Looking Up

June 2013

“Rose!” Lennon called out. “Rose!” She jumped up, waving her arms over her head before grabbing Brandon’s arm and tugging him down to her level. She said something to him and he nodded before disappearing in the crowd.

Rose had gotten an excited phone call from Lennon about an hour and a half after the Blackhawks had won the cup, telling her where to meet the team once they got back to Chicago. She had wanted to go to Boston but a meeting that had been on her calendar for months could not be rescheduled. Jon had understood; it was her job after all. He wouldn't shirk his own responsibilities to the Blackhawks for anything in the world, and he didn’t expect Rose to for him.

Moments later, Brandon turned up at her side and he led her through the bar to the VIP area where the team celebrated. Alcohol flowed freely and cheers rang out through the crowd every few seconds. Brandon pointed out Jon to her and she smiled in thanks before heading for his side.

She touched his arm and Jon turned, his face lighting in a smile when he saw her, lifting her up and crushing her to him. “You’re here!”

“I’m here,” she laughed at his enthusiasm. “Congratulations!”

“I wish you had been there.”

“Me too, Jon. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Rose. You had a commitment. I’m just glad you’re here now.”

“I called out of work tomorrow so I’m yours all night now.”

“I like the sound of that,” he smiled. “Come on, you gotta kiss the cup.”

“What?” She laughed. “After all you guys? That is gross.”

“Lennon did it.”

“Lennon has known you longer.”

“I think she’s dating Brandon. She hasn’t left his side since we got here. She hasn’t said anything but I’m pretty sure I’m right.”

“And what do you think of that?”

He shrugged. “I guess it’s alright, as long as he doesn’t fuck around on her. Then I’ll have to kill him.”

More than an hour after arriving, Rose made her way towards the bathroom, skidding to a halt as she stumbled upon Lennon pulling Dan down the dimly lit hall first, her mouth moving as she grinned before pushing him back against the wall and kissing him. Rose felt the heat of the kiss even from her distance as Dan wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in tighter. She spun away before either of them saw her and made her way back towards Jon who was holding court with Duncan and Brent. She slid in beside him and Jon put an arm around her, smiling at her.

“Have you seen Lennon?” he called out over the music. “Pat wants to take a picture with her.”

Rose shook her head. “Haven’t seen her,” she lied. Jon shrugged and jumped back into Duncan and Brent’s debate about who had a better cup winning goal celebration, Kaner in 2010 or Bolland that night.

Pat and Dan walked up several minutes later, bringing drinks for the group as a fresh round of cheers went through the group. “Did you find Lennon?” Pat asked Jon.

“Nope.”

“She’s making out by the bathrooms with Bollig,” Dan told him. “I think they’re together,” he frowned.

“They’re together,” Pat confirmed. “Since after the LA series. Lennon told me.” He shrugged. “I don’t know why but she likes him. I think it’s his beard.”

Jon shook his head. “Dark hair, dark eyes; Lennon has a type.”

“That’s why she never went out with me? Because I’m blonde?” Pat complained.

“No, she didn’t go out with you because you're a terrible life choice.”

“I am a very good life choice.”

“Just because your mom told you that doesn't make it true. I’ve told you that, Kaner.”

“Pat, I’m sure you will be a really great life choice for someone some day,” Rose said.

“Thank you, Rose. Hey, do you think you could introduce me to your sister sometime?”

She laughed. “I don’t think so, Kaner.”

“But I’m an MVP.”

“Only one Bishop sister is going to date an MVP and I’ve already got mine.”



July 2014

Jon stood and made his way to the front of the barn, holding a glass in his hand and looking towards his best friend, her happy smile as she leaned in to kiss Dan’s cheek. He smiled at them, happy, in love, and completely in tune to each other. It was exactly what he thought they could always be and he was happy that Lennon and Dan had found their way to each other.

"You don't marry the person you can live with,” he started, “you marry the person you can't live without and Dan would be nothing without that beautiful girl at his side. I never thought I'd be at Carbomb's wedding, let alone before my own but here we are, with a couple that couldn’t be more perfect for each other. Love is a friendship set to music and that is Dan and Lennon. To the newlyweds.” He raised his glass and the other guests did as well. He made his way to Lennon and Dan, kissing each of her cheeks and hugging her before hugging Dan too.

“Congratulations,” Jon told them. “You look beautiful, Len.”

“Thanks, Johnny Toes,” Lennon smiled.

“You gonna be able to handle this girl?” he asked Dan with a grin.

“I’m in over my head, but it’s totally worth it.”

“Awww, Carcillo, you looove me,” Lennon teased.

Dan swooped her into his arms and dipped her back as she squealed. “You’re damn right I do,” he smiled before kissing her.

“Jesus,” Jon muttered, shaking his head as he walked away. He was bombarded less than five steps away by several women, all of whom jockeyed for his attention, fawning and flirting with him. He was politely trying to extricate himself from the situation when he heard Rose’s voice.

“I’m deeply sorry ladies, but that one is mine.” She smiled sweetly, shooting daggers at each of them. They scowled, mumbling to each other and sending dirty looks in Rose’s direction.

“I will never get used to that,” she muttered as she hugged Jon around the middle.

“At least you can complain about it to Daisy and she’ll understand.”

“So true.”

“Baby Bishop,” Rich Clune called out. “Come dance with me!” Rose had visited Daisy once several months earlier in Nashville, where she had taken a job at the start of the season with the Predators. She was now happily involved with Shea Weber and both sisters liked to trade stories on their captain boyfriends. She had met Rich on one of her visits and found him to be just as charming as her sister did. It was a small world that he was good friends with Dan and also attending their wedding.

“Think you can manage not to get kidnapped while I’m gone?” Rose teased Jon.

“I’ll figure it out.”

“You do that.”

He watched Rose until she reached Rich, the other man waving and flashing a thumbs up as he led Rose out to dance with him. Jon shook his head and walked towards the bar, stopping to chat with Marc Staal on his way. He smiled at the incredibly pregnant woman at Marc's side when he recognized her.

"You're Felicia Todd," Jon said in awe. "I've seen you play.”

“You’ve seen me play?” Her eyes were wide with surprise.

“Don’t you dare fall in love with him, Flea,” Marc warned.

“Too late,” she smiled at him, pressing a kiss to Marc's cheek.

"I was really looking forward to seeing you play at the Olympics," Jon told her. "I was sorry to hear that an injury was going to keep you out."

"Thank you," she blushed with a soft smile. "It was a little more than just a shoulder injury that kept me out though,” she added, touching her stomach. “You're not so bad yourself either though. I like your defenseman better though. I really wanted to meet Duncan Keith and find out all his secrets."

Jon chuckled. "I’ll introduce you when we play in New York this season.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

“So I guess you got to know Dan after he came to the Rangers."

"Lennon and Felicia are close," Marc explained.

"And even though she doesn't brag, I've seen the pictures of her with you guys so I know you're pretty close too," Felicia said.

"She's one of the best friends I've got."

"Very nice speech by the way."

"Thank you."

"How many pairs of panties do you think got wet hearing it?"

"Fe!" Marc yelped. She laughed, a satisfied smirk on her face.

Rose touched his arm then and he turned to her with a smile. "Rose, I want you to meet Felicia Todd and Marc Staal. Marc plays for the Rangers, and Felicia retired earlier this year.”

“You play hockey?” Rose asked with wide eyes.

“I did, but then this red headed boy knocked me up after we had only been dating a few months and I had to retire.”

“After she fell over her own two feet and hurt her shoulder,” Marc teased.

“That girl tripped me,” Felicia glared at him.

“Fine, you were tripped.”

She shook her head and turned to Rose. “What do you do Rose?”

“Oh, I work for the Lupus Society of Chicago. That’s how Jon and I met; we honored Lennon as one of our volunteers of the year last March and I had to get Jon to come in to introduce her. I didn’t know who he was though."

“She called me Mr. Toes,” Jon spoke up.

“Yes, well, apparently I’m the only Canadian who doesn’t watch hockey.”

“You’re Canadian?”

“I am; my family is from a small town near Vancouver.”

“I grew up with Marc and his brothers in Thunder Bay.”

“There are more of you?” Rose asked Marc.

“Three more,” he answered. “One older, two younger.”

“I have four older siblings: three brothers and a sister.”

"And I thought I had a large family," Marc grinned.

"At least you and your brothers have the same career. I have a brother who is a doctor and my sister is the team dentist for the Predators. One of my brothers is a firefighter and Rye owns one of the top construction companies in Vancouver. It's hard to compete against that."

"I wish my brothers did something else; then I wouldn't have to share the spotlight with those fools."
"Your sister is seriously the team dentist in Nashville?" Felicia asked.

"She is; she started down there back in October. She loves it."

"I love their goalie; no one tell Hank that I think Pekka Rinne is more handsome than him."

"Daisy lived with him last year, after her apartment caught fire."

"Is she seeing him?"

"Don't be nosy, Flea," Marc told her.

"She's dating Shea," Rose told her.

"Shea Weber? Oh my god I love him! Best defenseman in all of Canada, hands down."

"Hey!" Marc said indignantly with a pout on his face.

"I can name at least five defenseman that are better than you, myself included," Felicia shot back.

"You will pay for that, Flea."

"Not worried," she shrugged with a wicked grin. "Don't worry; we're always like this," Felicia assured Rose. "It's what happens when you grow up hating each other and then become romantically involved as adults."

Jon spotted Lennon and Dan alone then and turned to Rose. "Are you okay if I step away a minute?"

"Of course," she smiled. He kissed her and excused himself from the others and approached Dan.

"Can I have a minute with your wife?” Jon asked.

Lennon giggled. “Your wife,” she repeated.

“Mrs. Carcillo,” Dan teased her.

“Why can’t you be Mr. West?”

“I’ll be whoever you want so long as it’s with you.”

“Could you two knock it off for like five minutes?” Jon groaned. “You’re making the rest of us guys looks bad.”

“You did that all by yourself with that toast,” Lennon replied. She kissed Dan before sliding her arm through Jon’s and walking away with him. “What’s up Johnny?” she asked when they were a few feet away from the party.

“I just wanted to congratulate you again. I’m really happy for you, Len.”

“I’m really happy for me too. It all happened so fast though. It’s been seven months since Dan and I got together. It’s all kinds of crazy when I stop and think about it sometimes.”

“You’re perfect for each other though. And you knew each other for two years before you started seeing each other. That’s not crazy.”

“You really thought we should date when we were all in Chicago together?”

“I really did not understand how you two didn’t see it. Ask Rose. I told her once, when we first got together."

"What about you? When are you going to pop the question? It's been over a year now. She's been through the crazy of you winning the cup, she went to Russia to support you, and she's one of the most well liked girlfriend you've ever had."

"That is precisely what I wanted to talk to you about."

Lennon's eyes went wide as she stopped walking. "Shut. Up. Are you serious?"

Jon glanced around to make sure they were alone before reaching into his pocket. He flipped open the lid to the little box and showed it to Lennon. "I'm serious, Len. I just don't know how."

"You open your mouth and speak, dumbass," she chastised. "After that beautiful toast you gave me and Dan you've got nothing left?"

"I have thoughts but they're so jumbled when it comes to Rose. She makes me feel crazy but I never want that feeling to end."

"Tell her that then."

"It should be more romantic than that. Weber is going to propose to Daisy when they're in Finland. We saw them last week and he told me."

"It's not a competition, Jon. Rose will be happy no matter how you ask. There doesn't have to be a grand gesture. Hell, Dan didn't even have a ring when he asked me. He just blurted it out while we were in the middle of a snowball fight."

"No he didn't."

"Yes he did. And it was absolutely perfect, just like that. Rose loves you and she won't care how you ask. No girl would care once they lay eyes on that rock."

"Is it too much?"

"It's not, Jon. It's perfect for a girl like Rose. And you know I wouldn't let you marry her if I thought otherwise."

"Believe me, I know," Jon chuckled. There had been girls Lennon had run off herself, others she had told Jon to dump immediately. He knew she always had his best interest at heart, so when she took to Rose, when she helped him win her over, he knew he had found a keeper and that he was going to be with her for a very long time.

Their first year together hadn't been without its ups and downs. With so much crammed into so little in the lockout season that their relationship had begun, very few people outside of his inner circle knew he even had a girlfriend. Since she had been unable to attend the cup final game in Boston, and the subsequent parade because of work obligations, his day with the cup had been her coming out as his official WAG.

Rose had handled it with grace, and with a smile on her face. A few of his teammates wives had been there to offer her advice and guide her through the scrutiny. Jon would be eternally grateful to Abby, Dayna, and Kelly-Rae for that. Lennon had been there for her too, even after her breakup with Brandon and subsequent move home to Nashville. She was only ever a phone call away, even during her moves to LA and New York City.

Jon had been worried about Lennon after she had broken things off with Brandon. She had fled Chicago in the middle of the night and it was two days after that Jon even found out, and that was only because she had called to tell Rose. Next thing he knew she was texting Kaner to say she was in LA for the Blackhawks game and wanted to see them.

When she had appeared in a Kings jersey, Jon was momentarily stunned, then worried she had somehow started talking to Mike again. But when she turned at Dan's voice, her face beaming, and he saw the Carcillo across her shoulders, a warm, happy feeling had spread through him. Lennon had finally found her way home, and so had Dan. He knew in that moment that the two of them were destined for the long term.

"There's a hill where you can watch the sunset," Lennon said, interrupting Jon's thoughts. "If you want to do it tonight."

"We're going to the cottage in a couple days, just the two of us."

"Take her out for a sunset cruise, Johnny. Some wine and chocolate covered strawberries, and as the last of the sun fades into the horizon, you get down on one knee and then the fireworks."

"I should hire someone to put on a fireworks display?"

"No! I meant fireworks behind your eyes because that girl is going to have her way with you after she sees that ring."

"When did you turn into such a know it all romantic?"

"When I saw Dan without a shirt on," she laughed.

"Lennon!"

"What? It's true. He came out of Jeff's house without a shirt on and hugged me and I felt it everywhere. When he kissed me, it took hold of my heart and there was no turning back."

"So you knew right away?"

"Yes; even though I questioned our collective sanity when he asked me to marry him, after I said yes, and definitely when I uprooted everything to follow him to New York and moved in with him, I knew. I should have known a long time ago but I didn't pay attention."

"You figured it out though."

"I did and it sounds like you have too. Just follow your heart, Jon. No matter how you ask her, whether it's a spectacle or something simple, just do what feels right."

"Thanks, Len," Jon said as he pulled her into a hug.

"You're welcome, Johnny Toes. Now let's go find my handsome husband." She giggled. "I married a man whose nickname is Carbomb."

He offered her his arm. "Mrs. Carbomb," he said gallantly. She laughed before letting Jon lead her back towards the reception where they joined Dan, Pat, Rich, and Rose.

"So next summer we'll do this again for you, right, Tazer?" Pat asked.

Jon reddened and Pat laughed at him. "How do you know you won't be first?"

"You never know," he answered, eyes following a pretty blonde as she passed.

"That one is married to Brian Boyle, who is like two feet taller than you,” Lennon warned. “And that blonde she just walked up to is dating Derick Brassard so unless you secretly became fluent in french, I’d suggest you keep looking.”

“Where are your single friends, Lennon?” Patrick complained.

“Come to Nashville; we have single ladies. Hot single ladies,” Rich spoke up. “And Dr. Daisy won’t let you hook up with the skanky ones.”

“So she’s like Lennon and Rose then. Pass!”

“There’s no girl in the world who wants to put up with you, Kaner,” Jon added. When he opened his mouth to reply, Jon cut him off. “Your mom lied to you; get over it.”

“Aww, Patty, don’t listen to Johnny,” Lennon said, reaching out and ruffling his hair before slinging an arm around his shoulder. “You’re perfect....for someone. We just have to find her, and that might mean we have to go to like Siberia.”

“I am not a bad life choice,” he pouted.

“Not entirely,” Dan agreed. “You have one or two redeeming qualities.”

“But we love you anyway,” Lennon told him, kissing his cheek. “Rich on the other hand,” she started with a teasing smile.

“You love me,” Rich said, pulling Lennon from Pat and under his arm. “More than Dan but since you just married him, we gotta wait at least six months before you break his heart and run away with me, ok?”



A week later, on their last night at the cottage, Jon took Rose out on his boat an hour before sunset, anchoring in a small cove he had found.

“This is pretty,” Rose smiled.

“I just thought we could relax tonight, just the two of us,” he shrugged. He handed her two glasses before pulling out a chilled bottle of wine.

“Are you trying to impress me again, Jonathan Toews?” she teased him.

“Some thing like that,” he smirked. “Come sit down with me.”

He led her to the back of the boat and they sat beside each other. Jon opened the wine, pouring each of them a glass and lifted his arm to let Rose slide in beside him. She rested her head on his shoulder and they sat in silence as the sun started to set.

“Did you know that just hearing you say I love you can absolutely make my day?” Jon started. “And that first summer we were together, when I was back here and you were still in Chicago, when we were miles and miles apart, you had every part of my heart. I thought about you all the time; I still think about you all the time. I realized that if I couldn’t get you out of my head, then it must mean you were supposed to be there. I realized that I would hate life without you. So in case you were wondering, you’re everything to me Rose Bishop. I want to spend my life with you and I hope you want to spend yours with me, otherwise I’m pretty screwed here.” He slid off the bench and went on one knee in front of her, pulling the ring box from his pocket. “What I’m trying to say is, will you marry me, Rose?”

“Jon,” she whispered, covering her mouth with her hand. “Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes! Of course I’ll marry you.”

His face lit up and he took the ring from its box, holding her hand as he slid the ring onto her finger. “I love you,” she said, holding his face in her hands and leaning down to kiss him.

“I love you,” he returned. He stood, lifting Rose up and fitting her in his lap when he sat again. “I can’t wait for our forever.”

FIN