Home.

Between the months of April to June there are few low-key, relaxing nights in professional hockey playing households.

If you were lucky, you were still playing for a chance at the Cup.

And if you weren't so lucky you were packing up everything you own and going back to your native country to relax, recharge, and get your mind right for a chance to do it all again in four months.

Or maybe you're representing said home country at Worlds, if you were lucky enough to make it out of the grueling regular season uninjured and asked to join the team.

Either way you spin it by late Spring or early Summer hockey households are bustling most nights, and the home of the Pittsburgh Penguin's captain was no exception.

Sidney Crosby, for the first time in a few summers was doing the best option of the three. Just trying to stay focused on the task at hand, trying his hardest to bring the Stanley Cup back to Pittsburgh for the first time in seven years.

However, he was also trying to enjoy having the love of his life back in his arms for the first time in two years. It was a struggle sometimes to find the balance, everyone knew the Captain had a system. He liked order, he was uberly superstitious, but he would be damned if he let Mollie slip through the cracks again.

Mollie was never a distraction, not in his eyes. If anything she kept his mind right, she kept him calm, and Sidney knew that Mollie was the missing link he had needed in seasons past. She was everything to him even if the media thought differently.

Tonight the two sat curled up on the large sofa in the theatre room of his Sewickley, Pennsylvania mansion. Just the two of them, dim lightings, and some takeout on its way from a deli a handful of miles down the street.

There was no hockey on the TV, no talk of anything to do with the sport, just the two of them keeping things low profile as the Penguins were set to play in round three, the Conference finals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs next week. The series against Washington had been a battle, a blood bath as usual and Sidney was tired, Mollie could tell. He wouldn’t say anything but the playoffs were tough on his mind and body.

Going into Tampa Bay next week was going to nothing short of a war either so this weekend was his one chance at recharging his batteries. Sidney could think of no better way to do so than lounging around with Mollie and forgetting the world for a day or two.

While his profession allowed for such, just forgetting hockey even existed, and shutting off his phone for hours at a time, Mollie's did not.

The medical field stopped for no one, and Sidney admired Mollie's commitment to taking care of other at all hours of the day and night even if it took her away from him sometimes. As her phone rang from its perch on the arm of their shared theatre chair Mollie groaned but picked up the iPhone anyway. "Sorry, babe."

Sid let her up pulling his arm from around her shoulders as Mollie stood from the couch pressing the cellphone between her ear and her shoulder, "This is Dr. Mollie Holden?"

Walking out of the theatre Mollie headed down the dimly lit hallway as information poured out of the pathology resident on the other end of the line. "He is my patient, but I'm not on call tonight."

"Oh sorry to bother you doctor, we have you on the schedule. Do you know who I should call?" The lab worker asked.

Mollie hummed, thinking as she walked towards Sidney's office, "I'll call my resident myself, if you would go ahead and give me the values, please."

"That would be great, are you ready doctor?"

"Yeah, well let me just find a pen," Mollie told him as she sat down in the large office chair with a yellow legal pad in front of her. She tugged hard on the long top drawer of Sidney's desk once she found a pen she ripped the cap off with her teeth, "Okay sorry, go ahead."

She listened to the man as he spoke jotting down the lab numbers and information she'd need when she talked to the resident on call for the evening. Nothing was truly of emergent status but she'd let the younger doctor know anyway.

After thanking the man she went to place the pen back in the drawer, and that's when she saw it.

The faded blue architecture papers were right in front of her eyes, her mouth hung open as she stared at the plans to the dream house she and Sid had designed so long ago. Mollie reached for the corner of the folded papers and pulled them free of the musty drawer, she then closed the drawer and leaned in closer to examine them.

Unfolding the plans she smiled at the vast two story design with her signature in the bottom right next to Sidney's and the architect they'd worked with. In her eyes the house was still perfect, and in her mind Mollie could see exactly what it would have looked like if it had been built as planned.

There was her office with a window seat that overlooked the backyard with a pool, Sid's man cave, bar and entertaining area in the basement. The master bedroom that dreams were made of and the in-suite bathroom and walk-in closet Mollie could have lived in alone. And of all things there were the 4 guest rooms, 2 of which Mollie had dreamed of turning into nurseries at some point.

It was a lovely plan, but unfortunately that's all it had ever amounted to.

After their abrupt split the plans were tossed to the wayside as Sid had no desire to build Mollie's dream house and live in it without her. So she figured that after almost 3 years they would have been used to start a fire by now.

But life had a funny way of working itself out, and maybe Mollie thought, just maybe they could use those plans someday sooner rather than later.

Folding the plans back up Mollie tugged the drawer back open with a lot more force than necessary sending the items inside flying forward. Looking down her eyes sifted through the mess of paper clips, pens, and various other junk when she stumbled upon a small black velvet box.

Before her brain could stop her she reached out for the box, fumbling the square in her hand with her thumb tracing over the little gold latch that was holding it shut.

Mollie knew that she shouldn’t open it, but a large part of her had to know if it was what she thought it was.

Taking a deep breath in she popped the golden latch with her thumb and pried the box open. Her heart nearly stopped beating when she saw what was standing upright between the white satin folds.

Inside with the elaborate diamond in full view was a simple gold band with a large single solitaire stone.

It was incredibly beautiful.

Mollie's hands began to shake as she turned the box side to side admiring the ring, the diamond shining in the light of the room.

The longer she admired the ring the wheels in her head began to turn.

How long had Sidney had it?

And was it even meant for her? It had to be, right? There had been no one else in all these years.

At the sound of footsteps making their way down the hall Mollie snapped the box shut tossing it onto the desk next to the house plans. Her watery green eyes shot up as she heard Sidney's voice coming from the doorway.

"Oh good, you're off the phone. The food is he-" he stopped talking as he approached the desk seeing the blue papers at the top of the drawer and the very powerful item sitting in front of her.

"I can explain," Mollie began suddenly nervous like a little kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar, but Sidney only smiled picking up the small box.

"Y'know, I almost forgot I hid this in here." He now held the ring between two of his fingers spinning the gold circle around looking at it from all angles.

"Well, I uhh found it for you." Mollie said with a sheepish smile her heart thundering in her chest.

"You can ask."

Mollie stood up making the gap between the two of them smaller as she joined him in standing in front of the large wooden desk, "I'm not sure that I want to know."

Sidney looked down at the ring once more, the day he bought it so vivid in his mind as if it were yesterday. He held the ring tight in his fist the diamond pressing into his skin as he began to tell her the story whether she wanted to hear it or not.

It was January 2013.

He was in New York with the team and they were having an off day between playing the Islanders and the Rangers, Sidney was out exploring the city with Marc-Andre and Kris. The trio came upon the iconic 5th Avenue Tiffany and Co. store. They were just a few steps away from leaving it behind when Sidney stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at the brick building.

"What are you doing man?" Kris asked him as he stood there in the middle of the bustling sidewalk staring at the front door.

Sidney rubbed the back of his neck for a second before speaking up, "I think I'm going to go in for a minute."

Kris turned to Marc-Andre with his eyebrows furrowed, "In search of what?"

"I think I'm ready." Was all he said leaving his best friends and teammates dumbfounded in the streets.

Over an hour later Sidney walked out of the building alone with a large three carat diamond ring in his pocket and a ginormous grin on his face.

He couldn’t wait to get home to ask Elliot for his blessing.

And he did just a week later.

Although the man terrified Sidney to no end he was surprisingly warm the day Sid finally got up the courage to ask for his only daughter's hand. They were in his office at the hospital surrounded by all of his degrees, medical awards, and bright fluorescent lighting.

By the time they had gotten past the small talk Sidney was sure that the man knew why he was actually there.

He was smart after all.

"Son," Elliot began leaning down onto his desk crossing his arms in his white lab coat, "Let's not beat around the bush."

Sid's cheeks flushed, "Okay," he swallowed hard and it was audible to the man across from him, "Well, sir, I came here today to ask if it would be okay if I uhh, if I asked Mollie to ma-marry me?"

"You want my blessing to marry my only daughter?" The doctor asked his voice stern and clear as Sidney shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Yes sir, I love Mollie very much and I know that we haven't been dating that long but we've known each other for almost 8 years and I honestly cannot imagine what my life would be like without her in it."

For the first time since he entered the room Sidney saw Elliot smile, "Sidney, you have been a part of our family for a very long time now. Renee and I, we consider you one of our own and you've treated our little girl with the love and respect that she deserves and we're very thankful for that. So what I'm saying is, yes. It would be an honor to finally call you our son-in-law."

Shocked the hockey player's mouth slacked open, "Ya-you, you're serious?"

Elliot with his vice grip of a handshake extended his hand across the family, "Welcome to the family, Sidney."
Things however did not go as those two men envisioned.

Four months later Sidney had still not gotten up enough nerve to ask Mollie to marry him and by the end of May she was gone. Sidney's heart was shattered, they both were a mess, and the ring box was shoved so far back into Sid's desk drawer he hoped that he would never find it.

Listening to Sidney tell his story Mollie stood still as a statue.

The fact that her father had known about the ring and had given his blessing made her chest heavy. She was appalled, her heart was confused, and her eyes had failed at holding back the tears any longer as they streamed down her cheeks.

"Can I ask you something?" Sidney questioned as Mollie leaned her body back against the desk for support.

"Sure."

Sidney spoke as he placed the ring back into its box and into his pocket, "Did you ever think about it?"
"About what?" Mollie sniffled knowing exactly what he meant.
He scratched the patchy playoff beard that grew on the sides of his face, "About marrying me?"

Had she thought about it? Of course. Every time he looked at her, every time he kissed her, every time she woke up next to him she thought about changing her last name. "All the time."

"Me too, the older we've gotten the more I noticed how much I needed you Mollie. Need you? I need you, and I hope you need me even if it's just a little bit."

She gave him a small smile, "I do, you know I do. God, we had a funny way of showing it for a bit."

"I know, but, we learned a lot, we grew up and Mollie baby I need you so bad. I need to watch you dance around the kitchen in those weird socks you steal from the hospital. I need to be the one that holds when you have a rough week or you just want to watch golf for hours on end. I need to be the one you lean on when life gets hard. And most of all, I need to watch you walk down the isle towards me because I need to spend the rest of my life with you, I have to."

Sidney moved closer towards Mollie who as this point had a river of tears running down her face, sobs choking up in her throat. She couldn't move and he was hovering over her his caramel colored eyes barreling into her green ones, "Tell me baby, have I waited too long to ask?"

Unable to speak at the moment she only shook her head side to side, knowing deep inside no other love would compare to the one she'd found a decade prior. Her life was meant to be spent with the dark haired Canadian. Sidney smiled as she gave him the answer he was looking for without so much as a word.

Slipping his hands on either side of her face Sid tipped Mollie's face up to look at him through her tear filled eyes. "Then marry me."

"Excuse me?" Mollie choked out stunned at his sudden outburst.

Calm as ever Sidney smirked at her running his thumb under her eye flicking off a few stray tears that had just spilled over, "This isn't how I wanted to do this, but screw it."

"Sidney Patrick Crosby, no, what are you doing?" Mollie frantically asked as she watched him lower himself down to one knee before her.

"I know this isn't practical, and people are going to say that we're crazy but I don’t care any more what people think about me, or us." He stopped reaching into his side pocket where he'd tucked the ring box earlier on, as Mollie took in a deep mouthful of air covering her mouth to hold it in.

"Mollie, I have loved you every single day for five years now, but I have found you beautiful, intelligent, kind, and mysterious for over a decade and to me it seems insane that we've been a part of each other's lives for that long."

The man paused again knowing he was rambling but also spilling his heart out at the same time, Mollie however was soaking it all in the words going straight to her heart as her mind has quit working when he got down on one knee.

"You are it for me, and I've known it for a while now. You're my best friend, you know me better than anyone else, you are my greatest love, and you are so important to me and I hope that you can see that. And I know I should have never let you go, it was the worst mistake I have ever made in my entire life because you mean more to me than anyone or anything I've ever had in my life, including hockey."

Sidney stopped again this time he fiddled with the gold latch that held the ring box shut, watching him Mollie took in another shaky and salt filled breath. To her it was like time stood still as the top of the box came up putting the ring on display, "With all of that being said, will you, Mollie Eloise Holden, make me the happiest idiot in the world and marry me?"

Like it was the easiest question she had ever been asked Mollie's head began nodding up and down like a bobble head as she sucked in another salty gulp of air. With a weak voice full of tears she simply told him, "Yes. Yes, of course I'll marry you."

Sidney who had dreamed of this day far longer than he'd wished gave her toothy grin that took up his entire face. He rose from the floor and slipped the beautiful ring onto her left hand. Mollie with weak knees pushed herself up on her toes meeting Sid as he leaned down to kiss her, before their lips met Sid told her, "Wait, there's a catch."

Jerking her head back an inch or so Mollie questioned the Captain, "What kind of catch? What's with all these catches??"

"I don't want to be engaged, I want to be married."

Her eyes widened, if he was suggesting a courthouse elopement he was certifiably insane. "I'm going to need more of an explanation."

"Mollie, I have already waited way too long to be your husband, so I don’t want to wait another year. I want to get married this summer, or now, whichever you're more comfortable with."

Comfortable? Mollie wasn't comfortable with either of those choices, both of which seemed insane and unfathomable in the moment. In a state of shock the doctor stared at her new fiancé, mouth agape and eyebrows high. This summer was only a few months away, it was already May, there was no way they could pull of a wedding in that time that wasn’t a complete disaster.

Softly Mollie tried to explain that, "Sidney, this summer? That is so, so soon?"

Placing his hands on her hips Sidney pulled Mollie closer, "Baby, all I need is you and someone to pronounce us husband and wife. All that other stuff is just extra, I want nothing more in my life than to be your husband."

"Extra?" She questioned, had he met her mother? Renee Holden was nothing short of the word, and there was no way she would have her only daughter married off in a ill planned event.

Still trying to convince her Sidney continued, "You in a white dress of course, I'll even wear a tux if it'll make you happy. I'll do anything to make you happy, actually."
Mollie smiled, she knew he would go to the ends of the Earth for her and he truly meant it. "You're serious about this, eh?"

"As the Stanley Cup." Mollie rolled her eyes taking a glance down at the diamond stunner on her left hand. This was so insane to her, she had come in this office a bit pissed she had to take a phone call and now she was an engaged woman.

Insanity.

All of this would also look like insanity when it hit the media, Mollie was certain of that. But part of her didn't care. And part of her kind of wanted to do this quick and easy wedding that Sidney had dreamed up in his mind.

Because at the end of the day, she too just wanted to be his wife.

The sooner the better.

But not too soon.

Looking back up at him Mollie gave him a nod of her chin, "Okay, yes we can do it but not until like August."

"For real?" Sidney questioned and when her head nodded once more his grin spread wider across his face. "God, you're incredible woman."

"I know," Mollie smirked as she stepped away from the desk that had been supporting her in her state of shock. She slid her hands up Sidney's arms over the cotton of his Penguins sweatshirt resting her hands on either side of his neck. Sidney peered down at her, feeling the heat of her body tucked under his and the cool metal of the ring on her left hand pressed against his skin. Mollie smiled up at him her green eyes bright from crying, "Now, kiss me before I change my mind."

The Captain did as he was told, kissing her for the first time as an engaged couple and loving every single second. He would never kiss another set of lips in his life and that was fine because no other woman would ever taste as sweet, or fit perfectly between his own. No one else would ever compare to the girl he'd fallen in love with so long ago.

Out of air Mollie fell into Sidney's chest, she kissed the cloth that covered his heart and listened to the beat of his heart as her own raced in her chest. She felt the familiar touch of his lips to the crown of her head as they stood in a silent room.

Home, he was her home.

Their silence was broken by the rumble in Mollie's stomach, a sound comparable to a whale calling for its mate. She giggled into Sidney's chest before looking up at him with her chin digging into his chest, "So you came in here to tell me the food's here right?"

"I did, although it's probably cold by now." Sidney smiled down at her as he spoke.

"It's a good thing we have a microwave."

He agreed grabbing her hand in his as she took off for the door, heading out of the office Sidney took one last look at the room. This was so not the place he had envisioned proposing to Mollie. He had thought about PPG Arena, about Penn State, or just somewhere in the city, maybe a golf course like Augusta, or Cole Harbour out on the water.

Anywhere but his musty old office.

Sid shook his head as he flipped the light off, why did he care? Mollie had said yes, and that was all that truly mattered, besides this was going to make for a damn good story one day.

Speaking of telling stories, they were eventually going to have to tell others that they were engaged now just a month after coming out as a couple. It would seem fast to those who didn't really know the couple. Rushed even if the two really went through with the plan of summer nuptials. But to those who had known them before, and to the three men who knew Sidney had purchased a ring with intent to propose all those years ago this would seem right.

Watching Mollie bite into he Reuben the size of her head Sid smiled to himself, that was his fiancé stuffing a sandwich into her mouth, wearing his shirt that hung to her knees, and a pair of yellow University of Pittsburgh Medical Center non-slip socks.

She was a sight, and she was all his, forever.

Realizing Sidney was staring at her Mollie grabbed a napkin and began furiously rubbing at her face, she had to have Thousand Island sauce all over herself. The napkin came up dry and she was confused, "Can I help you?"

"Nope, just enjoying the view."
She rolled her eye tossing a reheated fry into her mouth, "Stare away, babe."

"I plan on it, for the rest of my life." Mollie stomach fluttered, that was going to take some getting used to. And then it dropped, "Shall we discuss the elephant in the room?

Pushing her takeout away Mollie focused on Sidney's request, "And that would be?"
"How do we, how do we do this?" He stumbled over his words, unsure how to ask this question, hoping Mollie knew how to answer it.
They were in unchartered territory, there was no guidebook for this type of engagement, this was an unlikely pairing, a hockey player and a pediatrician, but somehow they had ended up here. "I, I don't know? We tell our parents? Or we don't?"

"They'll kill us if we don't tell them," Mollie knew that, her mother would never forgive her if she kept this secret from her. "So, we tell them. And our friends? Kris and Flower, Geno they knew I had the ring."

Mollie smashed her lips around in thought, Sidney had way more to lose if and when this story hit the press. So Mollie really wanted him to choose how this situation was handled. "Honestly? I think it's your call, the worst that happens to me is my name gets tossed around in the press but I can still work. Believe it or not my patient's don't care all that much who I marry."

"Okay," He exhaled, drumming his fingertips on the countertop, "We tell our parents tonight, right now. And tomorrow, I'll tell the PR team, let them get a grip on it all first, and then we go from there? Maybe a press conference is the best idea or maybe just a statement, they'll know what to do."

Mollie nodded in agreement and picked up her cell phone, "Let's do this."