Danielle gently traced the tattoo on Mike's left arm with her finger, "Why are you so fascinated with this," he asked smiling as he rolled over to face her.
"Shit," she muttered, "I had no idea that you were up."
"I've been up for about an hour now. Have you looked out the window at all?"
"No, I just woke up a little bit ago, why?"
"We're snowed in; luckily we are one of the few people that have power."
"How much snow is out there?"
"Almost three feet!"
"I'm used to it; however, I'm not used to having power."
Mike laughed before leaning down to give her a kiss, "Good morning," he said and Danielle smiled.
"Well, since we can't take your parents out today, I'll cook dinner and we'll figure out what else we can do. I say we build hockey playing snowmen."
"How old are you," Mike laughed.
"I'm 21 going on 4!"
"I kind of figured that," he said and Danielle punched him in the arm.
"Speak for yourself; you're the one with the scooter!"
“Touché,” Mike smiled pulling her close to him, “So, while we have nothing to do today and since I bought paint yesterday, how about we start painting Landon’s room?”
“I’m sure your parents won’t be okay with us kicking them out to paint.”
“My mom already helped my dad and brother rearrange the other guest room with a double bed and she moved everything out of it.”
“I was so worried that they were going to hate me, especially because we barely knew each other when I moved here and we jumped into a relationship. I could have been some gold digging psycho who was after you for your money.”
Mike turned Danielle’s face towards him and made her look him in the eyes, “We didn’t jump into anything, we got to know each other and we became friends. You’re different in so many ways than all of those other girls that I’ve dated. You’re having my baby too and that’s what makes me want to be with you even more, I’ve said it before, you’re not going nowhere for a long time.”
Danielle hugged him tightly and Mike kissed her forehead, “I don’t deserve you.”
Mike held her tight to his chest for a while before Megan walked in, “Hey guys, mom made breakfast.”
“We’ll be down in a minute,” Mike replied and his sister smiled before leaving him and Danielle alone.
“Can I just lay in bed all day?”
“Nope, you got to get up.”
“Your son is wearing me out!”
Mike smiled at “your son” and scooped Danielle up and carried her in the bathroom. Placing her in the bathtub, he turned on the hot water and smirked when she yelled in protest, “Oh look, you’re out of bed.”
“I’m going to kill you,” she hissed as she pulled her sweatshirt over her head, “You’re doing the laundry by the way.”
Mike just rolled his eyes while smirking and shut the door behind him as he went to shower in the room that was going to be Landon’s.
Mike walked in the room and saw the empty space and the crib that was now in the middle of the floor. He had purchased a crib the day before and Danielle didn’t know. Mike decided to lock himself in the room with his father and brother putting it together before he allowed Danielle to enter. He had also bought a dresser and everything Danielle said that they needed.
Mike made sure that his mom and sister were with Kiley out doing whatever it is women do when they go to a mall: shop, eat, gossip, etc. while he himself along with Brooks, his brother Matt, and his dad went looking for the stuff that Danielle had picked out.
Mike loaded everything into his Escalade and Brooks’ truck and they carried it into the room while the women were still out. Mike wouldn’t allow Danielle anywhere near the room until he decided to paint and the painting had to come after the furniture was put together.
Mike sighed and smiled to himself as he let the hot water run down his back. It was cold in the house which meant the heat was probably off since his mom was constantly complaining that she was hot. Mike closed his eyes and imagined what his son would look like.
“I’m turning into a chick,” he whispered shaking the thoughts from his head. Mike finished his shower and changed into one of his Capitals sweat suits.
Mike walked into the hall and saw Danielle was already one of the stools eating with Megan and Matt. His mom and dad were in the living room watching the weatherman go on and on about the snow.
“Still want to build those hockey playing snowmen,” he asked when the middle aged meteorologist said that it was zero degrees outside.
“I’ll put you out there with a hockey stick covered in snow if you keep making fun of me,” Danielle fired back causing the Green family to laugh.
“Yeah, yeah,” Mike said sitting down next to her at the counter. Mike pretended he was trying to steal some of Danielle’s eggs and he got a fork in his ribs, “Great, now you try to kill me.”
“Mhm, you’re worth more dead than you are alive amongst us Pens fans,” Danielle smirked.
“Whatever,” he replied cockily smirking causing her to roll her eyes.
Danielle helped Kate and Megan clean the kitchen and once everything was done, Mike led her down the hall towards the guestroom.
“Close your eyes,” he said holding her hand as he opened the door, “Alright, now open them.”
Danielle slowly opened her eyes and saw the room that looked almost complete besides the fact that it needed painted and the mural needed to be done.
“Oh my God,” she managed to get out before she wiped the tear away from her eye, “Mike!”
“I got all of the furniture while you were out yesterday. Brooks, Matt, and my dad helped me put it together. Nicky is bringing the rocking chair over as soon as the snow melts a little bit, it’s at his house.”
“I don’t know what to say!”
“You don’t have to say anything,” Mike assured her as he kissed her forehead, “We just have to get the mural done. I didn’t really buy paint; I’m still looking for an artist to do it. I’m going to give my tattoo guy a call and see if he knows anybody good that can come out and do it.”
“Mike…thank you!”
“You’re welcome,” he replied, “Danielle; I’m going to be honest right now. The past three months have been crazy for us but you know what, I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
“Neither would I,” Danielle replied as Mike put his hands on her hips and gave her a kiss.
“I’m falling in love with you, Danielle,” he admitted, “I don’t want to scare you off but I’m quickly falling head over heels for you. I’ve never felt this way before.”
Danielle smiled, “I’ve never felt this way about anyone before either.”
Mike smiled and gave her another kiss, “What do you say we call Alex and you can talk his ears off about your costumes for the concert?”
“You’re amazing,” she gushed grabbing Mike’s iPhone out of his hoodie pocket and heading into the living room.
“I love you,” he whispered hoping she’d hear him but she didn’t as she skipped off down the hall talking to Alex on the phone.
A couple of days later, the roads were clear and the snow was slowly melting as the sun glistened down over Arlington. Mike’s family said their goodbyes to Danielle promising to see her soon.
“Kristi and I are heading home to Pittsburgh for a couple of days to visit and we’ll be back the day before the concert. You guys have back to back games against the Lightning and the Panthers down in Florida.”
“I know, I’m leaving with them straight from the airport. Brooks is picking us up. Feel free to take the Escalade if you’d like since it’ll probably go better if you hit snow on the turnpike.”
“Kristi’s bringing Nicky’s truck,” Danielle replied, “We’ll be fine.”
“Alright,” Mike said as Brooks pulled up honking the horn, “I’ll call you when we land.”
“I’ll call you when we get home. If I don’t answer when you call, I’m probably sleeping.”
“Behave yourself,” Mike said giving her a kiss, “I’ll see you when you get back.”
“Good luck and bring home some of that Florida weather,” Danielle said as she waved goodbye to Mike and his family.
Mike had worked with Kristi to plan the trip to Pittsburgh since he had an artist flying in from Toronto to work on the mural in Landon’s room. Kiley was staying at the house while the artist worked on the wall. Kristi texted her letting her know she was on her way to pick her up. Danielle grabbed her duffle bag that she had found in Mike’s closet and bundled herself up before heading outside.
Kristi was just pulling up as Danielle locked the door behind her and the two young women began their trip back to the Steel City. Kristi sent Kiley a text letting her know they were on their way so that she could go to the house.
After arriving back home from his road trip, Mike found Kiley sleeping on the couch. Brooks walked in behind him and flopped down on his fiancée.
“You motherfucker,” Kiley said trying to fight Brooks off of her.
“Come on babe, you know you can’t resist me,” he said as he gave her a kiss. Mike rolled his eyes and walked down the hall and noticed the door had a skull on the door with crisscrossed hockey sticks.
Slowly opening the door, Mike saw that the entire room was now complete and he thought the mural looked even better than it was supposed to. The room had three red walls and a wall that was made to look like the ice at Verizon Center with a jersey at center ice. The back of a little boy was standing in the runway holding his hand with a matching jersey that read, “Green 52.”
Mike’s heart swelled up with pride as he imagined teaching his son how to skate. The whole fatherhood thing was beginning to be even more exciting to him as time went on. Brooks walked in the room and looked around in awe, “Greener, this looks great.”
“I know, I can’t wait until Danielle sees it.”
“When is she coming back,” Brooks asked.
“Early tomorrow morning then we’re all going to the concert tomorrow night.”
“Kiley and I are going to head out, see you tomorrow,” Brooks said shaking Mike’s hand before leaving.
Mike gave Danielle a call and they talked for a little bit before hanging up so Mike could go to bed.
Danielle arrived home the next day and noticed the skull and crisscrossed hockey sticks on the door and laughed before walking into her and Mike’s bedroom. Mike had his back against the headboard and was watching Sportscenter.
“Hey,” she said giving him a kiss.
“I have a surprise for you,” he replied standing up.
“Oh yeah?”
Mike grabbed her hand and just like the morning a couple of days prior, he led her to the room that was Landon’s.
“I had something done while you were gone,” he said opening the door and Danielle gasped.
“Mike, it’s beautiful,” she said noticing the finished room, “It’s absolutely better than what I imagined. I honestly cannot thank you enough. This is wow.”
“Look at Landon,” Mike said as he pointed to the silhouette of him holding small little boy’s hand as they walked down the runway.
“It’s beautiful,” Danielle replied running her fingers over it, “I’m glad you talked me into the silhouette instead of the big jersey with Landon’s name.”
Danielle gave Mike a hug as they stood in the middle of their son’s room. A knock at the door broke them away from each other and when Mike answered it, Alex bounced in followed by Sasha. They were carrying three garment bags and Mike could only imagine what was in them.
Mike sat in his living room later on that night laughing at Danielle telling Alex and Sasha to sit steal so that she could finish their eyeliner and their hair, “Then they wonder why everyone thinks they’re gay,” he said to himself as Alex complained his eyeliner wasn’t even.
“I’m gonna marry the night, I’m not gonna cry anymore” they all began singing and Mike threw his head back regretting ever getting the tickets.
“Mike,” Danielle said walking down the hall, “We’re ready to go.”
Mike turned around and his eyes went wide in horror as he noticed their outfits, “You all look like freaks.”
Danielle had a rubber steak on her head and she had a fake meat dress on her body with an ultrasound picture on her stomach that had a baby with his hand up like he was a “little monster.” Alex was wearing a feather mohawk and glitter around his eyes with eyeliner while wearing spikes and plat formed boots with tight white pants. Sasha’s outfit was the same and Mike looked at his outfit thanking God he decided to go with the white sweater and jeans. At least he looked normal.
When they got to the Verizon Center, Mike was amazed that the three people he was currently in the car with weren’t the only ones dressed like morons. As they pulled into the player garage, Mike rolled his eyes as Danielle, Alex, and Sasha took pictures with the production trucks with Lady Gaga’s face on them.
When they got inside, Brooks rolled his eyes at the costumes and started laughing before he took pictures of them. He was dressed in skin tight male dominatrix leather thanks to Kiley.
Kiley, Kristi, Nicky, and even Brooks were dressed for the occasion with leather and studs everywhere. Mike was surprised Nicky talked Kristi into going since she hated Lady Gaga.
The show began and Mike wanted to shoot himself by the middle of the concert when Alex and Sasha were semi drunk and were belting out the lyrics to every song with Danielle who danced around the suite.
“Thank God I have ear plugs,” Brooks said sitting next to Mike.
“I’m embarrassed to be in the same suite with them right now.”
Brooks smiled at Mike and patted him on the back as Alex, Sasha, and Danielle sang “Judas” at the top of their lungs like idiots.
The last song of the night was “The Edge of Glory” and Danielle came over to Mike and gave him a hug, “Thank you so much for bringing me, I’ve had a really great time.”
Mike couldn’t deny that although he wanted to kill himself throughout the entire concert, the look on Danielle’s face was priceless.
“You’re welcome,” he whispered in her ear. Danielle turned around to go back to her seat when Mike wrapped his arms around her from behind with his hands on her stomach and Danielle danced against him to the song.
When the song was in the middle of the saxophone solo and the chorus started again, Mike whispered the three words that he had been dying to say to Danielle since his family was in town.
As Lady Gaga sang about being on the edge of glory and hanging on a moment of truth while being on the edge with the person she loved, Danielle felt her heart race as the three words slipped off of Mike’s tongue, “I love you, Danielle.”
Danielle turned around and wrapped her arms around him, “I love you too,” she replied giving him a kiss.
Something, something about just knowing when it’s right
There’s something about baby Yoü and I
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Chapter 8-Yoü and I
Mike knew that he was going to regret this but the smile on Danielle’s face was going to be priceless. Ovi was planning his and Danielle’s outfits as Mike drove home from a long day at the rink. Danielle had woke up and wasn’t feeling well and Mike went to his morning skate before the Caps played the Kings in an afternoon matinee at Verizon Center.
Mike wasn’t even sure if she had known that Lady Gaga was coming to town. He knew she had saw her three times before back in Pittsburgh, one of those being a few weeks before Mike had saw her at the game where he discovered she was pregnant. It was no secret that Danielle was a huge fan of the woman who called herself, “Mother Monster.”
Mike laughed as he pulled into the garage and thought about the time Ovi and Sasha came over to visit when Danielle first came down to DC before she made her decision to move permanently to be with Mike and they forced him to watch the DVD of Lady Gaga live at Madison Square Garden. Mike can remember the three of them yelling, “SILICON! SALINE! POISON! INJECT ME! BABY, I’M A FREE BITCH!!” Since then Danielle had made Mike watch the DVD repeatedly like she was a small child wanting to keep watching their favorite Wiggles movie.
Mike felt the tickets in his back pocket and smiled as he called out to Danielle when he entered the house through the side door. Sure enough, Danielle was sitting on the couch with a bowl of ice cream on her four and a half months pregnant stomach singing along with “Yoü and I,” a song that wasn’t new to him since Danielle sang it every single day. It was her favorite song and Mike knew that the song would mean a lot to both of them one day but he shook his head as he leaned down over Danielle and took the bowl causing her to punch him in the shoulder.
“OW,” he laughed taking a bite of the chocolate ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream.
“You douche bag, that’s my fucking ice cream.”
“Hello to you too,” he smirked as Danielle pouted and Mike held the bowl over her head licking his lips, but since Danielle was tall herself, she took the bowl from him and kicked his shin.
“What the hell has gotten into you?”
“Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to take a pregnant woman’s ice cream?”
Mike laughed and sat down on the couch next to her.
"I don't remember telling you could that you could sit down next to me."
"Well, excuse me; can I sit down next to you?"
"You're a douche bag!"
Mike laughed and pulled the envelope from his back pocket.
"What douche bag would get these for you?"
"OH MY GOD," Danielle shrieked, "MIKE, YOU DIDN'T!"
"No, I didn't," he replied, "We got some free tickets, Ovi and Sasha are going to. Nicky is begging Kristi to go since she wants no parts of it."
"I can't believe we're going," Danielle shrieked climbing over Mike. She sat on his lap, straddling him.
Mike swallowed hard as Danielle leaned down to give him a kiss.
"Thank you," she whispered moving her lips to his neck.
"Danielle," he gasped, "Stop."
Their relationship was still new and even though Danielle was pregnant, Mike didn't want to rush into anything.
"But Mike, I'm horny."
Mike laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist, "God, I know, so am I and I really want to do this…but not yet."
Danielle decided to change the subject and quickly mentioned Mike’s mom, Kate calling while he was at practice, "When were you planning on telling me that your parents were coming to visit? Your mom called today and said that they're landing at one, so you would know what time to pick them up from the airport."
"It was supposed to be a surprise but yeah, they're coming. They were supposed to be here last week but my mom had to work."
"I wish you would have told me that so I could go grocery shopping to make dinner for them their first night here."
“My brother and sister are coming too.”
“I never knew you had a brother and a sister.”
“Not many people know that I do, I keep a lot of stuff private. For example, when Landon is born, we aren’t going to post any pictures or anything at first. I don’t want huge attention drawn to it because people will make up their own stories about everything.”
“They already did and I’m pretty sure the nurse at the doctor’s office last week tried to get us to admit the truth so she could sell the story to the media.”
“People are going to say a lot of stuff about you, I know you know that but just know that no matter what, I’m going to be here for you.”
“I know,” Danielle smiled as Mike hugged her closer to him.
“Are you feeling better,” he asked kissing her forehead.
“A little bit,” she replied nuzzling her face into Mike’s neck.
“Want to go to dinner tonight?”
“That’d be nice,” Danielle said looking up and kissing his jaw.
“I’m sorry that we can’t spend more time together. I always feel bad for leaving you by yourself so much.”
“I love being alone sometimes, in Pittsburgh; I stayed in my room sometimes just to have peace and clear my head.”
“Do you have any favorite restaurants here yet? I know that you and Kiley eat out a lot when Brooks and I are on the road.”
“That place down on Wilson Boulevard is to die for. It’s called Village Bistro.”
“Go get dressed, we’ll go.”
“I am dressed,” Danielle whined.
“I’ve been to that place before and I don’t think sweatpants and a hoodie is in the dress code.”
“You’re no fun,” she replied sticking out her tongue before giving him a kiss on the cheek when she stood up to go get changed.
“Take a shower too, you stink,” Mike joked.
“Suck my dick!”
Mike laughed as Danielle walked down the hall towards the guest bedroom that would be where his parents would staying tomorrow. Mike’s brother and sister were coming as well and they each had their own room.
“Dani,” he said walking into the bedroom, “I have to talk to you about something,”
“What,” she asked coming out of the bathroom fastening a gold hoop earring. She had bought maternity clothes and Mike loved the coral colored hooded long sleeved tunic top she was wearing with boot cut jeans and her hair was in a pony tail.
“You look great,” he smiled as she looked at her reflection in the mirror attached to the dresser.
“Thank you!”
“I have something to tell you and please, don’t kill me.”
“You’re kicking me out?”
“God, no,” Mike laughed, “But I thought that I should let you know that my parents are going to be sleeping in your room when they come.”
“That’s fine; I’ll sleep on the couch. It’s no problem, it’s better for my back at night anyways.”
“You’re not sleeping on the couch.”
“Then where am I going to sleep?”
“In my room with me and I’m not taking no for an answer. We’re both adults, and if I’m not mistaken, we’re having a baby together. It’s not like we’ve never slept in the same bed before, I mean when we first had sex, we slept in the same bed. Then you fell asleep two nights in a row in my room and didn’t have a problem with it.”
“Stop blabbering, God, you are worse than a teenage boy seeing boobs for a first time. I’ll sleep with you but I want to be the little spoon,” Danielle smirked.
“I can handle that,” Mike said as Danielle pulled on her boots.
“Did you see we’re supposed to get like two feet of snow tomorrow night into Thursday morning?”
“We’re going to get it, we get it every year.”
“Yay! Snow day,” Danielle said excitedly while clapping her hands
“Really,” Mike said smiling, “You are worse than a five year old.”
“When’s the concert?”
“Next weekend!”
“I’m so excited!”
“I know you are, I know how much you love her and I figured you needed some time out of the house so I got the tickets. Alex is making your outfit.”
“I love dressing for her concerts, it’s amazing.”
“Just don’t go overboard.”
“There is no such thing as overboard at a Lady Gaga concert. Speaking of which, you are totally wearing eyeliner because you are fucking sexy with it.”
“Thanks, I guess,” Mike laughed.
“I wonder what Alex has up his sleeves,” Danielle said.
“I wish I could tell you but I honestly don’t know, are you ready to go? I’m pretty hungry!”
“Yep, let’s go,” she replied grabbing her coat from the bed.
“Here, let me help you.”
Mike grabbed the coat from Danielle and held it open as she slid her arms into the sleeves. Mike handed her the scarf from the dresser and the matching hat.
“You’re having a baby with a Capital and you steal wear your Pens stuff,” he smiled while shaking his head in disbelief.
“Hey, just because you’re my son’s father doesn’t mean I’m turning to the dark side. Loyalties lie, Greene.”
“We’ll just have to change that.”
“Mhm, we’ll see about that,” Danielle smirked blowing him a kiss before heading out of the room. Mike grabbed his coat from the chair in the living room and grabbed the keys to the Escalade. Taking Danielle’s hand in his, he lead her outside.
They drove talking about their plans for the baby’s room which they both wanted a hockey themed nursery. Danielle saw a design in a magazine that she liked and Mike said he’d hire someone to help them work on it. The walls were going to be sky blue and on one wall was going to be a hockey rink mural complete with a jersey on one wall bearing Landon’s name and Mike’s number.
They pulled into the restaurant and were seated at a booth in the back where they discussed the plans for what they were going to do with Mike’s family during the week. Mike said they could take them sightseeing in the city if the weather allowed when he had off days, as well as going to the five game home stand that the Caps had coming up before they headed out on the road for the week.
When they came back home, Danielle helped Mike clean the house a little bit. They washed the sheets on the beds in the guest rooms and moved all of Danielle’s things into Mike’s room. Mike had more than enough room in his closet and he was more than happy to help Danielle hang her clothes next to his. For the first time in a long time, Mike finally felt like he was getting the family of his own that he always wanted but never thought he’d have.
It was close to midnight when they finished everything up and Mike headed to bed because he had practice and early at eight am. Danielle went online for a little while and ordered things for Landon’s room and a couple of outfits from Carter’s that she thought were cute.
She put the laptop on Mike’s nightstand and turned the lamp off before she curled up and tried to sleep. Mike reached out and put his arm around her waist and pulled her to him, “Goodnight,” he whispered sleepily kissing her cheek lightly.
“Goodnight,” she replied shutting her eyes and she soon fell asleep.
Danielle woke up the next day to an empty bed but for the first time in a long time, she got a good night’s sleep. Mike left her a note in the kitchen letting her know what time he would be home and that when he returned, he’d have his family with him.
Danielle made herself something to eat before she took a shower and got dressed for the day. She looked in the cabinet and found a box of cake mix and a can of icing and decided to busy herself by making a cake for Mike’s family. Mike said she wasn’t allowed to cook while they were here but he never said she couldn’t bake.
Danielle set the time on the oven and walked into the bathroom to take a shower. When she was done, the cake was finished and she just had to let it cool before she put the chocolate icing on it. She was finishing up washing the cake pan when she heard the door open and saw Mike come in carrying a suitcase followed by two women and two men.
“Hey,” Mike said walking into the kitchen, “What’d you make, it smells good?”
“I made a chocolate cake, I wanted your family to have something to eat and well since you wouldn’t let me cook them anything, I baked.”
“Looks great,” he replied giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“Mike, she’s even more beautiful than you described,” Kate said walking into the kitchen, “You must be Danielle,” she said hugging her.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she replied smiling, “I’ve heard wonderful things about you.”
“Look at you,” Kate gushed, “You’re glowing.”
Danielle smiled and Mike put his arm around her waist, “Michael, you look so happy,” Kate gushed again, “My first grandbaby, I’m so excited.”
“My dad, my brother, and my sister are in the living room,” Mike said, “Want to meet them?”
“No, I think I’ll ignore them the entire time they’re here. Of course, I want to meet them,” Danielle joked elbowing Mike in the stomach.
“I like her,” Kate laughed as they walked into the living room.
“Everybody, this is Danielle,” Mike said, “Danielle, that’s my dad, Dave; my sister, Megan; and my brother, Matt.”
“It’s nice to meet all of you,” Danielle replied shaking their hands.
“I still can’t believe my little brother knocked someone up,” Matt said causing Kate to slap him behind his head.
“Language, Matthew,” she scolded.
“I finally have someone to go shopping with,” Megan said, “You have no idea what it was like growing up with two brothers.”
Danielle laughed before they all fell into conversations about where they wanted to go for dinner, Mike looked at Danielle talking and laughing with his family when he went to get something to drink in the kitchen. He never saw his family warm up to any of his girlfriends the way they warmed up to Danielle.
Kate and his ex-girlfriend butted heads about everything and they never got along. His sister hated her and his brother said she saw her flirting with one of Mike’s old teammates from back home but Mike ignored them and sure enough, he came home from a road trip and caught her in bed with her doctor.
Danielle looked up and made eye contact with Mike and he felt like it was déjà vu, she had done that when he first met her family and was talking with her uncles at her house. Mike smiled back and headed back into the living room. He couldn’t help but smile at the thought that the next time they were all together, his baby boy would be in his arms.
Mike wasn’t even sure if she had known that Lady Gaga was coming to town. He knew she had saw her three times before back in Pittsburgh, one of those being a few weeks before Mike had saw her at the game where he discovered she was pregnant. It was no secret that Danielle was a huge fan of the woman who called herself, “Mother Monster.”
Mike laughed as he pulled into the garage and thought about the time Ovi and Sasha came over to visit when Danielle first came down to DC before she made her decision to move permanently to be with Mike and they forced him to watch the DVD of Lady Gaga live at Madison Square Garden. Mike can remember the three of them yelling, “SILICON! SALINE! POISON! INJECT ME! BABY, I’M A FREE BITCH!!” Since then Danielle had made Mike watch the DVD repeatedly like she was a small child wanting to keep watching their favorite Wiggles movie.
Mike felt the tickets in his back pocket and smiled as he called out to Danielle when he entered the house through the side door. Sure enough, Danielle was sitting on the couch with a bowl of ice cream on her four and a half months pregnant stomach singing along with “Yoü and I,” a song that wasn’t new to him since Danielle sang it every single day. It was her favorite song and Mike knew that the song would mean a lot to both of them one day but he shook his head as he leaned down over Danielle and took the bowl causing her to punch him in the shoulder.
“OW,” he laughed taking a bite of the chocolate ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream.
“You douche bag, that’s my fucking ice cream.”
“Hello to you too,” he smirked as Danielle pouted and Mike held the bowl over her head licking his lips, but since Danielle was tall herself, she took the bowl from him and kicked his shin.
“What the hell has gotten into you?”
“Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to take a pregnant woman’s ice cream?”
Mike laughed and sat down on the couch next to her.
"I don't remember telling you could that you could sit down next to me."
"Well, excuse me; can I sit down next to you?"
"You're a douche bag!"
Mike laughed and pulled the envelope from his back pocket.
"What douche bag would get these for you?"
"OH MY GOD," Danielle shrieked, "MIKE, YOU DIDN'T!"
"No, I didn't," he replied, "We got some free tickets, Ovi and Sasha are going to. Nicky is begging Kristi to go since she wants no parts of it."
"I can't believe we're going," Danielle shrieked climbing over Mike. She sat on his lap, straddling him.
Mike swallowed hard as Danielle leaned down to give him a kiss.
"Thank you," she whispered moving her lips to his neck.
"Danielle," he gasped, "Stop."
Their relationship was still new and even though Danielle was pregnant, Mike didn't want to rush into anything.
"But Mike, I'm horny."
Mike laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist, "God, I know, so am I and I really want to do this…but not yet."
Danielle decided to change the subject and quickly mentioned Mike’s mom, Kate calling while he was at practice, "When were you planning on telling me that your parents were coming to visit? Your mom called today and said that they're landing at one, so you would know what time to pick them up from the airport."
"It was supposed to be a surprise but yeah, they're coming. They were supposed to be here last week but my mom had to work."
"I wish you would have told me that so I could go grocery shopping to make dinner for them their first night here."
“My brother and sister are coming too.”
“I never knew you had a brother and a sister.”
“Not many people know that I do, I keep a lot of stuff private. For example, when Landon is born, we aren’t going to post any pictures or anything at first. I don’t want huge attention drawn to it because people will make up their own stories about everything.”
“They already did and I’m pretty sure the nurse at the doctor’s office last week tried to get us to admit the truth so she could sell the story to the media.”
“People are going to say a lot of stuff about you, I know you know that but just know that no matter what, I’m going to be here for you.”
“I know,” Danielle smiled as Mike hugged her closer to him.
“Are you feeling better,” he asked kissing her forehead.
“A little bit,” she replied nuzzling her face into Mike’s neck.
“Want to go to dinner tonight?”
“That’d be nice,” Danielle said looking up and kissing his jaw.
“I’m sorry that we can’t spend more time together. I always feel bad for leaving you by yourself so much.”
“I love being alone sometimes, in Pittsburgh; I stayed in my room sometimes just to have peace and clear my head.”
“Do you have any favorite restaurants here yet? I know that you and Kiley eat out a lot when Brooks and I are on the road.”
“That place down on Wilson Boulevard is to die for. It’s called Village Bistro.”
“Go get dressed, we’ll go.”
“I am dressed,” Danielle whined.
“I’ve been to that place before and I don’t think sweatpants and a hoodie is in the dress code.”
“You’re no fun,” she replied sticking out her tongue before giving him a kiss on the cheek when she stood up to go get changed.
“Take a shower too, you stink,” Mike joked.
“Suck my dick!”
Mike laughed as Danielle walked down the hall towards the guest bedroom that would be where his parents would staying tomorrow. Mike’s brother and sister were coming as well and they each had their own room.
“Dani,” he said walking into the bedroom, “I have to talk to you about something,”
“What,” she asked coming out of the bathroom fastening a gold hoop earring. She had bought maternity clothes and Mike loved the coral colored hooded long sleeved tunic top she was wearing with boot cut jeans and her hair was in a pony tail.
“You look great,” he smiled as she looked at her reflection in the mirror attached to the dresser.
“Thank you!”
“I have something to tell you and please, don’t kill me.”
“You’re kicking me out?”
“God, no,” Mike laughed, “But I thought that I should let you know that my parents are going to be sleeping in your room when they come.”
“That’s fine; I’ll sleep on the couch. It’s no problem, it’s better for my back at night anyways.”
“You’re not sleeping on the couch.”
“Then where am I going to sleep?”
“In my room with me and I’m not taking no for an answer. We’re both adults, and if I’m not mistaken, we’re having a baby together. It’s not like we’ve never slept in the same bed before, I mean when we first had sex, we slept in the same bed. Then you fell asleep two nights in a row in my room and didn’t have a problem with it.”
“Stop blabbering, God, you are worse than a teenage boy seeing boobs for a first time. I’ll sleep with you but I want to be the little spoon,” Danielle smirked.
“I can handle that,” Mike said as Danielle pulled on her boots.
“Did you see we’re supposed to get like two feet of snow tomorrow night into Thursday morning?”
“We’re going to get it, we get it every year.”
“Yay! Snow day,” Danielle said excitedly while clapping her hands
“Really,” Mike said smiling, “You are worse than a five year old.”
“When’s the concert?”
“Next weekend!”
“I’m so excited!”
“I know you are, I know how much you love her and I figured you needed some time out of the house so I got the tickets. Alex is making your outfit.”
“I love dressing for her concerts, it’s amazing.”
“Just don’t go overboard.”
“There is no such thing as overboard at a Lady Gaga concert. Speaking of which, you are totally wearing eyeliner because you are fucking sexy with it.”
“Thanks, I guess,” Mike laughed.
“I wonder what Alex has up his sleeves,” Danielle said.
“I wish I could tell you but I honestly don’t know, are you ready to go? I’m pretty hungry!”
“Yep, let’s go,” she replied grabbing her coat from the bed.
“Here, let me help you.”
Mike grabbed the coat from Danielle and held it open as she slid her arms into the sleeves. Mike handed her the scarf from the dresser and the matching hat.
“You’re having a baby with a Capital and you steal wear your Pens stuff,” he smiled while shaking his head in disbelief.
“Hey, just because you’re my son’s father doesn’t mean I’m turning to the dark side. Loyalties lie, Greene.”
“We’ll just have to change that.”
“Mhm, we’ll see about that,” Danielle smirked blowing him a kiss before heading out of the room. Mike grabbed his coat from the chair in the living room and grabbed the keys to the Escalade. Taking Danielle’s hand in his, he lead her outside.
They drove talking about their plans for the baby’s room which they both wanted a hockey themed nursery. Danielle saw a design in a magazine that she liked and Mike said he’d hire someone to help them work on it. The walls were going to be sky blue and on one wall was going to be a hockey rink mural complete with a jersey on one wall bearing Landon’s name and Mike’s number.
They pulled into the restaurant and were seated at a booth in the back where they discussed the plans for what they were going to do with Mike’s family during the week. Mike said they could take them sightseeing in the city if the weather allowed when he had off days, as well as going to the five game home stand that the Caps had coming up before they headed out on the road for the week.
When they came back home, Danielle helped Mike clean the house a little bit. They washed the sheets on the beds in the guest rooms and moved all of Danielle’s things into Mike’s room. Mike had more than enough room in his closet and he was more than happy to help Danielle hang her clothes next to his. For the first time in a long time, Mike finally felt like he was getting the family of his own that he always wanted but never thought he’d have.
It was close to midnight when they finished everything up and Mike headed to bed because he had practice and early at eight am. Danielle went online for a little while and ordered things for Landon’s room and a couple of outfits from Carter’s that she thought were cute.
She put the laptop on Mike’s nightstand and turned the lamp off before she curled up and tried to sleep. Mike reached out and put his arm around her waist and pulled her to him, “Goodnight,” he whispered sleepily kissing her cheek lightly.
“Goodnight,” she replied shutting her eyes and she soon fell asleep.
Danielle woke up the next day to an empty bed but for the first time in a long time, she got a good night’s sleep. Mike left her a note in the kitchen letting her know what time he would be home and that when he returned, he’d have his family with him.
Danielle made herself something to eat before she took a shower and got dressed for the day. She looked in the cabinet and found a box of cake mix and a can of icing and decided to busy herself by making a cake for Mike’s family. Mike said she wasn’t allowed to cook while they were here but he never said she couldn’t bake.
Danielle set the time on the oven and walked into the bathroom to take a shower. When she was done, the cake was finished and she just had to let it cool before she put the chocolate icing on it. She was finishing up washing the cake pan when she heard the door open and saw Mike come in carrying a suitcase followed by two women and two men.
“Hey,” Mike said walking into the kitchen, “What’d you make, it smells good?”
“I made a chocolate cake, I wanted your family to have something to eat and well since you wouldn’t let me cook them anything, I baked.”
“Looks great,” he replied giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“Mike, she’s even more beautiful than you described,” Kate said walking into the kitchen, “You must be Danielle,” she said hugging her.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she replied smiling, “I’ve heard wonderful things about you.”
“Look at you,” Kate gushed, “You’re glowing.”
Danielle smiled and Mike put his arm around her waist, “Michael, you look so happy,” Kate gushed again, “My first grandbaby, I’m so excited.”
“My dad, my brother, and my sister are in the living room,” Mike said, “Want to meet them?”
“No, I think I’ll ignore them the entire time they’re here. Of course, I want to meet them,” Danielle joked elbowing Mike in the stomach.
“I like her,” Kate laughed as they walked into the living room.
“Everybody, this is Danielle,” Mike said, “Danielle, that’s my dad, Dave; my sister, Megan; and my brother, Matt.”
“It’s nice to meet all of you,” Danielle replied shaking their hands.
“I still can’t believe my little brother knocked someone up,” Matt said causing Kate to slap him behind his head.
“Language, Matthew,” she scolded.
“I finally have someone to go shopping with,” Megan said, “You have no idea what it was like growing up with two brothers.”
Danielle laughed before they all fell into conversations about where they wanted to go for dinner, Mike looked at Danielle talking and laughing with his family when he went to get something to drink in the kitchen. He never saw his family warm up to any of his girlfriends the way they warmed up to Danielle.
Kate and his ex-girlfriend butted heads about everything and they never got along. His sister hated her and his brother said she saw her flirting with one of Mike’s old teammates from back home but Mike ignored them and sure enough, he came home from a road trip and caught her in bed with her doctor.
Danielle looked up and made eye contact with Mike and he felt like it was déjà vu, she had done that when he first met her family and was talking with her uncles at her house. Mike smiled back and headed back into the living room. He couldn’t help but smile at the thought that the next time they were all together, his baby boy would be in his arms.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Chapter 7-Red, white, and baby blue
"I promise, I'll be there as soon as I can," Mike reassured Danielle who was screaming at him for not taking her to her doctor's appointment.
"Mike, we find out the sex of the baby today besides, it's your first appointment, I fucking expected you to be here."
"Dani, baby, calm down."
"Fuck you, Mike Green. I am not calming myself down."
Mike laughed on the other end of the phone, "Go ahead and laugh, it's not funny, you fucking asshole."
"It's not my fault our plane had layover because of a mechanical issue."
"I hate you!"
Mike just laughed again, half at Danielle's hormones and half at Brooks arguing with his girlfriend, Kiley over not being able to make dinner with her parents. Danielle had been in DC for 3 weeks now and she was still getting used to everything.
Mike was adjusting to having someone living with him too. Danielle stayed in the guest room; their relationship was still new to them. The only date they've been on was when they were in Pittsburgh and Mike knew they needed to start spending more time together.
When Danielle first arrived in DC to stay permanently, the Capitals were getting ready for their road trip to the West and she had gotten to know Brooks' fiancée Kiley. They two became inseparable much to Mike and Brooks' dismay.
Danielle and Kiley tag teamed the guys each day. They loved picking on the hockey players, sometimes even Ovi joined in on the fun.
"I have to go, Kiley is beeping in. Hurry it the fuck up and get here or I'm cutting your balls off and roasting them in the fireplace."
Mike cringed but smirked as he said goodbye and hung up.
"Is Danielle going all fucking psycho on you too?"
"It's her hormones."
"Hormones my fucking ass," Brooks said, "Women are fucking psycho."
“Kiley has you so fucking whipped.”
“I’m not whipped, I love her.”
Mike couldn’t help but laugh, “Dude, you sound like a total fucking chick.”
“You can honestly look at me and tell me that Danielle isn’t changing you,” Brooks began, “You fucking rearranged your life to fit a girl in it that you didn’t know at all and suddenly she’s pregnant and she’s everything you’ve ever wanted.”
Mike sat in the terminal not saying anything when Brooks’ phone rang again, “FUCKING PSYCHOTIC, BITCH!”
“I HEARD THAT ASSHOLE,” Mike heard Kiley shout and he laughed before texting Danielle.
Mike made a whipping noise and Brooks flipped him off, “Fuck you,” he spat.
“FUCK ME,” Kiley shouted, “Brooks, you are digging yourself into a huge fucking hole right now.”
“Babe, I was talking to Mike.”
Kiley was now on speaker and Mike was laughing at her cussing Brooks out, “I will cut your balls off, Brooks, not even kidding.”
“Danielle just threatened to cut mine off and roast them in the fireplace.”
Brooks muted the phone, “They’re violent fucking bitches, we are so going out for drinks tonight because I need to get the hell out of the house.”
“We were just away for 2 weeks; you can at least go home for one night.”
“Fuck that,” Brooks said, “I need to go away for 2 weeks again.”
Mike just rolled his eyes as Bruce announced that they could board the plane again. Brooks ended his phone call and gladly shut his phone off as they headed down the ramp towards the plane.
Mike texted Danielle letting her know they were on their way home. Mike sped the whole way to the doctor’s office, he was sure that if he was pulled over, he could bribe the cops with tickets and VIP treatment for a game.
Mike pulled in next to Kiley’s Range Rover that Brooks had bought her for his birthday, “What a pussy,” he mumbled smiling at the car as he locked the Lamborghini and walked into the office building.
The nurse at the window smiled when she saw Mike, “Miss James is in the first room to the left, go ahead back.”
“Thank you,” Mike smiled walking back to the room.
Danielle was sitting on the table and Kiley was sitting in the chair next to her reading a Cosmo when Mike walked in.
“It’s about you showed up,” Kiley huffed, “I was beginning maybe to think I was you dressed in drag.”
“Bite me!”
“Real mature, asshole,” she replied standing up, “Danielle, I’m going to go castrate Brooks. Call me later and we’ll do dinner or something.”
“Brooks and I included,” Mike asked.
“Since it’s a girl’s night and both you and Brooks are about to be flat in the front like a Ken doll, then yeah you can come.”
“Fuck you, Kiley.”
Danielle laughed and held her hand out to Mike who took it and walked closer to her occupying the chair that Kiley had just vacated. Mike sat down and Danielle turned her head towards him, Mike leaned closer and gave her a kiss.
“You two make me sick, I’m out of here,” she said smirking before leaving the room and shutting the door behind her.
“I missed you,” Danielle said and Mike put his forehead to hers.
“I missed you too, how’s the baby,” he said putting his hand on her bump that was now noticeable.
“We’ll find out today if he ever comes back in, I made him wait until you got here. Luckily, he had a cancellation.”
Mike chuckled as the door opened and the doctor walked in, “Good to see you again, Mr. Green,” Dr. Thompson said sticking out his hand, “Miss James insisted we wait until you got here, congrats on the clean sweep of the West.”
“Thanks,” Mike smiled.
“Miss James, are you ready to see your baby?”
“We are,” Danielle smiled and Mike took her hand in his as the nurse walked in with the sonogram machine.
Danielle lifted her shirt and Mike rubbed her stomach before smiling as the nurse came over and put the gel on her stomach. Danielle shivered at the cold and Mike ran his hands through her hair.
“How long have you two been together,” the nurse asked smiling at the gesture before the doctor ran the tool over Danielle’s belly.
“Almost two months,” Mike replied.
“Wow! I never would have guessed,” the middle aged nurse replied, “You two seem so comfortable with each other.”
Mike could tell she was pushing for information about how Danielle was four months pregnant and they were only together for two months, so he made up that they were best friends who decided to have a baby together before they both realized they wanted more. Danielle tried not to laugh at the soap opera Mike was creating.
Silence fell upon the room as the sound of a heartbeat filled the air. Mike squeezed Danielle’s hand as the image of their baby popped up on the screen.
“They’re waving,” Dr. Thompson said as the baby moved its hand and the heartbeat continued to fill the air.
“Can we find out what we’re having?”
“The fetus is in the perfect position, so we should be able to tell.”
The doctor moved the ball on Danielle’s stomach and sure enough the baby’s body part appeared on the screen, Mike immediately knew what it was and he started smiling like he had just won the Stanley Cup.
“Well, it looks like you two are having a baby boy.”
Danielle’s eyes welled up with tears, she prayed it was a boy since the last couple of generations were girls.
“Is Landon Michael good for you,” Mike whispered and Danielle nodded her head. She was in love with the name the minute Mike had told her the names he had picked out when they had their first conversation on the phone.
“Miss James, schedule an appointment for next month and we’ll see you then. Good luck to both of you and keep up the great play, Mr. Green.”
“Thank you,” Mike replied shaking Dr. Thompson’s hand.
“We’re having a boy,” Danielle said as they walked out of the office, “I have to call my mom and tell her.”
Mike smiled while pulling out his cell phone to call his mom as well, “Okay, we’ll both call our moms then we’ll call the guys.”
“Okay,” Danielle smiled.
Ever since the picture of the two of them surfaced on Mike’s twitter page, the cyber world was in an uproar. Countless lies had been spread about Danielle but as soon as something was posted, Mike had it taken down and he protected Danielle from the criticism and harsh words. Mike was tweeting his excitement and he didn’t care what anyone said about him or Danielle.
“Looks like we’re painting the town red, white, and baby blue…it’s a boy. Danielle and I thank you both for the support,” he tweeted and he knew he was sure to get countless replies but he didn’t care.
As they hung up with their ecstatic mothers who were begging for each other’s phone numbers to plan for their first grandchild’s arrival, they laughed as they headed back to their house. Danielle took a hot shower while Mike opened his 2 weeks’ worth of mail that she put in one of the kitchen drawers.
Mike got a call from Brooks asking if he and Danielle wanted to meet him and Kiley for dinner. Mike agreed and told Danielle through the bathroom door. Dinner went by without a hitch as the men feared for their lives and their private parts.
“You two should not be friends,” Brooks said, “You two are bitches when you two are together.”
“Want to sleep on the couch tonight,” Kiley asked and Brooks immediately shut his mouth, “That’s what I thought.”
Mike made a whipping noise and Brooks glared at him, “Whatever Greener, you’re getting close to it. By the way, you two never told us, am I going to have to help you beat the boys away Mikey or am I going to teach another man how to get the ladies.”
“Keep digging that hole, Brooks,” Danielle laughed as Kiley glared at her fiancé.
“We’re having a boy,” Mike gushed and Kiley shrieked.
“Hell yeah,” Brooks said fist bumping him from across the table, “That’s what I’m talking about, we got another future NHLer on our hands.”
“Relax there, Brooksy,” Mike said, “Landon’s not even here yet.”
“Oh my God, you have a name picked already,” Kiley shrieked again.
“We’ve had it picked for a while, from our first conversation on the phone if you want to be technical about it,” Danielle said, “Mike thought of the names and I have always liked Landon for a boy’s name, so we’re going to name him Landon Michael Green.”
“That is too precious.”
Dinner ended which sent both Mike and Danielle home. They were both exhausted from their days, Danielle from being worried about Mike all night to Mike being jetlagged and they both needed to catch up on sleep.
“Want to watch a movie,” Mike asked, “Or do you just want to go to bed?”
“Movie’s good,” Danielle smiled, “Just let me go get changed.”
“Sounds good, meet me in my room,” he replied smiling and kissing her cheek.
Danielle changed into a pair or pajama pants and a sweatshirt before she walked down the hall to Mike’s room. Mike had the news on while he looked through his Netflix rentals on his MacBook for a movie to watch.
“Looks like we’re getting more snow,” Danielle said sitting down on Mike’s bed, “I can’t wait to experience snow down here since I know you guys get slammed worse than we did in Pittsburgh.”
“Virginia winters are a bitch,” Mike smiled before settling on the Hangover 2.
“I didn’t even know this was on DVD yet.”
“Just came out today,” Mike said hooking the computer up to his TV before he crawled in bed next to Danielle, “Scoot over.”
She moved over and laid her head down on the pillow before Mike put his arm around her and she put her head on his chest as the film began. The movie barely started and Mike heard light snores coming from Danielle.
Turning off the TV, Mike pulled the blankets over them and immediately fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. They needed all the rest they could get before the baby arrived and they were up all night.
Everything seemed to be falling into place and Mike couldn’t wait for Danielle to meet his family who were surprising her by arriving the next day, Mike just hoped she didn’t freak out when she woke up in the morning and realized she had no choice but to sleep with him.
Mike chuckled at the thought as he shut his eyes and dreamed of teaching his son how to skate while Danielle watched him be the father he never thought he would be.
"Mike, we find out the sex of the baby today besides, it's your first appointment, I fucking expected you to be here."
"Dani, baby, calm down."
"Fuck you, Mike Green. I am not calming myself down."
Mike laughed on the other end of the phone, "Go ahead and laugh, it's not funny, you fucking asshole."
"It's not my fault our plane had layover because of a mechanical issue."
"I hate you!"
Mike just laughed again, half at Danielle's hormones and half at Brooks arguing with his girlfriend, Kiley over not being able to make dinner with her parents. Danielle had been in DC for 3 weeks now and she was still getting used to everything.
Mike was adjusting to having someone living with him too. Danielle stayed in the guest room; their relationship was still new to them. The only date they've been on was when they were in Pittsburgh and Mike knew they needed to start spending more time together.
When Danielle first arrived in DC to stay permanently, the Capitals were getting ready for their road trip to the West and she had gotten to know Brooks' fiancée Kiley. They two became inseparable much to Mike and Brooks' dismay.
Danielle and Kiley tag teamed the guys each day. They loved picking on the hockey players, sometimes even Ovi joined in on the fun.
"I have to go, Kiley is beeping in. Hurry it the fuck up and get here or I'm cutting your balls off and roasting them in the fireplace."
Mike cringed but smirked as he said goodbye and hung up.
"Is Danielle going all fucking psycho on you too?"
"It's her hormones."
"Hormones my fucking ass," Brooks said, "Women are fucking psycho."
“Kiley has you so fucking whipped.”
“I’m not whipped, I love her.”
Mike couldn’t help but laugh, “Dude, you sound like a total fucking chick.”
“You can honestly look at me and tell me that Danielle isn’t changing you,” Brooks began, “You fucking rearranged your life to fit a girl in it that you didn’t know at all and suddenly she’s pregnant and she’s everything you’ve ever wanted.”
Mike sat in the terminal not saying anything when Brooks’ phone rang again, “FUCKING PSYCHOTIC, BITCH!”
“I HEARD THAT ASSHOLE,” Mike heard Kiley shout and he laughed before texting Danielle.
Mike made a whipping noise and Brooks flipped him off, “Fuck you,” he spat.
“FUCK ME,” Kiley shouted, “Brooks, you are digging yourself into a huge fucking hole right now.”
“Babe, I was talking to Mike.”
Kiley was now on speaker and Mike was laughing at her cussing Brooks out, “I will cut your balls off, Brooks, not even kidding.”
“Danielle just threatened to cut mine off and roast them in the fireplace.”
Brooks muted the phone, “They’re violent fucking bitches, we are so going out for drinks tonight because I need to get the hell out of the house.”
“We were just away for 2 weeks; you can at least go home for one night.”
“Fuck that,” Brooks said, “I need to go away for 2 weeks again.”
Mike just rolled his eyes as Bruce announced that they could board the plane again. Brooks ended his phone call and gladly shut his phone off as they headed down the ramp towards the plane.
Mike texted Danielle letting her know they were on their way home. Mike sped the whole way to the doctor’s office, he was sure that if he was pulled over, he could bribe the cops with tickets and VIP treatment for a game.
Mike pulled in next to Kiley’s Range Rover that Brooks had bought her for his birthday, “What a pussy,” he mumbled smiling at the car as he locked the Lamborghini and walked into the office building.
The nurse at the window smiled when she saw Mike, “Miss James is in the first room to the left, go ahead back.”
“Thank you,” Mike smiled walking back to the room.
Danielle was sitting on the table and Kiley was sitting in the chair next to her reading a Cosmo when Mike walked in.
“It’s about you showed up,” Kiley huffed, “I was beginning maybe to think I was you dressed in drag.”
“Bite me!”
“Real mature, asshole,” she replied standing up, “Danielle, I’m going to go castrate Brooks. Call me later and we’ll do dinner or something.”
“Brooks and I included,” Mike asked.
“Since it’s a girl’s night and both you and Brooks are about to be flat in the front like a Ken doll, then yeah you can come.”
“Fuck you, Kiley.”
Danielle laughed and held her hand out to Mike who took it and walked closer to her occupying the chair that Kiley had just vacated. Mike sat down and Danielle turned her head towards him, Mike leaned closer and gave her a kiss.
“You two make me sick, I’m out of here,” she said smirking before leaving the room and shutting the door behind her.
“I missed you,” Danielle said and Mike put his forehead to hers.
“I missed you too, how’s the baby,” he said putting his hand on her bump that was now noticeable.
“We’ll find out today if he ever comes back in, I made him wait until you got here. Luckily, he had a cancellation.”
Mike chuckled as the door opened and the doctor walked in, “Good to see you again, Mr. Green,” Dr. Thompson said sticking out his hand, “Miss James insisted we wait until you got here, congrats on the clean sweep of the West.”
“Thanks,” Mike smiled.
“Miss James, are you ready to see your baby?”
“We are,” Danielle smiled and Mike took her hand in his as the nurse walked in with the sonogram machine.
Danielle lifted her shirt and Mike rubbed her stomach before smiling as the nurse came over and put the gel on her stomach. Danielle shivered at the cold and Mike ran his hands through her hair.
“How long have you two been together,” the nurse asked smiling at the gesture before the doctor ran the tool over Danielle’s belly.
“Almost two months,” Mike replied.
“Wow! I never would have guessed,” the middle aged nurse replied, “You two seem so comfortable with each other.”
Mike could tell she was pushing for information about how Danielle was four months pregnant and they were only together for two months, so he made up that they were best friends who decided to have a baby together before they both realized they wanted more. Danielle tried not to laugh at the soap opera Mike was creating.
Silence fell upon the room as the sound of a heartbeat filled the air. Mike squeezed Danielle’s hand as the image of their baby popped up on the screen.
“They’re waving,” Dr. Thompson said as the baby moved its hand and the heartbeat continued to fill the air.
“Can we find out what we’re having?”
“The fetus is in the perfect position, so we should be able to tell.”
The doctor moved the ball on Danielle’s stomach and sure enough the baby’s body part appeared on the screen, Mike immediately knew what it was and he started smiling like he had just won the Stanley Cup.
“Well, it looks like you two are having a baby boy.”
Danielle’s eyes welled up with tears, she prayed it was a boy since the last couple of generations were girls.
“Is Landon Michael good for you,” Mike whispered and Danielle nodded her head. She was in love with the name the minute Mike had told her the names he had picked out when they had their first conversation on the phone.
“Miss James, schedule an appointment for next month and we’ll see you then. Good luck to both of you and keep up the great play, Mr. Green.”
“Thank you,” Mike replied shaking Dr. Thompson’s hand.
“We’re having a boy,” Danielle said as they walked out of the office, “I have to call my mom and tell her.”
Mike smiled while pulling out his cell phone to call his mom as well, “Okay, we’ll both call our moms then we’ll call the guys.”
“Okay,” Danielle smiled.
Ever since the picture of the two of them surfaced on Mike’s twitter page, the cyber world was in an uproar. Countless lies had been spread about Danielle but as soon as something was posted, Mike had it taken down and he protected Danielle from the criticism and harsh words. Mike was tweeting his excitement and he didn’t care what anyone said about him or Danielle.
“Looks like we’re painting the town red, white, and baby blue…it’s a boy. Danielle and I thank you both for the support,” he tweeted and he knew he was sure to get countless replies but he didn’t care.
As they hung up with their ecstatic mothers who were begging for each other’s phone numbers to plan for their first grandchild’s arrival, they laughed as they headed back to their house. Danielle took a hot shower while Mike opened his 2 weeks’ worth of mail that she put in one of the kitchen drawers.
Mike got a call from Brooks asking if he and Danielle wanted to meet him and Kiley for dinner. Mike agreed and told Danielle through the bathroom door. Dinner went by without a hitch as the men feared for their lives and their private parts.
“You two should not be friends,” Brooks said, “You two are bitches when you two are together.”
“Want to sleep on the couch tonight,” Kiley asked and Brooks immediately shut his mouth, “That’s what I thought.”
Mike made a whipping noise and Brooks glared at him, “Whatever Greener, you’re getting close to it. By the way, you two never told us, am I going to have to help you beat the boys away Mikey or am I going to teach another man how to get the ladies.”
“Keep digging that hole, Brooks,” Danielle laughed as Kiley glared at her fiancé.
“We’re having a boy,” Mike gushed and Kiley shrieked.
“Hell yeah,” Brooks said fist bumping him from across the table, “That’s what I’m talking about, we got another future NHLer on our hands.”
“Relax there, Brooksy,” Mike said, “Landon’s not even here yet.”
“Oh my God, you have a name picked already,” Kiley shrieked again.
“We’ve had it picked for a while, from our first conversation on the phone if you want to be technical about it,” Danielle said, “Mike thought of the names and I have always liked Landon for a boy’s name, so we’re going to name him Landon Michael Green.”
“That is too precious.”
Dinner ended which sent both Mike and Danielle home. They were both exhausted from their days, Danielle from being worried about Mike all night to Mike being jetlagged and they both needed to catch up on sleep.
“Want to watch a movie,” Mike asked, “Or do you just want to go to bed?”
“Movie’s good,” Danielle smiled, “Just let me go get changed.”
“Sounds good, meet me in my room,” he replied smiling and kissing her cheek.
Danielle changed into a pair or pajama pants and a sweatshirt before she walked down the hall to Mike’s room. Mike had the news on while he looked through his Netflix rentals on his MacBook for a movie to watch.
“Looks like we’re getting more snow,” Danielle said sitting down on Mike’s bed, “I can’t wait to experience snow down here since I know you guys get slammed worse than we did in Pittsburgh.”
“Virginia winters are a bitch,” Mike smiled before settling on the Hangover 2.
“I didn’t even know this was on DVD yet.”
“Just came out today,” Mike said hooking the computer up to his TV before he crawled in bed next to Danielle, “Scoot over.”
She moved over and laid her head down on the pillow before Mike put his arm around her and she put her head on his chest as the film began. The movie barely started and Mike heard light snores coming from Danielle.
Turning off the TV, Mike pulled the blankets over them and immediately fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. They needed all the rest they could get before the baby arrived and they were up all night.
Everything seemed to be falling into place and Mike couldn’t wait for Danielle to meet his family who were surprising her by arriving the next day, Mike just hoped she didn’t freak out when she woke up in the morning and realized she had no choice but to sleep with him.
Mike chuckled at the thought as he shut his eyes and dreamed of teaching his son how to skate while Danielle watched him be the father he never thought he would be.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Chapter 6-Closer
"That was good," Mike said as he and Danielle walked out of the fancy restaurant on the South Side of the city, "Definitely worth the money."
"It was my first time here," she replied shyly, "Definitely coming back."
"When we come to visit after the baby's born, we'll rent the place out and have a family get together."
"You've met my family, so when do I get to meet yours?"
"They'll come to visit, don't worry," Mike replied smiling taking Danielle's hand in his as they walked to his SUV two streets over.
"I may get to meet them if I don't freeze to death walking."
"It's a lot colder here than I thought it would be."
"No shit, Sherlock, this ain't Florida."
"You're a smartass!"
"...and you're an idiot," Danielle smirked causing Mike to roll his eyes as they finally reached his car.
"Where are we going now," he asked opening the door for her.
"Just get in, I'll tell you which way to go."
"Should I be scared? Are you going to murder me or something?"
"I used to want to murder you but when I found out you weren't the douche everybody thinks you are, I changed my mind."
"It really bothers me that people think that, I'm nothing like that."
"I know," Danielle replied patting his thigh, "But what matters is I know you're nothing like that."
"Where exactly are you taking me?"
"Have you ever seen the city skyline at night?"
"I can't say that I have."
"Turn left at the light," Danielle instructed as the light turned green.
Mike went up the long hill and looked at Danielle questioningly as they entered a residential area.
"Now where?"
"Make a right and look for a parking space when you see the city come into view again."
Mike made the turn and as the city skyline appeared, he pulled into a vacant parking space. Danielle unfastened her seatbelt and waited for Mike to lock it.
Danielle took his hand and led him over to the railing that over looked the city skyline from high up on the other side of the river.
"Wow," Mike said putting his arm around her waist, "It's beautiful."
"I'm going to miss this," she sighed, "It's going to be so hard leaving."
"We'll come back to visit as often as we can, I promise. I know it's going to be hard for you but we'll spend the summer here if you want."
"I never thought I'd leave this place."
Mike smiled reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone, "Come on, let's take a picture."
"Okay," Danielle agreed looking at Mike and noticing how adorable he looked wearing his glasses.
Mike pulled her close, putting his arm around her waist hugging her to him. Danielle wrapped her arms around him and smiled as Mike put his cheek next to hers and took the picture with his free hand.
"Let me see it," she said and Mike showed it to her, "Aw, I like it. Can you send it to me?"
"Would you mind if I posted this on my Twitter account," Mike asked.
Danielle looked up from her phone after saving the picture with wide eyes, "What?"
"It's only a matter of time before people find out about us, I just want to do it the right way before people make up their own stories."
"I just don't want people to think I'm a slut."
"You're not a slut," Mike replied, "As far as people know, I'm single but I can always say I kept you a secret because I didn't want you in the spotlight since I wanted my personal life private."
Danielle didn't say anything as she put her hands on the railing, staring out into the night at the lit up skyline. Mike put his hand over hers, "Do you trust me," he asked.
Danielle closed her eyes causing him to sigh, "Look at me," he said lifting her chin, "I promise everything will be okay, of course people are going to make up their own stories but you'll grow used to it. You're not alone in this, I'm here for you."
"I know," she replied and Mike gave her a kiss.
"We need to work on telling each other our fears if this relationship is going to work."
"Calm down, Romeo. We've only been on one date," Danielle joked causing Mike to laugh.
"Make it two," he smiled, "Did you forget about New Years already?"
"That doesn't count because it was a team thing."
"We kissed that night didn't we? I think it was a date since kissing was involved."
"You're weird!"
"I'm not weird; I just have a wild imagination."
"What are you, four years old?"
"Bite me," Mike said as they continued to taunt each other, "Can I post the picture?"
"Go ahead; just make sure you mention me."
"What's your mention? I didn't even know you have a Twitter."
"Who doesn't have a twitter?"
"Brooks doesn't."
"Well, he's a reject then."
"I'm pretty sure Kiley would monitor it like a hawk."
"I'm going to monitor yours; I don't need any puck bunnies trying to steal my baby daddy."
"You are not on Maury, don't ever talk ghetto again."
"Whatever, wannabe bad boy!"
"I am a bad boy," Mike argued.
"You are not, just because you play hockey, have fast sports cars, a sleeve tattoo, and emo glasses does not make you a bad boy. You're so mannerly, it's sick."
"Excuse my mom for raising me right," Mike laughed.
"Point proven, you're a momma's boy too," Danielle replied sticking her tongue out.
Mike leaned forward and captured Danielle's lips with his. Her hands slowly slid up the black winter coat he was wearing as he swiped his tongue over her bottom lip. Danielle gasped and he took it as an opportunity to slide his tongue in her mouth.
As they kissed, Mike felt his phone vibrate. He knew people were tweeting him about the picture but he didn't care. Danielle pulled away for air and Mike placed his forehead against hers.
"Don't ever stick your tongue out at me unless you plan on using it," he smirked starting the car to drive them home as the snow started to fall.
Danielle smiled and put her head back against the seat. She was tired from being up all night sick, "I've changed my mind," she said as they drove over the bridge back into the city.
"About what?"
"Let's go to Seven Springs with my parents, I could use a night in the hot tub."
"Sounds good to me, already have the bags in the back."
"You sneaky bastard, you planned this."
"No, I didn't. I did have a feeling that you would change your mind, so while you were taking a bath earlier, I packed your bag and mine."
"Such a sneak!"
Mike laughed as Danielle directed him how to get to the ski resort. An hour and a half later, they pulled into the parking lot of the mountain resort.
"Where do we go now?"
"I have a pretty good idea of where to go, but I’ll call my dad to come get meet us that way we don’t get lost in the woods on the way.”
Danielle called her dad and he said he’d be there shortly and to just wait since the snow was coming down thicker in the mountains, “I’m fucking freezing,” she complained wrapping her arms around herself.
Mike moved closer to her, putting his arm around her and hugging her to him running his hands up and down her arms, “Better?”
“A little bit, thank you.”
Mike just smiled as he opened his coat and pulled her to his chest wrapping the coat around the both of them, “This is nice and warm,” Danielle said as Dan pulled in.
“You guys may want to follow me just down the road to the back of the resort,” he said, “We better go now before it gets to icy. The plows are coming out in the morning.”
Mike let Danielle go and she pouted before getting back into the car as Mike revved the engine to life and followed her dad down the icy mountain road.
“The cabin next to us is empty; it was part of our rental. You guys can use that one if you want.”
Danielle breezed by Mike, taking the key from Dan’s hand and ran up the steps to the cabin.
“You two feel free to chat but I’m cold and I’m starting the fire before I turn into a snowman,” she said as she shut the door to the cabin.
Once she was inside, Dan turned to Mike who looked uneasy suddenly alone with the girl he knocked up’s father, “I take it that you two talked everything out.”
“We did,” Mike replied, “We actually went on a date tonight and agreed that we would try labeling ourselves as something other than what we were, I don’t even know what we were. Two strangers having a kid, I guess.”
“Just don’t hurt her,” Dan warned, “I can tell you have a good head on your shoulders and you make a fine living for yourself and I know you’ll take care of her but I’m just being a dad who doesn’t want to let my daughter go.”
“I promise I’m going to take great care of her, she’ll be safe with me.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” he said sticking his hand out for Mike to shake, “Do you need any help with the bags?”
“Nope, I put all of our stuff in my bag, I’m good. Thanks for the offer.”
“No problem, I’m going to head in and get some sleep. Want to meet for breakfast in the morning?”
“That’d be good,” Mike replied smiling, “I’ll let Danielle know.”
“Goodnight, son,” Dan said walking into the cabin that he and Shelley were sharing. Mike opened the back of the SUV and grabbed the duffle bag that he had packed for both he and Danielle and he headed into the cabin.
Danielle was sitting on the couch with a mug of hot tea. Mike knew it was tea because there was a string hanging out the side of the mug.
“I packed you a swimsuit, want to go sit in the hot tub for a little bit?”
“But I’m warm already,” Danielle whined, “It’s freezing out there.”
“Don’t be such a baby,” Mike joked, “We’ll come right in and sit by the fireplace if you want. You said it yourself that you wanted to relax in the jacuzzi.”
“You’re just trying to get me naked.”
“I am not!”
“Whatever, Green. See, I told you that I saw right through you.”
“Whatever,” Mike said rolling his eyes smiling, “Just go change.”
Mike put the bag on the couch and reached into the side pocket and handed Danielle the bikini that he found in her dresser. It was the one she had on in the picture he had seen the day before and he was determined to see her in it himself.
“There’s no way in hell that I am wearing this thing,” she said breaking Mike out of his trance, “I’m fucking fat because I’m pregnant and wearing this is going to make me feel like a blimp.”
“Well, it’s all I could find in your room so you’re wearing it. Who gives a fuck if you’re pregnant? It’s my kid anyways and it’s not like someone is going to see us, just do it besides you’re beautiful.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re my kid’s father.”
“I’m saying that because it’s true,” Mike said cupping her cheek in his hand, “I’m taking the words out of Hannan’s mouth when I tell you that you being pregnant with my child is the most beautiful thing in the world.”
Danielle closed her eyes and Mike wrapped his arms around her leaning down to give her a kiss, “What scares me is how close we have become in such a short amount of time, it’s almost like everything is too good to be true.”
“Just wait until we get to DC, I’m going to treat you like a princess.”
“We’re not even together officially.”
“A couple more dates and we will be now can you please go put your swimsuit on before I sweat to death indoors with all of my layers on.”
Danielle smiled and freed herself before going walking up the stairs to the bathroom to change, “Mike,” she called down the steps, “There’s only one room and it has one bed.”
“I’ll sleep on the couch,” he replied, “Don’t worry about it, it’s no big deal.”
Mike took off his coat and put it on the wicker chair in the small living room of the cabin. His boots had been discarded at the door and Mike was taking his shirt off to strip down to his boxers since he left his swim trunks in DC when he heard Danielle catcall behind him.
Turning around, Mike smirked as she stared at him, “If you take a picture, it’ll last longer,” he said causing Danielle to roll her eyes.
“I’ve seen countless pictures of you shirtless and you with a wife-beater on, trust me I’m immune to it by now, however, the underwear definitely may need a picture taken.”
“You’re such a whore,” Mike replied sticking his tongue out at her.
“Don’t make me do what you did to me earlier when I stuck mine out, keep taunting me Green and you will see that I’m not as innocent as I look. You don’t know the half of what I can do with my tongue.”
Mike gulped and Danielle laughed as she walked out of the side door of the cabin where the hot tub was located. She slowly eased her way in and shut her eyes letting the hot water relax her aching pregnant body. The snow was falling down and Danielle opened her eyes watching it fall off the porch. She wished the roof wasn’t over her head so she could look up at the night sky and watch it fall.
Danielle felt the water shift and when she turned her head, she saw Mike sitting next to her, “What are you thinking about,” he asked.
“Nothing really,” she replied honestly, “Just wishing the roof wasn’t here so I could watch the snow fall as the stars glisten.”
Mike smiled and Danielle laid her head back closing her eyes enjoying his company and the jets massaging her back. Mike watched her for a while before he too let his head fall back letting the water massage his aching joints. He made a mental note to invest in a hot tub if he ever moved out of his condo but right now his bathtub with the jacuzzi jets would have to do.
Danielle started snoring lightly and Mike gently shook her awake, “Come on Danielle, you fell asleep. Let’s get you to bed.”
She nodded her head slowly and let Mike help her out of hot tub. Mike wrapped a robe around her and lifted her up, carrying her into the house. Mike placed her down gently on the bed before going over to his duffle bag to hand her one of his sweatshirts. Danielle lifted her arms for him to put it on her. Mike took the robe from the bed and tossed it to the floor before sliding the sweatshirt over her.
“Goodnight, Danielle,” he whispered as she laid back and closed her eyes. Mike was putting the blanket over her when she moved over and pulled him in bed next to her.
Mike didn’t bother to argue, he was just as tired as she was and didn’t bother to tell her no. Over the past couple of days, the more time he spent with her, the more he liked her. He never got this close to a woman before, the more he thought about it, the more he began to realize that maybe Danielle was brought into his life for a reason and the closer he got to her, the more he realized that everything happens for a reason and Danielle was here to stay.
"It was my first time here," she replied shyly, "Definitely coming back."
"When we come to visit after the baby's born, we'll rent the place out and have a family get together."
"You've met my family, so when do I get to meet yours?"
"They'll come to visit, don't worry," Mike replied smiling taking Danielle's hand in his as they walked to his SUV two streets over.
"I may get to meet them if I don't freeze to death walking."
"It's a lot colder here than I thought it would be."
"No shit, Sherlock, this ain't Florida."
"You're a smartass!"
"...and you're an idiot," Danielle smirked causing Mike to roll his eyes as they finally reached his car.
"Where are we going now," he asked opening the door for her.
"Just get in, I'll tell you which way to go."
"Should I be scared? Are you going to murder me or something?"
"I used to want to murder you but when I found out you weren't the douche everybody thinks you are, I changed my mind."
"It really bothers me that people think that, I'm nothing like that."
"I know," Danielle replied patting his thigh, "But what matters is I know you're nothing like that."
"Where exactly are you taking me?"
"Have you ever seen the city skyline at night?"
"I can't say that I have."
"Turn left at the light," Danielle instructed as the light turned green.
Mike went up the long hill and looked at Danielle questioningly as they entered a residential area.
"Now where?"
"Make a right and look for a parking space when you see the city come into view again."
Mike made the turn and as the city skyline appeared, he pulled into a vacant parking space. Danielle unfastened her seatbelt and waited for Mike to lock it.
Danielle took his hand and led him over to the railing that over looked the city skyline from high up on the other side of the river.
"Wow," Mike said putting his arm around her waist, "It's beautiful."
"I'm going to miss this," she sighed, "It's going to be so hard leaving."
"We'll come back to visit as often as we can, I promise. I know it's going to be hard for you but we'll spend the summer here if you want."
"I never thought I'd leave this place."
Mike smiled reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone, "Come on, let's take a picture."
"Okay," Danielle agreed looking at Mike and noticing how adorable he looked wearing his glasses.
Mike pulled her close, putting his arm around her waist hugging her to him. Danielle wrapped her arms around him and smiled as Mike put his cheek next to hers and took the picture with his free hand.
"Let me see it," she said and Mike showed it to her, "Aw, I like it. Can you send it to me?"
"Would you mind if I posted this on my Twitter account," Mike asked.
Danielle looked up from her phone after saving the picture with wide eyes, "What?"
"It's only a matter of time before people find out about us, I just want to do it the right way before people make up their own stories."
"I just don't want people to think I'm a slut."
"You're not a slut," Mike replied, "As far as people know, I'm single but I can always say I kept you a secret because I didn't want you in the spotlight since I wanted my personal life private."
Danielle didn't say anything as she put her hands on the railing, staring out into the night at the lit up skyline. Mike put his hand over hers, "Do you trust me," he asked.
Danielle closed her eyes causing him to sigh, "Look at me," he said lifting her chin, "I promise everything will be okay, of course people are going to make up their own stories but you'll grow used to it. You're not alone in this, I'm here for you."
"I know," she replied and Mike gave her a kiss.
"We need to work on telling each other our fears if this relationship is going to work."
"Calm down, Romeo. We've only been on one date," Danielle joked causing Mike to laugh.
"Make it two," he smiled, "Did you forget about New Years already?"
"That doesn't count because it was a team thing."
"We kissed that night didn't we? I think it was a date since kissing was involved."
"You're weird!"
"I'm not weird; I just have a wild imagination."
"What are you, four years old?"
"Bite me," Mike said as they continued to taunt each other, "Can I post the picture?"
"Go ahead; just make sure you mention me."
"What's your mention? I didn't even know you have a Twitter."
"Who doesn't have a twitter?"
"Brooks doesn't."
"Well, he's a reject then."
"I'm pretty sure Kiley would monitor it like a hawk."
"I'm going to monitor yours; I don't need any puck bunnies trying to steal my baby daddy."
"You are not on Maury, don't ever talk ghetto again."
"Whatever, wannabe bad boy!"
"I am a bad boy," Mike argued.
"You are not, just because you play hockey, have fast sports cars, a sleeve tattoo, and emo glasses does not make you a bad boy. You're so mannerly, it's sick."
"Excuse my mom for raising me right," Mike laughed.
"Point proven, you're a momma's boy too," Danielle replied sticking her tongue out.
Mike leaned forward and captured Danielle's lips with his. Her hands slowly slid up the black winter coat he was wearing as he swiped his tongue over her bottom lip. Danielle gasped and he took it as an opportunity to slide his tongue in her mouth.
As they kissed, Mike felt his phone vibrate. He knew people were tweeting him about the picture but he didn't care. Danielle pulled away for air and Mike placed his forehead against hers.
"Don't ever stick your tongue out at me unless you plan on using it," he smirked starting the car to drive them home as the snow started to fall.
Danielle smiled and put her head back against the seat. She was tired from being up all night sick, "I've changed my mind," she said as they drove over the bridge back into the city.
"About what?"
"Let's go to Seven Springs with my parents, I could use a night in the hot tub."
"Sounds good to me, already have the bags in the back."
"You sneaky bastard, you planned this."
"No, I didn't. I did have a feeling that you would change your mind, so while you were taking a bath earlier, I packed your bag and mine."
"Such a sneak!"
Mike laughed as Danielle directed him how to get to the ski resort. An hour and a half later, they pulled into the parking lot of the mountain resort.
"Where do we go now?"
"I have a pretty good idea of where to go, but I’ll call my dad to come get meet us that way we don’t get lost in the woods on the way.”
Danielle called her dad and he said he’d be there shortly and to just wait since the snow was coming down thicker in the mountains, “I’m fucking freezing,” she complained wrapping her arms around herself.
Mike moved closer to her, putting his arm around her and hugging her to him running his hands up and down her arms, “Better?”
“A little bit, thank you.”
Mike just smiled as he opened his coat and pulled her to his chest wrapping the coat around the both of them, “This is nice and warm,” Danielle said as Dan pulled in.
“You guys may want to follow me just down the road to the back of the resort,” he said, “We better go now before it gets to icy. The plows are coming out in the morning.”
Mike let Danielle go and she pouted before getting back into the car as Mike revved the engine to life and followed her dad down the icy mountain road.
“The cabin next to us is empty; it was part of our rental. You guys can use that one if you want.”
Danielle breezed by Mike, taking the key from Dan’s hand and ran up the steps to the cabin.
“You two feel free to chat but I’m cold and I’m starting the fire before I turn into a snowman,” she said as she shut the door to the cabin.
Once she was inside, Dan turned to Mike who looked uneasy suddenly alone with the girl he knocked up’s father, “I take it that you two talked everything out.”
“We did,” Mike replied, “We actually went on a date tonight and agreed that we would try labeling ourselves as something other than what we were, I don’t even know what we were. Two strangers having a kid, I guess.”
“Just don’t hurt her,” Dan warned, “I can tell you have a good head on your shoulders and you make a fine living for yourself and I know you’ll take care of her but I’m just being a dad who doesn’t want to let my daughter go.”
“I promise I’m going to take great care of her, she’ll be safe with me.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” he said sticking his hand out for Mike to shake, “Do you need any help with the bags?”
“Nope, I put all of our stuff in my bag, I’m good. Thanks for the offer.”
“No problem, I’m going to head in and get some sleep. Want to meet for breakfast in the morning?”
“That’d be good,” Mike replied smiling, “I’ll let Danielle know.”
“Goodnight, son,” Dan said walking into the cabin that he and Shelley were sharing. Mike opened the back of the SUV and grabbed the duffle bag that he had packed for both he and Danielle and he headed into the cabin.
Danielle was sitting on the couch with a mug of hot tea. Mike knew it was tea because there was a string hanging out the side of the mug.
“I packed you a swimsuit, want to go sit in the hot tub for a little bit?”
“But I’m warm already,” Danielle whined, “It’s freezing out there.”
“Don’t be such a baby,” Mike joked, “We’ll come right in and sit by the fireplace if you want. You said it yourself that you wanted to relax in the jacuzzi.”
“You’re just trying to get me naked.”
“I am not!”
“Whatever, Green. See, I told you that I saw right through you.”
“Whatever,” Mike said rolling his eyes smiling, “Just go change.”
Mike put the bag on the couch and reached into the side pocket and handed Danielle the bikini that he found in her dresser. It was the one she had on in the picture he had seen the day before and he was determined to see her in it himself.
“There’s no way in hell that I am wearing this thing,” she said breaking Mike out of his trance, “I’m fucking fat because I’m pregnant and wearing this is going to make me feel like a blimp.”
“Well, it’s all I could find in your room so you’re wearing it. Who gives a fuck if you’re pregnant? It’s my kid anyways and it’s not like someone is going to see us, just do it besides you’re beautiful.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re my kid’s father.”
“I’m saying that because it’s true,” Mike said cupping her cheek in his hand, “I’m taking the words out of Hannan’s mouth when I tell you that you being pregnant with my child is the most beautiful thing in the world.”
Danielle closed her eyes and Mike wrapped his arms around her leaning down to give her a kiss, “What scares me is how close we have become in such a short amount of time, it’s almost like everything is too good to be true.”
“Just wait until we get to DC, I’m going to treat you like a princess.”
“We’re not even together officially.”
“A couple more dates and we will be now can you please go put your swimsuit on before I sweat to death indoors with all of my layers on.”
Danielle smiled and freed herself before going walking up the stairs to the bathroom to change, “Mike,” she called down the steps, “There’s only one room and it has one bed.”
“I’ll sleep on the couch,” he replied, “Don’t worry about it, it’s no big deal.”
Mike took off his coat and put it on the wicker chair in the small living room of the cabin. His boots had been discarded at the door and Mike was taking his shirt off to strip down to his boxers since he left his swim trunks in DC when he heard Danielle catcall behind him.
Turning around, Mike smirked as she stared at him, “If you take a picture, it’ll last longer,” he said causing Danielle to roll her eyes.
“I’ve seen countless pictures of you shirtless and you with a wife-beater on, trust me I’m immune to it by now, however, the underwear definitely may need a picture taken.”
“You’re such a whore,” Mike replied sticking his tongue out at her.
“Don’t make me do what you did to me earlier when I stuck mine out, keep taunting me Green and you will see that I’m not as innocent as I look. You don’t know the half of what I can do with my tongue.”
Mike gulped and Danielle laughed as she walked out of the side door of the cabin where the hot tub was located. She slowly eased her way in and shut her eyes letting the hot water relax her aching pregnant body. The snow was falling down and Danielle opened her eyes watching it fall off the porch. She wished the roof wasn’t over her head so she could look up at the night sky and watch it fall.
Danielle felt the water shift and when she turned her head, she saw Mike sitting next to her, “What are you thinking about,” he asked.
“Nothing really,” she replied honestly, “Just wishing the roof wasn’t here so I could watch the snow fall as the stars glisten.”
Mike smiled and Danielle laid her head back closing her eyes enjoying his company and the jets massaging her back. Mike watched her for a while before he too let his head fall back letting the water massage his aching joints. He made a mental note to invest in a hot tub if he ever moved out of his condo but right now his bathtub with the jacuzzi jets would have to do.
Danielle started snoring lightly and Mike gently shook her awake, “Come on Danielle, you fell asleep. Let’s get you to bed.”
She nodded her head slowly and let Mike help her out of hot tub. Mike wrapped a robe around her and lifted her up, carrying her into the house. Mike placed her down gently on the bed before going over to his duffle bag to hand her one of his sweatshirts. Danielle lifted her arms for him to put it on her. Mike took the robe from the bed and tossed it to the floor before sliding the sweatshirt over her.
“Goodnight, Danielle,” he whispered as she laid back and closed her eyes. Mike was putting the blanket over her when she moved over and pulled him in bed next to her.
Mike didn’t bother to argue, he was just as tired as she was and didn’t bother to tell her no. Over the past couple of days, the more time he spent with her, the more he liked her. He never got this close to a woman before, the more he thought about it, the more he began to realize that maybe Danielle was brought into his life for a reason and the closer he got to her, the more he realized that everything happens for a reason and Danielle was here to stay.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Chapter 5-No Excuses
"She really left," Brooks Laich asked as the guys sat around the table at the club after a hard fought victory over the Philadelphia Flyers
"I don't know what to do anymore, I give up. Honestly, I fucking do. I brought Danielle out here to look for schools and a doctor. I wasn't going to let her work, I was going to take care of her like we were together but she told me she didn't want to give up her life in Pittsburgh."
"It's your kid though; you deserve to be a part of its life."
"Everything was going great after we got to know each other. I honestly thought she'd stay, I wanted her to. I got so used to her being there after games, cooking for me and hugging me when we had a rough loss."
"You're rambling man," Brooks laughed, "You like her."
"No, I don't. She's my baby's mother, nothing more."
"Then why have you shot down countless pieces of ass tonight. The old Mike would be out of this club in a heartbeat with the first chick that came up to him but tonight, you're in a daze. Now you're rambling about Danielle, you like her."
"I hate that you're right," Mike sighed taking a sip of his drink.
"You need to talk to her again."
"How am I supposed to talk to her when she's ignoring my calls and text messages?"
"We literally have 5 days off between games. That never happens and since we won tonight we won't have practice until morning skate on Friday."
"I don't get it."
"Mike, I'm telling you to fucking go to her. Tell her everything, hell fucking talk to her family if you have to. Just don't leave until you have answers."
"You're right," Mike replied, "I'm going home to call her mom."
"Do what you have to do, let me know how it goes."
"I will, thanks man."
Brooks shook Mike's hand and Mike left the club to head home.
"Hello," Shelley answered.
"Mrs. James," Mike said.
"Who is this?"
"It's Mike!"
"Mike?"
"Danielle's friend," Mike replied unsure what he should call himself.
"Oh! Hey honey, sorry it's late and I didn't recognize your voice. Is everything okay?"
"I'm sorry to be bothering you right now but something's been bothering me and I need to ask you about it."
"What's wrong?"
"Has Danielle said anything about moving here?"
"She just told me what I already knew, why what happened?"
"She told me that she refuses to move here with me because she doesn't want to give up her life. I know it's selfish of me but I want her here. I even told her I'd put in for a trade but she told me no and she won't move. Every time I try to talk to her, she changes the subject and then she just sweeps everything under the rug.”
“Do you want me to talk to her,” Shelley asked.
"I'm packing now to come up there to talk to her. I have a couple of days off and I'm not leaving until everything's settled."
"Should I tell her that you are coming?"
"No " Mike replied quickly, "I'm afraid that if she knows I'm coming, she will try to avoid me."
"What time should I expect you here?"
"I'm leaving now, so I should be there at about eight since I'll stop on the way and rest," he said glancing at the clock on the wall that read quarter to one in the morning.
"There's a key in the mailbox, just go to the guestroom and sleep there but keep the door shut."
"Thank you, for everything Mrs. James."
"You better start calling me Shelley or else I'll deny my grandbaby," she joked causing Mike to laugh.
"Have a good night, Shelley."
"Be careful driving her, be safe."
"Will do, bye."
Mike ended the phone call and checked the weather so he knew what car to take. It had become full out winter on the East Coast, therefore, Mike decided that he needed to take the Escalade to Pittsburgh since snow was forecasted for both Arlington and Pittsburgh.
Grabbing a couple of hoodies and t-shirts from the racks in his closet, Mike put them in an overnight bag along with boots and jeans before heading out into the living room. Mike shuffled through the cabinets for his thermal coffee cup before turning on the Keurig coffee maker to brew a cup of coffee in order to keep him awake on the road.
After driving for what felt like hours, Mike finally stopped at a rest stop just outside the Pittsburgh city limits.
He called Shelley and let her know he'd be arriving shortly. The sun was coming up over the city skyline and it slightly disappointed Mike that DC didn't have skyscrapers since no building was allowed to be taller than the Washington Monument.
Mike parked on the side street where Shelley told him to so Danielle wouldn't see the luxurious SUV that she had grown used to driving in Arlington.
Mike grabbed his bag from the backseat and made his way over to the house. He reached into the mailbox and found the keys. He noticed that the purple Pontiac sunfire was gone which meant Danielle was at work.
"Hello," Mike called out down the hall, "Anyone home."
"In here," Shelley's voice called out from the dining room, "Are you hungry?"
"A little bit," Mike replied, "I couldn't eat, I'm kind of nervous."
"Everything will be okay, honey," she replied, "How about you go take your things upstairs and get settled and I'll make you some breakfast?"
"You don't have to do that. I'm okay until lunch."
"Shut up and let me cook."
Mike laughed thinking about how much Shelley sounded like his mom, "If you insist," he replied causing her to laugh.
"Dan went to the store down the street to get cigarettes, he'll be back shortly. Make yourself feel at home."
"Thank you!"
"No need to thank me. You're welcomed in this house anytime."
"Which room is mine?""
"Top of the stairs, first door on the left."
Mike smiled grabbing his bag before heading upstairs to the guest bedroom. He placed his bag on the bed before taking his shoes off, suddenly realizing he hadn't removed them at the door like his mother taught him growing up. Making a mental note to apologize to Shelley later, he walked across the hall to use the bathroom.
On his way back to his room, he noticed the room right next to his must have been Danielle's. He remembered that she told him she liked the color pink, which made the only pink door in a sea of white stand out.
Mike let curiosity get the best of him and he slowly opened the pink door. He couldn't help but laugh as he saw the single red t-shirt among a sea of Pens jerseys with his name and number on the back. He looked around and saw pictures of Danielle and Kristi laying poolside with the girl he had been introduced to at Christmas as Jamie.
He gulped as he saw the Famous Stars and Straps bikini Danielle was wearing. He only saw her in jeans and t-shirts, he wished he remembered them sleeping together.
"Mike," Shelley said, "Food's ready."
Mike snapped back to reality and shut the door to Danielle's behind him.
"What a surprise," Dan said shaking Mike's hand as he entered the dining room, "What are you doing here?"
"I needed to come convince Danielle to move to Arlington since she refuses to."
"Why? She really has no reason to stay here, we already told her it was okay."
"Something about school, you guys, and work."
"I do not understand that girl sometimes," Dan said as Shelley placed a plate of bacon, eggs, hash browns, and toast in front of them.
"Coffee or orange juice," she asked Mike.
"Orange juice, please?"
Shelley poured him a glass and went back into the kitchen to clean up while Dan and Mike made small talk.
"What time does Danielle get off of work," Mike asked.
"I think five o'clock," Dan replied, "I'm not sure, why?"
"I was thinking you guys could go away for the weekend while Danielle and I settle this. I think it'd be better if you two weren't here that way she has no way out of this."
"Dan, Carol and Tony were just talking about going to Seven Springs for the weekend, why don't you give Tony a call and see if they left yet?"
"We could use the break," Dan said smiling, "You and Danielle are more than welcomed to come up after you get everything settled."
"I plan on not leaving here without her."
Dan smiled while grabbing his phone out of his pocket to call his brother and sister-in-law to tell them they'd be joining them after all. Mike sat five, one hundred dollar bills on the table.
Dan handed them back to him but after Mike insisted he foot the bill after everything he and Shelley were doing for him, Dan gratefully accepted the money; thanking Mike more than once.
Shelley and Dan were packed and ready to go by two o'clock. Mike was in the game room shooting pool to keep him occupied until Danielle got home.
Mike was ready to head up the steps to the kitchen when he heard the front door open and Danielle's voice calling out to her parent's that she was home.
Mike decided to make his presence known as he quietly ascended up the stairs. The door to the hall closet was open and Mike stood behind it while Danielle hung up her coat.
"MIKE, HOLY SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE," Danielle yelled startled as she clutched her chest.
If this was any other day but today, Mike would laugh at the shock but he was here to take care of business and that is just what he planned to do.
"Well, since you won't return any of my phone calls," he began, "I called your mom and explained everything to her, so she invited me here to talk some sense into you."
"Fuck you," Danielle spat, "I don't owe you shit."
"You're right, you don't owe me anything but you do owe my child a father and me no excuses as to why you won't move to Arlington. Your parents are okay with it; Kristi agreed to move down to keep you company so she could get closer to Nicky and you could have a friend and a piece of your life there, but you keep giving me bullshit reasons as to why you won't move. I like you, Danielle. I like you a lot, not just because you're pregnant with my baby but you treat me like a normal guy and not Mike Green the hockey player. You make me laugh and I smile all day long thinking of you, I invited you to DC over New Years to get to know the real you, the same way you broke down the real me by walking into my life. I can be myself around you, I don't have to throw my money around or flash my cars because none of it matters to you. I don't want to live alone in that house knowing you aren't there because I'm just as scared as you are. I'm not letting you walk out of my life, Danielle."
Danielle stood there too shocked to move as Mike stepped forward and took her hand in his, "Please come back with me, we'll teach each other not to be scared. You're not alone in this situation, I'm here and I want it to stay that way but Dani you got to meet me half way."
Danielle pulled her hand away and wrapped her arms around Mike's waist, "I'm so sorry," she cried as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Shh," Mike said running his hands down her back soothingly, "It's okay, don't cry. I didn't mean to make you cry. God, I'm so sorry."
Danielle squeezed him tighter and Mike lifted her up as he walked towards the living room and sat down on the couch. Danielle curled herself into his chest and Mike held her to him not letting go.
"Mike," Danielle whispered.
"What," he asked placing his cheek on her head as he traced her arm with his fingers.
"I'll move to DC on one condition."
"What's that?"
"You promise me I never have to wear a hideous red jersey."
"I can't promise you that after seeing my jersey hanging in your closet," he joked and Danielle smacked his chest, "I'm being serious Danielle, please come back with me."
"Okay," Danielle agreed pulling away from Mike. She slowly leaned her head down towards his and Mike met her half way quickly claiming her lips with his.
It was nothing like New Years Eve when they had no choice but to do it at midnight. This kiss was soft and sweet and it left them both wanting more but if this new direction in both of their lives was going work, they needed to move things slow with no excuses.
"Go get changed," Mike said breaking the kiss.
"Why? Where are we going?"
"Your parents rented a cabin this weekend at some place called Seven Springs and they invited us to go as well but we weren't allowed to come up until we reached an agreement."
"I'd rather stay here," Danielle replied, "I've had enough of my parents for a while."
"Snowboarding isn't a good idea. for me right now anyways but come on go get dressed anyways, I'll take you out to dinner."
"Are you asking me out?"
"Obviously," Mike laughed.
"Don't laugh at me or else I won't move anywhere."
"No excuses, Danielle, no excuses," he said and that's exactly what he meant.
"I don't know what to do anymore, I give up. Honestly, I fucking do. I brought Danielle out here to look for schools and a doctor. I wasn't going to let her work, I was going to take care of her like we were together but she told me she didn't want to give up her life in Pittsburgh."
"It's your kid though; you deserve to be a part of its life."
"Everything was going great after we got to know each other. I honestly thought she'd stay, I wanted her to. I got so used to her being there after games, cooking for me and hugging me when we had a rough loss."
"You're rambling man," Brooks laughed, "You like her."
"No, I don't. She's my baby's mother, nothing more."
"Then why have you shot down countless pieces of ass tonight. The old Mike would be out of this club in a heartbeat with the first chick that came up to him but tonight, you're in a daze. Now you're rambling about Danielle, you like her."
"I hate that you're right," Mike sighed taking a sip of his drink.
"You need to talk to her again."
"How am I supposed to talk to her when she's ignoring my calls and text messages?"
"We literally have 5 days off between games. That never happens and since we won tonight we won't have practice until morning skate on Friday."
"I don't get it."
"Mike, I'm telling you to fucking go to her. Tell her everything, hell fucking talk to her family if you have to. Just don't leave until you have answers."
"You're right," Mike replied, "I'm going home to call her mom."
"Do what you have to do, let me know how it goes."
"I will, thanks man."
Brooks shook Mike's hand and Mike left the club to head home.
"Hello," Shelley answered.
"Mrs. James," Mike said.
"Who is this?"
"It's Mike!"
"Mike?"
"Danielle's friend," Mike replied unsure what he should call himself.
"Oh! Hey honey, sorry it's late and I didn't recognize your voice. Is everything okay?"
"I'm sorry to be bothering you right now but something's been bothering me and I need to ask you about it."
"What's wrong?"
"Has Danielle said anything about moving here?"
"She just told me what I already knew, why what happened?"
"She told me that she refuses to move here with me because she doesn't want to give up her life. I know it's selfish of me but I want her here. I even told her I'd put in for a trade but she told me no and she won't move. Every time I try to talk to her, she changes the subject and then she just sweeps everything under the rug.”
“Do you want me to talk to her,” Shelley asked.
"I'm packing now to come up there to talk to her. I have a couple of days off and I'm not leaving until everything's settled."
"Should I tell her that you are coming?"
"No " Mike replied quickly, "I'm afraid that if she knows I'm coming, she will try to avoid me."
"What time should I expect you here?"
"I'm leaving now, so I should be there at about eight since I'll stop on the way and rest," he said glancing at the clock on the wall that read quarter to one in the morning.
"There's a key in the mailbox, just go to the guestroom and sleep there but keep the door shut."
"Thank you, for everything Mrs. James."
"You better start calling me Shelley or else I'll deny my grandbaby," she joked causing Mike to laugh.
"Have a good night, Shelley."
"Be careful driving her, be safe."
"Will do, bye."
Mike ended the phone call and checked the weather so he knew what car to take. It had become full out winter on the East Coast, therefore, Mike decided that he needed to take the Escalade to Pittsburgh since snow was forecasted for both Arlington and Pittsburgh.
Grabbing a couple of hoodies and t-shirts from the racks in his closet, Mike put them in an overnight bag along with boots and jeans before heading out into the living room. Mike shuffled through the cabinets for his thermal coffee cup before turning on the Keurig coffee maker to brew a cup of coffee in order to keep him awake on the road.
After driving for what felt like hours, Mike finally stopped at a rest stop just outside the Pittsburgh city limits.
He called Shelley and let her know he'd be arriving shortly. The sun was coming up over the city skyline and it slightly disappointed Mike that DC didn't have skyscrapers since no building was allowed to be taller than the Washington Monument.
Mike parked on the side street where Shelley told him to so Danielle wouldn't see the luxurious SUV that she had grown used to driving in Arlington.
Mike grabbed his bag from the backseat and made his way over to the house. He reached into the mailbox and found the keys. He noticed that the purple Pontiac sunfire was gone which meant Danielle was at work.
"Hello," Mike called out down the hall, "Anyone home."
"In here," Shelley's voice called out from the dining room, "Are you hungry?"
"A little bit," Mike replied, "I couldn't eat, I'm kind of nervous."
"Everything will be okay, honey," she replied, "How about you go take your things upstairs and get settled and I'll make you some breakfast?"
"You don't have to do that. I'm okay until lunch."
"Shut up and let me cook."
Mike laughed thinking about how much Shelley sounded like his mom, "If you insist," he replied causing her to laugh.
"Dan went to the store down the street to get cigarettes, he'll be back shortly. Make yourself feel at home."
"Thank you!"
"No need to thank me. You're welcomed in this house anytime."
"Which room is mine?""
"Top of the stairs, first door on the left."
Mike smiled grabbing his bag before heading upstairs to the guest bedroom. He placed his bag on the bed before taking his shoes off, suddenly realizing he hadn't removed them at the door like his mother taught him growing up. Making a mental note to apologize to Shelley later, he walked across the hall to use the bathroom.
On his way back to his room, he noticed the room right next to his must have been Danielle's. He remembered that she told him she liked the color pink, which made the only pink door in a sea of white stand out.
Mike let curiosity get the best of him and he slowly opened the pink door. He couldn't help but laugh as he saw the single red t-shirt among a sea of Pens jerseys with his name and number on the back. He looked around and saw pictures of Danielle and Kristi laying poolside with the girl he had been introduced to at Christmas as Jamie.
He gulped as he saw the Famous Stars and Straps bikini Danielle was wearing. He only saw her in jeans and t-shirts, he wished he remembered them sleeping together.
"Mike," Shelley said, "Food's ready."
Mike snapped back to reality and shut the door to Danielle's behind him.
"What a surprise," Dan said shaking Mike's hand as he entered the dining room, "What are you doing here?"
"I needed to come convince Danielle to move to Arlington since she refuses to."
"Why? She really has no reason to stay here, we already told her it was okay."
"Something about school, you guys, and work."
"I do not understand that girl sometimes," Dan said as Shelley placed a plate of bacon, eggs, hash browns, and toast in front of them.
"Coffee or orange juice," she asked Mike.
"Orange juice, please?"
Shelley poured him a glass and went back into the kitchen to clean up while Dan and Mike made small talk.
"What time does Danielle get off of work," Mike asked.
"I think five o'clock," Dan replied, "I'm not sure, why?"
"I was thinking you guys could go away for the weekend while Danielle and I settle this. I think it'd be better if you two weren't here that way she has no way out of this."
"Dan, Carol and Tony were just talking about going to Seven Springs for the weekend, why don't you give Tony a call and see if they left yet?"
"We could use the break," Dan said smiling, "You and Danielle are more than welcomed to come up after you get everything settled."
"I plan on not leaving here without her."
Dan smiled while grabbing his phone out of his pocket to call his brother and sister-in-law to tell them they'd be joining them after all. Mike sat five, one hundred dollar bills on the table.
Dan handed them back to him but after Mike insisted he foot the bill after everything he and Shelley were doing for him, Dan gratefully accepted the money; thanking Mike more than once.
Shelley and Dan were packed and ready to go by two o'clock. Mike was in the game room shooting pool to keep him occupied until Danielle got home.
Mike was ready to head up the steps to the kitchen when he heard the front door open and Danielle's voice calling out to her parent's that she was home.
Mike decided to make his presence known as he quietly ascended up the stairs. The door to the hall closet was open and Mike stood behind it while Danielle hung up her coat.
"MIKE, HOLY SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE," Danielle yelled startled as she clutched her chest.
If this was any other day but today, Mike would laugh at the shock but he was here to take care of business and that is just what he planned to do.
"Well, since you won't return any of my phone calls," he began, "I called your mom and explained everything to her, so she invited me here to talk some sense into you."
"Fuck you," Danielle spat, "I don't owe you shit."
"You're right, you don't owe me anything but you do owe my child a father and me no excuses as to why you won't move to Arlington. Your parents are okay with it; Kristi agreed to move down to keep you company so she could get closer to Nicky and you could have a friend and a piece of your life there, but you keep giving me bullshit reasons as to why you won't move. I like you, Danielle. I like you a lot, not just because you're pregnant with my baby but you treat me like a normal guy and not Mike Green the hockey player. You make me laugh and I smile all day long thinking of you, I invited you to DC over New Years to get to know the real you, the same way you broke down the real me by walking into my life. I can be myself around you, I don't have to throw my money around or flash my cars because none of it matters to you. I don't want to live alone in that house knowing you aren't there because I'm just as scared as you are. I'm not letting you walk out of my life, Danielle."
Danielle stood there too shocked to move as Mike stepped forward and took her hand in his, "Please come back with me, we'll teach each other not to be scared. You're not alone in this situation, I'm here and I want it to stay that way but Dani you got to meet me half way."
Danielle pulled her hand away and wrapped her arms around Mike's waist, "I'm so sorry," she cried as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Shh," Mike said running his hands down her back soothingly, "It's okay, don't cry. I didn't mean to make you cry. God, I'm so sorry."
Danielle squeezed him tighter and Mike lifted her up as he walked towards the living room and sat down on the couch. Danielle curled herself into his chest and Mike held her to him not letting go.
"Mike," Danielle whispered.
"What," he asked placing his cheek on her head as he traced her arm with his fingers.
"I'll move to DC on one condition."
"What's that?"
"You promise me I never have to wear a hideous red jersey."
"I can't promise you that after seeing my jersey hanging in your closet," he joked and Danielle smacked his chest, "I'm being serious Danielle, please come back with me."
"Okay," Danielle agreed pulling away from Mike. She slowly leaned her head down towards his and Mike met her half way quickly claiming her lips with his.
It was nothing like New Years Eve when they had no choice but to do it at midnight. This kiss was soft and sweet and it left them both wanting more but if this new direction in both of their lives was going work, they needed to move things slow with no excuses.
"Go get changed," Mike said breaking the kiss.
"Why? Where are we going?"
"Your parents rented a cabin this weekend at some place called Seven Springs and they invited us to go as well but we weren't allowed to come up until we reached an agreement."
"I'd rather stay here," Danielle replied, "I've had enough of my parents for a while."
"Snowboarding isn't a good idea. for me right now anyways but come on go get dressed anyways, I'll take you out to dinner."
"Are you asking me out?"
"Obviously," Mike laughed.
"Don't laugh at me or else I won't move anywhere."
"No excuses, Danielle, no excuses," he said and that's exactly what he meant.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Chapter 4-Take a Chance on Me
"Danielle," Mike called out opening the door but got no response. He was returning home from a four game road trip and he just needed someone to talk to.
Of course he had plenty of people to talk to on the team but Danielle was a woman and she didn't turn serious situations into sexual innuendo.
"Danielle," he called out again, "I'm home."
Mike hung his keys on the hook by the door where he saw a note hanging where the Escalade keys hung.
Mike,
Kristy and I went to look at schools and jobs, I should have asked to borrow the truck but you didn't answer your phone. When I come home we need to talk. There's pasta salad in the refrigerator and I bought you a case of Heineken because it's green =).
I'll be home soon.
xo Danielle xo
Mike smiled and put the note on the counter in the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, he saw the pasta salad with green noodles next to the Heineken and he laughed.
Sitting down at the counter, he took a bite and he had to resist the urge to growl, the pasta was the best he ever had. Danielle was starting to spoil him with all of the cooking she did.
A voice pulled him from his thoughts and he smiled when he turned around and saw Danielle in one of his sweatshirts.
"Nice shirt," he said with a mouthful of food.
"Pig!"
Mike smiled and swallowed taking a drink from the beer can as he stood up from the stool and gave Danielle a hug.
"I missed you," he said squeezing her lightly.
"I wish I could say the same about you," Danielle replied smiling causing him to roll his eyes.
"Did you find a school," he asked.
"I think I'm going to do online classes, that way if people find out about me I won't be the center of attention."
"I barely know you, so how are they going to know who you are?"
"You're Mike Green, people in China know who you are."
"Oh yeah cause General Tso loves hockey."
"Mmmm speaking of General Tso, that sounds so good right about now."
Mike laughed, "So Chinese tonight for dinner."
"God that sounds amazing but you just ate."
"I'm always hungry," Mike replied, "How about I order takeout and we talk."
"Sounds good to me."
Mike grabbed the menu out of the drawer and ordered the food while Danielle changed.
"45 minutes," Mike said when Danielle came out of her room.
"That's fine," she replied smiling sitting down on the couch.
Mike sat next to her and turned on the TV, "What do you want to watch?"
"Let's watch Crybaby!"
"What's Crybaby?"
"It's my favorite movie of all time, it's an old John Waters movie with Johnny Depp and Rikki Lake."
"Johnny Depp, oh God no."
"I don't think he's hot, although put eyeliner on him and he's smoking."
"Jesus Christ," Mike laughed, "I've never saw that one."
"I have it in my suitcase, I brought it with me."
"I was going to say, I don't have that one."
"Freaking classic," Danielle said standing up suddenly, "I'll go get it."
"It better be good or we're watching Wedding Crashers."
"OH MY GOD, I love that movie too," she squealed causing Mike to laugh.
Danielle threw the DVD in Mike's lap and he put it in the DVD player as she curled up on the couch with a blanket.
"Move your legs," Mike ordered.
"Why, I'm comfortable."
Mike lifted Danielle's legs and put them on his lap as the movie began.
Danielle was enjoying the opening scene where Crybaby and his gang are getting TB vaccinations when the door bell rang.
Mike grabbed his wallet out of his pants and walked over to the door. He paid the delivery guy and walked into the kitchen.
"What do you want to drink," Mike asked.
"Water."
Mike grabbed two bottles of water and headed into the living room with the food.
"I paused the movie so you could see the whole thing."
"Thanks," Mike said handing her the take-out container of lo mein and the tin of chicken.
"What'd you get," Danielle asked.
"Sweet and sour chicken and fried rice, why?"
"Want to share? I'll give you half of mine for half of yours."
"Fair trade," Mike replied smiling as Danielle slid down to the floor and placed her food on the table. She patted the spot next to her and Mike joined her on the floor as they swapped food.
They ate in silence enjoying each other's company while watching the movie.
"You honestly know every song in this movie, don't you," Mike asked.
"I love this fucking movie."
Mike laughed and put his arm around Danielle's shoulders.
"I want you to stay," Mike admitted, "I'm used to you being here already and I don't want to miss anything with the baby."
"I'm going back to Pittsburgh in a couple of days for a doctor's appointment. You have a game here that day, I wanted you to be there but it's the only day that I could get in, I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Mike said, "Just call me when it's over and let me know how it goes. You're staying though, right?"
"I haven't decided yet, Mike you don't understand how hard this is. I'll be giving up everything I've known my whole life to come lie here."
"I can ask for a trade to Pittsburgh if that's what you want. I'll do anything to make this whole thing work."
"You're not asking for any trades, I want this to work but DC's not in the cards for me right now."
Mike didn't say a word and Danielle sighed, "I'm sorry, Mike."
"Just forget it," he replied coldly standing up, taking the empty containers with him.
"Mike, come on talk to me what's going on?"
"Nothing, Danielle, just drop it."
"I'm not dropping anything, Mike. I deserve to know why you suddenly decided to go psycho."
"You piss me off."
“I piss you off,” Danielle laughed sarcastically, “Come on Mike, let’s not go there.”
Mike rolled his eyes, “What do I do that could possibly piss you off? I could kick you out of my life and never see my child but I was a man about it and I stepped up to the plate to be there for you and our baby.”
“I’m not going to argue with you,” Danielle replied going to her room and slamming the door.
“Danielle,” he called out sighing, "Fuck!"
Mike kicked the trash can by the counter knocking it to the floor, running his hand over his head he walked down the hall and knocked on Danielle's door.
"Danielle," he whispered, "I'm sorry."
"Go away," she replied and Mike heard stuff being thown.
Opening the door slowly, he realized she was packing, "Where are you going?"
"Home," Danielle replied not looking up from the dresser, "I don't want to here anymore."
"Danielle," Mike sighed walking over to her, grabbing her wrist gently, "Don't go."
"I have a life in Pittsburgh, Mike. I need to get back to it."
"I had a life too before I came here. I know how hard it is leaving the only home you've ever known but Danielle, we need to make a life together for our baby. You don't even have to live here with me, just stay in town. I want to be here for you during everything. I want to be a normal father."
Silence fell between them as Mike dropped Danielle's hand from his grasp. Danielle went back to packing and Mike hung his head in defeat walking out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Danielle slid to the floor and let the tears fall. This is not how she imagined her life at 21 years
old. She always said she'd be married with a career before she brought another human being into the world.
Standing up, Danielle took a deep breath and walked out of the room. She needed to take the high road and swallow her pride to end this once and for all with Mike.
Mike was sitting on the couch watching the end of the movie. Danielle noticed he had a sleeve tattoo for the first time.
"Since when do you have a sleeve," she asked placing her hands on his shoulders.
"I got it last summer."
"I never noticed it before."
"Are you serious," Mike asked.
"I never saw it," Danielle replied running her fingers over Mike's bicep, "It's hot."
Mike laughed, "Are you hitting on me?"
Danielle blushed, "I'm sorry, I said that out loud."
"Come here," Mike said holding his arms open.
Danielle walked around the couch and sat down on Mike's lap.
"I'm sorry," she said breaking the silence, "I'm trying to get used to everything and I'm taking it out on you."
"I'm sorry too," Mike replied, "I shouldn't have yelled at you."
"At least we're getting along, it could be a lot worse."
"Scott thinks we're together," Mike smiled, "He said we're too close to be friends."
"It's not helping that we act like a couple like of someone walked in right now they'd think that."
"Have you ever considered it," Mike asked, "Like have you ever thought about what it'd be like if we were?"
"Honestly, no!"
Mike's doorbell went off and Danielle stood up to answer the door.
"Look what I buy you," Ovi said shoving the DVD case into Danielle's hand, "Mike, s'okay we watch, right?"
"Sasha, I hate you but you love Gaga like Ovi does and since you're here with him," Danielle said to the young Russian, "You can watch too."
"Gee thanks," Alex Semin laughed.
"I'm going to get my ear plugs," Mike joked walking into his room.
"You two okay," Ovi asked.
"We're fine," Danielle replied smiling as he put the DVD in the blu ray player.
"This will work in here, yes," Alex asked.
"Yeah, it will work."
"I was going to say, I need to see Gaga."
Danielle laughed as the intro of "Dance in Dark" began to play. Mike returned with a DC Shoe Company hoodie and he sat down next to Danielle.
"SILICON," Ovi yelled.
"SALINE," Sasha yelled.
"POISON, INJECT ME BABY I'M A FREE BITCH!"
"Why, God, why," Mike asked looking at the ceiling, "What did I ever do to deserve this?"
"Shut you face Mikey," Sasha said as Ovi and Danielle stood up dancing to Just Dance.
Mike looked at Danielle dancing with two of his friends and teammates and he smiled lightly before Scott Hannan’s words echoed in his head.
"Her having your baby is a beautiful thing, just remember that. I know you two aren't together and you're manning up to be a father but don't let her or that child walk out of your life because you'll regret it."
Danielle looked up at Mike who smiled at her as she and Ovi started doing the dance moves from the song. She fit in perfectly here, he just wished she stay and take a chance on something that wasn’t familiar to her. He was willing to do it and he understood her reasons why she wouldn’t do it, he just hoped Danielle would change her mind.
Gonna do my very best and it ain't no lie
If you put me to the test, if you let me try
Take a chance on me
Of course he had plenty of people to talk to on the team but Danielle was a woman and she didn't turn serious situations into sexual innuendo.
"Danielle," he called out again, "I'm home."
Mike hung his keys on the hook by the door where he saw a note hanging where the Escalade keys hung.
Mike,
Kristy and I went to look at schools and jobs, I should have asked to borrow the truck but you didn't answer your phone. When I come home we need to talk. There's pasta salad in the refrigerator and I bought you a case of Heineken because it's green =).
I'll be home soon.
xo Danielle xo
Mike smiled and put the note on the counter in the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, he saw the pasta salad with green noodles next to the Heineken and he laughed.
Sitting down at the counter, he took a bite and he had to resist the urge to growl, the pasta was the best he ever had. Danielle was starting to spoil him with all of the cooking she did.
A voice pulled him from his thoughts and he smiled when he turned around and saw Danielle in one of his sweatshirts.
"Nice shirt," he said with a mouthful of food.
"Pig!"
Mike smiled and swallowed taking a drink from the beer can as he stood up from the stool and gave Danielle a hug.
"I missed you," he said squeezing her lightly.
"I wish I could say the same about you," Danielle replied smiling causing him to roll his eyes.
"Did you find a school," he asked.
"I think I'm going to do online classes, that way if people find out about me I won't be the center of attention."
"I barely know you, so how are they going to know who you are?"
"You're Mike Green, people in China know who you are."
"Oh yeah cause General Tso loves hockey."
"Mmmm speaking of General Tso, that sounds so good right about now."
Mike laughed, "So Chinese tonight for dinner."
"God that sounds amazing but you just ate."
"I'm always hungry," Mike replied, "How about I order takeout and we talk."
"Sounds good to me."
Mike grabbed the menu out of the drawer and ordered the food while Danielle changed.
"45 minutes," Mike said when Danielle came out of her room.
"That's fine," she replied smiling sitting down on the couch.
Mike sat next to her and turned on the TV, "What do you want to watch?"
"Let's watch Crybaby!"
"What's Crybaby?"
"It's my favorite movie of all time, it's an old John Waters movie with Johnny Depp and Rikki Lake."
"Johnny Depp, oh God no."
"I don't think he's hot, although put eyeliner on him and he's smoking."
"Jesus Christ," Mike laughed, "I've never saw that one."
"I have it in my suitcase, I brought it with me."
"I was going to say, I don't have that one."
"Freaking classic," Danielle said standing up suddenly, "I'll go get it."
"It better be good or we're watching Wedding Crashers."
"OH MY GOD, I love that movie too," she squealed causing Mike to laugh.
Danielle threw the DVD in Mike's lap and he put it in the DVD player as she curled up on the couch with a blanket.
"Move your legs," Mike ordered.
"Why, I'm comfortable."
Mike lifted Danielle's legs and put them on his lap as the movie began.
Danielle was enjoying the opening scene where Crybaby and his gang are getting TB vaccinations when the door bell rang.
Mike grabbed his wallet out of his pants and walked over to the door. He paid the delivery guy and walked into the kitchen.
"What do you want to drink," Mike asked.
"Water."
Mike grabbed two bottles of water and headed into the living room with the food.
"I paused the movie so you could see the whole thing."
"Thanks," Mike said handing her the take-out container of lo mein and the tin of chicken.
"What'd you get," Danielle asked.
"Sweet and sour chicken and fried rice, why?"
"Want to share? I'll give you half of mine for half of yours."
"Fair trade," Mike replied smiling as Danielle slid down to the floor and placed her food on the table. She patted the spot next to her and Mike joined her on the floor as they swapped food.
They ate in silence enjoying each other's company while watching the movie.
"You honestly know every song in this movie, don't you," Mike asked.
"I love this fucking movie."
Mike laughed and put his arm around Danielle's shoulders.
"I want you to stay," Mike admitted, "I'm used to you being here already and I don't want to miss anything with the baby."
"I'm going back to Pittsburgh in a couple of days for a doctor's appointment. You have a game here that day, I wanted you to be there but it's the only day that I could get in, I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Mike said, "Just call me when it's over and let me know how it goes. You're staying though, right?"
"I haven't decided yet, Mike you don't understand how hard this is. I'll be giving up everything I've known my whole life to come lie here."
"I can ask for a trade to Pittsburgh if that's what you want. I'll do anything to make this whole thing work."
"You're not asking for any trades, I want this to work but DC's not in the cards for me right now."
Mike didn't say a word and Danielle sighed, "I'm sorry, Mike."
"Just forget it," he replied coldly standing up, taking the empty containers with him.
"Mike, come on talk to me what's going on?"
"Nothing, Danielle, just drop it."
"I'm not dropping anything, Mike. I deserve to know why you suddenly decided to go psycho."
"You piss me off."
“I piss you off,” Danielle laughed sarcastically, “Come on Mike, let’s not go there.”
Mike rolled his eyes, “What do I do that could possibly piss you off? I could kick you out of my life and never see my child but I was a man about it and I stepped up to the plate to be there for you and our baby.”
“I’m not going to argue with you,” Danielle replied going to her room and slamming the door.
“Danielle,” he called out sighing, "Fuck!"
Mike kicked the trash can by the counter knocking it to the floor, running his hand over his head he walked down the hall and knocked on Danielle's door.
"Danielle," he whispered, "I'm sorry."
"Go away," she replied and Mike heard stuff being thown.
Opening the door slowly, he realized she was packing, "Where are you going?"
"Home," Danielle replied not looking up from the dresser, "I don't want to here anymore."
"Danielle," Mike sighed walking over to her, grabbing her wrist gently, "Don't go."
"I have a life in Pittsburgh, Mike. I need to get back to it."
"I had a life too before I came here. I know how hard it is leaving the only home you've ever known but Danielle, we need to make a life together for our baby. You don't even have to live here with me, just stay in town. I want to be here for you during everything. I want to be a normal father."
Silence fell between them as Mike dropped Danielle's hand from his grasp. Danielle went back to packing and Mike hung his head in defeat walking out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Danielle slid to the floor and let the tears fall. This is not how she imagined her life at 21 years
old. She always said she'd be married with a career before she brought another human being into the world.
Standing up, Danielle took a deep breath and walked out of the room. She needed to take the high road and swallow her pride to end this once and for all with Mike.
Mike was sitting on the couch watching the end of the movie. Danielle noticed he had a sleeve tattoo for the first time.
"Since when do you have a sleeve," she asked placing her hands on his shoulders.
"I got it last summer."
"I never noticed it before."
"Are you serious," Mike asked.
"I never saw it," Danielle replied running her fingers over Mike's bicep, "It's hot."
Mike laughed, "Are you hitting on me?"
Danielle blushed, "I'm sorry, I said that out loud."
"Come here," Mike said holding his arms open.
Danielle walked around the couch and sat down on Mike's lap.
"I'm sorry," she said breaking the silence, "I'm trying to get used to everything and I'm taking it out on you."
"I'm sorry too," Mike replied, "I shouldn't have yelled at you."
"At least we're getting along, it could be a lot worse."
"Scott thinks we're together," Mike smiled, "He said we're too close to be friends."
"It's not helping that we act like a couple like of someone walked in right now they'd think that."
"Have you ever considered it," Mike asked, "Like have you ever thought about what it'd be like if we were?"
"Honestly, no!"
Mike's doorbell went off and Danielle stood up to answer the door.
"Look what I buy you," Ovi said shoving the DVD case into Danielle's hand, "Mike, s'okay we watch, right?"
"Sasha, I hate you but you love Gaga like Ovi does and since you're here with him," Danielle said to the young Russian, "You can watch too."
"Gee thanks," Alex Semin laughed.
"I'm going to get my ear plugs," Mike joked walking into his room.
"You two okay," Ovi asked.
"We're fine," Danielle replied smiling as he put the DVD in the blu ray player.
"This will work in here, yes," Alex asked.
"Yeah, it will work."
"I was going to say, I need to see Gaga."
Danielle laughed as the intro of "Dance in Dark" began to play. Mike returned with a DC Shoe Company hoodie and he sat down next to Danielle.
"SILICON," Ovi yelled.
"SALINE," Sasha yelled.
"POISON, INJECT ME BABY I'M A FREE BITCH!"
"Why, God, why," Mike asked looking at the ceiling, "What did I ever do to deserve this?"
"Shut you face Mikey," Sasha said as Ovi and Danielle stood up dancing to Just Dance.
Mike looked at Danielle dancing with two of his friends and teammates and he smiled lightly before Scott Hannan’s words echoed in his head.
"Her having your baby is a beautiful thing, just remember that. I know you two aren't together and you're manning up to be a father but don't let her or that child walk out of your life because you'll regret it."
Danielle looked up at Mike who smiled at her as she and Ovi started doing the dance moves from the song. She fit in perfectly here, he just wished she stay and take a chance on something that wasn’t familiar to her. He was willing to do it and he understood her reasons why she wouldn’t do it, he just hoped Danielle would change her mind.
Gonna do my very best and it ain't no lie
If you put me to the test, if you let me try
Take a chance on me
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Chapter 4-Auld Lang Green
Danielle woke up in the morning and darted for the bathroom. Mike heard her up and walked into his guest bedroom and saw her on the bathroom floor.
"Hey," he whispered crouching down next to her, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Danielle whispered smiling slightly, "It's the morning sickness, it passes eventually."
Mike cringed as Danielle turned her head and threw up. Grabbing her hair, he held it back and rubbed her back comfortingly.
Danielle leaned back and Mike sat down next to her putting his arm around her hugging her to his side, "Get dressed, we'll go get some breakfast."
"You have practice."
"SHIT," Mike said standing up, "I forgot!"
Danielle laughed, "You're an idiot."
Mike laughed too and put his hand out to help her up, "Take a shower, you're coming with me."
"I look and feel like shit today, there's no way in hell I'm coming."
"Okay, you can stay here and get some sleep. I'll be back later."
Danielle gave him a small smile and turned the hot water on, "I'll call you if I need anything."
"Tomorrow's the New Years Eve party and I know you're worried about your hair and stuff so if you're up to it later, I'll take you to the salon and we'll get one of those trial things. That way you can decide of you want to do your hair yourself or have them else do it."
"Sounds good."
"I'll let you take a bath, I'm going to go get ready for practice."
Mike smiled giving her a hug before shutting the door behind him. Danielle looked at herself in the mirror as she got undressed and took in her appearance.
"Sweatpants kind of day it is," she whispered taking her clothes off before climbing in the hot bath.
Mike sat in his stall at Kettler Iceoplex with his head against the wall, He was the first one there and he enjoyed the quiet that surrounded him.
He shut his eyes trying to clear his head. He didn't understand why he wasn't mad at Kara. He had every reason to be, right?
She was pregnant with his baby because he foolishly slept with her while drunk. He should have denied the baby wasn't his but he trusted her word. She was a hardworking college student who paid her own bills by working full time while going to school and Mike could tell by the two days that he spent with her family that she was an all around good person.
"Hey Mike," Scott Hannan said entering the room, "How are you?"
"I'm doing okay," Mike smiled, "How are you?"
"Not doing too bad," Scott smiled, "How's your friend?"
"She's doing okay, she wasn't feeling well this morning. Morning sickness kept her up and she's at home sleeping."
"Her having your baby is a beautiful thing, just remember that. I know you two aren't together and you're manning up to be a father but don't let her or that child walk out of your life because you'll regret it."
Mike sighed, Scott's words sinking into his mind.
"Is she coming to the party tomorrow?"
"Yes she is, I haven't asked her to come to the game yet."
"Tell her to come, my wife wants to meet her."
"I'll let her know, thanks Scotty."
"For what?"
"Not judging me, I guess. Not everyone around here is thrilled with my actions."
"It's not their business, you're doing the right thing by stepping up to the plate and accepting your responsibility. No one has the right to judge you! People are going to talk about the both of you but you can’t let it get to you. No one’s perfect.”
“You’re right,” Mike sighed, “I just, I don’t know. I’m scared but then I have moments where I feel anxious because I’m having a baby, weird right?”
“I know how you feel but do what you can do to protect Danielle from the criticism. She doesn’t deserve it just like you don’t and whatever you do, don’t let her go back to Pittsburgh. I know she’ll fight with you because she doesn’t want to leave her family but you have to prove to her that she isn’t a burden to you and that even though you two aren’t together you are her friend and will take care of her and be there for her. She has all of us who will support her, Ovi is dying to meet her.”
“He found out she loves Lady Gaga and he went apeshit.”
“Oh my God, keep them away from each other,” Scott laughed before Ovi came in the room followed by Alex Semin.
“Where Danielle,” Ovi asked.
“She didn’t feel like coming, she’s having bad morning sickness.”
“That’s too bad, she come to game tomorrow though?”
“I haven’t asked her yet, I’ll try to get her to come. If not you can meet her at the party.”
“You bring her?”
“Yeah, I figured since she was coming down to get a taste of what life here is like and to look for schools that I’d ask her to go besides Kate has a boyfriend now.”
“She not pretty, never knew why you like her in the first place. She thought you were douche bag.”
“If it isn’t the pot calling the kettle black,” Mike thought to himself before he rolled his eyes and smirked, “Fuck off Ovi.”
As the locker room filled with techno music and fist pumps, Bruce Boudreau came in, “Alright you fucking shit bums, listen up. You are going to work your fucking asses off today and I don’t get a flying fuck if you fucking pass out. Too many fucking turnovers are occurring in the neutral zone and we need to fucking get our shit together. Do you understand me?”
“Yes Bruce,” the guys said in unison.
“Good, now get your fucking shit and get the fuck out on the ice.”
“If I had a shot for every time he says ‘fuck’ when he talks, I’d be fucking drunk off of my ass,” Brooks said and everyone laughed.
“Bruce Boudreau drinking game,” Ovi laughed, “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Mike just shook his head and walked out of the locker room behind Brooks. Practice seemed to go on for hours and when it was finally over, Mike took a hot shower. Signing a few autographs and posing for a few pictures with fans, Mike headed home.
“Danielle,” he called out as he opened the door.
He got no answer and he went straight to her bedroom where he found her sound asleep. Gently sitting down on the bed, he shook her, “Danielle,” he whispered.
“Hey,” she mumbled smiling, “What time is it?”
“It’s almost five.”
“Did you just get home?”
“Yeah, Bruce killed us today since we lost last night. Something about ‘too many fucking turnovers.’”
Danielle laughed as she sat up, “I think I’m going to do my own hair tomorrow, I’m not up to going to a salon today.”
“You look better,” Mike smiled, “Are you up for going to dinner or do you just want to order take out?”
“Want me to cook?”
“You cook?”
“My mom taught me when I was little, I love to cook.”
“You don’t have to if you don’t feel well.”
“I feel a lot better now, I told you it goes away. That’s why they call it morning sickness.”
Mike laughed and Danielle smiled, “Okay, just don’t try to poison me.”
“I’ll only poison Sasha.”
Mike noticed Danielle’s stomach was starting to form a bump and he had to resist the urge to put his hand on her stomach. It was still early but he wanted to see if he felt something. He had read online that the baby didn’t start moving until the fourth or fifth month.
“What do you have in the kitchen?”
“I think I have steak and chicken, not sure.”
“Which one do you want?”
“Make whichever one you want, I’ll eat whatever.”
“Okay,” Danielle replied getting out of bed and throwing her hair up in a ponytail before leaving the room to head into the kitchen.
“Use whatever you need to use, I’ll go get more if we need it,” Mike said coming into the kitchen. Danielle looked in the freezer and saw two steaks.
“Do steak salads sound good to you?”
“Yeah, there should be a bag of fries I stashed in the freezer when the guys came over last week.”
Danielle dug around and found them, taking a two sheet pans out of the oven, she turned it on as she placed the steaks on one and the fries on the other.
“I’ve never seen steak baked before.”
“It keeps the meat juicy and hey it’s healthy for the three of us.”
Mike smiled at the word three as he grabbed his vibrating phone out of his pocket. He looked at the screen and saw he had a text from Ovi.
Did you ask her to game?
Mike deleted it instead of replying and sat the phone on the counter in the kitchen, “Want to come to the game with me tomorrow? It’s in the afternoon. The party is from nine to two so we’ll have plenty of time to come back and get dressed.”
“What time is the game?”
“Noon.”
“That’s fine,” Danielle replied, “I’d love to go, just don’t expect me to wear red.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Mike laughed, “Guess who we’re playing?”
“Philly?”
“Nope!”
“Florida?”
“Keep guessing.”
“Los Angeles?”
“Chicago.”
“SHUT UP,” Danielle shrieked, “YES, I CAN WEAR MY SHARP JERSEY.”
“You have one of those?”
“I have Sharp, Toews, Keith, Kane, and Versteeg but he’s a Flyer now.”
“You’re going to meet my teammates wearing a Blackhawks jersey?”
“Mhm,” Danielle replied smiling and Mike laughed rolling his eyes.
“I knew you’d be happy that we were playing them, I remembered you said that they were your second favorite team.”
“Thanks,” she replied washing her hands before placing the pans in the oven, “How do you want your steak?”
“Medium rare.”
Danielle shivered, “That’s disgusting.”
Mike just shrugged with a smile on his face as he walked into the living room and turned on the TV. Mike settled on the news to kill the time before an important game for the Caps to watch came on. The Penguins were playing the Islanders and it was sure to be one hell of a game especially after the brawl the season before but the Capitals were battling for first place in the East but the Penguins were sitting there comfortably with a three point lead.
“Pens vs. Isles tonight,” Mike called out, “Want to watch it?”
“Why would you even ask that question?”
Mike laughed as he replied a simple, ‘Yes, she’s coming,’ to Ovi before he shut the phone off and sat it on the coffee table. He started to smell the food cooking and it smelled great. Danielle came in and handed him his bowl of salad ten minutes later with the fries and the steak on top of it along with cheese and croutons before she headed back into the kitchen. Mike followed behind her to get the salad dressing out of the refrigerator and a bottle of Perrier water.
“Salad dressing,” Mike began, “The only thing that isn’t green in my fridge.”
“LAME,” Danielle sang causing him to laugh as she pulled her steak out of the oven and sat down at the counter cutting it to put in her bowl that already had the fries and cheese on top of it.
Mike sat on the couch eating his salad while Danielle sat at the counter, both of them eating in a comfortable silence. When they were finished, Mike helped Danielle clean the pans and bowls before the game came on.
The game was a bloodbath just like Mike had predicted and he laughed at Danielle screaming, “KICK HIS ASS ENGO,” to Derek Engelland who was battling with Trevor Gillies, “TAKE THAT GILLIES, YOU FUCKING PUSSY!”
“Potty mouth much,” Mike chuckled.
“Take his fucking knee out from under him when you play the Islanders, I hate this prick.”
Mike laughed again when the buzzer sounded and the Pens won by seven goals.
“They kicked their asses in more ways than one,” Mike said, “Damn, they’re tough this year.”
“Get used to it Green, they’re winning the cup.”
“I love how you’re pregnant to a Capital and you still despise us.”
“Loyalties lie, Mike,” Danielle chuckled standing up from the couch, “Goodnight.”
“Going to bed already,” Mike asked looking at the clock, it’s only nine thirty.”
“I have to get up early tomorrow to go the arena with you, I know you guys wake up at the ass crack of dawn on early game days and I need my beauty sleep.”
“Goodnight, I’ll wake you up in the morning.”
“You owe me breakfast assclown,” she laughed running her hand over Mike’s hair and he wanted to grab her wrist and encourage her to continue doing it since he found it relaxing but he already felt things between them felt like they were together even if they weren’t and he didn’t want to push it.
The next day Mike woke Danielle up and took her to breakfast before they headed to Verizon Center to get ready for the game. Danielle wanted to sit in with the crowd and Mike agreed to it. Danielle voted not to meet the team and Scott’s wife until the party because she left early to go home since she started to get sick. Mike gave her his keys and had Nicky drive him home.
The Caps lost their fourth game in a row to the Blackhawks and Mike took note that when they played them again in Chicago before the season ended to ask Danielle if she wanted to go. When Mike arrived home, Danielle was in the shower and his suit was laid out neatly over his bed with a new tie that Mike assumed she had bought so it matched her dress.
Mike took a shower himself and when he had finished getting ready, Danielle was putting her shoes on with the door to her bedroom open. She was wearing a black dress with a red ribbon around the waist, that explained the all black outfit and red tie she had laid out for him. Her hair was tied back in curls and was off to the side. She had smoke colored eye shadow that looked black and Mike noticed it made her blue eyes pop.
“You look great,” Mike complimented and Danielle smiled.
“Thanks, you too,” she replied, “Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah, we have to take pictures first when we get there, is that okay?”
“That’s fine.”
They arrived at the Jefferson Hotel in DC in Mike’s Lamborghini. Mike insisted he take it since the weather was somewhat warm and it was a “special occasion.”
Mike gave the keys to the valet and put his arm out for Danielle to take as they headed inside.
Ovi smiled when he saw Mike and Danielle coming towards him, “Mikey,” he said, “You make it.”
“Alex, this is Danielle, Danielle this is Alex,” he said introducing them.
“I know who she is,” Alex smiled with his toothless smile before hugging Danielle, “I remember you from camp, you funny girl who told me she was Pens fan and would be disowned if people knew she there.”
Danielle laughed pulling away, “I’ll be disowned when people find out I’m here too.”
“Smart choice having baby with Mike, he very responsible.”
Danielle laughed turning to Mike who looked like he was ready to strangle the Russian, “You’re a dick.”
Both Alex and Danielle laughed before Brooks Laich came out of the ballroom where the pictures were being taken.
“Ah, you must be Danielle,” he said extending his hand, “I’m Brooks, nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too,” Danielle replied, “Oh my God, that’s John Carlson.”
Mike looked behind Brooks where the young defenseman was, “Yep that’s him.”
“I’m sorry; I’m a little star struck. I watched him win the gold for the USA at the WJC and he’s one of my favorites.”
“Hey guys,” he said with a smile coming over to them, “Are you the only ones here?”
“There are a few others in the room getting their picture taken. Why we’re getting professional pictures taken at a private party, I have no idea,” Brooks said and Mike put his arm around Danielle’s waist without realizing it. She jumped at the sudden contact making him realize what he had done, “I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I didn’t realize it.”
“It’s okay,” she replied, “I’m not going to yell at you.”
Mike just smiled as he introduced John to Danielle. Danielle seemed to get along with everyone and she impressed Scott and his wife, Kristina who held their son Gage.
Gage reached his arms out for Danielle who took him and held him for a little bit, “She’s a good girl, Mike,” Scott said as he looked at Danielle who was sitting at the table with Kristina while Gage crawled out of Danielle’s arms and into his mother’s lap, “Definitely a keeper if you decided to go down that road.”
“I’m still trying to get to know her; we haven’t had much time since we came back since we’ve been playing.”
“Get to know her then make your decision, what’s the worst that could happen?”
“I don’t want her thinking I’m just with her because we’re having a baby.”
“Take it slow, that’s all you have to do. It’s worth a try.”
For the second time in two days, Scott was right. As the party wound down and the clock got closer to midnight, everyone was either dancing or sitting around talking. Danielle was talking to Mike who was taking Scott’s advice and getting to know her.
“Ten seconds,” Ovi yelled. Everyone counted down as the TV played the ball dropping.
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
“HAPPY NEW YEAR,” everyone yelled before kissing their dates. Mike looked at Danielle who looked up at him shyly.
Mike leaned forward and placed a light kiss on her lips. It surprised him when she returned it and he wrapped his arm around her waist, “Happy New Year,” he whispered.
“Thanks,” she replied blushing and Mike immediately felt guilty for kissing her. This was going to make things awkward between the two of them.
“Are you ready to go,” he asked and Danielle nodded before the two of them slipped out going unnoticed because everyone was too busy dancing celebrating the New Year.
Danielle pulled out her phone and called her family back in Pittsburgh to wish them Happy New Year and Mike wished them one in return as well.
“No wonder we haven’t seen Nicky all night, look,” Mike pointed to the young Swede who was fixing his tie and his disheveled hair. Kristi was right next to him and Danielle laughed.
“It’s nice to know she told me she was banging him.”
Mike laughed, “Oh God, look out Nicky got a girl.”
Danielle and Mike laughed as they got in the car and drove back to Mike’s house. Danielle had a big decision to make. It was either staying in DC or going back to Pittsburgh but New Year means new things and Danielle was willing to try a new life in the nation’s capital.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
"Hey," he whispered crouching down next to her, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Danielle whispered smiling slightly, "It's the morning sickness, it passes eventually."
Mike cringed as Danielle turned her head and threw up. Grabbing her hair, he held it back and rubbed her back comfortingly.
Danielle leaned back and Mike sat down next to her putting his arm around her hugging her to his side, "Get dressed, we'll go get some breakfast."
"You have practice."
"SHIT," Mike said standing up, "I forgot!"
Danielle laughed, "You're an idiot."
Mike laughed too and put his hand out to help her up, "Take a shower, you're coming with me."
"I look and feel like shit today, there's no way in hell I'm coming."
"Okay, you can stay here and get some sleep. I'll be back later."
Danielle gave him a small smile and turned the hot water on, "I'll call you if I need anything."
"Tomorrow's the New Years Eve party and I know you're worried about your hair and stuff so if you're up to it later, I'll take you to the salon and we'll get one of those trial things. That way you can decide of you want to do your hair yourself or have them else do it."
"Sounds good."
"I'll let you take a bath, I'm going to go get ready for practice."
Mike smiled giving her a hug before shutting the door behind him. Danielle looked at herself in the mirror as she got undressed and took in her appearance.
"Sweatpants kind of day it is," she whispered taking her clothes off before climbing in the hot bath.
Mike sat in his stall at Kettler Iceoplex with his head against the wall, He was the first one there and he enjoyed the quiet that surrounded him.
He shut his eyes trying to clear his head. He didn't understand why he wasn't mad at Kara. He had every reason to be, right?
She was pregnant with his baby because he foolishly slept with her while drunk. He should have denied the baby wasn't his but he trusted her word. She was a hardworking college student who paid her own bills by working full time while going to school and Mike could tell by the two days that he spent with her family that she was an all around good person.
"Hey Mike," Scott Hannan said entering the room, "How are you?"
"I'm doing okay," Mike smiled, "How are you?"
"Not doing too bad," Scott smiled, "How's your friend?"
"She's doing okay, she wasn't feeling well this morning. Morning sickness kept her up and she's at home sleeping."
"Her having your baby is a beautiful thing, just remember that. I know you two aren't together and you're manning up to be a father but don't let her or that child walk out of your life because you'll regret it."
Mike sighed, Scott's words sinking into his mind.
"Is she coming to the party tomorrow?"
"Yes she is, I haven't asked her to come to the game yet."
"Tell her to come, my wife wants to meet her."
"I'll let her know, thanks Scotty."
"For what?"
"Not judging me, I guess. Not everyone around here is thrilled with my actions."
"It's not their business, you're doing the right thing by stepping up to the plate and accepting your responsibility. No one has the right to judge you! People are going to talk about the both of you but you can’t let it get to you. No one’s perfect.”
“You’re right,” Mike sighed, “I just, I don’t know. I’m scared but then I have moments where I feel anxious because I’m having a baby, weird right?”
“I know how you feel but do what you can do to protect Danielle from the criticism. She doesn’t deserve it just like you don’t and whatever you do, don’t let her go back to Pittsburgh. I know she’ll fight with you because she doesn’t want to leave her family but you have to prove to her that she isn’t a burden to you and that even though you two aren’t together you are her friend and will take care of her and be there for her. She has all of us who will support her, Ovi is dying to meet her.”
“He found out she loves Lady Gaga and he went apeshit.”
“Oh my God, keep them away from each other,” Scott laughed before Ovi came in the room followed by Alex Semin.
“Where Danielle,” Ovi asked.
“She didn’t feel like coming, she’s having bad morning sickness.”
“That’s too bad, she come to game tomorrow though?”
“I haven’t asked her yet, I’ll try to get her to come. If not you can meet her at the party.”
“You bring her?”
“Yeah, I figured since she was coming down to get a taste of what life here is like and to look for schools that I’d ask her to go besides Kate has a boyfriend now.”
“She not pretty, never knew why you like her in the first place. She thought you were douche bag.”
“If it isn’t the pot calling the kettle black,” Mike thought to himself before he rolled his eyes and smirked, “Fuck off Ovi.”
As the locker room filled with techno music and fist pumps, Bruce Boudreau came in, “Alright you fucking shit bums, listen up. You are going to work your fucking asses off today and I don’t get a flying fuck if you fucking pass out. Too many fucking turnovers are occurring in the neutral zone and we need to fucking get our shit together. Do you understand me?”
“Yes Bruce,” the guys said in unison.
“Good, now get your fucking shit and get the fuck out on the ice.”
“If I had a shot for every time he says ‘fuck’ when he talks, I’d be fucking drunk off of my ass,” Brooks said and everyone laughed.
“Bruce Boudreau drinking game,” Ovi laughed, “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Mike just shook his head and walked out of the locker room behind Brooks. Practice seemed to go on for hours and when it was finally over, Mike took a hot shower. Signing a few autographs and posing for a few pictures with fans, Mike headed home.
“Danielle,” he called out as he opened the door.
He got no answer and he went straight to her bedroom where he found her sound asleep. Gently sitting down on the bed, he shook her, “Danielle,” he whispered.
“Hey,” she mumbled smiling, “What time is it?”
“It’s almost five.”
“Did you just get home?”
“Yeah, Bruce killed us today since we lost last night. Something about ‘too many fucking turnovers.’”
Danielle laughed as she sat up, “I think I’m going to do my own hair tomorrow, I’m not up to going to a salon today.”
“You look better,” Mike smiled, “Are you up for going to dinner or do you just want to order take out?”
“Want me to cook?”
“You cook?”
“My mom taught me when I was little, I love to cook.”
“You don’t have to if you don’t feel well.”
“I feel a lot better now, I told you it goes away. That’s why they call it morning sickness.”
Mike laughed and Danielle smiled, “Okay, just don’t try to poison me.”
“I’ll only poison Sasha.”
Mike noticed Danielle’s stomach was starting to form a bump and he had to resist the urge to put his hand on her stomach. It was still early but he wanted to see if he felt something. He had read online that the baby didn’t start moving until the fourth or fifth month.
“What do you have in the kitchen?”
“I think I have steak and chicken, not sure.”
“Which one do you want?”
“Make whichever one you want, I’ll eat whatever.”
“Okay,” Danielle replied getting out of bed and throwing her hair up in a ponytail before leaving the room to head into the kitchen.
“Use whatever you need to use, I’ll go get more if we need it,” Mike said coming into the kitchen. Danielle looked in the freezer and saw two steaks.
“Do steak salads sound good to you?”
“Yeah, there should be a bag of fries I stashed in the freezer when the guys came over last week.”
Danielle dug around and found them, taking a two sheet pans out of the oven, she turned it on as she placed the steaks on one and the fries on the other.
“I’ve never seen steak baked before.”
“It keeps the meat juicy and hey it’s healthy for the three of us.”
Mike smiled at the word three as he grabbed his vibrating phone out of his pocket. He looked at the screen and saw he had a text from Ovi.
Did you ask her to game?
Mike deleted it instead of replying and sat the phone on the counter in the kitchen, “Want to come to the game with me tomorrow? It’s in the afternoon. The party is from nine to two so we’ll have plenty of time to come back and get dressed.”
“What time is the game?”
“Noon.”
“That’s fine,” Danielle replied, “I’d love to go, just don’t expect me to wear red.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Mike laughed, “Guess who we’re playing?”
“Philly?”
“Nope!”
“Florida?”
“Keep guessing.”
“Los Angeles?”
“Chicago.”
“SHUT UP,” Danielle shrieked, “YES, I CAN WEAR MY SHARP JERSEY.”
“You have one of those?”
“I have Sharp, Toews, Keith, Kane, and Versteeg but he’s a Flyer now.”
“You’re going to meet my teammates wearing a Blackhawks jersey?”
“Mhm,” Danielle replied smiling and Mike laughed rolling his eyes.
“I knew you’d be happy that we were playing them, I remembered you said that they were your second favorite team.”
“Thanks,” she replied washing her hands before placing the pans in the oven, “How do you want your steak?”
“Medium rare.”
Danielle shivered, “That’s disgusting.”
Mike just shrugged with a smile on his face as he walked into the living room and turned on the TV. Mike settled on the news to kill the time before an important game for the Caps to watch came on. The Penguins were playing the Islanders and it was sure to be one hell of a game especially after the brawl the season before but the Capitals were battling for first place in the East but the Penguins were sitting there comfortably with a three point lead.
“Pens vs. Isles tonight,” Mike called out, “Want to watch it?”
“Why would you even ask that question?”
Mike laughed as he replied a simple, ‘Yes, she’s coming,’ to Ovi before he shut the phone off and sat it on the coffee table. He started to smell the food cooking and it smelled great. Danielle came in and handed him his bowl of salad ten minutes later with the fries and the steak on top of it along with cheese and croutons before she headed back into the kitchen. Mike followed behind her to get the salad dressing out of the refrigerator and a bottle of Perrier water.
“Salad dressing,” Mike began, “The only thing that isn’t green in my fridge.”
“LAME,” Danielle sang causing him to laugh as she pulled her steak out of the oven and sat down at the counter cutting it to put in her bowl that already had the fries and cheese on top of it.
Mike sat on the couch eating his salad while Danielle sat at the counter, both of them eating in a comfortable silence. When they were finished, Mike helped Danielle clean the pans and bowls before the game came on.
The game was a bloodbath just like Mike had predicted and he laughed at Danielle screaming, “KICK HIS ASS ENGO,” to Derek Engelland who was battling with Trevor Gillies, “TAKE THAT GILLIES, YOU FUCKING PUSSY!”
“Potty mouth much,” Mike chuckled.
“Take his fucking knee out from under him when you play the Islanders, I hate this prick.”
Mike laughed again when the buzzer sounded and the Pens won by seven goals.
“They kicked their asses in more ways than one,” Mike said, “Damn, they’re tough this year.”
“Get used to it Green, they’re winning the cup.”
“I love how you’re pregnant to a Capital and you still despise us.”
“Loyalties lie, Mike,” Danielle chuckled standing up from the couch, “Goodnight.”
“Going to bed already,” Mike asked looking at the clock, it’s only nine thirty.”
“I have to get up early tomorrow to go the arena with you, I know you guys wake up at the ass crack of dawn on early game days and I need my beauty sleep.”
“Goodnight, I’ll wake you up in the morning.”
“You owe me breakfast assclown,” she laughed running her hand over Mike’s hair and he wanted to grab her wrist and encourage her to continue doing it since he found it relaxing but he already felt things between them felt like they were together even if they weren’t and he didn’t want to push it.
The next day Mike woke Danielle up and took her to breakfast before they headed to Verizon Center to get ready for the game. Danielle wanted to sit in with the crowd and Mike agreed to it. Danielle voted not to meet the team and Scott’s wife until the party because she left early to go home since she started to get sick. Mike gave her his keys and had Nicky drive him home.
The Caps lost their fourth game in a row to the Blackhawks and Mike took note that when they played them again in Chicago before the season ended to ask Danielle if she wanted to go. When Mike arrived home, Danielle was in the shower and his suit was laid out neatly over his bed with a new tie that Mike assumed she had bought so it matched her dress.
Mike took a shower himself and when he had finished getting ready, Danielle was putting her shoes on with the door to her bedroom open. She was wearing a black dress with a red ribbon around the waist, that explained the all black outfit and red tie she had laid out for him. Her hair was tied back in curls and was off to the side. She had smoke colored eye shadow that looked black and Mike noticed it made her blue eyes pop.
“You look great,” Mike complimented and Danielle smiled.
“Thanks, you too,” she replied, “Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah, we have to take pictures first when we get there, is that okay?”
“That’s fine.”
They arrived at the Jefferson Hotel in DC in Mike’s Lamborghini. Mike insisted he take it since the weather was somewhat warm and it was a “special occasion.”
Mike gave the keys to the valet and put his arm out for Danielle to take as they headed inside.
Ovi smiled when he saw Mike and Danielle coming towards him, “Mikey,” he said, “You make it.”
“Alex, this is Danielle, Danielle this is Alex,” he said introducing them.
“I know who she is,” Alex smiled with his toothless smile before hugging Danielle, “I remember you from camp, you funny girl who told me she was Pens fan and would be disowned if people knew she there.”
Danielle laughed pulling away, “I’ll be disowned when people find out I’m here too.”
“Smart choice having baby with Mike, he very responsible.”
Danielle laughed turning to Mike who looked like he was ready to strangle the Russian, “You’re a dick.”
Both Alex and Danielle laughed before Brooks Laich came out of the ballroom where the pictures were being taken.
“Ah, you must be Danielle,” he said extending his hand, “I’m Brooks, nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too,” Danielle replied, “Oh my God, that’s John Carlson.”
Mike looked behind Brooks where the young defenseman was, “Yep that’s him.”
“I’m sorry; I’m a little star struck. I watched him win the gold for the USA at the WJC and he’s one of my favorites.”
“Hey guys,” he said with a smile coming over to them, “Are you the only ones here?”
“There are a few others in the room getting their picture taken. Why we’re getting professional pictures taken at a private party, I have no idea,” Brooks said and Mike put his arm around Danielle’s waist without realizing it. She jumped at the sudden contact making him realize what he had done, “I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I didn’t realize it.”
“It’s okay,” she replied, “I’m not going to yell at you.”
Mike just smiled as he introduced John to Danielle. Danielle seemed to get along with everyone and she impressed Scott and his wife, Kristina who held their son Gage.
Gage reached his arms out for Danielle who took him and held him for a little bit, “She’s a good girl, Mike,” Scott said as he looked at Danielle who was sitting at the table with Kristina while Gage crawled out of Danielle’s arms and into his mother’s lap, “Definitely a keeper if you decided to go down that road.”
“I’m still trying to get to know her; we haven’t had much time since we came back since we’ve been playing.”
“Get to know her then make your decision, what’s the worst that could happen?”
“I don’t want her thinking I’m just with her because we’re having a baby.”
“Take it slow, that’s all you have to do. It’s worth a try.”
For the second time in two days, Scott was right. As the party wound down and the clock got closer to midnight, everyone was either dancing or sitting around talking. Danielle was talking to Mike who was taking Scott’s advice and getting to know her.
“Ten seconds,” Ovi yelled. Everyone counted down as the TV played the ball dropping.
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
“HAPPY NEW YEAR,” everyone yelled before kissing their dates. Mike looked at Danielle who looked up at him shyly.
Mike leaned forward and placed a light kiss on her lips. It surprised him when she returned it and he wrapped his arm around her waist, “Happy New Year,” he whispered.
“Thanks,” she replied blushing and Mike immediately felt guilty for kissing her. This was going to make things awkward between the two of them.
“Are you ready to go,” he asked and Danielle nodded before the two of them slipped out going unnoticed because everyone was too busy dancing celebrating the New Year.
Danielle pulled out her phone and called her family back in Pittsburgh to wish them Happy New Year and Mike wished them one in return as well.
“No wonder we haven’t seen Nicky all night, look,” Mike pointed to the young Swede who was fixing his tie and his disheveled hair. Kristi was right next to him and Danielle laughed.
“It’s nice to know she told me she was banging him.”
Mike laughed, “Oh God, look out Nicky got a girl.”
Danielle and Mike laughed as they got in the car and drove back to Mike’s house. Danielle had a big decision to make. It was either staying in DC or going back to Pittsburgh but New Year means new things and Danielle was willing to try a new life in the nation’s capital.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
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