Perfect Symmetry

The next few days were filled with quick visits to friends and late Christmas presents. The buzz of the holidays was still lingering, with the new year fast approaching, and the Christmas lights and trees stayed lit. Hailey called me a few times, fretting that she was getting rounder and none of her clothes fit her properly anymore, so I took her on an exclusively-maternity clothes shopping trip to make her feel better. I took care to avoid all regular shops and explicitly chose not to shop for myself, since she seemed to take offense at all the sizes in regular stores.

We found her several outfits that she could wear now, but most of the shirts and stretchy pants were also an investment for the rest of her pregnancy. We found a nice sparkly shirt for her new years party as well.

“You’re the best, Jazz. God, I don’t know what I would do without you. Brent is sweet, but he’s no shopper,” she giggled, her arms full of bags of clothes.

“No problem, Hailey. How is married life treating you two?” I queried as we walked back to my car.

She beamed. “Well you know, we’re still in the honeymoon stage. Although we haven’t actually gone on a honeymoon...I don’t know if we ever will, especially with the baby. But we are both happy.”

“And how’s work?” I continued.

She shrugged. “The same. I told my boss I would have to take time off once the baby was born, but she wasn’t having it. I might have to quit.”

I gasped. “Hailey! I hate that! It’s unfair to women when this shit happens. It’s sexist,” I declared. This was a topic I was particularly passionate about.

Hailey touched my shoulder comfortingly, with a keen smile on her face.

“It’s fine, Jazz. I would quit eventually anyway. I want to be at home with the baby. After all, Brent will be busy for nine months of the year, and I don’t want to hand my baby over to a nanny all the time,” she explained breezily.

My mouth went dry. “You...you would just give up work?”

“Well yeah,” she laughed. “For my family. It’s not like Brent’s forcing me; I want to do this.”

I blinked. Marrying with kids seemed so perfect in my mind, but things like this bothered me. I had spent years and years building up my career...but how could I be forced to make a choice between all that work and my child? I would hate to miss out on either aspect of my life, and it seemed like married life forced that choice on women in particular.

“I suppose you’re right,” I brushed the thought from my mind. It was too unfathomable for me to even ponder at that moment and I refused to get bogged down by it.

We chattered about shallow things on the way back to her place, and she thanked me again for taking her out.

“I’ll see you at the party tomorrow,” she hugged me goodbye.

I sighed. Another year gone, and how things had changed. Hailey married, me in a new serious relationship for seven months...it was not time for reflection, I decided, since I was driving and should probably keep my attention on the road.
~

My skirt was black and so were my tights, and my shirt was a lacy pink one. I straightened my hair and helped Pat do his tie.

“You look nice,” I remarked, impressed at his suit ensemble.

He cracked a smile. “You sound too surprised!”

I rolled my eyes. “Seriously Pat, are you seeing someone new? You seem particularly snazzy today.”

“I always look tremendously snazzy, thanks. And no, I’m not currently seeing anyone special. Why, do you know someone I would like?” he asked curiously.

“No,” I retorted, tweaking his collar quickly. “Okay, you’re good.”

“You look good too, by the way!” he called out as I walked back into my room to grab a necklace and shoes.

Pat and I showed up about fifteen minutes late to Brent and Hailey’s place. Their place was pretty crowded, with a multitude of Blackhawks and other friends milling about with champagne in their hands. Hailey looked great in the dress that we had bought together; it seemed crazy that she was already almost six months pregnant.

“I love your shirt, Jazz,” she grinned, squeezing through a couple of people to hand me a glass of champagne

“Well thank you, I like that dress. Whoever picked it has great taste,” I bantered cheerfully, taking a long sip of my champagne.

“Ha ha ha,” Hailey laughed. “Can you believe it’s only an hour until the ball drops? This year has whizzed by, hasn’t it?”

“The ball dropped an hour ago in New York,” I teased.

“You know what I mean...I feel like we just did this! And look how much has changed; I’m pregnant and married for God’s sake...and you just got back from meeting your serious boyfriend’s’ family! Jon was telling me you charmed all of them, by the way,” she grinned at me.

I shrugged. “He’s being too generous. They liked me okay. I really love Canada, I’ve decided.”

“Maybe you can move there once you both retire!” Hailey exclaimed in only a half-joking manner.

I nodded, but I felt a knot in the back of my throat. How could anyone think that far ahead? I was too focused on the present for that. And the present was good, I told myself as Jon’s eyes met mine and we both smiled.

After Hailey wandered off, I began to notice a lot of other changes. Duncan Keith introduced me to the girl he had apparently been seeing for about five months. She was gorgeous, with bright green eyes and dirty blonde hair. She was basically every man’s fantasy. Plus she was extremely nice and was also a school teacher, so she really was perfect and I told her so repeatedly.

Pat had brought a model. She was just a tad taller than him, and had a very nice laugh. She was going to college at Loyola, so she and I had a nice talk about which professors to take, since she was a business major. She wanted to break into the world of fashion and start her own company, and I heartily encouraged her.

Duncan was in love, Patrick was dating girls with substance and...then I saw Viktor laughing on the settee with his arm around around a girl with the most delicate, Mediterranean features.

“Viktor,” I greeted warmly, “how are you? I haven’t spoken to you in ages!”

His smile was just at glorious as I remember, and he stood up to kiss me on the cheek in a friendly manner.

“Jazz, this is Lena. Lena, this Jazz. She’s an old friend. She’s dating our Tazer,” Viktor made the introductions.

Lena smiled shyly. “So how long did the two of you date?”

Viktor and I exchanged slightly panicked looks before I coughed nervously and tried to cover both of our tracks.

“I...we never really…” I let it trail off, because Lena was giving Viktor a very knowing look and he looked very sheepish.

“Nearly nine months,” he admitted.

She nodded. “I thought so. There’s definitely an energy between you two. But it’s very nice to meet you, Jazz. You and Jonathan make a great couple. Very nice auras.”

I stifled a laugh, since I really was not a believer of auras or energies, but managed to nod along approvingly while giving Viktor a quick glance.

“Do you want another champagne, either of you?” I asked politely.

“That would be lovely,” Lena replied appreciatively. “Viktor why don’t you give her a hand?”

Viktor followed me into the kitchen and I gave him a large grin before reaching for the bottle of champagne.

“She seems nice,” I told him honestly, uncorking the bottle with some difficulty.

“She is,” Viktor agreed, shoving my shoulder playfully and uncorking it with ease before handing it back to me. “She tells me my horoscope each month.”

I snorted. “I’m sure it all comes true, too.”

He laughed. “Well I pretend it does. A lot of that crap is so vague that it ends up fitting with a lot of you life.”

“That’s how they hook you,” I warned. “Soon you’ll be a horoscope expert,” I teased.

“I promise you that won’t happen,” he said dryly. “But really though, I like her a lot.”

I patted his arm. “I’m happy for you.”

We stood awkwardly as I refilled each glass individually, trying not to spill anything on Hailey’s countertops.

“We celebrated a lot differently last year, didn’t we?” Viktor remarked nostalgically.

I sighed. “It seems like a century ago. But yes, we did. That was one of the best nights I’ve ever had.”

“Nothing’s topped it since?” Viktor asked slyly.

I rolled my eyes. “I meant the ice skating you ninny. And Christmas with Jon’s family was pretty amazing, it’s probably the only day I’ve had to rival it. You should take Lena ice skating. Every girl wants to be taught to ice skate by her hockey-playing boyfriend.”

He nodded. “I hope your new year is even better than it was the last time I told you to have a good new year.”

I chuckled. “You too, Viktor.”

“ONE MINUTE LEFT,” Brent was yelling from the living room.

I gave Viktor two of the glasses of champagne and wandered around, looking for Jonathan so we could ring in the new year together. The trouble was, the living room was packed with couples trying to reunite and it was hard to see anybody.

“Jonathan Toews, where the hell are you?!” I shouted impatiently.

Arms grasped my waist and I squealed a little bit.

“I’m right behind you, you ninny,” he whispered into my ear and I burst into laughter.

He pulled me away from the crowd and as the clock counted down, I took a few more sips of champagne and studied his face carefully.

“You’re beautiful,” I sighed dreamily, my hand resting on his cheek. “I love you.”

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!” the entire room shouted as noise poppers went off as well as party horns and more champagne bottles.

Jonathan didn’t say anything, he just pressed his lips against mine passionately, one hand in my hair and the other on my hips.

“Come with me,” he broke away to say, taking my hand and pulling me out onto Hailey and Brent’s balcony. It was cold outside, but we both looked out as the occasional stray firework lit up the sky. I turned to Jon with a grin.

“Happy new year,” I murmured, reaching for him again and our lips collided.

He pulled away quickly, keeping his hands on my waist.

“Jazz, I’ve...over the past few weeks...almost months, really, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about us. I...I love you so much and I don’t want to be with anyone else except you. I just...being in Canada with my family really solidified it for me. So...what I’m trying to say is...will you marry me?”

His hand left my waist and reached into his pocket, where he revealed a black velvet box with the most gorgeous engagement ring I had ever seen. It was vintage, with an intricate design on the gold band and a beautifully set diamond featured prominently.

Tears came to my eyes. “Jon? You...you’re not...what is even happening?” I struggled to form words.

Jonathan pressed his forehead to mine. “I love you, Jazz, and I’m asking you to marry me.”

I closed my eyes and tried to think clearly. “Jonathan...you’ve put so much thought into this and I love you so much. But I want to get a chance to think about it as much as you have. God, this is just such a surprise. We haven’t even been together a year yet.”

Jon looked a little disappointed, but I kissed him anyway. “Please don’t look sad. This is such a huge life decision...I just need some time,” I whispered.

He nodded, pushing the ring into my hand. “Keep it for now. It’ll help make up your mind,” he gave me a lopsided grin.

I rolled my eyes and closed the ring box, knowing that one more look at it would have me saying yes in a heartbeat.