emma put on a black dress and looked in the mirror, suddenly self conscious about her stomach. of course she didn't look pregnant, just bloated, but she was scared someone would notice something was different about her. she grabbed a blazer and put it over her arms. she paired the black dress with black boots and put her lanyard over her neck, grabbing her things and walking out of her hotel room.
her backpack covered her ass as she got into the elevator next to her boyfriend and a couple of the older players. they got onto the bus, all making sure that emma was third. emma sat down in the third row and looked out of the window, watching as the rest of her team came out of the hotel.
sidney sat down next to her and he looked just as nervous as she was. he put his hand on her thigh and leaned over, laying his head on her shoulder. she sighed and laid her head on his, closing her eyes and letting her stress melt away.
•••
emma watched the clock count down and started freaking out. the buzzer sounded and everyone on the penguins bench climbed over the boards and skated onto the ice. emma went straight for sidney and hugged him, being squeezed as the rest of her teammates all piled onto them. sidney held onto her cheek and kissed her roughly, not caring if people saw.
she smiled into him, "this is literally the best year of my life."
"and it's not even over yet." he spoke before the group separated. they were all given hats that said that they were the 2024 stanley cup champions. sidney held emma's hand as a carpet was rolled onto the ice and two men brought out the stanley cup. tears rolled down emma's cheeks and sidney kissed her head, "we did it, baby. i'm so proud of you."
the men in suits announced that sidney would be the first to hoist the cup up and he let go of his girlfriends hand, taking the cup and shouting. he passed it off the geno and the line continued. jake did his lap before handing the trophy to emma and kissing her cheek, "pleasure playing with you, emma."
she grinned, putting the heavy cup over her head as she cheered. after her short time with the cup, she kissed it and handed it to kasperi. emma skated back to her boyfriend and hugged him again. maybe the fact that she was carrying their kid wasn't so bad. her career couldn't get any better than winning the stanley cup as an assistant captain and if it was actually over, she didn't mind.
the players' families were let onto the ice and emma was excited to see his family. sidney took her hand and led her to them. she smiled, "how have you been, trina?"
"i'm terrific, dear." she took her hand and squeezed, "i'm glad my son has found someone like you."
emma looked at sidney, "me too."
sidney's dad pulled her into a hug, knowing what was about to happen. taylor joined the hug, giving her brother time to take the small box from his mom's purse and get down on one knee. sidney knew how crazy it was that he was ready to take their relationship to the next level after only three years but he had already talked to his parents about marrying her and they supported his decision.
sidney was different with emma than he was with kathy. it seemed like he was always happy, win or lose. he spent nine years with kathy and he never seriously thought of marrying her. his career was always an excuse for him not wanting to marry or have kids with her but now, with emma, he'd stop playing hockey the second she asked him to. he never dreamed of being so in love with anyone in his life.
