Weapons of War

Riley took in a deep breath of air, and held it as she watched the puck slide directly past both Shea and Roman, and with the play back in their end she kept her eyes directly on Pekka, she was unable to look anywhere else. She couldn't remember the last time she had been this nervous watching a hockey game. Maybe Vancouver and Sochi, or maybe as far back as the Memorial Cup championship game in 2004.

Quinn grabbed her hand again and squeezed it but they both kept their eyes on the ice. When there was a scramble in front of the net Riley squeezed her eyes shut and went back to holding her breath until she heard the whistle go, and then she pried one eye open, before she opened the other as well and let out her breath of air in reaction to Pekka stopping the play with a save.

As they were lining up for the next face off Riley said to Quinn, "Okay, I think I might actually throw up."

"You're the one who said it didn't get better than same seven overtime." Quinn reminded her, their eyes following the puck as best as they could from where they were seated.

Riley narrowed her eyes and asked, "Well when did you start listening to me anyway? The hockey fan in me loves this, the hockey wife however? No."

"Mama?" She took her eyes away from the ice for two seconds to look down at Noah, who was peering up at her. He asked her, "Home?"

"Soon buddy." She told him, kissing his head as she looked back out at the ice and she told him, "Game isn't over quite yet."

"'Tay." He said softly, cuddling into her as he looked out at the ice with tired eyes.

Riley rubbed his back softly as they watched the game, Noah not quite understanding why everyone was so on edge and nervous but Riley figured he didn't understand much of anything right now. As she continued to rub his back she muttered out loud, "Would it kill them to play in their own end for a bit?"

"I don't know what's taking a worse beating; my stomach or my heart right now." Quinn stated, and Riley nodded her head in agreement.

Riley let out a breath of relief when the play was finally carried back into Detroit's end, and from there she watched closely as the play went right back to Detroit's end. While the play was pretty even back and forth it seemed as though, to Riley, they were spending an awful lot of time in their own end and that made her nervous.

Glancing down at Noah again Riley leaned down and kissed his head and she looked back up when she heard the goal horn. She knew before she even raised her eyes to the ice who scored; the wives room might have been louder than the crowd as as all the players on the ice jumped off of the bench to celebrate with a sea of navy and gold jerseys.

Riley couldn't help but look at Quinn and ask, "Did that just happen and I fucking missed it?"

Quinn grinned, and then laughed and nodded, "It did, and you did."

So Riley stood up carefully holding Noah to her, and looked down at the ice, before asking, "Who was it?"

"I have no idea!" Quinn stated as everyone watched the replay on the jumbotraun trying to figure out exactly who had scored the winning goal for the Predators. After watching the replay twice they had figured out it was Craig on a pass from James, but all Riley cared about was Shea.

As everyone in the wives room congratulated each other and watched in pride as each player got their turn with the cup Riley looked down at Isla, who was somehow still asleep in her carrier, and over at Noah, who was awake but curled up against her ready to fall asleep again. Jess, as if sensing that, leaned over and told Riley, "I'll watch them for a few minutes so that you can get some alone time in with Shea."

She looked over and asked, "Are you sure?"

Jess nodded and reached out, taking Noah from Riley's grasp and settling the tired toddler on her hip. Riley picked up the baby carrier but she was adamant that she was carrying it down to the family area at the very least. So Quinn held her other hand tightly as they walked, and she asked Riley, "What are you even gonna say to him?"

"I told you so?" Riley asked with a grin, and they both laughed. In reality Riley had no idea what she was going to say to Shea the minute she saw him, she figured she would just wing it and whatever came out of her mouth would probably at the very least be memorable.

She was already emotionally charged, and she wasn't sure if she was going to cry the minute she saw him or yell at him for putting her through that overtime. Probably both, and Shea would probably laugh and tell her he wasn't sorry. He was incredibly predictable. Or maybe he wasn't, maybe it was just that after all these years together she knew him better than he knew himself.

Quinn wrapped her arm around Riley's shoulder as they waited for the go ahead to go see their men, and Riley leaned into her as Quinn said, "This has been such a crazy year."

"A really long, really difficult year but this makes it all worth it." Riley stated, and Quinn nodded her head slowly in agreement. They found Kelly waiting a few feet ahead of them, so they squeezed their way through the crowd assembling outside of the gate and Riley immediately reached over and hugged her the minute they were close enough, and she asked, "What, Craig just had to show off in overtime instead of in the third?"

Kelly grinned at her, "You know how he is."

"I swear I'm gonna flick him so hard in the nose when I see him... and then hug him." Riley stated with a laugh, and Kelly and Quinn both chuckled at her comment.

"He will appreciate that." Kelly told her, and they all looked out at their men, before Kelly looked over at Riley and asked her, "So Mrs. Captain, how does it feel?"

"Pretty great but I'm sure it will be even better in about two minutes. This is torture, I just need to get my hands on him, you know, hug him, tell him I love him, ask him if he needs to get his eyes checked for letting the puck go past him like that earlier." Riley stated, making her company laugh.

Quinn told her, "It's really good to know that you're the same way with him no matter what happen; win or lose you still bug him about bad plays."

"I mean... he knows how proud I am of everything that he's done in his life, how proud I am of him daily, and he knows I love him with everything that I have so it's important for me to tell him when he played like shit, or did something stupid... just in case he get's too used to me being nice and loving." Riley said with a wide grin as she looked out onto the ice, scanning each of the gold jersey's for the number six.

When she found him, with his back to her, Riley simply watched him. He turned his head sideways just enough that she could see his profile, and the big, wide smile, dimples included on his face and Riley couldn't help it, her lips turned up into a smile and her eyes filled with tears. Quinn saw it and joked, "Water works already."

Riley rolled her eyes but she didn't take them off of Shea as she said, "Oh hush, this has been a decade and a half in the making. So I'm a little weepy and emotional, sue me."

"Hey, I'll probably cry the minute I see James too." Quinn told her, and Kelly nodded her head in agreement that it was likely she too would cry when she saw Craig.

There was a tap on Riley's shoulder and she turned to find Bianca, Brooke and Nolan now standing next to them. Riley hugged both the women, and she reached out and messed up Nolan's hair, and when he went to fix it she asked him, "You excited to get out there?"

He nodded, then shrugged, and told her, his cheeks pinked, "Yeah."

Riley smiled gently at him, and she looked for Jess, thankful to find her close enough to them that she could reached out and smooth out Noah's hair, and lean over to kiss him softly as the gates opened. Taya took the baby carrier, and Quinn held Riley's hand as they walked out to finally see their guys.

Riley watched as Roman was far too wrapped up with Easton and Spencer to even kiss Bianca's cheek and she almost laughed at that. She looked over to find Pekka goofing off with Nolan, and Brooke watching them both with a proud smile, and then Riley looked over at James and Quinn. He was bent down, arms around her waist, her own around his neck, and they were speaking though Riley couldn't hear what about, and she didn't want to know either.

The backs of her jean clad legs were sprayed with ice, and she jumped and whipped around when she felt arms wrap around her from behind. She reached up and hit Shea's padded shoulder and said, "Don't do that shit to me, I almost had a heart attack."

Shea grinned down at her, "Sorry."

He laughed loudly when she stood as best as she could on her tip toes, wrapped her arms tightly as she could around his neck and as he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up off of the ground Riley told him, "Oh my god, I'm so proud of you."

Shea pulled away just enough that he could see her and he leaned over, kissing her softly. When they pulled apart he set her back down on her feet and he told her, "Sorry we made you go through overtime."

"You better be Mr. I mean... the hockey fan in me loved it, but... the hockey wife? Oh no, nope. She hated it and thought it was very rude of you." Riley told him with a wide grin, and Shea laughed when her eyes filled with tears.

She reached out and hit his shoulder again as he said, "How is it that I just won the biggest game of my entire career and you're more of a mess than I am?"

She didn't answer him, instead she grabbed a fist full of the front of his jersey and pulled him down to her level to kiss him again. She then waved at Jess, who carefully brought Noah and Isla out to them, and Shea instantly knelt down on the ice as Noah reached for him. Riley watched with pride as they hugged each other tightly, and then when they parted Shea ruffled Noah's hair and Noah looked up at him and asked, "Win?"

Shea grinned, "Yeah buddy we won."

Noah smiled and he looked at Isla, who Riley was now holding securely in her arms, and he asked Shea, "Again?"

Shea laughed, Riley reached out and smoothed out Noah's hair, and Shea told him, "Seasons over now, but we're gonna have a good summer."

"You think?" Riley asked him with a grin.

He nodded and straightened up, reaching out to smooth his hand over Isla's stomach before he told Riley, "Oh yeah. The cup, another baby, a family trip, maybe we'll go to Disney World or something."

Noah let out a yell of triumph and Riley simply looked over at Shea with a raised brow, "Another baby huh?"

He nodded his head, "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you; Noah and I voted and you lost, we're having a baby next season so that he can get a brother."

She looked down at Noah and asked, "Did you vote against me?"

He nodded his head vigorously and Shea grinned at Riley, telling her, "See, it's been decided."

Riley leaned down enough to set Isla in her carrier at their feet and then she leaned up and kissed Shea softly again. He placed both of his large hands on the sides of her face and Riley rested her hands on his padded forearms as she leaned into him, smiling against his lips. When they pulled apart she smiled up at him, "Hey Shea?

"Hmm?" He asked her, smiling as he leaned down, wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up off of the ground again.

Riley grinned at him and he laughed loudly when she told him, "I guess you can retire now."