The Three C's

The commissioner went on stage, said few things, showed clips of that night and then reminded us why our league is like a family. I don’t know why he needed to show the clip of that game, it just made me feel like crying, watching my teammates one by one go down, and then seeing Jordan throw his gloves and helmet off and drag me across the ice, it was almost too much, but I managed to hold it together.

Soon the food was brought out and we all were either eating or minigling with fellow players. You could hear kids playing, see them running around and having fun with other player’s children, I smiled at this. I ate my food and then headed watched as Pat got up and headed for the bar, knowing that he was going to grab a drink for us, just not sure what he was going to grab.

“This seat taken?” I heard and turned my head and smiled brightly.

“Hello Beau,” I said as Beau Bennett sat across from me, we stood up and he hugged me tight.

“You look beautiful Mags,” he said and I kissed his cheek, I missed him, loving how he always put a smile on my face when Pat couldn’t.

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” I giggled and patted his chest.

“Come on, I’m sure the guys want to see you,” he said, taking my hand and then pulling me towards his table, “Found her!” he yelled and then I saw my old teammates stand up and attack me in hugs.

“We happy you no dead,” Geno said and I laughed and patted his cheek.

“Thanks G, I’m happy about that too,” I said and then turned and saw Pascal and hugged him.

“Geno, you still don’t know how to word things right!” I heard someone scold the poor Russian and I giggled and moved onto the next hug.

“Sidney,” I smiled and he wrapped his arms around my neck and pulled me into his chest and I wrapped my arms around his chest.

“I miss you, Mags, I’m so happy you’re all right, you had all of us worried,” Sidney said and I looked up at him and nodded my head, “We all wanted to fly to Chicago and hunt down the bastard who did that to you and your team.”

“Trust me, I’m sure a lot of guys felt that way,” I said and Sidney smirked and nodded his head.

“Me next! Me next!” I heard and laughed when Marc was next, pulling me away from Sidney and hugging me tight.

-Kane-
I grabbed Maggie and I a drink, happy that there was an open bar, probably a good and bad idea, I’m going to hate to see the bill at the end. I walked back to the table to see that Maggie was gone, I looked around and then heard some of the guys at my table snickering.

“Where’d she go?”

“She was stolen away by a Penguin,” Sharpie said and I scoffed and then smirked and sat down, “You know, somehow I don’t think she’ll ever stop missing that team.”

“Yeah, but we all know that she’s happy here,” Jon said and I smirked and nodded my head, “Because there was no way in hell you were going to Pittsburgh.”

“Naw, I like red and black too much,” I said and then we laughed.

Some other teams came over towards our table and hugged us, shook our hands and told us we were happy that we were all right, and then asked where Maggie was. When that question popped up, we couldn’t help but laugh at how many friends Maggie had made throughout her time in the NHL.

After a little while, everyone had finished their food, their plates were taken away and apparently there was a DJ, no one ever said that this was going to happen, I couldn’t help but feel like I was at a high school prom, minus the little kids running around. Some tables were pushed back or taken away and all of a sudden you saw players and their girls or their children on the dance floor.

I smiled and watched as Sharpie picked up his girls and walked over towards the floor, Abby was busy in a conversation with a wife from a different team. I felt arms suddenly around my shoulders and looked up and smiled at the sight of my soon to be wife.

“Let’s dance,” she said and I laughed and nodded my head, standing up and letting Maggie drag me towards the dance floor.

We danced to a few songs, before I left her to run to the bathroom, big mistake there, when I came back she was taken away by Kessel and a few others. I laughed and shook my head, I heard my name and turned my head to see a reporter from the NHL network, he asked for an interview.

“So what do you think of this event?”

“Oh, I think it was a great idea to get the league to come together appreciate the fact that even though we play against each other, we’re still in it together,” I said and the guy nodded his head.

“So are you having fun tonight?”

“Yeah, I’m having a pretty good time-“

“You’ve got your jacket off, shirt loose and you look relaxed,” he said and I laughed and nodded my head.

“Yeah, it didn’t stay nice for long,” I said and we both laughed.

“So I see you’re missing your partner in crime, where’s the future Mrs. Kane?” he laughed and I smiled.

“You know, that’s a very good question, I have to be on my toes tonight, there’s a lot of guys here that might try and steal her away from me,” I said and the guy laughed and patted my shoulder.

“I hear ya, thanks for the talk and have a good night,” he said and I nodded my head, he and his camera guy left and I continued my search for my fiancé.

It didn’t take long for me to find her, Jon helped me and we could help but laugh at the sight. Either they were really drunk or just having too good of a time. Maggie was on stage with Beau Bennett, Dustin Brown, Tyler Seguin, Phil Kessel, PK Subban and Caery Price singing ‘Why do you build me up buttercup’.

“They’re drunk, they have to be,” Jon said and I laughed.

“No I think Maggie’s sober, the others- That’s debatable,” I said and we laughed.

Towards the end of the song, Maggie had a lot of people that weren’t on the dance floor singing along to the song. It looked like everyone was having a great time and I couldn’t help but think that this ended up being a pretty good idea after all.

“I seriously feel like I’m in high school again,” I said as Montell Jordan ‘This is how we do it’ blasted through the speakers and couldn’t help to remember listening to this song when I was younger.

“This is how we do it!” Shaw yelled as he came over towards us and waved his hands in the air, Jon and I smirked and shook our heads.

Emma and Maggie ran over towards Jon and I and pulled us towards the middle of the dance floor, Maggie had a bright smile on her face and I just gave up and was dancing with her. After that song Maggie and some of the girls around us got excited for the fact that the Wobble came on and my teammates and I knew that this was her favorite song to dance to.

Dana popped out of no where and she was with Penguins’ Olli Maatta, they looked to be having a fun time with each other. More songs came on and Maggie danced with me and then some others.

By the end of the night, I was sitting at the table with some other guys who’s wives or girlfriends were out dancing and they had had enough. Eric Staal sat at the table, his son sitting on his lap and leaning back against him, passed out, the noise didn’t bother him at all, his other son, was found on Marc Staal’s lap.

A lot of the kids were passed out in the locker room, too much fun and their energy was gone. I knew that Sharpie, Abby and the girls had left, they were all tired, I was sure that some other players did the same.

Soon Maggie made her way back over and plopped on the seat next to me, “Well there you are,” I chuckled and she smiled brightly towards me, “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, my feet are killing me,” she said and I chuckled and nodded my head.

“You heading out?” Dana asked as she came over when we both stood up.

“Yeah, we’re both kind of tired,” Maggie said and I leaned against Maggie’s back and kissed her neck.

“Oh I remember, that’s code for something else,” Dana smiled brightly and then winked towards me.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Maggie laughed, “Have a good night, D. Give me a call and we’ll go for lunch before you leave.”

“I leave tomorrow night,” she said and Maggie nodded her head.

“See you tomorrow then.”

Maggie and I left, saying our goodbyes and leaving plenty of people behind to enjoy the rest of the party. I drove home as fast as I could and got out of the car, Maggie was walking too slow because of her feet hurting, so I rushed over towards her, picked her up and carried her into the house. She laughed and wrapped her arms around my neck, afraid that I would drop her.

I carried her up the stairs and towards the bedroom after I locked the door, she giggled as I kept pretending to drop her, even though we both knew that I wouldn’t. We walked into the bedroom, I stood her up and helped her out of her dress, she took the pins out of her hair and then walked towards the bathroom. I started to take my tux off, and then when the door opened, Maggie stood in the door way wearing a strapless bra that looked like her breasts were going to pop out of and matching boy shorts.

“Oh fuck,” I breathed and she giggled and walked over towards me.

“I thought you might like this,” she said as she pushed me over towards the bed and climbed on top of me.

“Definitely,” I breathed and then pushed her off and climbed on top of her, “But I like it this way more.”

“Men and their dominance crap,” she said and I chuckled and then pressed my lips against hers.