Seven Year Ache

The season was officially over, their playoff run ended sooner than desired when they were knocked out in the first round by the Blackhawks, the locker room had been cleared out and a handful of guys who hadn’t gone home yet were in the backyard of Shea and Riley’s house to start the official off season. Shea had surgery on his knee, successfully, and was now focusing on getting recovery, nice and slow as he had promised Riley, but getting back on the ice for next season was still on his mind and driving him going forward. Meanwhile the rest of the guys around them were focusing on a relaxing summer before they had to focus on the next season, enjoying their time with their families and some down time.

Shea and Riley had decided to stay in Nashville for the summer, planning a few visits back to see his dad and brother, and Shea had a surprise trip to Catalina Island for just the two of them. They had planned to go the year before, but ultimately chose to stay in Kelowna for the whole summer, so Shea figured now was the best time to do so. They deserved a good week away from everyone to just hang out and relax, especially Riley and especially now. They had chosen not to tell anyone about their pregnancy news until closer to the start of the next season, after all after a doctors appointment confirmed to them that Riley was barely two months pregnant. It was still a shock to them, and they wanted to wait to tell everyone, aside from Shea's brother and father, until after they got used to the idea themselves. It had taken Riley a lot longer than Shea to come around to the idea of being parents, and having a baby in a few short months; Shea had been open to the idea since well before they got pregnant, and was looking forward to bringing a baby into their lives in October despite it being right at the start of a new season. Riley however was still unsure about it, sure she was happy and Shea was happy and it wasn't that she didn't want this baby because she did, but she would be lying if she said she wasn't terrified of what was to come. It was hard enough to have a baby and become parents, let alone when you were doing it with no family around, and when your significant other was out of town every few days. But she knew that Shea was right; they would be just fine. If not there was a room full of players and their girlfriends and wives to help out if needed.

The only thing that calmed her when she allowed herself to get sucked into the what ifs was Shea. He was so excited, she knew he tried to hide it because he knew she was still a little gun shy about it all, but he wasn't so good at that. He was already reading baby books, and Riley noted that he got that look in his eyes whenever they talked about the baby; the same look he got when he talked about hockey. His excitement, and his confidence in them, and the way he was so calm and ready for this kept her sane when she started to feel otherwise. They were in a good place; finally.
 
Riley walked out of the house with Quinn, Brooke and Kelly, carrying refills of everyone’s drinks, which made Pekka exclaim, “Thank God, took you long enough.”
 
Brooke reached out and smacked his head as she handed him a beer bottle and sat down beside him, the rest of the guys stifling their laughter. Riley sat on the arm rest of the chair Shea was sitting on, handed him a bottle of water, but not before cracking it open and taking a drink herself. He made a point to dramatically roll his eyes to that, and she waited until he was taking a drink to reach out and hit the bottom of the bottle, causing it to slip past his lips and spill water all over him. He coughed a few times, wiped his face with his forearm and while the rest of their teammates, who had missed Riley’s ‘slip’ of her hand, turned to him in confusion.
 
“What that really necessary?” He asked her, looking up at her.
 
She shrugged and smiled, fluffed up his hair and said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re the clumsy one not me.”
 
He made a face, nudged her so that she fell off the side of the chair, right over the arm of the patio couch beside them that Quinn and James were sitting on. Quinn let out a chuckle, and pushed her back up so that Riley's back was leaning against her shoulder. Riley puffed enough air out of her mouth to blow her hair from her face as Shea asked, “Who’s the clumsy one?”
 
“I’m not the one who ran into someone and dislocated my kneecap…. So I’d say that title still belongs to you.” She stated, using the back of Quinn and James’ love seat to pull herself up to a standing position.
 
As everyone laughed at the two of them James looked over at Shea and asked, “It sucks when you’re dating someone who’s a little annoying huh?”
 
Shea nodded his head, looked at Riley and said, “Yeah, but two can play that game.”
 
She shrugged, sat down beside him and told him, “Ooh, I’m so scared of hop-along Weber.”
 
Pekka choked on his beer, and while he was struggling not to do the same Craig reached out and gave his back a good pat. Roman simply watched Shea and Riley, shaking his head in amusement as the two shot each other looks. Glancing between Shea and Riley Pekka asked them curiously, “So… it’s safe to assume things are all good here now… yes?”
 
Shea shrugged, “I might just send her packing if she doesn’t calm the attitude.”
 
Riley grinned at him and said, “But then who would help you up and down the stairs to make sure you didn’t fall gramps?”
 
He shot her a look before glancing at Pekka, who held his hands up in a surrender fashion and said, “Dude don’t look at me I’m not fucking with Riley right now.”
 
Shea let out a loud sigh that everyone laughed at, and Riley reached out, rubbed his thigh and then told Pekka, “The answer would be yes, all is good here now.”
 
“Man am I glad to hear that.” Pekka stated, raising his beer bottle up as a sort of toast, and both Riley and Shea rolled their eyes as everyone else did the same.
 
“Actually, if I’m being honest I think I learned a very important thing out of all of this.” Riley stated, causing everyone, Shea included to turn and look at her in curiosity. She grinned as she looked at Shea and said, “That somebody needs to learn to be a boyfriend first.”
 
As a round of ‘oohs’ went around the backyard Shea retorted back with, “And somebody needs to get a life.”
 
“Alright back to your corners.” Pekka stated as everyone laughed.
 
- - -
 
Hours later, long after the sun had gone down and everyone went home Riley was loading plates and glasses into the dishwasher and Shea was doing something outside that she wasn’t sure about. Dug was laying in his bed by the patio doors, he looked up only long enough for Riley to give him a treat before he laid his head back down and gnawed on the bone. She gave him a quick pet behind the ears before she wiped down the counter tops, turned the dishwasher on and turned to survey the living room, which was where everyone had ended up when it started to rain outside.
 
She heard Shea call from outside, “Ry can you come out here for a second?”
 
She pushed away from the counter and opened the door, stepping outside before she looked at him in confusion. He was standing at the bottom of the deck in the grass, soaked to the bone. She looked up, finding it was still raining and said, “It’s raining I am so not coming past the roof of this house.”
 
Shea grinned and asked, “Where’d your sense of adventure go?”
 
She rolled her eyes and informed him, “It prefers not to get sick from standing around in the rain like an idiot.”
 
“Just get over here, it’ll only take a second.” He informed her impatiently, and she made a point to let out a loud and dramatic sigh before she closed the door behind her and stepped out onto the deck. She was soaked by the time she got to the steps, where she stood until Shea grabbed her hands and carefully pulled her own the three steps to him.
 
“This is more than a second.” She stated, purposely trying to be a smart ass.
 
“I have to ask you something important.” Shea told her with a soft smile.
 
She raised her eyebrow, “And you couldn’t have asked me in the house where it’s warm and dry?”
 
“Nah, I wanted a good story to go along with this.” He told her, and when she raised her eyebrow again Shea put his hand into the pocket of his shorts and dropped to one knee. She stared at him in shock, watching him pull a ring from his pocket, different from the one he had picked out the season before. It was still a single stone ring, still silver, but this time there were little diamonds circling the stone, and going down the sides of the band. He looked up at her through the rain and smiled, telling her, “I want to start over, so I got a new ring and I was hoping you might do me a favor.”

“What’s that?” She asked him in amusement.

“Riley Monroe Peterson will you let me spend the rest of my life with you?” He asked her with a smile, watching as she pushed her lips to one side and leaned a hand on her hip.

“Mmm… can I think about it?” She asked him with a serious face, and when she saw his face drop and his eyes drift away from her Riley grabbed the sides of his face with her hands, pulled his eyes back to hers and leaned down, kissing him square on the mouth.