‹ Prequel: Madness
Just Bent
You Stole My Heart
Summer.
It’s my second favorite time of the year. (the first of course being opening day)
So many of you have tweeted, wondering what the offseason is like for an NHL wife. Well, truth is it’s a lot like my life the rest of the year except instead of hockey, hockey, and hockey, it’s wedding, wedding, and wedding.
Yep, it’s true. Summer is wedding season. Hockey is really the offseason. Take this weekend for instance. This weekend I’ll be at my fourth wedding of this offseason. It is the first where I’m the best woman.
You read that right, folks. Best. Woman.
Maybe Brent Seabrook and I are sharing these duties as the best woman and best man but that’s cool. It’s not everyday one of your best friends gets married. Planning a bachelor party with a guy for another guy is actually pretty fun if you want to know the truth.
So I’m off for parts I can not mention for the wedding of one of the greatest friends I have ever had. I’ll be unplugged for this whole week as I do my part in helping get everything off without a hitch. If you feel so inclined though, feel free to raise a glass in congratulations of the soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Keith
Stay strong Smashville!
SaltNPekka
“Hey best woman!” Duncan called out as Camille stepped from her and Shea’s rental.
“Duncs!!” she yelled back. She ran up to the front of his house and hugged him. “Where’s Amanda?”
“Right here,” she answered. Camille hugged her tightly.
“How are you? Excited? Nervous?”
Amanda laughed. “Excited, ready for this to be done and over.”
“You’re marrying Duncan! Did he drug you?”
“He did not drug me.”
“I can’t believe you think so little of me,” Duncan pouted jokingly.
“She’s too good for you, Keith,” Camille replied with a smile. “Way too good.”
“No, he’s too good for me,” Amanda interrupted. “I’m just glad he gave me a second chance.”
The night Patrick brought her out with the team, she and Duncan stayed out until nearly two talking. She didn’t have an explanation for her behavior in Columbus; she was just scared of the feelings she was starting to have and used the friendship between Camille and Duncan to run. He asked her to dinner the next night and they built their relationship from there.
It had been a whirlwind and although they had only been dating since March, Duncan proposed in October, just before the new season got underway. Amanda had moved in that day and after moving all her things across town to his house, he had proposed to her over dinner. Now July, a year and a half after they first met, and a year and four months since they became a couple, they were getting married in Winnipeg.
Amanda had continued to work, but was putting more of her time into Duncan’s charity. She had trained a replacement before leaving Chicago for the summer and would focus full time on Keith Relief when they returned in September. She went to every home game with Whitney, Aria, and Tara, and at Brent’s insistence, wore her Seabrook jersey to most games during the season (playoffs were reserved to the Keith jersey in her closet).
Camille had become one of her good friends, and Amanda had turned to her more times than she could remember when she needed advice on dealing with the attention of dating a star of Duncan’s caliber or just to vent about the life.
“So what do your parents think about Duncs having a best woman?” Camille asked as Duncan led the way in his house.
“My mom does not get it. She thinks it’s strange.”
“It is strange,” Shea spoke up. “But it’s very Camille and Duncan.”
Amanda laughed. “Once you get used to the idea that your boyfriends best friend is a woman, nothing seems strange anymore.”
“See, we should be best friends just so they know what it’s like,” Shea added. “Then they’d understand what everyone else sees.”
“Amanda would be find you boring as hell after ten minutes. Only I’m capable of dealing with you,” Camille smirked.
Shea grabbed her around the middle and Camille shrieked as he lifted her to him, pulling her into a kiss. “Your lucky I love you,” Shea murmured to her.
Camille smiled up at him with adoration. “So lucky,” she whispered reverently.
“This week is supposed to be about me and Amanda, not you two,” Duncan teased.
“I want to hear more about this bachelor party you and Brent have planned,” Amanda said as she led the way inside.
“You know I would tell you everything,” Camille started, “but bro code prevents me from spilling any details.”
“Bro code?” Duncan laughed.
Camille shrugged. “Seabs inducted me into the fraternity. I learned the secret handshake and everything.”
Amanda smiled up at Duncan five days later at their rehearsal. She was surrounded by her family and closest friends and she couldn't have been happier. Izzy stood just behind her as her maid of honor and she couldn’t help but giggle at her friend who was making eyes with her date for the weekend, Rick Nash. Behind Duncan stood Camille and then Brent who whispered furiously to one another.
“What are Brent and Camille up to?” Amanda asked as she and Duncan walked ot his car half an hour later.
“Nothing that I know of. Why?”
“They were whispering the whole time.”
“Oh that.”
“Oh that what?”
Duncan grinned. “Camille thinks Rick is going to ask Izzy to move to New York.”
“What?!” Amanda shouted. She shouldn’t be surprised but she was. They had talked off and on after meeting, nothing serious, but that summer, after the Rangers season had ended, Rick turned up in Columbus to see Izzy and they had been a couple ever since. She flew often to New York to see him during the season and was spending the summer with him.
“He’s really serious about her?” she asked Duncan.
“Camille thinks so. She told me that Callahan told her that Rick doesn’t shut up about her. You don’t have to worry about her; she’s in good hands. And Camille will make sure Ryan and the rest of the guys watch out for her.”
“It’s nice to have connections.”
Duncan laughed. “Like the mafia.”
“Camille’s mafia.”
“Can we skip the dinner and just go home?”
“I don’t think so, Keith. Besides, I’m not going home with you tonight, remember?”
Duncan groaned. “We’re really going through with that?”
“We are really going through with that. It’ll make tomorrow night even better.”
Duncan sighed. “If you say so,” he replied as he got into their car.
Amanda smiled to herself and her hand absently rested on her belly. She was bursting to share the news she had learned the day before with Duncan but was waiting until they were alone after the wedding to tell him. She knew with certainty though that he would be excited.
And that he was going to make not only the best husband, but the best father as well.
FIN
It’s my second favorite time of the year. (the first of course being opening day)
So many of you have tweeted, wondering what the offseason is like for an NHL wife. Well, truth is it’s a lot like my life the rest of the year except instead of hockey, hockey, and hockey, it’s wedding, wedding, and wedding.
Yep, it’s true. Summer is wedding season. Hockey is really the offseason. Take this weekend for instance. This weekend I’ll be at my fourth wedding of this offseason. It is the first where I’m the best woman.
You read that right, folks. Best. Woman.
Maybe Brent Seabrook and I are sharing these duties as the best woman and best man but that’s cool. It’s not everyday one of your best friends gets married. Planning a bachelor party with a guy for another guy is actually pretty fun if you want to know the truth.
So I’m off for parts I can not mention for the wedding of one of the greatest friends I have ever had. I’ll be unplugged for this whole week as I do my part in helping get everything off without a hitch. If you feel so inclined though, feel free to raise a glass in congratulations of the soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Keith
Stay strong Smashville!
SaltNPekka
~*~*~
“Hey best woman!” Duncan called out as Camille stepped from her and Shea’s rental.
“Duncs!!” she yelled back. She ran up to the front of his house and hugged him. “Where’s Amanda?”
“Right here,” she answered. Camille hugged her tightly.
“How are you? Excited? Nervous?”
Amanda laughed. “Excited, ready for this to be done and over.”
“You’re marrying Duncan! Did he drug you?”
“He did not drug me.”
“I can’t believe you think so little of me,” Duncan pouted jokingly.
“She’s too good for you, Keith,” Camille replied with a smile. “Way too good.”
“No, he’s too good for me,” Amanda interrupted. “I’m just glad he gave me a second chance.”
The night Patrick brought her out with the team, she and Duncan stayed out until nearly two talking. She didn’t have an explanation for her behavior in Columbus; she was just scared of the feelings she was starting to have and used the friendship between Camille and Duncan to run. He asked her to dinner the next night and they built their relationship from there.
It had been a whirlwind and although they had only been dating since March, Duncan proposed in October, just before the new season got underway. Amanda had moved in that day and after moving all her things across town to his house, he had proposed to her over dinner. Now July, a year and a half after they first met, and a year and four months since they became a couple, they were getting married in Winnipeg.
Amanda had continued to work, but was putting more of her time into Duncan’s charity. She had trained a replacement before leaving Chicago for the summer and would focus full time on Keith Relief when they returned in September. She went to every home game with Whitney, Aria, and Tara, and at Brent’s insistence, wore her Seabrook jersey to most games during the season (playoffs were reserved to the Keith jersey in her closet).
Camille had become one of her good friends, and Amanda had turned to her more times than she could remember when she needed advice on dealing with the attention of dating a star of Duncan’s caliber or just to vent about the life.
“So what do your parents think about Duncs having a best woman?” Camille asked as Duncan led the way in his house.
“My mom does not get it. She thinks it’s strange.”
“It is strange,” Shea spoke up. “But it’s very Camille and Duncan.”
Amanda laughed. “Once you get used to the idea that your boyfriends best friend is a woman, nothing seems strange anymore.”
“See, we should be best friends just so they know what it’s like,” Shea added. “Then they’d understand what everyone else sees.”
“Amanda would be find you boring as hell after ten minutes. Only I’m capable of dealing with you,” Camille smirked.
Shea grabbed her around the middle and Camille shrieked as he lifted her to him, pulling her into a kiss. “Your lucky I love you,” Shea murmured to her.
Camille smiled up at him with adoration. “So lucky,” she whispered reverently.
“This week is supposed to be about me and Amanda, not you two,” Duncan teased.
“I want to hear more about this bachelor party you and Brent have planned,” Amanda said as she led the way inside.
“You know I would tell you everything,” Camille started, “but bro code prevents me from spilling any details.”
“Bro code?” Duncan laughed.
Camille shrugged. “Seabs inducted me into the fraternity. I learned the secret handshake and everything.”
~*~*~
Amanda smiled up at Duncan five days later at their rehearsal. She was surrounded by her family and closest friends and she couldn't have been happier. Izzy stood just behind her as her maid of honor and she couldn’t help but giggle at her friend who was making eyes with her date for the weekend, Rick Nash. Behind Duncan stood Camille and then Brent who whispered furiously to one another.
“What are Brent and Camille up to?” Amanda asked as she and Duncan walked ot his car half an hour later.
“Nothing that I know of. Why?”
“They were whispering the whole time.”
“Oh that.”
“Oh that what?”
Duncan grinned. “Camille thinks Rick is going to ask Izzy to move to New York.”
“What?!” Amanda shouted. She shouldn’t be surprised but she was. They had talked off and on after meeting, nothing serious, but that summer, after the Rangers season had ended, Rick turned up in Columbus to see Izzy and they had been a couple ever since. She flew often to New York to see him during the season and was spending the summer with him.
“He’s really serious about her?” she asked Duncan.
“Camille thinks so. She told me that Callahan told her that Rick doesn’t shut up about her. You don’t have to worry about her; she’s in good hands. And Camille will make sure Ryan and the rest of the guys watch out for her.”
“It’s nice to have connections.”
Duncan laughed. “Like the mafia.”
“Camille’s mafia.”
“Can we skip the dinner and just go home?”
“I don’t think so, Keith. Besides, I’m not going home with you tonight, remember?”
Duncan groaned. “We’re really going through with that?”
“We are really going through with that. It’ll make tomorrow night even better.”
Duncan sighed. “If you say so,” he replied as he got into their car.
Amanda smiled to herself and her hand absently rested on her belly. She was bursting to share the news she had learned the day before with Duncan but was waiting until they were alone after the wedding to tell him. She knew with certainty though that he would be excited.
And that he was going to make not only the best husband, but the best father as well.
FIN
♠ ♠ ♠
If you stuck with me until the end, thank you! I feel terribly that it took me so long to write this and while I know it does end a bit abruptly, I'm just plain stumped with this and felt better giving it a conclusion than stringing it along any further. Lesson learned though; I will not start posting unless something is finished in the future....which is why there are at least four stories just sitting in my google drive waiting for me to finish writing them and a hundred ideas floating about in my head.