For Her
Mr. Stanley's Cup
The Stars become a permanent fixture in the playoffs, making it at least past the first round every year of Kylie’s life. But they just can’t ever find a way to win the whole thing.
That is, until Kylie is six years old.
Uncle Jamie scores the winning goal half way through the third period in game six, off a beautiful pass from Tyler. Kylie is still a little young to fully understand the impact of this moment, but she’s a lot smarter than anyone would guess. She knows this is huge.
Tyler holds her tight and spins her around when the families are finally let on the ice. He tells her that he won it for her. She smiles and kisses him and lets him skate around with her in his arms.
To Kylie, this is just a big win. To Tyler, this is everything he’s always wanted.
His day with the Cup shows up, and unlike the last time he had it, Tyler wants to do more than just go to bars and clubs with it. He’s got the Stars videographer and his crew following them all day, but he barely even notices them.
He wakes Kylie up with breakfast the promise of the best breakfast ever- Championship style.
He’s poured both of their bowls of cereal into the Cup, and brought two big spoons for them. They sit out on his back deck and eat straight from the Cup, laughing and joking about how the Cheerios taste so much better than normal.
Tyler shows her where his name is on it from before. She knows he’s won it, since he’s got it tattooed on his ribs. She slowly reads each name, struggling with some of the foreign ones. She recognizes a few, like Uncle Marchy.
Next they head over to the hospital, where they share the joy of the Stanley Cup with the patients. Between seeing the Stanley Cup (what Canadian wouldn’t smile at that?) and Kylie’s excited six-year-old behaviors, every single patient has a smile on their face when the pair leaves.
After the hospital visit, Tyler and Kylie take the Cup to the lake for a picnic lunch. They drink their apple juice out of it, and enjoy their sandwiches. Kylie asks if they can go swimming in the lake with the Cup, and Tyler gives her a choice. They were going to go swimming in his own pool with it later. But if she wants to go swimming now, they can. They just won’t go at home.
Kylie chooses the lake, and fortunately Tyler has extra swimming stuff in his car for them both. They change and Tyler lifts the Cup so they can head into the lake. Kylie wants to help, though, so he lets her “hold” part of it while they wade into the shallow water.
They take pictures with a lot of fans who are also in the water. Kylie jumps onto Tyler’s back so he can hold both her and the Cup at the same time.
Eventually, it’s time for them to leave. They head back to his house and change into dry clothes before their entire family shows up for a photo shoot and dinner.
Tyler almost lets Kylie go swimming with it in the pool (she even tries the puppy dog face!) but decides against it. He’s heard the stories of the time it got stuck to the bottom of Mario Lemieux’s pool. There’s no way he’s letting that happen to him.
Eventually, it’s time for them to let it go. Kylie is more upset about that than Tyler is. He tells her that it’s gotta go to Uncle Jason’s in Toronto. She cries a little, but accepts that their time is up.
“Daddy, will we get to see Mr. Stanley’s Cup again?” She asks.
Tyler has to hold everything back for a second, so he doesn’t start laughing at her young brain’s thought process.
“Yeah, princess. We’ll see Mr. Stanley’s Cup again.” He promises.
That is, until Kylie is six years old.
Uncle Jamie scores the winning goal half way through the third period in game six, off a beautiful pass from Tyler. Kylie is still a little young to fully understand the impact of this moment, but she’s a lot smarter than anyone would guess. She knows this is huge.
Tyler holds her tight and spins her around when the families are finally let on the ice. He tells her that he won it for her. She smiles and kisses him and lets him skate around with her in his arms.
To Kylie, this is just a big win. To Tyler, this is everything he’s always wanted.
His day with the Cup shows up, and unlike the last time he had it, Tyler wants to do more than just go to bars and clubs with it. He’s got the Stars videographer and his crew following them all day, but he barely even notices them.
He wakes Kylie up with breakfast the promise of the best breakfast ever- Championship style.
He’s poured both of their bowls of cereal into the Cup, and brought two big spoons for them. They sit out on his back deck and eat straight from the Cup, laughing and joking about how the Cheerios taste so much better than normal.
Tyler shows her where his name is on it from before. She knows he’s won it, since he’s got it tattooed on his ribs. She slowly reads each name, struggling with some of the foreign ones. She recognizes a few, like Uncle Marchy.
Next they head over to the hospital, where they share the joy of the Stanley Cup with the patients. Between seeing the Stanley Cup (what Canadian wouldn’t smile at that?) and Kylie’s excited six-year-old behaviors, every single patient has a smile on their face when the pair leaves.
After the hospital visit, Tyler and Kylie take the Cup to the lake for a picnic lunch. They drink their apple juice out of it, and enjoy their sandwiches. Kylie asks if they can go swimming in the lake with the Cup, and Tyler gives her a choice. They were going to go swimming in his own pool with it later. But if she wants to go swimming now, they can. They just won’t go at home.
Kylie chooses the lake, and fortunately Tyler has extra swimming stuff in his car for them both. They change and Tyler lifts the Cup so they can head into the lake. Kylie wants to help, though, so he lets her “hold” part of it while they wade into the shallow water.
They take pictures with a lot of fans who are also in the water. Kylie jumps onto Tyler’s back so he can hold both her and the Cup at the same time.
Eventually, it’s time for them to leave. They head back to his house and change into dry clothes before their entire family shows up for a photo shoot and dinner.
Tyler almost lets Kylie go swimming with it in the pool (she even tries the puppy dog face!) but decides against it. He’s heard the stories of the time it got stuck to the bottom of Mario Lemieux’s pool. There’s no way he’s letting that happen to him.
Eventually, it’s time for them to let it go. Kylie is more upset about that than Tyler is. He tells her that it’s gotta go to Uncle Jason’s in Toronto. She cries a little, but accepts that their time is up.
“Daddy, will we get to see Mr. Stanley’s Cup again?” She asks.
Tyler has to hold everything back for a second, so he doesn’t start laughing at her young brain’s thought process.
“Yeah, princess. We’ll see Mr. Stanley’s Cup again.” He promises.
♠ ♠ ♠
:)