The Sailor and the Hawk

Patrick mumbled something beside me as he got back into bed. I had left the room to call Ky so I didn’t wake him. He mumbled again and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me against him and burying his head in between my neck and shoulder. Someone was hungover.

“I have food made in the kitchen…” I said softly, gently playing with his wild curls at the end of his dumb mullet. He didn’t say anything, just grunted like a caveman and rolled over onto his back, throwing an arm over his face.

“Babe…why did you let me drink that much…” He whined, his voice gravely and rough. I laughed a little, moving over and sitting up next to him.

“Babe, I just won the cup, lighten up! Come on, have a shot with us!” I said, mocking his drunken slur last night. He groaned loudly and rolled over, his back to me now. I laughed again and scooted over, laying next to him again and kissing his shoulder. “I love you…”

“Love you too…” He mumbled, reaching one arm back and pulling my arm over him, lacing our fingers together. I smiled and leaned over, kissing him on the cheek and getting up, grabbing a water bottle and some advil for him. I brought it back to the bedroom and made him sit up and take it, then dragged him into the kitchen and made him eat. Only way to cure a hangover is a good breakfast and advil.

“How’re you feeling?” I asked, leaning against the counter and watching him as he read the paper.

“Better…I don’t remember much after we got to the club though…” He said, but then he smiled as he flipped to a certain page in the paper and held it up to me. It was a picture of us kissing, my ring on display as I had my hand on his face. “We made the paper.” He had a shit eating grin on his face now, of course. Patrick loved showing off and that included letting everyone know that he proposed after winning Lord Stanley.

“We should frame that…and the front page too.” I said, taking the paper and carefully placing it on top of the fridge until I got frames for them.

“I’m glad you said yes…would of really sucked if you shot me down in front of the whole Madhouse.” He said with a smirk. I laughed and went back over to him as he stood up, bringing his dishes to the sink. He turned to me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Maybe I only said yes to save you the embarrassment…” I teased, smirking back at him. He let out a little huff and picked me up, tossing me over his shoulder.

“Too late! You’re stuck with me now.” He said, throwing me on the couch and falling on top of me. “And all of Chicago knows it now.” He kissed me roughly, still grinning like an idiot

“Babe…I still need to tell Kylee…” I said, making him frown slightly. I know he didn’t like talking about it, I think he would rather just not think about it at all.

“Why don’t we all go out to dinner tonight?” He suggested, leaning over to the coffee table where his wallet and phone were. He started texting Jon and smiled at me a little.

“I know you don’t like talking about it…but you know I love you and if it happens…” I started but he shot me a look that said it wasn’t a good time. I knew I shouldn’t be ruining his winning high with this but it was important. “Pat, this is serious.” He sighed and nodded, sitting up and helping me sit up as well. His phone buzzed with Jon asked where and when, replying quickly and then looking over at me.

“Okay…” He said, gesturing for me to go ahead. I sighed a little, taking his hand in mine and lacing our fingers together tightly.

“If I get deployed and…something happens to me over there…if I die…” I took a shaky breath, trying to gain some composure. This isn’t something that’s easy to talk about, “…I want you to find someone, okay? Don’t sit around and hate the world. Focus on hockey and don’t destroy yourself, I’ve seen it happen.” I said, watching him carefully. He didn’t say anything for a little while before he finally looked up at him and took my face in his hands, kissing me with as much love as he could muster.

“I love you…you better bring that ass of yours home to me.” He said, a cheeky grin on his face. I laughed and shook my head at him. “You know…we have a few hours before dinner…” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. I laughed and shook my head at him again as he dove on top of me. I knew he would be okay; he would have Kylee and Jon to help him. But I don’t know how those two will react when I tell them tonight.