Master of Timing

Lyndsey looked up from the page she was reading when Sidney appeared at the doorway, a soft smile on his face as he flicked the keys he had in his hand. “Hi,” She smiled, setting the book to the side as he approached her, throwing his keys on the coffee table before he leant down to kiss her.

“Hey,” He whispered against her lips, pushing her back a little as he sat beside her legs, one hand resting on her cheek, the other on the back of the couch so that he could hold himself up instead of smothering her into the pillows. Not that she would’ve minded one bit, wrapping her arms around his neck as he made to pull away. “How was your morning?”

She took a deep breath and nodded towards the book, her fingers moving up to play with the ends of his hair that was getting longer as the season wore on. “Well, I’m about halfway through that,” She offered, smiling bashfully as his eyes went wide. He reached over to pick up the novel and smiled at the cover, before his eyes flickered to her nervously.

“You got this from the study?”

Straight away, Lyndsey’s mind flashed to the brochure that she hadn’t meant to find sitting on his desk. She didn’t want to make him angry that she’d been snooping, but he had told her to explore. Clearly if he had something to hide, she wouldn’t have seen it. “Yeah,” She whispered, immediately missing his body heat near hers as he sat up straight, eyes focused on the coffee table. “I know some friends who would’ve killed to be that close to the Vancouver gold medal.”

He didn’t take the bait, leaning forward slowly to place the book down, turning his back to her and fiddling with his watch. “Do you now.”

“I’m sorry,” She said quickly, sitting up and moving her legs from behind him to sit next to him. “I…” She shrugged. “That desk is a fire hazard,” She chuckled, but it was weak and he sighed heavily when she placed her hand on his shoulder. “Do you want to talk abo-”

“No,” He interrupted, rubbing at his eyes with the heels of his palms. “It’s nothing.”

Lyndsey paused, letting her hand fall slowly back into her lap. Part of her was scared - there was no way that he thought that the ongoing effects of a concussion were ‘nothing’. She had seen the interviews he had done after his last return to the game and even then her heart hurt to hear him explain just how much he had to work on himself to get himself better. And that 90% of the fight was all mental.

“Sidney,” She said softly. “Dementia isn’t ‘nothing’. It’s a serious disease, I’ve seen what it does to-”

“Yes, I’m well aware of what it does, thank you nurse Lyndsey.”

He turned his head to look at her, keeping eye contact long enough that she sat back a little. She could see the range of emotions played out across his face, but the one that struck her the most was the look of confusion he gave her. He could obviously see how hurt she was by the way he snapped at her because he sighed into his hands.

“I suppose you’re going to be mad I didn’t tell you.”

Lyndsey frowned, looking at the book on the table before sitting up fully, sliding her feet down to the floor. Why the hell would he think she would be mad? In case he forgot, she was actually there and knew he was concussed before his own family did, all those months ago. It wasn’t like she was under some illusion that just because he was back playing now didn’t mean the future wasn’t as bright.

“Why would I be mad?”

“Because I lied to you,” He huffed, staring at her as if the answer should have been obvious. “Saying I was fine to play.”

“…Are you not?” She hesitated, feeling her heart drop when he looked away from her. She wanted to worried frown between his eyebrows to be gone. Like yesterday. “But, I thought you were cleared to play.”

“I am.”

“Then why-“

“I’m fine, for now. But the doctors don’t think I’ll be so lucky if I…” he stopped suddenly and shook his head, as if realizing he shouldn’t say any more. But it was too late; she already knew what he was going to say without hearing the words.

“If you get another hit,” she finished. The both went silent, the words hanging in the air between them. The thought of anything else happening to him was terrifying but not totally unexpected or impossible. And Lyndsey suddenly had a thought that maybe Sidney thought she didn’t understand just exactly what was at stake.

Did he just up and forget what she did for a living? She’d seen all kinds of injuries. And she’d never say it out loud but his wasn’t the worst she’d ever seen, or would ever see. Still, she understood where he was coming from and tried to reassure him even as he started to pace the floor on the other side of the coffee table.

“Sidney, I’m not mad. It was… We, we’ve only just gotten together. Like, yesterday. No matter who I was or what we were doing - I had no right to know that. But…” She tried to smile when he turned his head to look at her. “But you know you can talk to me about anything, right? Including this. I’m not a doctor or specialist but I’ve seen injuries like this, even worse, and-“

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” He stopped pacing completely and frowned at her. “You’ve seen worse injuries, so am I supposed to just…what? Be thankful that mine isn’t worse and fucking forget about it?”

The way he’d snapped at her had Lyndsey sitting back, speechless. It brought an immediate frown to her face and before she even knew what she was doing she was snapping back, “That’s not what I meant and you damn well know it, Sidney.”

“Wasn’t it? Because if it wasn’t, you’d know that to me it’s not something I can really just put to the back of my mind.”

“It’s dementia, you idiot. Not a death sentence. And you don’t even have it so don’t go losing your shit at me for finding something by accident in the office of your house you told me to ‘make myself at home’ in!”

They both stared at each other, breathing fast before Lyndsey slumped back against the couch and crossed her arms, doing everything she could to avoid looking at him directly. She blatantly ignored the fact that her fingers were shaking as he sat down slowly beside her, the loud sigh echoing around the room. Lyndsey only cast a quick glance sideways to see him leaning back against the pillows as she was, his face covered by his hands as he took a deep breath.

The grandfather clock chimed from the hallway. She could vaguely hear the sound of a dog barking somewhere in the neighbourhood. Lyndsey was trying to concentrate on the car driving slowly on the wet road from her view from the window when Sidney’s hand on her shoulder made her jump. He pulled his hand back as a reflex - like he was afraid he had hurt her.

“Sorry,” He muttered. She turned her head to look at him. “I’m sorry, Lynds. I… I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

Lyndsey didn’t trust her voice, biting the inside of her cheek to try and stop her lip from trembling with tears she could cry in an instant. If she was honest with herself, she knew that it wasn’t what he’d said to her that had made her upset - it was more the fact that he’d snapped so quickly.

It was an abrupt reminder of her past.

When she nodded, unfolding her arms to rest her hands in her lap, he reached over again gingerly to place his hand on her wrist. Her mouth turned upwards against her own will at the feeling of his thumb brushing against her skin.

“No one knows,” He stated, nodding once when Lyndsey looked at him with a frown. “I… My family. I told them what they needed to know about my playing again, but-“ He broke off with a sigh, sliding his fingers in between Lyndsey’s when she turned her hand to fit in his. “It’s scary. The potential end of my career on a pamphlet that could fit in my wallet.”

“Sidney,” Lyndsey whispered, turning herself to face him fully. He looked like he was doing his best Jonathan Toews impression to burn a hole into the coffee table with a death stare. “That’s not at all what it is. It’s not like anyone could ever fault you for looking at a problem from all angles.”

He shrugged, lifting their connected hands so that she could wind herself under his arm and rest on his shoulder. Her free arm wrapped around his waist, tightening on the side of his polo. She smiled into his shirt as he pressed a kiss against her forehead, leaving his lips there as he spoke into the edge of her hair.

“It’s not something I want to focus on, alright? Especially not while you’re here.”

“‘Kay,” Lyndsey agreed with a whisper, tightening her fingers around his where they were still tied together. “So, what happens this afternoon?”

Sidney seemed happy with the change of topic, explaining to her that he’d spoken to Duper and wanted to suggest that Lyndsey go with Carol-Lyne and the kids to the game since he would be there way earlier than she had to be. He assured her that Duper’s kids were awesome - that Maeva was very excited to meet her - and that Carol-Lyne would be able to introduce her to everyone else in the family suite once they got to Consol.

It made sense, but Lyndsey was still a little intimidated.

She offered to make him lunch but was pleasantly surprised when he said he’d take care of it. She just raised her eyebrow and muttered ‘superstitious’ under her breath, ducking the glare he sent her as she turned to wash her hands in the sink. Sidney made a full spread for lunch, spaghetti like she expected, but with a side of grilled veggies and some garlic bread, honestly surprising Lyndsey with a skill set she didn’t know he had.

He shrugged away her praise after the first bite. “Nathalie taught me how to cook when I lived with the Lemieux’s,” He offered as an explanation. She liked to see the domesticated side of him. It made her feel a little giddy each time she learnt something new.

He rested his hands on her waist and bent down to kiss her cheek as she stacked the dishwasher once they were finished. “I’m gonna go nap.”

Nodding, she turned to look at him and smiled into the kiss he gave her, her hand sliding up behind his neck to hold him close to her once he pulled away. She couldn’t help the instinct to lick the taste of him off of her lips, giggling when he ducked down again. “Go nap,” She laughed into his mouth, pushing him away from her gently.

“Come join me,” He begged, tugging on her hand gently. She glanced between him and the dishwasher, looking up with a knowing smirk as he pushed the bottom tray in with his foot and kicked the door shut.

“To nap.”

“Yeah.” She gave him a pointed look. He rolled his eyes and tugged her forward. “I promise. I’ll keep my hands to myself.”

Yeah, she thought as he led them both out of the kitchen. But I don’t want you to.



“So Kody is their only son?”

“Yeah.” He reached over between the seats and rested his hand on Lyndsey’s thigh. “He’s a mini Duper. Which is both a blessing and a curse,” He chuckled.

Lyndsey rested her hand on top of his. “And Lola is the youngest.”

Sidney nodded, switching lanes towards the exit off the freeway. “She’s nearly the same age as Alex. Those two and Estelle are like three peas in a pod whenever they’re together - which you’ll probably see tonight,” He added, sending her a quick grin. Lyndsey could see from the flicker in his eye that he did nothing whatsoever to stop the mini humans whenever they got up to mischief.

“Um… Is there anyone that’s going to be there tonight that I…” Lyndsey trailed off, not sure how to put her worry to words. He waited though, looking sideways at her with a glance as he turned into a new neighbourhood. “Well. Anyone that might not…”

“What?” He asked, taking his eyes off the road at a stop sign. He laughed at the face she was pulling. “Just say it.”

Lyndsey sighed, nodding forward when he hadn’t realised that traffic was clear. “That might not like me.”

He took a deep breath and turned the hand over on her lap, holding her own and bringing it up to his lips to kiss her skin. “No,” He answered simply, turning into a driveway of a house that was even bigger than his. Lyndsey didn’t even want to begin to think of how much it had cost.

“But-”

“Babe,” He started and her argument fell short at the use of the nickname. He turned the car off and looked at her the same way he had when they were outside of the restaurant and she was freaking out just the same then. “Why do you think that everyone associated with me and this team isn’t going to like you?”

Lyndsey blushed, possibly more than she ever had in her entire life and decided that was a good time to focus more on their hands than on his face.

“Because of the few people I’ve talked to about you - they’ve been just as anxious to have you here as I have. And, because I am Captain to a team of boys that gossip more than all our sisters combined; everyone else wanted to meet you too.” She closed her eyes as he free hand lifted her chin up, taking a deep breath after his lips met hers in a quick kiss. “Look at me.”

“No,” She replied.

“Lyndsey,” He warned and when she shook her head he huffed. “I dare you.” She peeked one eye open and then the other when he just smirked at her. “Can you get out of the car and come inside with me and say hi to the kids like everything is normal because it is completely normal?”

He poked his tongue out when she still hesitated, dropping her hand and opening his door. She knew that she was being stupid. And decided that sucking it up and getting over her social anxiety was better than him looking at her all day like he was going to have to drag her from one place to the next.

The chorus of “Is she here? Is she here?” was barely heard over the thundering of footsteps after Pascal had opened the door. He hadn’t gotten to the word ‘hello’ yet before two little heads poked their way around his legs and stared up at Lyndsey.

“Uh…”

“Hey guys!” Sid greeted them warmly, holding open his free arm for Maeva and Zoe to run into. “Causing trouble?”

“No,” They both giggled. Maeva hadn’t turned her attention from Lyndsey for a second. “Are you Lyndsey?”

“Girls, back inside. It’s freezing,” Pascal admonished, rolling his eyes and motioning for all four of them to get back behind the door. “Hello again.”

“Hi,” Lyndsey replied, thanking him when he took her coat while she kicked off her shoes next to Sidney’s. She frowned for a second, then looked at him. “I thought you’d be leaving straight away?”

He scoffed, kissing her cheek and pushing her after Pascal. “I’m not just going to throw you into the lion’s den and bail.”

“Hey,” Pascal pointed a finger at his captain, “This house is not a lion’s den.”

Zoe pretended to roar from her Dad’s arms and broke the adults attention. Lyndsey felt a tugging on her hand and looked down, smiling at the eleven year old grinning back at her. She looked exactly like Carol-Lyne, if you could ignore the gap in her teeth where one had obviously fallen out. “Hi, I’m Maeva.”

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Lyndsey.”

She turned to Sidney, who was smiling at them softly. “You were right, Uncle Sid. She’s so pretty.”

Lyndsey grinned when he flushed, opening his mouth to reply only to have a squeal come from behind them. “Hi guys, sorry it’s a mess. Someone didn’t want to nap today.”

Sidney let go of Lyndsey’s hand, not that it mattered because Maeva took it just as quick and starting jumping up and down excitedly, and walked over to her, tickling Lola’s tummy from where she was cuddled up to her Mom and sucking on her thumb as a tear rolled down her cheek. Lyndsey decided to look away before she made ridiculous heart eyes and embarrassed herself.

Although, a quick peak at Duper told her that she was way past that point.

“Dad! I can’t find the Wii remote!”

“Lyndsey, do you want to see my doll house? I got it brand new for my birthday, it’s purple!”

“Yeah, Uncle Sid loves it.” She raised an eyebrow at him and he rolled his eyes, pointing at Maeva with a grin.

“I love it, huh?”

“Daaaaaaaad!”

“Excuse me.” Pascal rolled his eyes, handing Zoe to Sid before he made his way back down the hall.

“A purple doll house? That sounds awesome.”

“Maeva, can you do me a favour and go and get Lola’s binkie?”

“But Mom-”

Carol Lyne raised an eyebrow, her pre-teen daughter shutting up straight away. She dropped Lyndsey’s hand with the most dramatic sigh Lyndsey had heard in a while and stomped away, calling over her shoulder as she made her way up the stairs that she just “wanted to play with my new friend!” before disappearing all together.

Sidney was too preoccupied trying to get Zoe to laugh to pay attention to any of it.

“So, welcome to the mad house. Take a seat.”

“We should get going in about twenty, Sid.”

He looked up and nodded, panning over to Lyndsey before deciding to make his way past Pascal to her. Zoe was sucking on her thumb, but didn’t look as hesitant as she did before when she’d sized Lyndsey up.

“Hi there, cutie.”

“This is Zoe. She’s a little bit shy,” Sid whispered into her cheek, juggling her up and down with one arm until she giggled quietly, turning to hide her face in his neck. Lyndsey had seen him in pictures with kids plenty of times; some of her favourites were from when he was signing stuff at his hockey school promo things, or meeting kids when he dropped off season ticket holder’s gifts.

But seeing him with Duper’s kids, so at ease, made something in her chest tighten. It suited him. She quickly shut down the thought of why he hadn’t had kids already.

“Coffee, Lyndsey?’

Carol-Lyne was holding a mug and looking at her expectantly, nodding with a smile when she politely declined. Sid was brushing his thumb against the back of her neck where her sweater reached her skin, still muttering to the 7 year old’s hair.

“It does so have dinosaurs.”

“No it doesn’t, they’re dragons. They’re different.”

“Nuh uh.”

“Yeah huh.”

“Don’t start, you two. It’ll end in tears.”

“But Mom!”

“Okay,” Pascal called over them loudly, clapping his hands. He took the pacifier out of Maeva’s hands and threw it to his wife, who caught it with ease, and turned back to his two eldest children, who were shooting dirty looks at each other. “Now, if you two can’t behave, you’re both staying here while Mom Lyndsey to the game with Zoe and Lola.”

“But, you said I could-”

“You don’t want to have to spend the afternoon on time out when Lyndsey’s here, do you?” Lyndsey looked between both of the parents before she focussed on Sid’s face, not wanting to be a reason for the Dupuis kids to feel guilty. Kody looked at her like he’d only just realised there was someone new in the room and shrugged but Maeva shook her head so hard Lyndsey thought she’d give herself whiplash. “Okay. Mae, how about you take your brother and sisters and go put a movie on?”

“But I want to see Uncle Sid,” She pouted, eyes flicking to Lyndsey as well, Kody’s feet thundering down the hall as he yelled out he was picking ‘Cars’. Zoe wiggled enough that Sidney decided to put her down, her feet running after her brother.

“Hey, I’ll come in and say bye before Dad and I leave.”

“Do you need help putting the DVD on?” Lyndsey offered, and that seemed to be all the encouragement Maeva needed before she nodded excitedly, holding her hand out. “Well, alright then. You show me how it’s done.”

“Come on Lola!” Maeva called over her shoulder, not bothering to wait and see if her baby sister was even in the mood to follow. She talked Lyndsey’s ear off the whole walk through the maze of the house before they got to what could only be called a live in theatre, Kody and Zoe already bouncing around on beanbags on the floor.

“Wow, this is pretty cool.”

“Yeah! The screen even comes down!”

The whole room probably cost more than her house, but Lyndsey watched, fascinated, as Maeva clicked a button on a remote and a projector screen began to unravel, the faint blue showing against the wall as the unit warmed up.

“Cars, Maevey! I want Cars!”

“That’s a stupid movie,” She retorted, rolling her eyes at her brother who crossed his arms.

“No it’s not!”

“Yes it is!”

“Guys,” Breaking up the argument before it even began seemed like the better option, holding her hands up so that they’d stop yelling at each other. “We can watch Cars,” Lyndsey said, resting a hand on Maeva’s shoulder. “Then after that, if there’s time, Maeva and Zoe can pick a movie.”

“Yeah, not a stupid boy movie.”

“Cars isn’t stupid!” Zoe said loudly, before realising that Lyndsey was looking at her so she all but hid behind her brother, thumb back in her mouth. It made her smile.

“Do you like Cars, Lydnsey?”

She settled herself down in a recliner, watching as Maeva turned on everything with ease and scrolled through the online DVD menu until she got to the movie her brother and sister wanted to watch. Lola toddled in while she was choosing, her binkie in her mouth and a stuffed mini hippo under one arm. She said something to Kody, who rolled his eyes and pulled the pacifier out of her mouth.

“Tuddle?”

He gave in and moved over on the beanbag, handing back the pacifier and putting his arm around his baby sister. Lyndsey tried not to die of a cuteness overload.

“Psst.”

Sidney was hiding in the doorway, waving Lyndsey over to him. She stood up, letting Maeva know she’d be right back when the kid looked at her like she was about to be abandoned and followed him back down the hall, sliding her fingers between his when he reached for her hand.

“Sorry, they’re terrors,” Carol-Lyne laughed, handing over a travel mug to her husband. “They kind of pounce on a shiny new toy.”

“Well, Maeva does, at least.”

Sidney squeezed her hand gently and she laughed, leaning into his side more. “It’s fine, honestly. They seem really great.”

The fond look that the married couple in front of her shared made her look down, not wanting to seem like she was interrupting. When Sid mentioned that she should get her stuff out of his car she nodded, thankful for the opportunity to give Pascal and his wife some time to make googley eyes at each other in private.

“Here,” He handed over a laminated pass on a lanyard. “It’s the pass all the players’ families need to get into the suite.”

“Oh, I’m family now?” She teased, putting it safely into her handbag next to her phone, looking up when his hands slid around her waist and settled low on her back. She gulped.

“Unless you want me to call it the WAG box?” He offered, grinning when she scrunched up her nose. Lyndsey knew that the ‘Wives and Girlfriends’ tag was inevitable but she didn’t need to hear it coming from him. It rated right up there next to puck bunny. “Thought so.” She leant up to kiss him back when he bent down, licking into his mouth softly when his hands slid into the back pocket of her jeans.

It was a slow kiss, and Lyndsey delighted in the feeling of being able to do it in the first place, smiling into his lips before pressing up on her toes to rest her chin on his shoulder, tightening her arms around his torso for a hug.

Pascal walked out of the door not a moment later, his suit tie hanging undone around his collar, sipping on his coffee. He winked at the two of them and made his way to walk around the back of the car to the passenger side.

“Guess I’m leaving, then.”

She pecked his lips and pressed down the front of his suit. “Go win a hockey game for me.”

He laughed, kissing her cheek before he let her go, reaching for his still open car door. “Yes ma’am,” he replied, the two of them waving goodbye to her where she still stood in the driveway before making her way back inside the warm house.



Everything had been going fine. The rest of the afternoon passed with a movie or two, plus some games and then a quick dinner. All the Dupuis kids eventually opened up to Lyndsey, happily making up stories of their toys and giggling to each other when she joined in on a game of tag through the living room. She assured Carol-Lyne she didn’t mind being a distraction while she got ready for the game, smiling at the hug she got in return and waving off the “I’ll only be 15 minutes, I swear.”

Maeva hadn’t left her side of a second. Sidney was right; she was apparently very interested in this new person in Uncle Sid’s life, and had no problem telling Lyndsey how much she liked her more than the last girlfriend he had, who wore really pretty perfume, “but she never liked to play games with us like you do”.

“Ooookay, how about you go and get dressed, hmm?” Carol-Lyne interrupted, smiling apologetically at Lyndsey while ushering her kids out of the room.

“Can I wear Uncle Geno’s jersey?” Kody asked, halfway up the stair case.

“Sure,” Carol Lyne agreed, turning around to face Lyndsey. “See how your father will like that.”

The ladies both laughed and Lyndsey followed her through the house back to the living room, the both of them taking a seat on the couch. There was a chorus of chatter happening upstairs, but if Carol didn’t seemed all that fussed by it, Lyndsey wasn’t going to either.

“Probably not what you imagined doing on the afternoon of a game day…” She trailed off, eyeing Lyndsey with a smile that she was only happy to return.

In all honestly, she had no idea what to expect of a game day. It’s not like she’d had any experience - and she knew that not many other girlfriends would’ve been in her position anyway. Considering most of them lived in the same city, if not the same house, as their hockey playing better halves.

For having four kids to wrangle, it didn’t actually take them all that long to get going once the time came. Lyndsey assumed that they all knew the routine’s by now, all happily holding onto their passes to get past security, saying hello to the people they obviously saw on a almost weekly basis. Carol-Lyne had explained that the kids didn’t always go to the games, only when it was a special occasion (which Lyndsey took to her being in town), but knew that one toe out of line meant not being able to go next time.

So everything had been going well.

Until Zdeno Chara knocked his stick into Sidney’s face near the end of the second period, sending him stumbling into the back of Tuuka’s net.

In all fairness, the guy was 7 foot with skates on. Just holding his stick normally meant that he was called for high-sticking more often than not. She knew the logical part of her brain was telling her it was an accident, that Chara and Sidney were actually friends and the fact that he got up straight away off the ice meant there was no reason to be concerned.

The Pittsburgh fans didn’t quite see it that way. At least they could all yell and slam their hands onto the glass and voice her concerns for her. Lyndsey couldn’t do anything but gape at the TV, and try to appear not at all like she was about to freak out.

She briefly wished for a time a few months before where seeing him get hit on TV felt much different to seeing him get live, and knowing she was going home to his house.

Lyndsey watched as he skated towards the bench, taking a towel straight from the trainers and making his way directly down the tunnel. There was only three minutes left on the clock, so their top line would have to make do on the power play without him for the rest of the period. She clenched her hands into fists so that the nervous shakes weren’t so obvious.

“He’ll be okay,” The warm hand on her shoulder drew her attention from the ice back to the suite, a smiling Catherine Letang to her right. “The first hit you see is always the worst.”

“Comforting,” She murmured, smiling in thanks when she took the glass of wine that Catherine offered. They had been chatting all night, Lyndsey trying to not get caught up on how beautiful the woman was, how out of place she felt by not wearing a dress and heels. Neither was Carol-Lyne, but she had four kids to take care of. Lyndsey tried to ignore the feeling that reminded her of high school, that she could’ve tried to put more effort in, even if Sidney had told her she looked amazing.

“At least it’s not like October, hmm?”

Well, that was very true. She didn’t know just how she would’ve reacted if she had seen him get seriously injured, or break a bone while she helplessly watched on in a room 100 feet above him with people she barely knew.

The period ended without a goal, the Pens down 2-1 but the game not a complete write off. Lyndsey did her best to distract herself with food and conversation, taking comfort in knowing that the three women she was talking to had all sat there and watched their husbands get hurt repeatedly and they seemed to all still want to be there.

“Lyndsey, did Uncle Sid really have his jaw wired shut?” Kody asked, his eyes the size of saucepans where he looked up from playing with Alex and Zoe on the floor. His jaw dropped when she nodded, a hand on the side of his face. “Ow.”

“He wasn’t awake when they did it, though so it didn’t hurt him that much,” She offered with a shrug. “It was pretty funny, he couldn’t talk for a few days. He had to write everything down on a white board.”

“Like the Miss Andrews?”

She looked at his mother, who mouthed ‘teacher’ behind Lola’s head, resting sleepily on her Mom’s shoulder as they waited for the third period to start.

“Yep. That’s actually how your Uncle Sid and I started talking.”

“Is that when he asked you out?” Maeva inquired excitedly, pulling a bar stool over and climbing up quickly. “Because when he came over to our house and him and Daddy were talking and he told Daddy about you he was so nervous, I laughed because it was so funny because Uncle Sid never talks about girls,” She giggled. “And I made him text you because he wasn’t gonna and I was like, no I bet she’s really pretty and really nice and that he should take you on a date like Mom and Dad go on because that’s what adults do.”

“Maeva Dupuis. Mind your manners, young lady.”

Lyndsey tried to swallow the gulp of wine she’d taken before Maeva started talking, holding her hand against her mouth and willing herself to stop laughing just so that she could. The kid in front of her was something else.

She was interrupted from replying when a loud cheer ran through the building. Lyndsey caught a glimpse of the third period starters skating around on the ice and saw ’87’ - his face stitched up beneath his eye, his attention elsewhere as Tanger talked into his ear over the noises of the arena. She knew that look of determination on his face as much as the next person and figured that if he could get through the third period just fine, then she would too.

Not that it was easy. But she had enough distractions from the Dupuis kids, as well as Estelle and Scarlett Fluery that time seemed to pass quicker than before. It was a scrappy last ten minutes but they managed to put it away before overtime and before she knew it, the players started trickling in from the dressing room to greet their loved ones.

“He’ll be up in a few - he had media tonight,” Pascal explained, taking a sleeping Lola out of her Mom’s arms, Carol-Lyne smiling gratefully and shaking out her hands. “My big girl now, huh?” He murmured into her hair and Lyndsey turned her attention to Zoe.

“Are you gonna come back to my house?” Lyndsey almost wanted to say yes, with how she was blinking up at her with big brown doe eyes and pouted when she shook her head and Zoe casted her eyes downwards, nodding sadly.

“But I’ll be sure to come and visit next time I’m here,” She promised, which seemed to be enough for the seven year old, who grinned happily and fell into her Dad’s legs with a giggle.

“But Mommy…”

“I know, cherie. But you have to say goodbye now, okay?”

Lyndsey opened her arms for a hug and Maeva nodded, walking over carefully before putting her arms around Lyndsey’s waist, speaking into her stomach. “It was nice to meet you.”

She couldn’t help but pull her tighter. “It was so nice to finally meet you, too. I promise we can play again next time, okay?”

Maeva was happy enough, helping her little sister to pack up their things at Dad’s request. Sidney came through the door just as they were making to leave - Lyndsey’s eyes on him, watching as he scanned the crowd until he saw her, his face breaking out into a smile.

Then a grimace, his hand flying to his face to check the cut wasn’t open.

“I’m, uh…”

Pascal nodded her on, the both of them wishing her safe travels home before she fell into his hug.

“Did you have fun?”

“Are you okay?”

He rolled his eyes, turning his face to the side so that she could examine the wound, even though her brain hadn’t even been in ‘nurse mode’. But she trusted the trainers, and knew they’d only send him to hospital if they thought he really needed it, so she punched him gently in the shoulder, eyes closing a little to glare at his smirk.

“Don’t laugh at me, mister. That’s not all that great to see happen, hockey fan or not.”

His expression sobered and he nodded, leaning forward to kiss her cheek, sliding an arm around her waist. “Alright, I’m sorry. But I’m fine. And hungry, want to get out of here?”



“That’s better,” She heard him sigh, looking past the fridge door to see him in sweats and a t-shirt, bare feet padding across the kitchen floor to stand behind her and put his hands on her hips. After taking another look in the car, she decided that the cut wasn’t as bad as it seemed on the TV’s in the suite and she happily told him that she was on vacation and that if he needed a nurse during the night he was just going to have to look elsewhere. He had rolled his eyes (again) and gave her a pointed look that clearly meant that he’d had worse, and the two of them stopped by Chipotle on the way home to grab a late snack. He’d made her promise not to tell anyone, devouring his burrito in about the same time she had taken two bites of hers. But, that was to be expected from a professional athlete. She had changed when they got home while he was on the phone to his mother, and bit her lip tightly as he bent down to kiss her neck a little before he spun her around.

And glared at her shirt.

“How dare you.”

She snickered, pulling at the Oilers shirt she had stolen from Claire forever ago and crossed her arms defiantly against her chest. “What?”

“Ugh,” He scoffed, leaning around her for a gatorade. “You know what.”

“It could be a Flyers shirt.”

The look her gave her was murderous. She burst out laughing and stepped around him, looking over her shoulder as she crossed her arms and reached for the hem, lifting it slightly. “Well, I would’ve worn it to bed last night, but someone distracted me,” She teased, looking away at the last second, catching him putting the drink back in the fridge and slamming the door before he crowded up behind her.

“Well, you are very distracting.”

His voice had dropped an octave and shot straight down her spine, a low heat pooling in her belly where his hands slid to, his solid chest warm against her back. They didn’t speak for a few moments, the only sounds were his breath behind her and her heart beat pounding in her ears. He turned her on at the best of times but she felt hot all over, leaning her head back to rest on his shoulder when one hand slid slowly up her stomach and then back down, two fingers dipping ever so slightly into the waistband of her Victoria’s Secret leggings.

“Lynds…”

“Yeah.”

When he didn’t respond, she turned her head slightly, looking him in the eye before he bent and caught her lips in a kiss, slow but with intent. Her hands had joined his on her waist, nails biting into his skin slightly as he rocked himself forward, grinding up against her ass at the same time she rolled her hips back.

He pulled away, but her eyes fluttered shut as his hand slid further into her panties, her breath coming out as a gasp when he touched her, taking a deep breath as he nosed into her hair that she’d let down in the car.

They were still standing in the middle of the hallway.

“Sid-” She broke off at one particularly clever dip of his fingers, his hmm in response letting her know he was at least sort of paying attention. He kissed her again when she licked her lips and it took every bit of will power she had to open her eyes and take in the way he was looking at her. Like he was drinking her in, one dance of his eyes across her face at a time. He pressed his other hand low against her stomach and nudged his hips forward again, and that was about all she could stand. “Take me upstairs.”