Hockey Baby 🏒

••• THIRTY-NINE •••

••• THIRTY-NINE •••
Ashton

Sophie looked incredibly beautiful as she moved around, greeting everyone in the backyard of our new house, with Aurora perched on her hip. We were celebrating both our engagement and our housewarming party and the backyard was filled with our family and friends.

She was grinning as she excitedly chatted with her friends when Patrick and Coach Sullivan approached me. I reluctantly tore my eyes away from my fiancée and smiled at them. "Are you getting excited, Maverick?" Coach asked, gesturing toward Sophie. I grinned and nodded.

"I've been excited since she agreed to marry me," I admitted, and we all chuckled.

"Marriage is an amazing thing, Maverick. I've been married for almost twenty-five years, and she still makes my heart skip a beat whenever I see her smile," Coach said with a shy smile. Patrick and I raised our eyebrows in surprise at the unexpected sentiment. Coach rolled his eyes at our reactions and elbowed Patrick.

"What about you, Lincoln? What's taking you so long to marry that girl of yours?" Coach teased, and I laughed as Patrick's face turned bright red.

"You trying to marry all of us off, Coach?" Patrick muttered, trying to brush it off. Coach shrugged with a smirk and took a sip of his beer.

"Marriage keeps you out of trouble, and you, Lincoln, love trouble. Especially with your own captain," he said pointedly, and Patrick sighed.

"I promise I don't go looking for trouble, Justin just—"

"You don't have to explain yourself, son," Coach cut him off with a sigh. "Thorne's been a problem ever since he signed with us five years ago, and the way he's acted over the last season and a half shows me he's not going to change. So, after this season, he's being traded to another team. We'll need a new captain, and my choice is between you two." Patrick and I exchanged excited grins—another dream on the verge of coming true.

"Wow, Coach, that really means a lot that you'd consider us," I chuckled in disbelief. Coach shrugged.

"You two have shown leadership in the short time you've been here, and your teammates have said they'd be happy with either of you as captain. Now, for the remainder of the season, I want you both to go out on that ice and prove to me who deserves the title. I'll let you know who I choose." We nodded eagerly, and then Coach clapped us both on the shoulders. "Now, I've got to catch up with the missus. Congratulations again, Maverick."

As we watched him walk away, Patrick nudged me with his elbow, grinning. "Dude, this is literally the best day ever." I chuckled and nodded.

Becoming captain of the Chicago Blackhawks was a dream I'd had since childhood. To have barely played for the team two years and already be nominated? I couldn't help but feel proud of us, and I knew, wherever Mr. Lincoln was, he was proud too.

I heard Sophie's laugh and turned to see her chatting with Coach and his wife. Aurora placed her little hands on either side of Sophie's face causing Sophie to giggle as she grinned and rubbed her nose against Aurora's, making my heart feel like it was going to explode with love for both of them. Sophie then looked around, found me watching her, and grabbed Aurora's hand to wave at me. I grinned and waved back, feeling like the luckiest man alive.

Patrick chuckled beside me. "I know when I first found out about you two, it was a little rough for a minute there. But I just want you to know, there's no better guy I could have picked to marry my sister." He smiled, and I placed my hand over my heart.

"That means the world to me, Patrick. But don't think I'm going easy on you for the rest of the season." I teased. He rolled his eyes, laughing, but just as he was about to respond, something caught his attention behind me. His expression froze.

"Oh, shit!" He breathed, his eyes locked on something. I turned to see what had caused such a reaction, and it felt like a bucket of ice-cold water had been dumped over my head.

My parents had shown up—uninvited—and were heading straight toward me.