Home.

It had been 14 days and 17 hours since Sidney had asked Mollie to marry him, and in that time their world had totally flipped on its axis.

The Penguins had gone into Tampa Bay ready for a battle but they hadn't been expecting to go the full seven game series against the Lightning.

However, they had and 13 days later the Penguins came out victorious and were heading for the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2009.

Since that night in Sid's kitchen the newly engaged couple had kept their change in relationship status fairly hush-hush. That fateful night the duo made only four phone calls.

The first was to Mollie's parents.

Although Sidney had asked Elliott's permission to marry his daughter years ago the man was admittedly afraid that the doctor had revoked his blessing by now. So as the line rang Sidney's stomach tightened and twisted, there would always be something about Elliott Holden that made him nervous.

When the older man's voice came through on the other end of the line Sid was thankful that Mollie jumped in right away.

"Hi, daddy." she smiled to herself as she spoke, she only ever called her father "daddy" when she was extremely happy, or she wanted something.

"Hi sweetheart, how's my girl?" Mollie glanced down at her left hand catching the light dancing off the new diamond on her ring finger, "Couldn't be better, is mom around by chance?"

"She's in the kitchen, is something wrong?" Mollie could hear the concern in his voice and the shuffle of the phone as he wandered through the Holden household towards the kitchen.

To no one in particular Mollie shook her head, "No, no. I just have something I'd like to share with you both. It's good news, I promise."

There was a sharp inhale and then Renee's voice filled the room, "Hello dear, you're on speakerphone now."

Sidney rubbed at his patchy playoff beard knowing that it was time to face the music, "So are you, say Hi to Sidney."

"Sidney, hi honey, how're you feeling about next week?" Renee asked.

The man leaned closer to the iPhone perched on the kitchen island, "Hey Renee, I feel good, we're excited to be back in the Finals."

"Good, good. We can't wait to watch, I haven't been to California in ages." Mrs. Holden spoke with her husband quickly adding, "Son, you've got a good team this year I feel a Cup coming on."

Sidney smiled, "I sure hope so."

Always a cut to the chase type of man Elliott then questioned them both, "So, what is it you two have to tell us?"

Mollie looked at Sidney whose eyes were wide and had his cheek pulled between his teeth, "Well, dad, I believe you've known about this for quite a while now."

In the Holden house just a few miles from Sidney and Mollie stood Dr. Elliott Holden's mouth hung agape. Could it be? Had the boy finally done it? Was his only daughter an engaged woman? Playing along Elliot asked, "And what would that be my girl?"

Reaching over Mollie placed her hand in Sidney's and gave it a squeeze, "Mom, Dad, Sidney and I are getting married."

The squeal that escaped Renee Holden's mouth was ear-piercing, and it was clear to both Mollie and Sid that Elliott had never shared his little secret with his wife. "Oh my goodness! That's incredible, congrats you two!!" Renee was blubbering, then she was appalled at the secrecy, swatting at her husband's shoulder, "Elliott how long have you known?"

Mollie giggled as her father told her mother, "Oh I don't know, a couple of years now I'd say?"

"Years? Well, that means it was before? You were going to do it before she left? Oh, Sid, I never would have been so harsh." Renee was then a sobbing mess and Mollie suddenly felt bad for not doing this in person.

"Renee, I'm sorry I really thought Elliott had told you, I honestly thought that's why you were so hard on me." Sidney chuckled.

"Mom, we're past all of that now, it's okay that we waited." Sidney's finger ran over the ring on Mollie's left hand smiling like an idiot at her words.

Pulling herself together Renee gave the two a final congratulations before turning the line over to her husband once more, "Well you two, it's about damn time." All four of the adults laughed together as Elliott spoke, "But I couldn't be happier or prouder of the two of you and how far you have come, together and apart. Congratulations, kids."

Mollie's eyes filled with tears, "Thank you, daddy. I love you, both of you."

"Okay, okay, save the tears," Renee said putting her foot down, "and keep calling, I know you must have a few others to share the good news with."

Renee Holden, mind reader extraordinaire.

"That we do, goodnight guys."

From there they called the Crosby family whom they would see in just a few days as they were coming into town for the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals. Just like the Holden's the Crosby's were ecstatic for the future Mr. and Mrs.

But this time it was a complete surprise.

As it turned out, Sidney had never shared with either of his parents that he had purchased Mollie's engagement ring in 2013, which made for a few more tears and added a lot more shock to the situation.

Trina Crosby begged for pictures of the ring and details of how it had happened, Taylor screamed and danced around their Nova Scotia kitchen knowing she was finally getting a sister for good this time, and Troy was just overcome with joy for his son. That girl was Sidney's soulmate, she had been for years, and finally they would have forever together.

Back to making calls on American soil Sidney and Mollie phoned the couple responsible for their relationship in the first place.

The Lemieux's.

Just down the street with a few blocks between them Mario answered Sidney's call on the second ring. "What's up?" the older man asked, his voice very relaxed and Sidney speculated he was probably in his Man Cave with a glass of Scotch in his hand.

"Hey, not much," Sidney lied as Mollie shook her head beside him, "are you at home by chance?"

"I am, do you need something?"

Sidney shifted the phone in his hand, "Is Nat home, too?"

With that Mario knew something was up, "I'm going to assume something is going on and head upstairs, just a second." Mollie and Sid could hear the man traveling upstairs and calling for his wife, "Nat, can you come in here for a minute?"

The two heard Nathalie Lemieux's voice calling faintly through the speaker as the older couple spoke, "Yeah, why? What's happening??"

"I don't know, yet." Mario was stern and concerned for what he was about to find out and preparing himself for the worst, "Okay, Sid we're both here. Tell us what's going on."

"Oh Sidney, please tell us it's not Mollie? Is she okay??" Nathalie questioned frantically after hearing that the caller was Sidney.

With that Mollie's giggle filled the line, "Guys, hi it's me, and I'm fine, we're both fine. More than fine, actually."

Fed up with waiting Mario pushed, "Then what in the hell is going on?"

"We're getting married." Sidney divulged quickly, so fast that the words almost ran together and Nathalie almost thought she was hearing things.

"You're what?" She asked unclear if at her age her hearing was already beginning to fade.

Mollie took this time to explain, "Sidney asked me to marry him, I said yes, and now we're telling the most important people in our lives the good news."

"Oh my goodness, Mar, they're really getting married!!" Nathalie gushed, squeezing her husbands arm.

"Well kids, that is some fantastic news! A bit of a shock, but exciting none the less." Mario congratulated the two then began giving advice. "I would suggest getting ahead of the press though, son. There's already a lot of buzz around you right now, this will only fan the flame."

Sidney nodded, glad that his mentor was there for him in this moment, "I'll call my agent, and tell the PR team tomorrow. We just wanted to let all of our parents know before word hit the streets."

Both Nathalie and Mario smiled at the word 'parents' knowing they were somewhat of their surrogate parents, a second set to help guide the duo through life. "I think that's a great plan, Sid. Did you have time to get a ring or was this just a spur of the moment deal?"

Sidney looked at Mollie's hand admiring the ring he had chosen so long ago, "Yeah, she has a ring. But it was also spur of the moment, we'll have to tell you all the long story sometime when we're all together."

"I'd love that very much, y'know." Nathalie mused full of pride that her little work of art had made it to being an engaged couple.

The last phone call made that night was all on Sidney.

He dialed the Canadian number with a stomach full of knots and waited for Pat Brisson's gritty voice to fill the line. Sidney never called at random times, or this late in the evening so he was sure his agent of over a decade would know that something wasn't quite right.

When the man answered Sidney quickly cleared his throat, "Hey Pat, it's Sidney."

"Hey man, is everything okay?"

From his spot at the kitchen table Sidney could see Mollie curled up on the couch watching some crappy reality TV show. Her head drifted to the side, leaning on plush couch cushions, her green eyes fluttering closed every few minutes. Everything was perfect to them but Sid wasn't sure that Pat would see it that way. "Yeah, well I just have some news to tell you, something I thought you would want to know before tomorrow morning."

Miles away in Toronto Pat Brisson, one of the most sought after sports agents in the NHL internally groaned. What was he going to have to deal with now? "Alright, well thank you, I'd much rather hear it from you than from the media. What's the big news?"

"I uhh, I proposed to Mollie. And she said yes, we're planning on getting married this off-season. Probably in August." Sidney rambled and Pat pinched the bridge of his nose knowing the press would have a field day with a wedding just months after an engagement.

Can you say shotgun?

"Well, congratulations Sidney. You and Mollie have always been a beautiful couple, and despite the messy breakup it's clear you two are meant to be." Sid rolled his eyes at the "messy breakup", Pat hadn't really enjoyed cleaning all of that up.

"Thanks, Pat. You'll be in touch with the PR team?"

"Of course, have a good night Sidney and congratulations."
•••

All of those conversations had lead the couple to their current situation, a press conference on a Thursday afternoon. Just one day before the Penguins were set to take on the San Jose Sharks in game one of the Stanley Cup Finals.

It was Pat's idea to hold the press conference, and it had also been his idea to keep the engagement a secret at least until the Eastern Conference Finals were over. So Mollie, Sid, and the handful of others they had told were sworn to secrecy while the Pens and Lightning battled it out for seven long games.

Which meant Mollie was subjected to wearing her beautiful ring on a necklace around her neck only catching sight of the gorgeous stone when she put it on in the morning. The night the Penguins won the Conference Finals in the final minutes of the game Mollie reached under her Penguins t-shirt and slipped the ring off the chain and onto it rightful place on her left hand.

The plan was to unveil the ring and the engagement after the game and it hadn't take long for the media to catch sight of the new ring on Mollie's left hand as Sidney hugged her down on the ice. Within minutes he was being asked all about his engagement ignoring the fact that he and his men were heading to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Sidney pushed off all the questions, ignoring the press as best he could and allowed his agent to call this press conference. Which was unfortunate because the Captain hated press conferences, he always had it was no secret, and over time the media had even come to respect his dislike. But Sidney understood that it was better to address the media all at once than to have to have them swarm the locker room before and after games.

So he suffered through them season after season.

But this time the topic at hand had nothing to do with hockey, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the NHL, or even Sidney's home country of Canada. This time all of the focus was on Sidney and how his newly rekindled relationship had turned into an engagement in the midst of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Now here he sat, alone at a long white table with the Penguins logo on the front of it sweating bullets. A handful of microphones from various media outlets surrounded Sidney, a camera was aimed at his face, and the crowd in front of him had all of their eyes focused on the Captain.

Standing near the table where Sidney sat was a woman, she smiled at Sidney, she stole a glance at her wrist watch before clearing her throat and addressing the crowd, "Good afternoon everyone, thank you for joining us for Captain Crosby's announcement. Sidney has been so kind to offer 30 minutes of his time today, use it wisely. Your time starts now, NHL.com the floor is yours to begin."

In the back of the room trying to go as unnoticed as possible stood Mollie. She was wearing her classic pale blue scrubs, a white lab coat, and New Balance shoes having just run over to the arena between clinic and rounds at the hospital. She stood beside Sidney's parents, and his agent, Pat, who had come into town for the day.

It was a good idea in theory, the press conference, but now that the day had come Mollie and Sidney were a collective ball of nerves. Mollie wasn't even speaking, thankfully considering her past with public speaking, but her stomach was still in knots watching the man she loved facing the wolves alone.

Gripping the cuff of her lab coat tightly Mollie held her breath as Sidney leaned towards the microphone waiting to answer the man from the NHL's question. "Captain, we understand you have become engaged to the woman who just recently returned to your life last November. To the public this feels a bit rushed? According to my notes it has only been six months since Ms. Holden returned to Pittsburgh."

Sidney shook his head, he knew better than to become irate with the reporter's question so he gave him the simple answer. "No, it doesn't, if there hadn't been a separation in 2013 we would already be married. And the woman's name is Mollie, or Dr. Holden if you are going to be addressing her."

Mollie rolled her eyes, Sidney knew she hated to be referred to as doctor when not in the office but he was just trying to get the media to respect her. The Reporter nodded, "Of course, my apologies to Dr. Holden. You seem confidant that you two would already be married, was their a proposal prior to the separation?"

"No. But, I have had her ring since January 2013, unfortunately I never got up the courage to ask Mollie before we broke up." As Sidney spoke he looked through the camera to the back of the room, he smiled as his gaze locked on Mollie. "I like to believe, if I had asked her back then, that yes Mollie and I would already be married. Next question."

Over the next 20 minutes Sidney answered variations of the same question over and over. How did it happen? Where did it happen? Was there any reason why they felt the need to be engaged so soon? And of course, was Mollie pregnant?

Sid did his best not to give snarky answers, he got quite the laugh out of the crowd when he explained that they had gotten engaged in his study, and when he got to the last reporter Sid was surprised that he wasn't feeling as miserable as he expected.

Instead, he felt a weight lifting off of his shoulders.

The last reporter, a short bald man from SportsNet asked the final question, "Sidney, the last time the Penguin's won the Stanley Cup you were a single, 21 year old kid. If you are to win the Cup again this season, what will be the first thing you do?"

Mollie smiled loving that the final question was so upbeat.

Sidney thought for a second, thinking back to the Cup win in 2009. Mollie had been there, she had flown into Detroit straight from a 24 hour shift at the hospital, but she was there. Sure, she was just a friend back then but having her there meant the world to Sidney. She had hugged him a million times, and told him repeatedly how proud she was of him but they never got that one, cliché kiss under The Cup and that's what Sidney wanted. "I'm going to kiss my fiancé under it, and have one hell of a summer."

The crowd laughed as Sidney stood and the Pens PR staff thanked the media ushering them out of the room through one door as Sid headed to the back of the room where his parents, Pat, and Mollie waited. Before any of his loved ones could speak Sidney's agent beat them all to the punch, "Nice job, Captain. The team would like to put out an official press release, we'll need a picture of you two."

Mollie looked down at her outfit, "Uhh, does it have to be right now?"

"Oh no, of course not. We can just use an old photo if you'd like?" Pat offered.

Sidney nodded his head, "Yeah that's fine. Thanks for all your help, Pat."

"Anytime, it's my job after all." The man gave his star client a wink before taking a step back, "Well, I must get to the airport. But before I forget, good luck tomorrow and congratulations you two I am so happy things worked out in the end."

As the man walked away from the Crosby's Troy clapped a hand on his son's shoulder, "Feel better, son?"

"Loads now that I don't have a camera in my face. Was it bad?" Sid questioned looking at his mother and Mollie for reassurance.

Mollie shook her head, "No babe, you did great. Way better than I would have."

"Okay, good. How about we get outta here? I'm starving."
••••

Seated in a corner booth of one of Pittsburgh's sandwich shops Mollie, Sid, and his parents waited on their order to arrive. Troy and his son discussed the big game against San Jose while Trina and Mollie were talking weddings.

The day that the Crosby's had landed in town from Canada Mollie and Sid gathered both of their families and the Lemieux's together to share the story of their engagement and to drop the bomb that they wanted to get married that summer.

At first the older adults were stunned. Renee Holden most of all, she was appalled to put it simply, which was to be expected because how in the world was she to plan a wedding in just three months time?

But the more she and the others listened to Sidney and Mollie and their plea to be married after all this time they couldn't say no. So quickly the three families joined forces and dove head first into wedding planning.

Between Renee, Trina, and Nathalie, Mollie actually had very little to do in the planning of her own wedding. Trina had everything under control up North in Canada where the ceremony was to be held, Renee was handling the menu and decorations, and Nathalie who knew just about anyone and everyone was helping out with the guest list and accommodations.

So if she was being completely honest, Mollie thought this wedding planning thing was a breeze.

And it probably didn't hurt that she had never been the little girl who dreamed about her wedding, instead of picking out her wedding colors at eight years old she had dreamed of bright green fairways and surgeries. So for Mollie, letting go and having them handle it all was no problem at all.

The plans for the event itself fell into place so easily and felt so right that Sidney himself was shocked when his fiancé told him casually one night while eating dinner not to make any plans for August 13 because that was the day they were getting married.

At 4:30 pm on August 13, 2016 out on the front lawn of his lake house in front of 100 or so family members and friends he would finally get to call Mollie his wife. And Sidney couldn't haven been happier that his crazy dream of having a wedding on such short notice was working out.

Well, maybe he'd be even more excited if he got to have the Stanley Cup as the guest of honor. But he'd have to wait a few more days before he could officially send out that invite.

The only thing the women left for Mollie to do was to pick out her wedding dress. Which is what Mollie and Trina were quietly discussing.

The plan was to go into New York for the day on Friday to visit Kleinfeld's Bridal while Sid, his father, Mollie's father, and the team traveled across the country for games 3 and 4. Hopefully after finding a dress, Mollie, her mother, Taylor and Trina would board their own plane and head over to California as well.

"So have you given any thought to a style, dear, or designer?" Trina questioned as she picked at her salad.

Mollie shrugged her shoulders still clad in her scrubs and lab coat, "I think I want sleeves? Lace sleeves, and not super bright white? I love Hayley Paige but I know I can't be too picky, it will have to be rush ordered."

At that Sidney chimed in, "Mom, don't let her get a dress she doesn't love, I'll pay however much it costs to get the dress she loves in time for the wedding."

"Sid, babe that's sweet and all but I am not letting you spend a fortune on a dress or anything for this wedding, besides my dad is buying my dress since you insist on paying for everything else."

The Captain rolled his eyes, they had been battling over who was paying for what for over a week now. "Yeah, yeah." Sidney popped a French fry in his mouth and got back to talking with his dad.

"I think we will find the perfect dress in no time, Mols, with your little figure everything will fit you like a glove." Mollie blushed at her future mother-in-law's words, she always hated being called little even though she was.

"I hope so, I am far too inpatient to go to multiple stores."
•••••

A few days later Mollie stood in a brightly lit dressing room in front of a three-piece floor length mirror in Manhattan. She had been in and out of dresses for nearly two hours now and her eyes were beginning to sting from the bright light bouncing off all of the white within the room.

Behind her, seated on a pale pink sofa was her mother Renee, Nathalie Lemieux, and Trina and Taylor Crosby all who had joined her on her trip to the Big Apple. The four women held dainty glasses of champagne in their hands as they eyed the dress Mollie was currently sporting.

It was a pristine, bright white mermaid style dress with a fitted satin skirt and lace sleeves. It was truly gorgeous, but something about the way Mollie was standing told the women this was not The One for her.

"What don't we like about this one, darling?" Renee asked her daughter for what felt like the thousandth time that afternoon.

Mollie lightly shrugged her shoulders as much as she could in the tight lace sleeves, "I don't know. The bottom maybe? Or the back, I'd like it to be more open. I do love the sleeves, they're exactly what I want I just don't see myself getting married out on the front lawn in this type of gown."

"Front lawn?" The sales attendant who had been sworn to keep Mollie's visit to the salon secret gasped. How could the great Sidney Crosby be getting married on his own lawn?

"Yes, you heard that right and you wont tell a soul. Now, please get her into another dress we're on a bit of a time crunch." Nathalie jumped in giving the girl wearing all black little time to ask any further question of the wedding's location.

Doing as she was told the saleswoman whisked Mollie back into her dressing room unzipping the back of the Hayley Paige creation in a flash. "I'm sorry if that was rude, but I never would have put you in such a tight fit had I known the venue was soo.. uhm, rustic?"

Mollie gave the young girl a smile as she slipped back into her white silk robe, "No worries, we're just trying to be as discreet as possible with all this. But, honestly I liked that dress a lot? Do you have anything like it with less of a fit and flare?"

The girl thought about the rack of Hayley Paige designs in the salon's back room, they had nearly exhausted all options but there was one more design she wanted to try. "I have a sample dress, it's from her newest collection and I think that if you were to like it and we called her office in LA we could sell you the sample right off the rack."

"Well, let's give it a go."

That dress turned out to be exquisite, and it had all of the features Mollie had dreamed of.

A full skirt that she could easily move in, lace sleeves and bodice, and an open back. The Pippa gown as it was called was the dress she could see herself marrying Sidney in and the tears welling in her eyes told her entourage exactly what she was thinking.

"Oh darling," Renee cooed as her daughter turned around for the first time, "you look incredible."

Taylor clapped her hands as she agreed, "Molls, that dress was made for you!"

"You really think it looks good, Mom?" Mollie asked running her hands down the white lace.

Renee rose from her seat reaching out for her daughters hands, "My girl, you are stunning, a vision, truly sweetheart you're a bride in that gown. We both know that this dress is exactly what you came here looking for."

With cloudy eyes Mollie squeezed her mother's hands before looking over at the saleswoman, "I think you should call LA."

After a thirty minute transcontinental phone-call that left Mollie on edge of her seat the saleswoman reappeared to the showroom where the group waited. Breaking the tension she smiled, "I have good news."

With a quick set of measurements taken the gown was rushed out of Mollie's dressing room and sent downstairs to alterations. The bride to be was then promised that the gown would be tailored to fit her body like a glove, dry cleaned, steamed, and be sent on its way to Pittsburgh in under three weeks time.

Walking out of the famous bridal salon hand in hand with her mom an hour later Mollie smiled, relieved and impressed that she had actually managed to find her wedding gown! With the last thing on her rather short list of things to do it all suddenly felt real. She was really getting married and in under three months she would finally, after all this time, be Mrs. Sidney Crosby.

Standing at the corner of 20th Street in the middle of New York City Mollie leaned her head on her mother's shoulder as they waited for their car to escort the quartet to JFK, "I can't believe I'm really getting married, mama."

"Oh darling," Renee shushed wrapping an arm around her only daughter, "I can, and I am so happy for you. Goodness, I have dreamed of this for so long, my baby girl is a bride."

Mollie smiled, she knew her mom had dreamed of her only daughter's wedding but she had never dreamed of arranging a rushed affair. However, Mollie also knew that Renee Holden, a classically trained chef and woman of French decent didn't half-ass anything, meaning this event was still going to be ridiculously extravagant. "I know you have, and I'm glad you're here to take the reigns in all the planning. Really, all of you have been Godsends. Sid and I would be getting married in a courthouse or a rink if it weren't for you all."

Nathalie winked at Mollie while the Crosby women just blushed at her gratification letting Mollie continue the little moment she was having with her mother. Renee however, who wasn't much for showing affection to her husband or children in public, was over it all. "Nonsense, my girl, I would never let you do such a thing." Renee straightened up pushing Mollie up off her shoulder as a sleek black SUV pulled up to the curb, "Now, ladies I believe we have a plane to catch and some Sharks to crush. Who's with me?"

Mollie shook her head, oh mother she thought to herself as the driver came around to open the back door ushering the women inside the lux vehicle. Settling herself into the leather seat Mollie leaned her against the cool glass of the window letter her green eyes flutter shut. As the car pulled away she began to relax the only thing on her mind now was getting to her fiancé.
••••

It was nearing midnight in San Jose, California by the time Mollie and the others arrived at the hotel they and the Penguins would be staying in for the next few days. Exhausted and feeling a tad gross from the flight Mollie trudged her way through the lobby towards the elevators. She already knew what room Sidney was in leaving the others to fend for themselves to check-in at the Front Desk.

The hallway of the floor that the Pens were staying on was dimly lit and eerily quiet when Mollie stepped off the elevator. It was well past the team's curfew but the Captain was still awake. As she approached the door to room 412 Mollie suddenly felt butterflies in her stomach, what a day she had had and now she got to end it with the love of her life.

Giddy as a teenager Mollie rapped knuckles on the wooden door soft enough not to wake anyone up but hard enough for Sidney to know she had arrived. When the door popped open she was greeted by a shirtless Sid clad only in a pair of plaid boxers and a sleepy smile. He pulled the door open wide enough to let Mollie and her matching Louis Vuitton luggage set through, closing it as soon as everything was inside.

Once the door clicked shut Mollie stepped away from her bags and into Sidney's arms soaking in the warmth of his skin through her thin white V-neck. Mollie hummed as she felt the familiar press of Sid's lips to the crown of her head, that was and always would be his way of welcoming her home.

"How was your flight?" He then asked her.

She shrugged under his arms, "Long and cold, I'm exhausted."

"How about we get some sleep then?" She nodded against his chest, pulling back she grabbed the smaller carry on bag from its perch atop her suitcase before stepping into the bathroom. A few minutes later after having washed her face and brushed her teeth Mollie exited with her hair in a bun and wearing Sidney's shirt he'd left hanging on the shower door.

In the darkness she crawled under the plush white hotel covers scooting her way across the cold sheets until her body landed flush against Sid's. The arm that had once been behind his head came down around her pulling her even closer. Settled in Mollie closed her eyes, soaking in the feeling of Sidney's fingertips running up and down her back. She hummed as he asked her in a hushed tone, "So, did you find it?"

"Uh huh," Mollie whispered her words filled with sleep. "You can see it for yourself in 49 days."

Mollie felt his lips against her shoulder blade, "I can't wait."