Big Girl Panties

“Patrick!” Trixie hissed. She was slightly jogging in the direction of the young forward as she attempted to look as sober as possible. In an effort to evade Dan, Trixie had used her Blackhawks ID badge to gain access to the players entrance.

To clear his head and focus on the game ahead, Patrick had exited the dressing room for the quiet of the spacious hallway. He looked up from taping his stick and shook his head. Trixie stopped, slightly out of breath and leaned against the wall. “Have you seen Dan?”

Patrick nodded his head.

“Yeah, I saw him.” Realizing he messed up, Patrick started to tape the blade again. “And, he’s pretty pissed off with you.”

She popped her bubblegum and mentally cursed herself as she wasn’t ready for the lecture that she knew was coming from not only Dan but Patrick, too. Before she had a chance to duck out again, Dan called her name and at a brisk pace made his way towards the two. With her mind as fogged as it was with alcohol, Trixie knew she wouldn’t able to come up with a quick and cleaver lie so telling the truth was the best route to go.

“Where the hell have you been?” Dan demanded. He was dressed sharply in his suit which made room for rather impure thoughts to migrate into her mind.

“I was-.”

Patrick surprisingly cut her off.

“She was with me.”

Trixie couldn’t believe Patrick was taking the fall for her. Dan gave Patrick a puzzling expression looking for more of an explanation. “June 9th, 2010; Game 6 in Philadelphia. Trixie tapped my sticks and I went on to score the winning goal that won us the Stanley Cup. She was with me, taping my sticks. Sorry, dude.”

Batting her eyes up at Dan, Trixie nodded in response to Patrick hoping and praying Dan would accept that as the truth. He didn’t; he was right through that bullshit story but let it go. Everyone and their brother knew that Patrick didn’t allow anyone to touch his sticks before a big game. However, he did had to respect the lengths Patrick went to protect her and now wasn’t the place to start a scene with Trixie.

As Dan and Patrick talked strategy for the game, Trixie nonchalantly made her way over to Steve, the eldest of the Carcillo brothers. She had met him several times over the past years; they shared a mutual love for whiskey and the Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy.

“You’re totally drunk.” Steve laughed under his breath.

“Shut up.” Trixie elbowed him. “I am not…drunk.”

She may have been more convincing if she hadn’t started to giggle. Steve lightly grabbed her arm and caught his brother’s attention, letting him know the two were heading to their seats. Dan watched out of the corner of his eye as Trixie stumbled and laughed out loud and Steve wrapped his arm around her shoulders so she could keep her balance.

With about fifteen minutes until puck drop, Steve bought Trixie a bottle of water and something to eat as she was in desperate need of both those things. Knowing how much a good girl Trixie is, it slightly bothered Steve to see her in the current condition she was in. She beat him to the punch.

“I’m trying to pull it together…I promise. This is a momentary indiscretion and had nothing to do with Jack. I was with my brother and you know how that gets.”

“When do I get to see the little guy?” Steve wiped a glob of ketchup off the side of his mouth after taking a bite from his hot dog.

Trixie, being the self-respecting Chicagoan she was, only put mustard on her hot dog.

“We can go tomorrow afternoon.” She smiled at the thought of being able to hold Jack again. She missed him whole heartedly.

No matter the outcome of the game, Steve was flying back to Chicago with the couple to spend a few days with his brother and nephew. Trixie was starting to feel guilty for boozing up with her brother as the alochol wore off and the headache kicked in. This was an incredbily stress night for the guys and to add on to it, not only was Dan mad at her but so was Patrick. They didn’t need her bull shit on top of the Stanley Cup clinching game. After taking a sip from her water bottle, Trixie took out her phone and shot Dan an apology text. His response came quick much to her desiere.

“quit acting like an idiot.” It stated. “I forgive you. love you.

Trixie smiled to herself and told him she loved him too.

“So,” Steve pipped up. “My mom told me to put the idea into the both of yours and Dan’s head while I’m out here. She wants the two of you to have an actual wedding at their house when you guys come up to King City this summer. The whole shabang…white dress, three tier cake and flowers. Considering some of us weren’t invited to the first one.”

“I knew she was going to push for that.” Trixie laughed. Her mother had suggested the same thing only hours after Trixie had given birth.

“A white dress is probably out of the question, huh? You have a kid…not so virginal anymore and can’t fool anyone.”

Steve earned himself a punch in the arm from Trixie. She looked down at her ring.

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea. Exchanging rings in the changing room at the United Center wasn’t exactly the way I’d always dreamt of it happening.”

There was no doubting her father had also felt slightly robbed of the wedding expierence by not getting the chance to walk his only daughter down the asile.

A knot of nervousness tightly tied in Trixie’s stomach as she watched the sea of white jerseys take the ice for their warmup. She remembered what it had felt like just three long years for her to watching it all happene from behind the bench. It was déjà vu; the same exact emotions flowed through her like a never ending wave. She was anxious; noting how strong the goaltending was on Boston’s end and watched as Kane and Jonathan shot pucks past Crawford. Their skating wasn’t to par as the ice surface was terriable and the pucks bounced making it hard for control. With the outside temperature being 98 degrees with high humidity, it wasn’t exactly the ideal conditions for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.

“You nervous?” Steve noticed Trixie’s knees bouncing as she watched her hometown boys warm up their muscles.

Her stomach was doing sommersults and she felt like she was going to vomit. She was so nervous for the boys, her hands were shaking. “Yeah, I really am.”

She nodded down in the direction of Clint, who she noticed was nervously popping his bubble gum from behind the bench. “But, I miss that. If I were down there I wouldn’t be as nervous. Can’t be…have to stay calm for them.”

At that moment, there was nothing more Trixie wanted other than for Jack to be there with her. Even if he had come home from the hospital when Trixie was discharged, she knew bring him to Boston would have been out of the question anyway. There was no way she would have brought her two week old son to TD Garden. Or the United Center for that matter.

As warmups came to an end and the players headed back to their respected changing rooms, Steve gave Trixie’s shoulder a comforting squeeze. Fifteen minutes passed, the anthem was sung and before she knew it, the first period was underway.

The noise level in the arena died down as the Blackhawks gained control of the puck. Trixie tried to follow Steve and sit back in her chair and enjoy the game but there was no way that would happen. She sat at the edge of her seat, chewing on her thumbnail. Boston controlled much of the first period, and the frustration down on the ice was the same as what Trixie was feeling when Chris Kelly found the back of the Blackhawks net just seven minutes into the game.

“Seriously?” Trixie groaned in foiling. This was most certainly not the way she had expected the game to start. She spotted Mama Toews (in her Toews jersey) lower her head and shake it as the Bruins all bumped knuckles getting ready for the face off.

Trixie’s mind raced as she quickly ran through her morning routine, making sure she hadn’t strayed from it. Superstition was her worst enemy, controlling every aspect of game day and by meeting her brother before the game, Trixie felt as if she had brought on bad juju.

“Don’t get your panties in a knot yet,” Steve assured. “It’s only the first period.”

At intermission when Steve left to go get more food and drinks, Trixie headed down a few rows and slid into the empty seat beside Jonathan’s mom. She hadn’t seen her since the dinner/swim party at Jon’s condo and she always loved being in the presence of the Toews matriarch.

Mama Toews engulfed Trixie in a hug. “Look at you! I can’t believe you’re a mother now.”

“Neither can I.” Trixie laughed. “I had been under so much stress from the start of the season that I didn’t even know I was three months pregnant. Thought my weight gain had been from my love of pizza and Chinese food.”

“You’ve got that motherhood glow, mon cher. You’re going to love being a mother; it was meant for you.” She smiled.

Trixie had realized too she and Dan were meant to be parents the first night she saw Jack in the NICU. After all the abuse she had put her body through during the first three months without a miscarriage and the fact Jack was healthy despite his early birth made it all the more clearer.

Andree tucked a loose lock of hair behind Trixie’s ear. “This summer, you must bring the baby to Winnipeg. I have no problem watching him for a few hours if you, Jon and Dan and a couple of the other guys want to come up and take the boat out.”

“I’d love that.” Trixie smiled.

With minutes before the second period was to begin, Trixie promised to meet Andree and Bryan after the game before heading back to her seat. When Steve walked his way through the aisle to their seats, he handed Trixie a beer.

“Figured you could use one because I sure as hell can.” Steve figured it wouldn’t have been fair to show up without one for Trixie.

“Thanks.” She accepted her drink.

Just as the guys took their places at center ice for the puck drop, Trixie rolled her eyes when she heard the echoing voice of a teenage boy yell out, “Blackhawks suck!”

The stars seemed to realign themselves when Jonathan scored an unassisted goal just four minutes in. With the score tied, it didn’t do much to relieve Trixie of her anxiety. The Blackhawks dominated much of the second, out shooting the Bruins and stayed strong during the penalty kill as Seabrook and Shaw had taken stupid penalties.

“C’mon, boys.” Trixie whispered to herself as she cupped her hands over her mouth. The clock started counting down the final 20 minutes of the game. “Just one goal, that’s all you need. Just one.”

Trixie was in disbelief after twelve minutes. When the horn sounded signaling a Bruins goal and the cheers of the Bruins fans rang louder, Trixie and Steve sank into their seats watching the replay on the jumbotron. Looking down to the bench, none of the guys lowered their heads. They weren’t about to let the goal or the Bruins under their skin; there was still a lot of hockey left to be played and it wouldn’t be the first time they came from behind and clinched the Holy Grail.

“Blackhawks suck!” Trixie heard the teenage boy yell again. Steve placed his hand on Trixie’s arm to keep her from turning around and doing or saying something stupid.

But, it quickly became Trixie’s turn to settle Steve down when the boys first insult was followed by another. “Carcillo fucking blows!”

“Let it go.” Trixie eased Steve back down into his chair. “That punk wouldn’t last two minutes against him on the ice.”

Trixie’s vision of going back home to Chicago with Lord Stanley’s Cup vanished from her mind as the clock ticked past the two minute mark. Her heart was pounding and she could feel the pressure of tears pressing against the back of her eyes. With her hormones still raging, she couldn’t help the falling tears. She wiped them away as she rested her elbows on her shaking knees.

“Hey.” Steve snapped in a friendly manner. “There’s no crying in hockey.”
Trixie knew he was trying to lighten the mood. He too was feeling the pangs of disappointment. There was always a game 7 to be played. Turning to look at Steve, all she could do was shake her head. The last two minutes on the clock would be one of the longest two minutes of her life.

The TD Garden was buzzing with cheers and whistles as thousands of fans in black and gold jerseys stood to their feet. Those who dawned the Indian Head sat quietly in their seats watching as Patrick Kane skated with the puck to the Bruins net. He took the shot and missed.

Trixie didn’t want to watch anymore of the game and as she watched the fight for the puck in the corner continue, she even thought about leaving and heading to the bar for a few drinks before heading to the airport and waiting for her flight.

As Jonathan gained control of the puck, Steve tapped Trixie on the shoulder for her to look at the play unfolding in front of the Bruins net. With a quick pass to Bickell, the burly man scored, tying the game.

There was a minute and sixteen seconds left in regulation.

Jumping to their feet, Trixie and Steve threw their arms in air and cheered loud before throwing their arms around each other in a hug. They were back in the game.

Staying on their feet, Steve wrapped his arm around the shoulders of his sister-in-law as the next play unfolded.

What happened next will always and forever seem like a blur to Trixie. Just seventeen seconds later, history was made when Dave Bolland, being the rat he is, scored on a wrist shot.

Trixie jumped and cheered with her arms in air as once again. She wanted to cry, this time tears of happiness, but kept herself collected as there was fifty-eight seconds left to play. It flashed in her mind, seeing her husband, his teammates and her friends hoisting the Stanley Cup for the second time in three years.

Abby Sharp, who was sitting in front of Trixie, turned around to hug her.

“Aren’t you happy you decided to come?” She joked.

They continued to jump and cheer and hug but there was no way the nerves could settle yet as there was still a minute left to be played. After the face off, Trixie bounded on the balls of her feet as her eyes switched from the clock to the ice. When the five second mark hit, and the Hawks had control of the puck, it was now time to celebrate.

Trixie was lost for words as she looked at the scoreboard. 3-2 Chicago.

Looking at Steve, Trixie burst out into tears as he grabbed her and pulled her in for a tight hug. It was the first time he had experienced what a Stanley Cup win felt like, and although it was her (and most other WAG’s) second time, Trixie knew the champagne would taste even sweeter drinking it from the Cup.

As gloves and sticks flew in to the air out on the ice, Trixie and Steve looked intently in to the mass of white sweaters looking for Dan. They spotted him as he dove into the dog pile.

Emotions were still in overdrive as the guys went through the handshake line. Trixie grabbed Steve’s hand and told him to follow her as she led the way to the changing room. The only thing Trixie wanted in that moment was to jump in Dan’s arms and congratulate him with a kiss before watching his childhood dream of hoisting the Cup become his reality.