Home.

In a convention center filled with hundreds of pediatric specialists, doctors, PA's, and researchers Mollie Holden stood petrified waiting for her turn at the podium at the center stage.

It was a short speech, honestly 10 minutes tops, a simple overview of her first year in her own practice. It was meant to be casual, a breeze to most, but Mollie detested conferences and never thought she would wind up speaking at one.

Yet here she was.

It was mandatory, the speech, all ten of her Johns Hopkins residency classmates were speaking throughout the weekend and Mollie was unfortunately leading off.

And it wasn't that she hated public speaking, it was just that she couldn't control how red her face got, or how she stuttered, or how sweaty her hands and feet got.

Okay, so maybe she did hate it.

But here she was, and the emcee was calling her name, and she was just praying to God on repeat that she wouldn't trip in her heels as she walked across the stage.

Leaning down on the podium Mollie took a deep, shaky breath, her knuckles blanching as she held on tightly. Exhaling she mentally focused on the note cards in front of her, she could totally do this.When she looked up and 200+ sets of eyes locked on her, Mollie no longer felt the same way.

Powering on despite her fear she smiled as big as she could at the crowd, adjusted the microphone, and introduced herself. "Hello everyone, my name is Dr. Mollie Holden and I practice general pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Children's clinic. I am a 2015 Harriet Lane Pediatrics Residency scholar, and a 2013 University of Pittsburgh school of medicine graduate."

Mollie's hands were shaking as she flipped onto another notecard full of talking points, after she got through her introduction and finally got into talking about medicine she felt herself settle in.

That was until she took a deeper look into the crowd.

When her eyes locked in on his Mollie's brain suddenly stopped functioning.

A convention center in downtown Atlanta, Georgia was the absolute last place Mollie thought she would ever see Jonah Halstead.

But there he was.

His facial hair was thicker now, his hair a tad longer, but all in all the last year hadn't changed him much. There he was and he knew she had seen him.

Jonah smiled at her, his signature grin big and dopey as if he was trying to encourage her to keep going. In order to do so and regain focus on the reason she was even speaking Mollie quickly looked away, cleared her throat, and looked back down at her notecards.

Five minutes later Mollie rushed off the stage, rounded the corner backstage in a flash, and grabbed a bottle of water off the Kraft Services stable. She ripped the lid off and chugged half of the bottle as she leaned against the wall.

Her nervous system was shot and she wasn't confident whether she wanted to vomit or pass out. Or both, both was also an option.

She closed her eyes trying to will it all away but the only thing she could think about was him, all she saw was him. And in all honestly Mollie thought she would never see, him, Dr. Jonah Halstead ever again.

Their lives were in separate cities now, he was in Chicago, she was settled back in Pittsburgh. She had gone back to her old life and Jonah had gone off to a new one. This 48 hour trip to Atlanta, Georgia was not supposed to bring her down memory lane.

She was wrong.

Knowing she couldn't hide from him forever Mollie regained her composure, straightened her skirt, tossed her water bottle into the trash and began walking back towards the main room. It didn't take her long to spot him, but she wasn't quite ready to face the music so when she heard her name being called in the opposite direction of where Jonah was standing Mollie was relieved.

She quickly fell into a conversation with an old U-Pitt classmate, one who had gone off to residency in California. It was great catching up and comparing horror stories of their first few years as MD's but eventually the girl went off to listen to a lecture about cleft palates leaving Mollie to fend for herself once more.

As she strolled the aisles of booths promoting medications, classes on the latest techniques, and opportunities to continue her education or jet off to a foreign land for Doctor's Without Borders Mollie found peace. Medicine would always calm her down, it was her safe place to land, and would always be there even if Sidney, or any man for that matter, wasn't.

Lost in a pamphlet on the latest in pediatric influenza rates and treatment options Mollie felt a small tap on her shoulder. She had almost forgotten Jonah even existed until she turned her head and was met with his dark eyes.

Her mouth dropped open as she turned her whole body towards him this time, his lips turned up into a smile once he got a full look at her. They stood there staring at one another like idiots for a moment before Mollie finally found her words. "Hi. How, um, how are you?"

"I'm good, pretty good. Chicago is cold."

Mollie smiled stepping away from the booth letting others in, "Well of course, the Lake effect."

"How are you is the big question? Still not a big fan of public speaking I see."

Mollie blushed thinking back to the last time he saw her speak in front of a crowd of no larger than 50 people. It was a Mortality and Morbidity conference at Hopkins, well into her second year and Mollie wasn't even sure how she had gotten chosen to present. She wasn't even a big part of the case, but she did it and she only had to choke back her vomit twice.

Jonah had laughed at her, kissed her sweaty cheek after she got off stage, and took her out for French Fries that night to make her feel better. "Absolutely not, I'll never be a fan. But to answer the question, I'm well. Things are back to normal, hectic but normal."

Jonah nodded running his fingers through his hair, "I expect nothing less from you, Holden. You are the queen of hectic."

"I operate my best at a fast pace, only a select few can keep up."

"Trust me, I know." Jonah took a peek down at his watch, "This room is about to close, any chance you'd want to grab a drink before dinner?"

Mollie sucked in her lips, getting a drink with her "ex" was so not on her list of things to see or do while in Atlanta but she couldn't say no to that face. "Yeah sure, why not."

---

Beads of sweat dripped down the sides of Mollie's Gin and Tonic as the ice cubes inside her drink melted in the hot Georgia air. This was not her typical spring weather and quite frankly Mollie, like her ice cubes, was melting. But when Jonah had grabbed a table outside after having spent the entire day trapped in a conference room Mollie couldn't object to getting some fresh air.

Now they sat staring at one another sitting at a small metal patio table both unsure of what to say. Mollie swirled the tiny black straw around in her drink waiting on Jonah to ask her something, anything. When he finally did speak up she wasn't expecting him to bring up Sid.

"So, how is Sidney?" He questioned, so casually as if Mollie should have expected him to ask about her love life.

Coughing up the Gin and Tonic that had gone down the wrong pipe Mollie covered her mouth, "He's, well he's fine? Do you, how did you, you know?" she stuttered trying to get out her words.

"Mols, it's fine, every hockey fan knows you're back together. It's big news when the league's poster child gets his girlfriend back." Jonah's soft smile was sincere and Mollie wanted to sink into the hot metal chair.

"Yeah, I uhh, I guess so." Picking up her glass Mollie swallowed a large gulp of her beverage hoping the Gin would take out the awkwardness she was exuding.

"I'm happy for you, really, both of you even if he is a Pen. So, things are good?"

"Yeah, things are, well, it's new. New-ish? The whole getting used to dating in the public eye thing again sucks, but I just moved into his house. So that's a big step."

She grinned at him as she spoke and Jonah could tell that something about her was different, this wasn't the girl he had met in Baltimore. That girl had had her heart ripped out and stomped on, this girl in front of him was in love.

Jonah picked up his glass of dark ale taking a sip before speaking, "Congratulations, that is a really big step."

"It is, but it feels right. We were heading that way before the separation, my lease was up so we felt like it was time. Oh, and we're also getting a dog after the season is over."

"Whoa, you're full of big moves! What kind?" Jonah an avid dog lover and owner of a very spoiled Australian Sheppard perked up a the word dog.

Mollie quickly pulled out her phone to show the photo of their two week old Labradoodle, "Sid's a sucker for Labs, his name is Tucker. We can pick him up in 6 weeks."

"He's cute. Speaking of hockey season, shouldn't you be in New York? Your Pens have a game tomorrow."

Mollie smiled, hockey had always been a tough topic to discuss with Jonah considering his allegiance to the Philadelphia Flyers was his fatal flaw. "I have an early flight up tomorrow, I should make it in time for puck drop."

"Ah, figured the Captain's lady doesn't get to miss many games, especially not during the playoffs."

Mollie shrugged her shoulders, Sidney didn't own her so why did everyone think that she had to spend all of her time at his games? "I'm there when I can be, I leave if I want to. I know my place, and it isn't being stuck in a box every night, not anymore."

Jonah hummed, "Wow. I'm proud of you, Mollie. Do me a favor though, don't let him take that from you?"

"Take what?" With a quirked eyebrow Mollie questioned him shaking the lingering ice cubes in her now empty glass.

"Your job, your life, you yourself, that mindset." She looked at him like he was crazy but Jonah continued, "Mollie you're going to marry him, we both know that. Just please don't lose yourself in him."

Mollie leaned forward and gave him a smile wrapping one of her small hands around his balled up fist, "Thank you, Jo. And I won't, not again. He isn't the sun , I am, right?"

Jonah laughed at her pathetic Grey's Anatomy reference and gave her hand a quick squeeze before pulling away. "Right, never forget that Holden. And don't lose the Holden either, I think you're Dad may have an aneurysm if you do."

"I think I'll hyphenate. Well, maybe I should get him propose first." She blushed just thinking about being engaged, after hearing Sidney tell his father he wanted to marry her Mollie was sure it would happen sooner rather than later. But then again life with Sid had been rather unpredictable lately so she would just have to continue to live on the edge of her seat.

Jonah smiled at her noticing the redness in her cheeks, "It'll happen, you were always going to end up together in the end."

Mollie smile shrank as she stared down at her glass her voice low, "Life sure had a harsh way of showing it."

"I'm pretty glad that it did, I would have never met you if that all hadn't of happened." Flicking her eyes back up Mollie was met with Jonah's flashy grin and she couldn't help but smile again herself. Jonah had been her best friend in Baltimore and even if their relationship had been mediocre at best it had been some of the best nine months of her life. He always knew how to make her smile, get her to laugh, and to never take anyone or situation too seriously.

Giving some humor back to him Mollie continued, "No we would have met, you just would have had to of admired me from afar, been a secret admirer and all."

Jonah chuckled, if anyone had been the "secret admirer" between the two of them it was Mollie. She spent weeks helping on his service and pulled extra shifts in the ER hoping to catch a chance to just talk to the trauma doc. But that was all water under the bridge now, "I'll always admire you, Molls you're one of the strongest women I know."

"Thank you, that means a lot. We sure have been through a lot together."

"We have, but I wouldn't change a thing."

Looking behind Jonah's head Mollie watched the sun sinking into the Atlanta skyline, she smiled as she felt at ease having some final closure with the man who had given her a new lease on life when she had needed it most. "Me either, not for anything."

"Not even a lifetime supply of French Fries?"

Mollie chuckled to herself as he recalled her favorite food, "Not a chance."

---

That next night Mollie sat alone inside Madison Square Garden. None of the other Penguin's wives or girlfriends had made the trip to New York considering it was only Game 5, but there she was. She toyed with the hem of her Crosby jersey waiting for the game to begin. She was tired, exhausted actually, but the thought of seeing Sidney and his men win this series kept Mollie awake and functioning.

That and the copious amounts of coffee she had been drinking.

Her flight from Atlanta had left at noon but having not fallen asleep until 3 am she was spent both mentally and physically. She had spent the better part of the prior night laying in her cold, hard hotel bed staring at the ceiling, thinking. Thinking about how just a few days ago she hadn't thought about Jonah Halstead in months, almost a year and now they had spent half of a day together.

After their hard-hitting conversation the two reunited at the host hotel of the conference they were attending and had dinner with a few other Hopkins alums. Afterwards they strolled the city until the early hours of the morning just catching up, talking about medicine, their practices, Jonah's family, his dog, everything but Sidney.

For 12 hours Jonah had been back in her life and it was nice to feel his friendship again and hear his laugh. But the closure she had gotten, the closure Mollie hadn't even known she had needed meant so much more than those hours. That chapter of her life was now sealed, and in some roundabout way she had Jonah's blessing to be with Sidney and it felt wonderful.

Things were falling into place.

Now, all she needed was for the Penguins to win this game so she could go home with a happy boyfriend and not a devastated one.

The win came, it was hard fought but it came.

The Rangers put up one Hell of a fight, much more than Sidney and his teammates expected them to. But in in the end the Pens were victorious and they could all breathe a sigh of relief and move onto the next round.

Waiting for Sidney in foreign arenas was never something Mollie enjoyed.

In fact she was never one to fly out to watch away games at all.

While most of the girls jetted off to watch games in sunny states like California and Florida Mollie had always stayed in Pittsburgh. Mostly due to school but also because she didn't care that much, sure she loved hockey and all but watching all 82 games wasn't something she felt the need to do.

Even more so now that she had her own job, her own life outside the arena.

After spending all day at the office or running back and forth to the hospital the last thing Mollie wanted to do was spend her night sitting in a hard plastic chair. And Sidney understood that, most of the time. He wanted her there, he really did, but he knew that begging her to spend all of her free time watching his games was wrong.

So he didn't, well at least not all the time, and he let her do as she pleased. It meant more to him for her to want to be there on her own anyway.

Which is what brought her to Manhattan in the first place, it was her decision and the Captain had no clue she was even in the state of New York. In fact, he still thought she was deep in the heart of Georgia.

Exhausted but electric from the win and the thought of seeing Sidney, Mollie waited patiently in the visitor's hallway. She clicked the home button of her iPhone frequently waiting for a text from Marc-Andre that they were heading for the bus. It felt like hours before the message finally came through.

Mollie perked up as the door to the locker room finally began to swing open letting out a heard of Penguins in suits. Each of the men smiled at her as they walked by knowing their Captain had something else to smile about.

Laser focused on getting to the bus and catching some sleep on the way to the airport Sidney was walking at a fast pace down the hallway. Behind him Kris and Marc-Andre waved at Mollie who giggled at the fact that Sid was two feet away from walking right by her. He took one step too far and out of the corner of his eye Sidney saw a flash of white and gold and caught a whiff of Mollie's signature Marc Jacob's perfume.

His shoes came to screeching halt and Mollie smiled as Kris plowed into Sidney's back at his sudden stop. "Your brake lights are out, man."

Chuckling Marc-Andre pulled his fellow Frenchman off of their Captain as Sidney turned and put all the pieces together. There she was, he wasn't going crazy.

Mollie crossed her arms over her chest as Sidney took two giant steps back towards her, the grin on his face was huge as he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Thought you could use a surprise, Captain."

Wrapping his arms around her waist Sidney pulled her into a bone crushing hug, it had only been three days but he had missed her so much that it was slightly pathetic. His chin dug into her head as he held her tight to his chest but Mollie couldn't complain. "You are the best damn surprise I could have ever asked for."

Mollie smiled into his suit jacket her cheeks warming at his words. A squeal escaped her upturned lips as Sidney's grip tightened on her hips lifting her up off the ground, "Sid! Put me down, what are you doing??"

At a level height thanks to his boost Sidney kissed her quiet her squeals replaced with a low moan caught in Mollie's throat. Her legs wrapped around his waist, arms tightly linked around his shoulders. When they separated Mollie threw her head back laughing, "What has gotten into you, Sidney Patrick?"

"You babe, it's all you."

Mollie quirked her head to the side, "Me? What have I done?"

Serious as ever Sidney told her, "I got my girl back and my game, Mol I haven't played this well in years. All I needed was you, babe."

Mollie wanted to roll her eyes but instead they stung with new tears threatening to spill over the edge of her green orbs. She tried to blink them back, keep them at bay by sucking in her lips as tight as she could but all of her ploys failed. Streams of salty water ran down her cheeks as Mollie tucked her face into the crook of Sidney's neck embarrassed of her tears and overwhelmed with his words.

He tried to pull her back, to get a good look at her, to wipe away her tears but Mollie smashed her face in farther.

Mumbling a slightly incoherent "SIDDDDD", he chuckled slowly letting her down to the floor. Flat footed Mollie finally looked up into Sidney's dark eyes as his hands cradled the sides of her face, "I love you, Mollie."

"I know." She smiled at him her cheeks rising as much as they could under his palms, "And I'm damn glad because I am head over heels in love with you, Crosby."

Their next kiss was quick, lips barely touching when a voice coming down the hallway had them jolting apart. "Get to bus, Sid! We wait for you long enough!"

Geno.

Mollie shook her head as Sidney backed away from her and the Russian saw her small body that had been hidden by Sidney's own frame. She gave him a wave as her cheeks flamed, "Hi Geno, go ahead and take him."

"Ahh, Mollie! I didn't know you here?"

Sidney threw an arm around her shoulder walking them both down the hallway, "Neither did I bud. You flying home with us, Mols?"

She shook her head, there was no way she would fly home with 30 excited, overgrown man-children. "Absolutely not, my red-eye leaves in 2 hours. I checked my bags in when I got here from Atlanta."

"But we are fun, Mollie." Geno protested to which Mollie continued to shake her head.

"You boys go have fun. I'll see you at home, Captain."

Sidney hugged her tight, pressed a kiss to the crown of her head and to her lips quickly not wanting to make his team wait too much longer. Although he already knew he was already in for the chirping of a lifetime. "See you at home, babe."

Home, their home.

That thought still made Mollie's stomach flutter, this was all so new to her but God she was loving it. A life with Sidney was always where she was meant to be and this weekend had shown her once and for all he was her past, present, and future.