Weapons of War

"Riley, I have done this before. I've got a moody eighteen year old to prove it. Go, we will be fine." Riley shot Brooke an apprehensive look as she stood behind the couch and Brooke sat on the couch with Noah and Isla.

"But you'll call, if you have any problems or need anything right?" Riley asked her, giving her a look when she chuckled. Riley sighed and tucked her hair back behind her ears, saying, "I'm sorry. It's just the first time being away from her for this long… it's a little scary."

"I know. I wouldn't leave Nolan alone for like the first six months of his life. Trust me, I get it." Brooke assured her, she shifted Isla in her arms and told Riley softly, "But we'll be fine."

"You're sure you don't mind missing tonight's game?" Riley asked her once more, and Brooke let out a chuckle.

She stated, "You've asked me that like ten times since I got here. My answer hasn't changed. Now go before I force you out."

Chuckling Riley nodded her head and she leaned over and kissed Noah's head, telling him, "Love you buddy. Be good, and no waiting up on us okay? You go to bed when Brooke says so."

He sighed but nodded, "'Tay."

So Riley leaned over and glanced at the sleeping Isla for a moment before she said, "Alright I'm going."

"Have fun, and don't worry about me. You and the captain stay out after the game as long as you want." Brooke told her and before Riley could argue Brooke added, "Take the man for dinner, you guys deserve it."

Riley dramatically sighed and stuffed her wallet and phone into the kangaroo pocket of her Preds sweater. She grabbed her keys off of the hook by the door and called out another goodbye before leaving the house for good finally.

She drove as quickly to the arena as the speed limits would allow her, and after a quick stop at the concession for a bottle of water and an individual size bag of doritos Riley found herself quite literally dropping into her seat between Kelly and Quinn.

She hadn't been expecting Quinn to be there, so she asked her, hoping she didn't sound too surprised, "What's this? Quinn leaving the house? Are pigs flying?"

Quinn rolled her eyes but smiled as Kelly and Riley chuckled. She informed Riley, "If you must know, little miss attitude is at home with Jess, and I thought I should show my face around here at some point."

Riley smiled gently and she asked her, "If Jess is here then does that mean you guys are telling people now?"

"Just Jess so far. It's not really something I want to do over the phone if I can avoid it. Taya's coming up closer to the end of the series." Quinn explained. She took in a breath of air and added sadly, "James' family is flying in tomorrow."

Riley reached over and grabbed Quinn's hand, giving it a squeeze. Out of curiosity Riley asked her, "Do they know?"

She shrugged, "His mom knows. He called her the day after I told him. I'm sure she told Peter. But none of his siblings know."

"Well if you guys need anything while they're here just let us know. I know how hectic full houses can be." Riley told her. She had only ever experienced Dave, Shea, herself, Shea's brother and father but even that was hectic. Let alone three sisters, three brothers and a set of parents all in one house.

Quinn smiled, "Thanks Riley."

"And you know, if you need a break from all the people you can always come hang out at Craig and I's house. It's empty... for now." Kelly said with a grin.

"For now? What does that mean?" Bianca asked, leaning over to ask her.

Riley smiled and reached out, taking Easton from Bianca's grasp. She was sure to mind the ear muffs, and keep him covered with the blanket as she said, "I'm having baby withdrawals."

"Get over it, it's a few hours." Kelly stated, making everyone laugh.

Curiously Quinn asked her, "What do you and the captain have planned for after this?"

"I'm more concerned with what Kelly meant." Riley stated, avoiding the question.

Kelly, even better at question avoiding, told her and everyone around them, "I'll spill once you do sister."

Riley groaned, "Fine. I didn't tell Shea I was coming. He has no idea that I'm here."

"Why didn't you tell him?" Bianca asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'd used to do this when he was in juniors. I'd say I had too much studying to do and then I'd come to the game and be waiting for him after the game. I thought maybe I'd surprise him again for old times sake you know?" Riley explained.

Quinn grinned? "That's adorable."

"Do you have any plans for after the game?" Kelly asked with a smirk.

"Maybe." Riley said with a smile. When Quinn and Kelly both gently slapped her legs she laughed and she told them, "I'm taking him out for dinner."

"With dessert?" Quinn asked, wiggling her eyebrows with a grin on her face.

Riley rolled her eyes as Kelly asked, "Oh, you and Shea… back in the saddle tonight?"

"That was Sunday actually." Riley stated, rolling her eyes with a smile when the girls made cat calls and people began to turn and look at them in confusion.

Bianca chuckled and said, "Wow I feel bad. He's older than your baby and Roman and I still haven't… you know."

"I was so totally turned off by sex for months after Noah was born. I think it was like four months before I was comfortable and excited for it again." Riley told her, reaching out to pat her hand sympathetically.

Kelly grinned, "Poor Shea."

"Oh don't feel bad for him. It's his fault we had a nine pound baby. He gets no sympathy." Riley argued with a laugh.

Riley jumped up with Kelly and most of the rest of their crowd when the Preds scored to put themselves ahead going into the third period. When they replayed Shea's goal Riley watched the Jumbotraun intensely with a small smile as they showed Shea and his typical post goal yell.

Quinn grinned and joked, "Yeti cry."

Riley choked on her mouthful of water. She sputtered, swallowed, coughed a few times before she stated, "I am so referring to that from now on."

- - -

With another win in the books Shea found himself a little more exhausted than usual after their game. He couldn't wait to get home; check on Noah, who he knew would be asleep by now, give Isla a kiss and have some grown up alone time with Riley. That was what he was looking forward to while all of his teammates made plans.

"Webs, you coming out for a round?" Shea turned around to find Craig watching him in amusement.

He shrugged, "Yeah, why not."

Every guy in the room turned to look at him in surprise, and when he quirked an eyebrow Craig asked, "Dude, seriously?"

"Don't look so shocked. It's not like I hate you guys." Shea joked, making a few of them laugh, and a few, like Pekka and James, rolled their eyes at him.

"Yeah, but you don't come out with us very often." Colin pointed out.

Shea stated, "Come on, you got a wife like mine at home and you wouldn't go out either."

"That's true." Colin stated, and when Shea jokingly narrowed his eyes at him he gulped visibly and said, "I mean... she's very pretty? Is that better?"

Shea let out a chuckle, but he didn't respond. That was when Craig glanced over at James and asked, "What about you Nealer?"

He shook his head, not surprisingly, and he surprised them by giving them a reason, "Nah. Quinn's sister is in town and my family gets here tomorrow so I'm probably gonna spend all night cleaning and getting rooms ready for people."

Shea glanced over at him, and, with hesitation in his expression and a soft voice he asked, "You need a hand?"

James shook his head, "It's cool. Jess probably has half of it done already."

"Let me know if you change your mind." Shea told him, and he waited until James nodded before he gathered this things. He shoved his phone, wallet and keys into the pockets of his dress pants and followed a group of guys out of the locker room.

He waited around while they all greeted their significant others, before he once again let them lead the way out into the players parking lot. He dug his keys from his pocket and hit the unlock button before he looked up and stopped in his tracks. His brows raised for a moment before they crunched together as he dropped his arms to his sides and he stared at Riley, who was siting on the front bumper of his truck with a small smile on her face.

She waved a little, and said, "Hey there."

Shea glanced over at the group of guys a few feet away and he called out, "Scratch that. I'll see you guys at practice tomorrow."

They grumbled but Shea laughed.

He wrapped his arms around her the moment he was close enough, pulling her up off of the bumper and right off of the ground. Riley let out a small giggle into the crook of his neck as she wrapped her own arms around his shoulders. She lifted her head long enough to press a firm kiss to his cheek before she said, "Well that's a hell of a greeting."

Shea rolled his eyes but he chuckled, turning his head to capture her lips with his. He could feel her smile against his lips, which made him smile in turn before he pulled away and he asked her, "What are you doing here?"

"I got the itch to surprise you." Riley told him with a grin.

Shea smiled, "You haven't done this since... my last year in Kelowna."

Nodding her head slowly Riley put her hand on the side of his face and guided him to her again so that she could kiss him softly once more before Shea finally put her back down on the ground. Once they were apart she assured him, "Brooke is babysitting."

"I guess we should get home so that she can go home too then." Shea stated, and he was surprised when Riley shook her head at him.

She didn't say anything as she got into the passenger side of his truck, so Shea got into the drivers side and started the engine. That was when he turned to her, eyebrow cocked, and Riley informed him, "I'm taking you out for dinner. You're my hot date for the night."

His brow stayed raised as he looked at her sweater and he joked, "You're taking me out in a hoodie?"

She let out a laugh and shook her head, pulling the sweater off to reveal a flowy blouse underneath it. She grinned over at him and said, "I came prepared."

"And if I was planning on going out with the guys?" Shea asked her curiously with a smile.

She informed him, "I knew you'd ditch them the minute you saw me. You're very predictable Webs."

His brow raised again, "Oh we're on nicknames then huh?"

"Maybe."

"It's really not cool that your nickname would be Webs too." He stated, and Riley couldn't help but let a laugh bubble out. He asked her in amusement, "What's so funny?"

"You're just something else you know that?" She asked him with a smile. Riley reached over and grabbed his hand, slipping her fingers between his before she told him, "So, I was thinking."

"I thought I smelled smoke." Shea said with a smile.

She rolled her eyes, "And you say I'm mean to you."

He laughed, "Go on."

"I'm not telling you now." She stated, turning away from him.

He couldn't help but say, "And you say I'm the stubborn one."

Riley let out a laugh, and she turned to face him again before she told him, "I was thinking that maybe, you know... now that we've got the green light... later on we start practising for the new kid."

His brow raised again, "Yeah?"

"Mhmm." Riley said with a nod of her head. She told him, "But just practising. Let's get through the playoffs and craziness before we start really trying."

"I think I like the sound of that." Shea told her honestly. He smiled gently as he added, "It would be nice to have at least one baby that was planned."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "That's your own fault."

"Takes two to tango babe." He told her, and he laughed when she pulled her hand from his, crossed her arms over her chest, and literally pouted. He looked over at her and told her, "God I love you."

"You better." Riley stated, and when Shea nodded she told him, "I mean, it would be pretty dumb to stay with someone for sixteen years if you didn't."

Shea rolled his eyes and told her, "You really know how to ruin a moment."

"Oh, that's what you call a moment?" Riley asked him curiously. He nodded as he stopped at a red light, and the moment he did she leaned over and pressed her lips against his. It took him a moment to react, before he did, and she smiled when his tongue brushed against her bottom lip. A honk from behind them told them the light had gone green and they had overstayed their limit at the intersection so Riley pulled back and smiled when she told him, "That's what I call a moment."

"I think I like your moments better." When he said this she tilted her head back and let out a laugh.

"Of course you would."

Shea pulled into a parking spot by the front of a restaurant they frequented after games years earlier, before they had two kids. They both knew it would be practically empty at this time of night, so there wasn't a huge rush to head inside. So they sat in the car, and Riley leaned close to him, and Shea leaned closer to her, and then he ruined their moment by telling her, "Someone's stomach just growled and I'm pretty sure it wasn't mine."

She let out a laugh, leaned up and kissed him quickly before she told him, "So maybe I had ulterior motives. I didn't have the chance to eat dinner before the game."

As Shea got out of the truck and followed her toward the doors of the restaurant he joked, "Oh, so this whole hot date, my wife is taking me out for dinner was really just a way to feed yourself huh?"

She turned to him as she tucked herself into his side, arm wrapped around him, and she told him with a glint in her eyes and a wide smile, "You know me so well."

"Hey, I'll take a night out with you anyway I can get it." Shea stated honestly, making her laugh as they headed inside and were lead to a table.

Once they were seated, both drinks and meals ordered, Riley looked over at Shea and updated him on their day after he had gone to the rink early that afternoon, "So, Noah got bubbles everywhere in the bathroom today, he emptied an entire bottle of bubble bath into the tub. How he learned to do that, I do not know but surprisingly he had a lot of fun helping me clean it up."

Shea chuckled, "That may be my fault. I can't remember the amount of times I've run you a bath with him around."

Riley narrowed her eyes jokingly at him, and he chuckled again before she continued, "And then we made Dug a birthday cookie for tomorrow."

Shea smiled gently, "And what, baby just slept all day?"

"Hah, dream on. Isla was very fussy all day long. She drove us crazy." Riley informed him.

"Sorry." Shea said, his cheeks flushed.

She assured him, "Don't apologize. She's a baby, that's kind of what they do."

"Yeah, but I wasn't-"

She cut him off quickly, "Stop it. It's fine. I didn't say that to make you feel bad Shea. Babies are fussy and they cry. It's what they do. It's normal. It would have happened whether you were home or not."

He nodded his head slowly, and he glanced around the restaurant for a moment before he turned back to her and he told her, "I'm really glad you came tonight."

"I'm really glad you got not one but two goals tonight, I'd say you're a few hours from a hat trick." Riley told him with a smile.

His brow raised, "Two doesn't equal three Riley."

"Well... it's entirely possible that you might score once more tonight. Your chances are looking good."