had happened Disco had given us the day off tomorrow.

We put our stuff in the back and got in. "Oh, well let's go help after we get my phone up again then." The brightness was out of her voice, I hoped Vero could help me find the perfect set for her.

*Dec. 20, 2013*

After getting a new phone for Aleks and getting her sim card put in it, we were on our way to Castletown Court. I had Aleks pull into Flower & Vero's driveway. We were warmly greeted by Vero who clucked her tongue at whomever would be so horrible. Aleks held it together which is better than last night. Vero hugged her tightly. "Just think after you help Tanger we can look for a new ring for M. Gros cul you and I." I glared at her. I knew what that meant. She smiled at me. "Oh stop. Of everything you are called, that is the least offensive and it's not going to be said with anyone outside the family around."

I sighed and shrugged, sadly I knew she was right. "Besides, I need you here to double check someone's Christmas gift. Marc! Dépêchez-vous, nous attendons sur le cul lent! (Hurry up, we are waiting on your slow ass!)"

Marc-Andre laughed his way down the stairs. "I am here beloved. I had to dress someone after a blow out." He held Estellle. I made a face, I hated changing diapers.

Soon Vero and I were alone. She brought her laptop over to the couch and smiled. "Show me your idea so far so we can make Aleks so so happy. She still seems down about it."

I sighed, pulled out my phone and answered her. "Wouldn't you be? I have a nasty feeling that we won't be getting them back and I know that upsets her. Her purse got demolished so we canceled her cards today. Her phone was smashed so she had to get a new one there too. By comparison the rest of us got off light."

She looked at what I had so far and smiled. "That is lovely. It sounds like someone who hates her but didn't want it to be found out fast." She brought up a webpage and began looking through it. "I hope you told the police, but now is not the time to harp on that. Heart shaped prongs is a good idea. Do you have any clue as to what shape the main stone is going to be?"

I showed her the 4.02 carat stone I had found. Cushion cut as Flower said. "Your husband helped me find the right cut, Tanger showed me the prongs that she apparently loved back in August. I know I want a single band, not a split band for the base so I can add diamonds to that as well. I just have no idea how to pull this ring and her new wedding band into a cohesive unit." I'd been trying to find something all morning but nothing felt right.

Veronique smiled at me. "You already have a theme and one she told Tanger she loves. Why not do an eternity band of heart shaped diamonds for her wedding band?" She typed in heart shape wedding rings into Google and then selected images.

Some were engagement rings in heart shapes, some had hearts hidden in the band, but finally after much refining of what we were looking for we found it. Heart shaped diamonds that were set alternating tops and points in a platinum band. "That's it." I said pointing to it on the screen. Then I got a look at the carat weight. I had learned something since I originally got her 2 carat engagement ring. Carat weight mattered. This band had a total weight of 5.08 carats. With the other ring she would have over 9 carats on her hand when I was done. "Unless you think she'll hate having over 9 carats of diamonds on her hand."

Vero laughed. "Sidney, how long were you two together before you showed her off to the world? How long had you been together when you finally got married?"

I stopped and thought about it. "We got married on our 9th anniversary of dating and she waited almost that long to be shown off." It dawned on me when she was saying. "It's not 9 carats it's a carat a year she had to wait."

We snuck over to a custom jewelry shop nearby and I showed what I wanted. Anthony, the jeweler, caught onto the 9 carat thing quickly. "You do realize you're at 9.58 carats not 9. I can easily make it 10 if you want by adding in the extra .42 carats between the two bands."

My mind was made up. "Don't bother, I have another idea for later. How long will it take to make these?" I knew it was Christmas time so he was probably busy.

He shrugged and looked at his calendar. "Give me 2 weeks. My Holiday orders are done so I can devote my time to this and get it done. I normally take the time between Christmas and New Year's off from custom orders but for this I will make an exception. No one should lose their rings like you have."

We got back to their house without the rest being the wiser. Vero questioned me about what I might want for my own replacement to which I shrugged. "She deserves to have the bling, I'm happy enough with a plain band if she can't find something else she likes more. They don't have to match as long as they are from the heart." Vero laughed and hugged me.

"Then you can go tell her I need her and for her to bring Estelle back. You boys go find last minute gifts, we will have dinner together later." She shooed me out of the house and down to Tanger and Kallie's. I went with a lighter heart, my wife would love her new set. I even called the local church she loved to get them blessed before she wore them.