Chapter 23

The boys mostly looked a little worse for wear when they joined them for breakfast. It was a good thing it was a travel day or they’d have heard about it from Disco Dan. Sid was tired, but the good sort of tired that had left him feeling relaxed if a little bone weary. He raised the hand he was holding to his lips before pulling out a chair for her beside Flower because Flower won’t say anything crass or derogatory. Flower is safe and he’s sitting as far from Max and Tanger as Sidney can get her.

“Comment sont les deux tourtereaux, ce matin?” he asked as he reached for the pitcher of orange juice in the middle of the table and began pouring it in her glass.

“Just a little, thanks,” she held up her hand to make him stop pouring, “that stuff gives me the worst heartburn these days,” she added by way of explanation. Flower nodded and then poured a full glass for Sid who promptly chugged it down. He was low on fluids. A pint down as Mario would say with one of those knowing smiles.

“Speaking of lovebirds,” Tabby leaned towards Flower, her voice pitched low. “Has anyone seen my friends?”

MAF laughed suddenly and both Sid and Tabby followed his gaze towards where Tabby’s slightly shorter friend was sitting between Gogo and Johnny, chatting animatedly while the two teammates, sitting either side of her, were giving each other that more than slightly uncomfortable look that said they’d seen and done too much together, but neither of them seemed willing to leave her either, both listening intently, reaching for juice or salt or whatever the bubbly brunette wanted. Tabby snorted and shook her head.

“And you’re other friend,” Duper interjected, passing Sidney a freshly buttered multigrain roll, “left a little while ago. She said to tell you…,” he paused and stared into space for a moment before an amused smile grew on his face. “Oh yeah, that she’s sorry that she forgot the keys to the handcuffs and not to leave without calling her.”

Even covering her mouth with her hand didn’t stop Tabby from sending a spray of orange juice across the table. Sidney shook his head and reached for a napkin, dapping at the orange droplets while rolling his eyes at her.

“Has anyone gone up to see if Jordan needs some help?” she asked sheepishly.

“Cookie’s already called a cop he knows,” Duper grinned, offering her a chocolate chip muffin, which she accepted greedily, ripping the top off of it and taking a large bite out of it. “So, what are you two going to do? Is she coming with us for the rest of the road trip or are you sending her straight back to the Burgh?” Tabby raised an eyebrow at Sidney, which he took to mean she didn’t appreciate being talked about as if she wasn’t there or wasn’t part of the equation.

Of course they had talked about, in the wee hours of the morning, but they hadn’t come to any decisions. Sidney understood her reluctance to move so far from her friends and family, considering her condition and classes she’s already paid for. On the other hand, he had absolutely zero intention of leaving her behind.

“I’ll be meeting you guys in Pittsburgh,” Tabby answered quietly, and Sidney felt her reach for his hand under the table. He turned and searched her face. She met his curious gaze with one of her half smiles. He mouthed the words ‘are you sure?’ to her and she nodded, giving his hand a firm squeeze. “I mean, I hear there’s nothing but video game consoles and stinky hockey gear in this house of his,” she added for the benefit of the boys at the table, “so I guess you’d better leave your credit card with me. After all, we’ve got a nursery to set up.”
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“Are you sure you have time for this?” Tabby asked as the cab pulled up in front of her parents’ house. Her stomach was doing crazy cartwheels and it was only the feel of Sidney’s hand around hers’ that was stopping her from telling the taxi driver to turn around and go back the direction they’d come from.

“I’ve got about an hour,” he replied, checking his watch again, “but I think if I’m going to steal their little girl away, the least I can do is introduce myself,” he added, leaning across her to look up at the seventies split level with the dual carport and the five year old Honda Accord in the driveway. “So, do you think your dad will get out the shotgun?”

“It isn’t my dad you have to worry about,” Tabby grinned, pushing the door open and stepping out onto the grass. “It’s my brother, and he’s kinda like Cookie. By the time he’s using his fists, you’re so pissed already you can’t see straight.” Sid rolled his eyes as she pulled him out of the car. He was wearing a dark, charcoal colored suit with light blue pinstripes and a matching blue shirt and tie. Her mother was going to be impressed.

Her brother, on the other hand….

Darrel was already at the door and he was wearing an expression on his face that she knew well; the protective brother. The ‘I’ll kick your ass and like it’ look. It wasn’t hard to imagine that Sid had likely seen and faced worse. Still, she felt his hand tighten around hers’ as they walked up the driveway.

“So, you’re the dick who knocked up my sister.” It was Tabby’s turn to roll her eyes as her little brother held his hand out towards Sidney, who stared down at it, probably half expecting it to be withdrawn the moment he put his out. To his credit, her little brother didn’t draw it back and laugh, he actually shook Sid’s hand when it was offered.

“I am,” Sid replied, those creases she so loved around his eyes deepening as he smiled. “Which I guess makes you the Uncle huh?”

“Yep,” Darrel replied, puffing up his chest and looking every inch the proud and protective Uncle. “Which means I get first dibs on totally kicking your ass if you so much as hurt my sister’s feelings,” he added in a threatening tone as he moved aside to let them in. Tabby felt Sidney stiffen, but he didn’t react. She wondered how many years of having guys threaten to kick your ass it took before you could be as cool as a cucumber when someone was threatening your life.

Having said his piece, Darrel lead the way upstairs where Tabby was shocked to see her parents standing like mannequins, watching her with guarded eyes. Her father was even wearing a tie. Now it was Tabby’s turn to brace herself. She felt Sidney’s grip tighten ever so slightly on her hand before he let it go, holding his hand out first to her dad and then to her mother, who, instead of taking his hand pulled him into a bear hug.

Was that relief on her mother’s face? Tabby rolled her eyes at her brother who was smirking at her from behind her father’s back. Of course it was, she decided. Their daughter had been summarily saved from a life as a single mother, which, she realized, let her parents off the hook, financially speaking. That, and they were welcoming a millionaire into their home and that alone had probably put a smile on her mother’s face.

“That was quite a game last night,” her father began and Darrel made another face as Tabby did her best to chew on the inside of her lip rather than nervously laughing at the idea of her father trying to make small talk.

“Yes sir. The Canucks are always a tough opponent,” Sidney answered as if he was talking to a reporter in the dressing room. It seemed, however, to be the right answer as her father smiled and nodded.

“So, you’re off to LA,” her father noted as he ushered them all into the living room.

“Well, the team is. I mean yes, I’m going with the team but Tabs,” Sidney reached for her hand and brought it over to his knee and she couldn’t help but smile to himself. He was taking ownership and maybe it was a little comforting too. “Tabby’s agreed to fly to Pittsburgh and move in to my house.” Tabby snuck a look at her father from beneath her bangs and saw him wince, just slightly, but enough that she noticed the tic at the corner of his jaw. She was, after all, daddy’s little girl.

“That’s quite a decision to make overnight,” her mother pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows at both of them. Tabby opened her mouth to tell her mother to stuff it but Sidney smiled warmly and gave Tabby’s hand a firm squeeze.

“Well if things had worked out the way I’d wanted them to,” he said quietly with a quick glance toward Tabby, “I think she would have already been there.” Tabby felt her heart swell in her chest until it was literally impossible to breathe as his melted milk chocolate gaze held hers. He smiled, but it was only for her and she felt as if they could have been sitting along the Seine instead of her parents’ living room. He had a knack for that, for making her feel like she was his entire world and nothing else mattered.

“Well I’ll still kill you, even if I have to get on a plane to do it.” Darrel ruined the perfect moment and Tabby shot him her most withering glare but as usual, it only served to make her younger sibling misbehave even more. “Of course if you want to set me up with some of those puck bunnies I see dressed up in those wedding dresses at the game, I guess I could let you get in a slap or two.”

“Believe me, you don’t want anything to do with those girls,” Sid laughed, all dimples and teeth while Tabby shook her head. “But you’ll be welcome to visit, any time. All of you,” he added, taking in her parents and her brother. “Just say the word and I’ll make it happen. No expense to you of course,” he added, to clarify Tabby thought, and maybe just a little to set her parents at ease. “I mean, I know Tabs will probably want you there in a few months,” he continued, turning his attention back to her and raising the back of her hand to his lips and pressing them down gently on her knuckles. “I know I’ll need someone to help me with the diapers.”

Tabby knew it was a lie, that he’d changed plenty when his younger sister was born, with their having such disparate ages, but she appreciated the white lie nonetheless. Her mother beamed at the idea of being wanted and needed and probably at the idea of being flown out first class if not in a private jet.

“I hope you know how luck you are young lady,” her father finally turned his attention back to his daughter and Tabby nodded, her gaze holding Sidney’s, letting him see just exactly how lucky she thought she was. “You landed on your feet, but he doesn’t have to do the right thing. In my day there would definitely have been some pressure to get to the alter….” Tabby shot her father a dark look, giving a quick shake of her head to silence him. The fact that Sidney had owned up to being the father before insisting on DNA evidence was enough.

“I know how lucky I am sir,” Sidney answered quietly, his gaze still holding hers’, making her blush with its’ intensity, with the intimacy of having him look at her that way in front of her family. “And I intend to do the right thing,” Sidney added, his other hand reaching for hers’. His thumbs stroked the back of her hands and she thought she felt his hands shake and suddenly she thought she felt as if she’d misunderstood the plea she had seen in his eyes.

“Sidney has to go,” she grinned at him, giving his hands a squeeze before standing up and pulling him with her. He had the presence of mind to shake his head and look as if he was going to argue with him but she understood. This was a little much, her dad practically trying to get the poor guy to ask her to marry him as if anyone really cared about whether a kid was born in or out of wedlock these days. She let go of Sidney’s hands and went over to hug her mother and then her father before turning towards her brother. “And as for you, troublemaker,” she grinned as he picked her up off of her feet and pulled her into a rib crushing, spine cracking hug. “Look after mom and dad for me,” she whispered.

“Get a room ready for me in that big fucking house, I’m coming down there to chase puck bunnies,” her brother replied, laughing as he set her back down on her feet.

“It’s a deal,” she promised, turning as she felt Sidney’s hand on her shoulder. “Ready?” she asked and he nodded. Taking his hand, she turned and found that her eyes began to fill as her parents stood watching them, their arms around each other. She gave a little wave and then tugged Sidney down the stairs without looking back.

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This sucked.

He had just found her again and then he’d had to kiss her goodbye at the airport. He told himself it was only going to be for a few days, but that did nothing to alleviate his currently very black mood. Not only had he got her back and lost her in just over twenty four hours , but it had been the second time that he’d had his grandmother’s ring in his pocket and every intention of using it, only to have her blow the big moment.

Sid swore under his breath and slammed his stick against the boards, making a kid in the first row jump back from the glass with a high pitched squeal.

“Nice! That kid will be selling his Crosby jersey on e-bay later,” Jordy laughed, grabbing a puck off of the ice and tossing it over the boards to the kid who then looked back at them both with huge, saucer-like eyes. “What’s with you tonight? I thought you’d be gliding around, doing triple axles ‘n shit.”

“I’m not asking her, ever again,” Sid muttered, half under his breath but Jordan hears it all the same and laughs.

“So did you actually ask her this time or did she head you off at the pass again?” the big forward asked, arching a single eyebrow and barely concealing one of those smiles that shouted ‘gotcha’.

“You asked her?” Max slid to a stop beside where they were standing, sending spray up the glass.

“No…not exactly, no,” Sid admitted with a shrug, “but I was going to and she blew me off.”

“So you had the ring out and she told you to put it away?” Max asked with an expression on his face that said he knew damn well that he hadn’t even got the ring out. He didn’t even answer, he just glared at his friend.

“You’ll ask her, really ask her, probably soon,” Jordan interjected, also earning himself a dark look.

“Nope, I won’t,” he disagreed, shaking his head.

“Yeah, look how fast you got her back in bed,” Max pointed out.

“Me? You mean how fast she did,” he growled.

“You keep telling yourself that,” Jordan laughed and patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll remind you some time about this and you’ll laugh.” He didn’t wait for a reply, Jordan just shook his head and skated away, laughing.

“You’ve been a fucking mess mon ami. Ne soyez pas si pressé de sortir tout a là façon…” Sid shook his head and gave Max a firm push.

“Don’t tell me how to feel and for fuck’s sakes don’t fucking tell me to slow the fuck down.” Max nodded and shrugged, then held his hand up in front of his mouth and twisted his fingers like a key in a lock and then tossed it away.

“C’est ta vie, mon ami, si tu le rate ne nous blâmez pas,” Max grinned that ‘you’re gonna be sorry’ grin and Sid shook his head, sighing.

“You’re not even in a relationship, why in the hell should I listen to you?” he asked and Max merely shrugged and kept grinning.

“Do you deny that Uncle Max knows more about the gentler sex than you mon ami?” Sid couldn’t deny it. Max was a certified player. He probably had a different girl every night and none of them seemed to hate him afterwards. It was a mystery that Sid had often wondered about.

“Okay, so what? Go ahead, impart your goddamn wisdom,” Sid grumbled as he followed Max towards the bench.

“All I will say is this,” Max began as they slowed to a stop and leaned against the half wall, reaching for water bottles. “It’s a good thing you didn’t get to ask her. She would probably have said no.” The way he said it was so matter of fact that Sid didn’t feel he could argue with him but he stared at him nonetheless. “As much as I think you missed your era mon ami, this is not the fifties, oui? You don’t have to marry a girl just because elle est dans la façon dont la famille. In fact, having met your girl, I would think if you did ask her now, she would think you were only asking her parce-qu’elle est le bec and she would have said no.”

“I hadn’t thought of it that way,” Sidney’s chest tightened at the thought of her turning him down and he found that suddenly he wasn’t angry or disappointed anymore. He was relieved. “You really think she would have said no?”

“Que pétard?” Tanger joined them at the bench and hung over the wall from the other side. “Mais oui, bien sûr. And she would probably be mad too,” Tanger laughed, that dirty sounding laugh that only the guys from Québec could muster. “But the make-up sex…peut-être vaut la peine!”

“You’ve had a lucky escape, mon capitaine,” Max patted his shoulder and then gave Sid’s arm a punch. “The time will come and you’ll know when it’s right but just enjoy her now you know? Il n’est pas nécessaire de se précipiter dans quoi que ce soit.”
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“I can’t believe you left Jordan handcuffed to the bed,” Tabby chuckled as Trina completed her story about her night. Her friends were helping her pack.

“Look, what I did was vanilla compared to little miss kinky pants over there,” Trina coughed a word behind her hands that sounded a lot like ‘slut’, but it didn’t go anywhere near erasing the grin that had been permanently affixed to Mel’s face for the entire day.

“Sticks and stone,” Mel sang as she folded one of Tabby’s cocktail dresses over her arm and carefully added it to the growing pile on the bed, “but I got to sleep with two hot hockey players, not just one. So pfttth.” Mel stuck her pierced tongue towards them both and Trina and Tabby just shook their heads.

“Weren’t both of them married?” Tabby tried to remember the list of players she had been trying to memorize, along with the names of their wives and significant others. She was pretty sure the back-up goalie was married but the other one….
“Yeah, yeah. So?” Mel beamed at them both.

“You really have no morals do you?” Trina shuddered and went back to rooting through Tabby’s underwear drawer, which in and of itself, was disturbing. However, as she had been quick to point out she probably was never going to wear a thing or g-string again and then it was Tabby’s turn to shudder. Had he actually called them ‘granny panties’?

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Tabby sat down suddenly as tears filled her eyes. “You guys were supposed to help with this and now I’m going all the way to some shitty city where I don’t know anyone and….” She couldn’t even finish the sentence before she was sobbing in her friends’ arms.

“Yeah but you got your man,” Trina pointed out to her.

“And he’ll be able to afford a nanny,” Mel pointed out helpfully.

“And from what I hear the wags are pretty good at sticking together. You’ll have them,” Trina added, as if it’s the answer to everything.

“But they’re not you,” Tabby sighed, her shoulders slumping.

“But you love him,” Mel and Trina say together and then giggle and someone calls out ‘coke’. Tabby shook her head and allowed her friends to wrangle her into a gigantic hug. ‘Yes’, she thinks to herself, ‘I do, but is that going to be enough?’

Chapter 22

Thanks for patience but this was a long chapter to write

The next few minutes were a confusing whirlwind that resulted in Tabby finding herself sitting on the edge of a single bed in a luxurious hotel room a few blocks from the arena. This had been her first taste of what it meant to date the face of the NHL. She’d barely had time to register that he had seemed to accept her news when they were pried apart like a couple of kids making out under the bleachers and she’d been unceremoniously shoved into a taxi and then frog marched into the hotel, given a swipe card and told to ‘wait’.

So she waited, tapping her fingers impatiently on the quilt, staring straight ahead, trying to be neither upset nor offended. After all, he had looked as stricken as she had felt when they’d been unceremoniously torn apart and she’d been able to hear him arguing at the top of his lungs as she’d been bundled down the hallway so she knew he’d been just as surprised as she had. Tabby smiled to herself as she thought of the sound of his voice, desperate and angry, asking why, over and over again, each time louder than the last.

She brought her fingers up to her lips and her smile grew as she thought of the tender, yet earnest kiss they’d shared. For one brief and shining moment, everything had been alright again but now….

Tabby’s heart began to race as she heard the sound of raised voices outside of the room and her gaze focused on the door as she wondered who would come through it. She relaxed marginally when she saw his caramel coloured eyes scan the room before his gaze converged on her.

“For a moment, I wasn’t sure if you would really be here,” he said quietly, closing the door behind him and leaning against it and suddenly the vast bridge between them seemed to be back, although, she thought to herself, at least now she could see him on the other side.

“You do know this is yours, right?” It was more a statement than a question, but it was uppermost in her mind that she be clear on this. “I mean, I’ll take whatever DNA or paternity test or whatever you want but….” He shook his head as he crossed the room to sit beside her on the end of the bed.

“I believe you…I mean, uh…yeah, we’ll probably have to do that but,” he held his hand up to stall her reply as she opened her mouth to argue, “it won’t be me asking for it,” he added, his hand moving forward to cradle her cheek as his gaze searched hers’ as if to see if she understood.

“You mean your…what are they? Like FBI agents or secret service or something?” she asked, thinking of the brisk and efficient way that they had removed her from the arena. Sid’s answering smile was derisive.

“NHL and team security,” he replied with a sigh. “This is exactly why I didn’t tell you who I am. It’s…complicated to be with me.” Tabby felt herself falling into his eyes as all of his insecurities and his obvious concern poured out of those gold flecked orbs, but she reminded herself that though they had both made strides out onto the bridge, there was one, small matter between them.

“And I guess this isn’t going to make it any easier,” she added, smoothing her dress over her bump again. She watched, with a certain amount of trepidation as Sidney slowly reached out and then spread his fingers over her stomach. She stared down at his hand, where it rested gently over hers’ and then she turned her gaze up to meet his.

“No,” he replied simply with a sigh and a slight shake of his head. “No, definitely not, but…,” his voice trailed away and then he just shrugged, “I still intend to be here for you…if you’ll have me.” This was the second time that he’d said that and she badly wanted to ask what he meant by it, but was half afraid of the answer so she kept her lips sealed and waited. He leaned in to kiss her, his lips nearly touching hers’ when the door burst open and the jumped apart like a pair guilty teenagers.

“Sheeee’s baaaack!” Like a herd of buffalo being stampeded off of a cliff, his teammates burst through the door and piled on top of the two of them. Sid looked apologetically over Max’s head at her and she found herself laughing and allowing herself to be drawn into a group bear hug.
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“We’ve got permission to stay over instead of flying to Edmonton tonight,” Jordy announced after each of his friends seemed to get enough of hugging and congratulating them on getting back together. Sid wasn’t sure that was the case, yet, although he was happy to hear that he had some more time to work on it.

“So we’re gonna have a thing,” Max told them, the big shit eating grin on his face bringing on a serious case of nerves in Sid who knew too well just what that grin could portend.

“A thing?” Sid asked, reaching for her hand. He felt her smaller hand slipping into his, warm and soft and he found himself grinning back at Max, but for an entirely different reason.

“Yeah, a party, for you guys getting back together and hopefully you getting your giant head out of your ass,” Jordy gave him that slow smile that wasn’t so much a smile as a threat of bodily harm if he argued the point, which Sid was in no mood to do. “We’re even going to order champagne,” he added, as if it was the cherry on top of the sundae but Sid recognized the undertone and knew that it was more like him saying they understood just how important this was. If only, he thought with a smug smile.

“Thanks guys but uh…,” he turned to look at Tabby who was watching him thoughtfully. With his free hand he reached across both of their bodies to spread his hand protectively over the swell of her stomach. “My baby momma won’t be doing any drinking.”

The sound of jaws dropping was palpable. In that moment of utter stillness, Sid gave Tabby’s hand a gentle but firm squeeze and when he looked up into her face, not only was she glowing but he could see that she was biting down on her bottom lip to stop from laughing too.

“Oh man, Troy is going to killlllll you,” Max crashed into them and Sid and Tabby found themselves lying on their backs on the bed with Max’s arms around them both.

“Thanks for the reminder,” Sid sighed, pushing his friend off as he muttered something under his breath about Max acting like a fag which earned him a sharp look from Tabby and a raspberry from Max. “Besides, I think we probably have a lot to talk about…if you guys don’t mind, I think we’ll skip it.”

“No,” Tabby gripped Sid’s hand more tightly to get his attention and when he looked over at her, the smile on her lips made his heart miss a beat. “It’s nice of you to think of us and…and we’ll be happy to have a drink or two, right?” she asked, the solemn plea in her eyes making him agree with a half hearted nod.

“Woohoo,” Max made a grab for them again but Sid gave him a solid shove which hardly caused the solidly built forward to stumble.

“And maybe I can invite a couple of girlfriends to join us,” Tabby added with a sly grin as Max wrapped his arms around her.

“Double woohoo!” Jordy shouted louder, puppy piling onto the bed and dragging Max and Tabby off the bed and onto the floor with him.
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“So he didn’t run screaming for the hills?” Mel whispered into Tabby’s ear as she and Trina stepped out of the cab and onto the sidewalk where Tabby had been waiting for them, both wearing their best ‘pulling’ gear, which for Mel meant a low cut top that showed off her best assets and for Trina meant a hardly there skirt that showed off hers’.

“Surprisingly, no, or at least not yet,” Tabby linked her arms into her friends and lead them both into the foyer of the Sheraton, which was marble and full of well appointed tourists coming and going.

“Does that mean you still expect him to?” Trina asked, looking worried and the only reply Tabby could give was a shrug.

“I don’t know. I mean, he announced it to all his guys okay, but to be honest, we haven’t had more than two minutes alone since this morning. There always seems to be someone around,” she explained with another shrug which earned her a sort of hug from her friends which really meant that they both sort of leaned into her as they stood in front of the shiny elevator doors. “Which is part of why you guys are here,” Tabby continued in a hushed tone as the doors opened and family which included two sullen looking, bubble gum chewing tweens wearing matching Team Edward shirts. “Not that I’m asking you to pull a train or anything but if you can help to distract the rest of the guys so that we can maybe sneak away…,” she looked at both of her friends, from one to the other, knowing full well that she was wearing a hopeful look on her face.

“Well I’ll be honest, I kinda had my sights set on just one of his teammates,” Trina grinned to herself and there was no doubt with her runway model height and long legs just which one of Sid’s teammates that would be. “But for you babes, I’ll play ball, for a while,” she added with a grin that spoke volumes about just what she planned to do to and have done to her by the second youngest Staal brother.

“Well it’s easy for you to choose,” Mel sighed dramatically, leaning into the chrome interior of the elevator as they stepped into it, and, turning her head slightly to one side, teased her bangs. “I feel like we’re going to a smorgasbord and there are just too many choices.” Tabby had already had in mind, with her friend’s dry wit and quick smile that she would be a perfect match for Max but she knew better than to play cupid, after all, there would be more than one married man in the room.

As the door opened, Tabby felt her heart begin to race again. He was waiting, just outside the doors, just as he’d promised and as soon as the doors opened, his gaze locked with hers’ and she felt her knees get weak all over again. The way he looked at her…into her, made her feel naked and not just physically.

“Damn,” Trina hissed under her breath and no one needed any translation. He was beautiful to look as a Greek sculpture, on you-tube or on TV but in person, he left you breathless.

“Have I told you lately that I fucking hate you?” Mel hissed as she planted a swift kiss on Tabby’s cheek before she let go of her friend and walked forward to offer her hand and introduce herself to him. Tabby watched him turn his gaze to Mel and give her his undivided attention for a moment, watched him smile at whatever she said, which was bound to be something personal and embarrassing, but for once Tabby wasn’t worried about that. All she knew was he was here, real, and the promise in his caramel coloured eyes as he turned them back to her, told her that he was just as eager to have her alone.

But not yet.

Once Trina had also briefly introduced herself before she brushed by him and headed into the full room where, she knew all eyes would be on her statuesque friend, he held his hand out to her and Tabby watched her hand disappear into his. He had such big hands, thick, hard working hands with thick, strong fingers, thick solid wrists and ropey, muscular forearms that lead up to huge guns and round, wide, shoulders.
He didn’t so much take her hand as, once his warm, strong fingers closed around hers’ he pulled her into him, slid his arms around her and pressed his full lips to the top of her head. It had only been a few minutes since they’d last parted but it had felt like an eternity. Now that she had him again, she clung to him, her arms around his waist as she leaned into his broad chest.

"Before someone else tells you,” he whispered into her ear and Tabby felt her entire body stiffen as she raised her eyes to search his face. “Wait, don’t look at me like that,” he smiled that boyish smile of his that was all dimples and teeth and she immediately relaxed. “I was just going to say I had a private investigator looking for you. I didn’t want one of the boys to say something and for you to take it the wrong way.” Was there a wrong way to take that, Tabby wondered as she went up on tip toe to press her lips to his. It was flattering and sweet and she was back to feeling like a spoiled bitch for having thrown such a massive tantrum and running away.
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As if he could sense the storm clouds in her mind, Sidney took her face in his hands as their lips parted and let her see just how grateful he was to have her in his arms. He kept expecting someone to pinch him and tell him he was dreaming, that none of this was real and that she was still gone and yet here she was with her arms around his waist, looking at him with those dramatic dark eyes of hers’ and her bottom lip was trembling as if she was the one with all of the worries.

Which reminded him, as if the slight swell around her middle where it pressed against him wasn’t reminder enough, and as he pressed his lips to her forehead, he told her again. “I’m here. We’ll figure this out.”

“I know it’s a lot to take in,” she began, but he shook his head as he ran his fingers through her dark hair, reaching back to unleash it from the ponytail she’s put it up in at the back of her neck. Running his fingers through her hair seemed to calm her but it calmed him too. It’s was like petting an old family dog, restful, soothing.

“I’m still getting used to the fact that you’re here,” he told her with a half smile, as he pulled her again into his arms to give her a hug that was maybe a little too hard because she let out a little grunt and suddenly he jumped back, reaching for that swell, his hands pausing in mid air above it. “Does it hurt? I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. I mean, I didn’t mean to….” Her hands were suddenly there, over his, leading his to her stomach and pressing them flat against it.

“It’s fine,” she whispered, her hands still over his, but he no longer needed the encouragement. He was suddenly fascinated by the new and different shape of her body, and he spread his fingers around it and over it and when he looked at her, she had the most beautiful smile…. “I can’t remember her exact words but the OBGYN said that it’s pretty hard to do anything to hurt him from the outside.” Sidney stared down at his hands and then back up at her as he removed them.

“Him?” he asked, searching her gaze. She shrugged and laughed. He’d almost forgotten how he loved the sound of her laughter.

“I don’t actually know that, I just think of it that way,” she explained, and he nodded, reaching up to smooth her hair back from her face where it had fallen as she’d looked down. “Do you…would you prefer a boy?” she asked suddenly and then it was his turn to laugh and shake his head.

“Actually no…I mean not that I’d mind either way but…it might be harder for a boy, you know?” he tried to explain and then wondered just how much she knew about his life, and for how long she had known it. She nodded and made a small sound in her throat that sounded a little like agreement.

“I guess it would be hard to live up to being a national hero,” she said quietly and Sidney felt himself blushing, a slow heat rising from his neck to the tip of his ears.

“I’m not…,” he began to argue it, as he always did, because it was embarrassing and because if you just agreed with a statement like that people would think you believed it and then they’d say things like you had a big ego and that was something he tried to avoid. Not that anyone on the Pens had much of a chance of that happening. If he or anyone else ever showed the slightest inclination towards actually growing an ego, that person was likely to find himself handcuffed, naked, to the nearest lamppost. So instead of arguing he just rolled his eyes and she laughed again, which made him smile. He really had missed her laugh. “I missed you,” he admitted suddenly and her smile faded a little at the corners.

“I missed you so much,” she admitted in turn and offered her lips up to his, but just as he was about to take them in a kiss he was fairly sure would lead to him carrying her into his room, he heard the unmistakable sound of Max clearing his throat in hat annoying way that could only mean one thing. “Yeah, yeah, we’re coming,” he muttered, rolling his eyes again which made her laugh.

“One drink,” she whispered against his mouth, “and then we’ll find somewhere to talk.” Sighing, he nodded and offered his hand instead of his lips and together they followed Max into the party.
________________________________________________________


Trina was already well on her way to scooping Jordan’s tonsils out with her tongue and Tabby wasn’t that surprised to find that Mel was making herself the creamy filling in a Brent Johnson and Alex Goligoski sandwich. If Mel could find a married man in a room to flirt outrageously with she would. So not every pair of eyes turned to them when they came into the room but those that did raised their glasses and toasted ‘the happy couple’.

For herself, Tabby felt herself beaming as Sid introduced her to each of his teammates and though she’d already grown to hate complete strangers touching her ‘baby bump’, she kept grinning even as each of them gave her stomach a pat and told her just how much trouble she was getting their captain into. Once they’d made a circuit of the room and Sid had finished the drink that Max had pressed into his hand, he whispered into her ear that he was ready to ‘get out of here’ and so, like a pair of horny teenagers heading for the boiler room, they slipped out of the party and padded down the hall, glancing over their shoulders and giggling like they were truly getting away with something. She’d seen the looks that his friends had given him and she’d seen the furtive winks that they had thought were behind her back. Not that she minded. She was just as eager to get him alone, the memory of digging her nails into his broad shoulders as he’d driven himself balls deep into her had been playing in the back of her mind since that first kiss back at the rink.

And yet, when he closed the door behind them and threw the bolt, she had the distinct impression that the vast bridge was back. They were suddenly standing there, apart, he at the door and she a little further into the room and neither of them seemed eager to make a move to close the distance between them. His hand was still on the lock, like he had a half a mind to unlock it and run, probably screaming for his mama and for her part, Tabby couldn’t stop thinking about the strange new shape that her body had taken and just how unsexy she felt all of a sudden.

What they’d had during the summer had been physical dynamite. They’d barely been able to keep their hands off of each other and yet now, that they were finally alone, neither of them seemed willing to make the first move.

He probably thinks it would be gross to do it to a pregnant chick, Tabby thought as she turned into the room and stared at the two single beds, each with a suitcase at its’ foot, a pair of runners and pair of good shoes next to them. Not that she wasn’t sure that she felt the same, after all, his body was a picture of perfection with his wide shoulders and his sculpted chest that tapered to a perfect ‘v’ just below his perfect six-pack. In comparison she felt like a manatee, shapeless bulging flesh with swollen, aching tits and a strange yearning for egg rolls and barbeque chicken.

She was licking her lips at the thought of biting into a drumstick covered in thick, sweet and tangy barbeque sauce and wishing she’d eaten some of crackers and cheese and garlic coil that had been in the other room when she felt her hair swept off of her neck, replaced by the soft press of his lips. Closing her eyes, Tabby chased away the images of food from her imagination and replaced them with the images she’d used time and again to chase away the loneliness over the last few months; his naked torso, slick with sweat, as he worked on the stairs, water streaming over his short, dark hair as he kissed her in the shower.

For a moment she forgot that she was a little over four months pregnant and leaned back into him, reaching up to curl her fingers around his thick neck. He obviously took this as encouragement and his teeth dug into her skin, making her gasp out loud. His hands slid down over her shoulders, holding her firmly, pulling her hard against him so that any illusion that she had that he didn’t want her or that he wouldn’t find her appealing, was entirely wiped out. There was no mistaking the feel of him pressed against the small of her back, hard and already eager and yet she couldn’t stop herself from reaching back between them and stroking her hand up the hard length of him through his pants, just to be sure.

He moaned into the curve of her neck and pressed himself into her hand. She felt her own lips curl into a smile as she heard him drag in a ragged breath as she gave him a good hard squeeze before letting go and reaching around to dig her fingers into the solid muscle of his ass, pushing him against her as she backed herself into him. He swore under his breath and she giggled as she thought to herself that maybe Trina had been right after all, maybe she was still a little desirable.
_________________________________________________________________


It was like riding a bike, Sidney thought as his hand slid up from her waist, up along her rib cage to the slope of her breast. He knew her body like Braille, knew every curve with his eyes closed and just as it always had from the very first moment, every one of her touches sent his body into flames. She giggled as she ground her ass against his cock and though he’d missed her laugh, now he didn’t want to laugh. He didn’t want to talk. He just wanted to be inside of her and the sooner the better. He wanted every single, solitary fantasy he’d had while they were apart to come true. He tweaked her nipple between his finger and thumb and she squeaked and batted his hand away.

“I’m sorry, did I hurt you?” He spun her around and searched her face but she only grinned back at him, reaching up to brush her fingertips down his cheek before she pressed her lips to his in a brief but searing kiss.

“Yesss,” she hummed against his mouth before drawing back so that he could see that even though the answer was affirmative, it hadn’t changed her mood. “They’re crazy sensitive, you have to just be a little…more tender with those,” she explained, dropping her hand down to grab his and leading it back to her breast. He stared down at his hand where it was splayed across her breast and wondered at it. Maybe he didn’t remember her body quite as well as he thought he did. “Yes, they’re bigger,” she answered his unspoken question and giggled again.

“Can we…I mean should we…I mean, will it hurt or something?” he asked, now that he was actually looking at her body and not just imagining her writhing naked at the end of his dick.

“I told you,” she whispered, nipping at his bottom lip, “you can’t break me.”
With that, she stepped back from him and then reached back and began to undo the zipper at the back of the dress. Before, he might have just enjoyed the show, but something in his head told him that this wasn’t the way to treat the mother of his child. So instead of being a bystander, Sid moved around her and gently brushed her hand away from the zipper and pulled it down himself, revealing her warm, amber skin inch by inch, kissing his way down her back until he was kneeling behind her, pressing his lips to the small of her back.

He heard her sigh as he gently let the dress pool around her feet and turned his attention instead to the backs and insides of her thighs, kissing and nipping at them until his hands slid up underneath her panties and held onto her ass even as he bit down on the swell of it through the soft fabric. These weren’t the kinds of panties she’d worn back at home, when she wore them at all.

“These are…interesting,” he mused, fingering the fabric that covered the entirety of her bottom and, as he encouraged her to slowly turn around, all of her front too.

“Well this is your fault,” she pointed out, pushing the pair of cotton granny panties down to reveal the swell of her stomach. Sidney stared at it, at the way her hands cupped it protectively and suddenly it was very hard to swallow, let alone breathe. He could hear Troy again in his head, telling him to deny it, telling him that this was a trap, to run as far and as fast as he could. Instead, his hands slowly moved up and his fingers spread over it and he looked up at her and felt guilt sitting heavily in his own stomach.

“I haven’t exactly been an angel since…while we were apart,” he began, hearing Dr. Burke in his head telling him that he had to be honest and open with his sexual partners. Not that there was anything to catch now. He was clean as a whistle down there, medically cleared for carnal duty, but still….

“Are you trying to ask if there’s any chance this belongs to someone else?” Tabby started to back away but Sidney scrambled to his feet and engulfed her in his arms before she could get away.

“No,” he insisted. He knew. He’d known from the moment he saw her standing behind the boards and the protective way that Bieksa had hovered behind her. She wasn’t that kind of girl. She was his girl. “I know you wouldn’t lie about something like this,” he added softly, moving her back until she was sitting on the bed and he was sitting beside her, still holding her. “I mean you didn’t know when we, y’know,” he added glancing at her and then away.

“But?” she asked quietly, as if she were waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“There will be people…they’ll say things, hurtful things. They’ll say…they’ll suggest….” He couldn’t bring himself to say it but as he looked down into her eyes he could see that she understood what it was he was trying, badly, to say.

“When I told Kev and Katie…the Bieksa’s, about you and,” her hand dropped to cover her bump before she continued. “They explained about you and how important you are…that you’re like the crown prince of hockey or something,” she added quietly with a half smile that told him that she understood that that wasn’t a good thing. “They told me that I’d be the most hated woman in the whole country,” she smirked as if she liked the idea of taking on the world and the girl he’d come to love, he could picture that. “So I guess I know. I mean, I don’t know…obviously, how bad it’s going to be. I mean, if you still want me that is,” she added even more quietly, her voice fading into silence as she searched his face with her dark eyes.

Sidney brushed her hair back from her face and let himself look at the woman he loved. Still loved. Loved again. Whichever it was, he knew his feelings hadn’t faded, even while they’d been apart and even though there were warning bells in his mind and even though he knew just how bad it was going to be, he also knew there was nothing and no one on this earth that was going to take her away from him again, ever.

So he kissed her, first softly, slowly. He tasted her lips and her tongue and felt her body sway into his, lighting fires wherever her skin brushed his. Then he pressed her down into the bed and laid his body down beside hers’. He ran his fingertips lightly over her skin, from the curve of her neck, down to her collarbone, over the half moon swell of her breast where he stopped to run the pad of his thumb around the stiff nub of her nipple until she moaned and arched her back off of the bed. He ran the flat of his hand down to her stomach and then stopped, letting his lips catch up.

“Hey little guy,” he whispered, his lips lightly brushing her belly button. “I’m the douchebag who knocked up your mom. You’re welcome.” She laughed, making her entire body quake beneath his hands and mouth, encouraging him. “I’m sorry we kind of screwed things up but I’m gonna try and make it up to your mom before you get here so hopefully I’ll be there when you make it out.”

He looked up along the plane of her body to where she had propped herself up on her elbows to watch him and he found her both smiling and crying at the same time.

Wordlessly she reached for him with one hand and he went gratefully into her arms.

____________________________________________________

It was neither easy, nor straightforward, but somehow they managed. Their bodies tangled together, urgent, yet patient, eager and careful all at once. Horrified by the idea of hurting her, Sidney had insisted she be on top, even though she’d tried to explain that it didn’t matter how they did it, that what was done was done and he wasn’t going to be bumping the fetus’ head with his cock no matter what position they decided on.

Still, as she slid down the hard, long length of him, she was grateful to be able to look down at his face and to have him looking up at her like she was something beautiful too.

It did feel different, though, she had to admit that. She felt every touch, every stroke more intensely than ever before and when the orgasm came, it erupted like a roman candle inside of her, sending her entire body up into flames. She felt it everywhere, from the tips of her fingers to the tips of her toes and it left her breathless and shaking.

He’d always pleased her, that had never been a problem, but not like this, she thought as she leaned forward, her hands on his shoulders, her hair pooling around him like branches of a willow tree reaching for water. She’d never felt release this quickly or this intensely. Not with him, not with anyone and it took her a minute to catch her breath.

“What was that?” he asked, reaching up to brush a tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb.

“Amazing,” she sighed happily, sliding her hands down his chest until she felt the hard peaks of his nipples under the palms of her hands. Grinning to herself, she rotated her hands slowly until he began to writhe beneath her and then she began to slowly move over him, raising her hips and lowering them just enough to feel him inside of her. His eyes rolled back in his head and a low moan escaped his full, pink lips.

Moving her hands back up to his shoulders, she pushed down on him, which helped her slide higher, until he was barely still inside of her and then she rotated her hips, teasing him until he groaned and reached for her, but she grabbed his hands and pressed them over her highly sensitive breasts. She gasped when he pinched her nipples but she didn’t ask him to stop this time. Whether it was the endorphins released from her first orgasm or the euphoria of having him again, she wasn’t sure. All she did know was, as she slid down the length of him until she could feel his pelvic bone pressing against her clit, was that she was ridiculously happy.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered as she arched her back, pressing herself down over him harder and so that each stroke of his cock was at a more shallow angle, her arms reaching back to press his thighs to the bed. They felt like rocks beneath her hands, she couldn’t even dig her fingers into them.

“Trina says I’m glowing,” she agreed breathlessly, closing her eyes as he lifted them both up off of the bed, pushing himself up into her hard enough that he tore a gasp from her lungs.

“You are,” he agreed, grabbing her hips and rolling her over onto her back, pinning her beneath him, but still careful to keep himself hovering above her. “You so are,” he whispered against her mouth as he pressed her thighs apart and back, his hands behind her knees, his cock buried deep in her hot, wet pussy. She reached for his tongue with hers’ and felt his twine around her own as they moved together, slowly, as if they’d made a silent agreement to treasure this moment, to make it last.

And yet it seemed her body couldn’t keep that promise. As he took a long stroke, nearly pulling out of her snatch entirely and then slowly, slowly burying himself deeply inside of her, she felt the tingle at the base of her spine, felt her pulse quicken and she knew she was going to cum again. If he sensed it or if the muscles inside of her clutching at him undid him, she didn’t know but he moaned into his mouth and made two, fast hard strokes before shoving himself inside of her hard and fast and with a growl, he buried his head in her neck and she felt his cock pulsing inside of her and suddenly the wave crashed to the beach and she felt herself drowning in it, her entire body clenching and releasing as a primal scream was torn from her throat.

She held him tightly, sobs wracking her entire body as the wave ebbed and left them both slick with sweat, panting and unable to move of their own volition. They held onto each other as if they had just survived going over Niagara Falls and had found themselves alive on the beach. It seemed he had even forgotten about his concern about hurting her, as nearly his entire weight was pressed against her, and she couldn’t remember the last time she had ever felt so safe.

“Are you…is everything okay?” he asked at last, raising himself off of her, but still holding her close. She smiled and nodded and sighed happily as she relaxed against him.

“Perfect,” she mumbled, pressing her cheek to his collarbone, fitting herself neatly beneath his chin. “This is the best I’ve felt in months,” she added, stroking her hand over this hip and down his thigh.

“Me too,” he whispered into her hair, pressing his lips to the top of her head and wrapping his arms around her. “Me too.” Then, just when she thinks he’s dropped off, she feels his lips in her hair again and then his arms squeeze her again. “And everything’s going to be alright. I don’t know how yet but…they will Tabs. I promise.”

She nodded and made a noise she hoped that he wouldtake as her believing him but a little of the glow fades as she thought about all the warnings she’s had and all she knew that they would be facing and she couldn't help but wonder if he would really be able to keep that promise.