Love So Sweet

Early winter turned to the dead of winter quickly and the hockey season forged on. In December, the Oilers played at home on the 23rd and then were off until the 27th. Ryan went home to Burnaby to spend Christmas with his family and Danni flew to Calgary, meeting her parents and older brother there. Her dad's family was organizing a large family get together, the first time they had all been together in years.

On the 27th, the Oilers played the Flames in Calgary and Danni's parents bought tickets for the whole family to go. Danni had been sure that she'd be the only one in her family wearing an Oilers jersey but she was surprised to find that not only where her parents in Oilers gear, but so was her diehard Flames fan grandfather.

"If an Oiler is good enough for my granddaughter, then they're good enough for me too," he declared.

After the game, Danni took her parents, brother, and grandfather down with her to wait for Ryan while the rest of the family headed home. There was no way she was subjecting Ryan to all of them just yet; but her grandpa, well that was different. They chatted amongst themselves until Taylor came out, introducing himself to Danni’s family. Jordan and Justin followed a short moment later and then Ryan.

Danni’s face lit in a smile upon seeing him and she rushed towards him to hug him. “You wore my jersey in Calgary?” Ryan asked in surprise.

“You’re damn right I did. And I told a guy off who tried to give me shit. And then my cousin Leo gave him shit too and he was wearing a Flames jersey. It was pretty awesome.”

He smiled politely at Danni’s parents and greeted them as Danni led him over. “This is my grandpa,” Danni told him proudly. “And he wore an Oilers jersey for the first time in his life tonight.”

“So you better be planning to marry my granddaughter, young man,” he said, wagging his finger at Ryan.

“Grandpa!” Danni admonished. “You can’t say things like that.”

“Like hell I can’t. I’m supporting his team, ain’t I?”

“I promise I’m in this for the long haul Mr. Reid,” Ryan said to him. “I love Danni, more than anything.”

“Awww!” Taylor, Jordan, and Justin cooed.

“Go away you three!” Danni laughed, shooing them away.

“See you back in Edmonton!” Justin called out over his shoulder as they headed for the bus.

Danni shook her head and leaned into Ryan as Benoit and Andrew stepped out of the locker room. “Hey, Danni,” Andrew smiled. “Are these your parents?”

“Yep. Mom, Dad, this is Andrew Ference. I babysit his little girls sometimes. And this is Benoit Pouliot. Guys, this is my mom Adele, my dad Tom, my brother Brian, and my grandfather Samuel.”

"It's nice to meet you all," Andrew smiled. "My girls just love Danni."

"She's always been good with kids," Adele replied. "Even when she was one."

They chatted for a few minutes before Andrew and Benoit said their goodbyes. Ryan promised that he and Danni would visit Philadelphia that summer before he kissed Danni one more time and taking his leave.

"What are you doing, Ryan?" His coach asked as he approached the team bus.

"Getting on the bus?"

"I'm giving you a maintenance day tomorrow. Fly home with your girlfriend, spend some time with her family. Maybe find a minute or two to ask her dad for his permission."

He blushed. "I've been thinking about it..."

"I'd be disappointed if you weren't. Danni is a great girl."

"Thank you, coach."

"You're welcome. We'll see you at practice Monday."

"Monday," he repeated. "I'll be there."



March 2015

Danni found herself counting down the days in March as the month dragged on too slowly for her liking. She awoke on the third Saturday of the month with a gleeful smile, humming to herself as she climbed out of bed.

"Why are you so happy?" Ryan mumbled as he rolled over, pulling the covers over his head.

"It's game day."

"We have those all the time."

"Not against the Flyers."

"Is that today?" He deadpanned. "I had no idea."

Danni jumped on the bed, bouncing beside him. "Jerk," she giggled before tumbling down beside him. He peeked his head out.

"Are you hanging out with Wayne again today?"

"No, I got that out of my system taking them to lunch yesterday. I was going to go with you and watch morning skate and say hi. And I don't want you getting jealous if I take Wayne and the boys out two days in a row."

"Why would I be jealous of a bunch of Flyers? I've got you," he smirked. Danni leaned in to kiss him.

"You're a mess," she laughed.



Danni wore her Flyers jersey that night but held a sign that said I heart Nuge during warmups to fulfill a bet she and Ryan had made nearly a year ago. She could see the guys got a kick out of it, pointing and smiling in her direction. She sat with Krista, Jessie (whom Justin had finally gotten his act together with), and Roni, all of whom teased her good naturedly for cheering for the visitors and Ryan.

After the game that night, Krista kept Danni upstairs chatting about school and the week long road trip the guys would be on in a little more than a week. When they parted ways and she finally headed downstairs, the game had been over for twenty minutes. As she came around the corner, she stopped short at the sight of Claude waiting in the hall.

"Hey, Danni,” Claude smiled. “How are you?”

She hugged him before answering. “I’m great. Sorry about the loss.”

“It’ll be okay. Before I forget...” He brought a sign out from behind his back and held it up to her.

“Will?” Danni asked. “Will what?” Claude shrugged and pointed her forward. She continued on, finding Wayne Simmonds next, who grinned and held up another sign.

“You?” Danni questioned. "What is going on?" He shrugged also and pointed her on. She found Sean a few feet away, who smiled as she approached.

“Danny said to tell you hello. The boys miss you.”

“I miss them too. He’s here on Wednesday though.”

“Are you still happy?”

“Yes, very happy.”

“Good. Don’t want Danny to hurt your Oiler in a few days.” Danni smiled and Sean pulled a sign from behind his back and held it up to her.

Marry.

Danni’s steps faltered as she put the three signs together. Sean smiled and nudged her forward. “Ryan’s around the corner. Don’t leave him waiting.” Danni nodded slowly and took a step forward. As she rounded the corner, Ryan looked up and smiled. His hair was damp and she could tell he had pushed a hand through it more than once because it stuck up on one side. He still had on the spandex reebok shirt he wore under his jersey but had traded his hockey shorts for a pair of navy blue athletic shorts, flip flops on his feet.
As she got closer, he held his own sign up for her.

Me.

He dropped to one knee and held open a ring box as Danni walked up to him, a hand covering her mouth, tears glistening in her eyes.

“Will you marry me, Danni?” he asked.

“Of course!” Danni shouted excitedly. She pulled Ryan to his feet and threw herself at him, hugging and kissing him all at once. Behind them they heard a chorus of shouts as his teammates poured out of the locker room to congratulate them. She heard Claude and the others clapping and cheering also. As his teammates surrounded him, Danni ducked out of the crowd and walked over to Roni and Jessie and gush over the ring.

"You kept me on purpose!" Danni accused.

"We had no idea, I swear," Jessie replied. "But Krista did."

"You knew?" She asked, turning to the older woman.

She hugged Danni tightly. "He needed a little help keeping you occupied so he could get ready down here. How could I tell that adorable face no?"

Danni laughed as Claude made his way into the crowd of women with a smile. He picked Danni up and hugged her. "Félicitations!"

"How did he get you to help him?" Danni demanded after Claude set her down and she hugged Wayne.

"He got my number from Danny."

"Danny Briere?"

"Yep. He called me last week, asked if I could help him out while we were here, and if I could get Wayne and Sean to help."

"But how did he get Danny's number?"

"No idea. We gotta get back but congratulations again."

"Thank you, Claude." She turned to Sean and hugged him. "Thank you too," she told him. "And you too, Wayne," she said, smiling over at him.

"I've never been a part of a marriage proposal," Wayne grinned. "Couldn't be for two better people." They waved as they made their back to the visitors locker room and Danni smiled over at Ryan as Claude clapped his arm around his shoulder as he passed. She made her way to his side and squeezed her arms around him.

"I love you, Ry."

"I love you too, Danni."

"But how did you get Danny's number?"

He chuckled. "From your parents. I called them last week."

"They knew what you were planning?"

Ryan leaned down and kissed her sweetly. "I asked your dad and your grandpa for permission back in Calgary."

Her eyes widened. "You did?"

"Of course. I knew I wanted to but I didn't know when. I bought the ring in February, when we were in San Jose. I stopped at a jewlery store that I just had this feeling I needed to go into and there it was. When were talking a couple weeks ago about this game, and you fulfilling your part of our bet, I got the idea for the signs. So I called your mom and got Danny's number, told him what I wanted to do, got Claude's number, and roped three Flyers into helping me propose."

"You're too much, you know that?"

"There is nothing that's too much for you. Ever."

She went on her tiptoes and kissed him. "Go get a shower and that suit on so we can celebrate."

"Yes ma'am."