Dream On (Jonathan Toews)

Chapter Forty-Nine| NHL Firsts

Jonathan

At morning skate the next day Mary Kate comes out in a red Hawks practice jersey with 87 on the back and FLETCHER in big bold letters. I almost told them to put my last name but I probably shouldn't mess with her today. "Tell me this is a good idea" she says skating up to me. "It's not... it's a great one. Now how fun, this is the same team you've been with all year. You have nothing to worry about" I assure her and she nods. We warm up with some laps before going over the short practice schedule. We do line rushes and she fits right in on Patrick's spot being a left handed shot on the right wing. She looked good with Sharpy and it was obvious she was getting comfortable. She always preaches to have fun but she forgets that sometime. We work on the power play where I get to play with her and she looked great at the right wing dot. She won board battles and no one could get her off the puck. "Maybe we should have put her on earlier" Q says skating up to me. "I can't argue with that" I laugh and she knocks Shaw over. One day he will learn. He gets up to continue messing with her and she hip checks him over her body, even Q laughed at that. "Alright boys, practice is over. Hit the showers" he announces and we head off the ice. I look back to see Mary Kate heading to the blue line and roll my eyes. She never changes.

We hit the ice for warm ups before the game and take our laps. People have signs up supporting Mary Kate and there was a increasing number of little girls filling the front rows. "This is crazy" she comments as we stretch. "Just wait till the place fills up" I say and she gives me a smile. "I'm happy I get to do this with you. There's no other team I would play for" she admits. "I'm glad I'm here for your first NHL game, I always had a feeling I'd find us in this situation" I admit. I look up and see my parents come in and give them a smile. "Hey look, you got fans" I say pointing in their direction. She grows a huge smile and waves to them before they turn around to show they had her jersey on. "How" she asks. "I have my ways Ms. Fletcher" I joke and she rolls her eyes. We do line rushes before heading back to the locker room and getting ready for the real thing.

Game starts and I stand on the ice for the national anthem. I couldn't help but notice how many Hawks fans were here tonight. Usually when you lose your leading scorer the fans lose interest. But everyone knew who Mary Kate was and what she could do. Everyone was excited to see what she would do in a real NHL game. If the product was really as good as the advertisement. And man were they in for a treat. Puck drops and less than twenty seconds into the shift we get a power play when one of the panther players got called for hooking. Mary Kate takes to the ice and nearly everyone raises to their feet to get a better view. "Alright we're going to have you go to the right dot. If I win the face off I'll crash the net and create traffic, if you see a way create opportunities do so. Don't second guess yourself, if you have a shot take it" I tell her and she nods heading to her spot. I win the faceoff and head directly to the net. Duncs and Seab's play catch up top as the wingers move around. Duncan lays a perfect pass on Mary Kate's stick, she toe drags around a defender while always keeping her head up and stares down the goalie. She lets a shot go and it goes in off the cross bar and back out before the goalie even flinches. I pick up the puck and join the celebration happening on the ice by the right wing dot. "Nice shot rookie" Sharp say patting her helmet. We all celebrate and I notice there's a lot more people on the ice now than when she scored the goal. "Fuck yeah Fletcher" Crow yells and I look down to the empty net. That is one weird goalie. Everyone clears out until it's just us. I clink our helmets together and she lets out a laugh. "Here" I say handing her a puck. "I think this will look great hanging up in the living room" she laughs. We head back to the bench and they replay the goal on the jumbo tron. "You know, it was nice to actually see that one go in" she comments and everyone on the bench laughs. Despite what she might think she definitely belongs here.

The game ends with a shut out for Crow and Mary Kate's goal being the game winning one. She also got assist when she sprung Sharpy on a breakaway goal and was named the number one star of the game. "Alright, belt time" Crow calls out. He won it last night so he gets to hand it off. "It was a great team win today but I think Mary Kate gets it for the sickest first goal I've ever seen" he says and she takes the belt and gives him a hug. We take showers and reporters come in for interviews. "So, your fiancé is good at hockey" a reporter says to me and I had to laugh. "Yeah, she's alright" I joke. "Are you worried about having her on the team" another asks me. "Not at all. She's actually a brilliant defensive player, you saw her on the penalty kill tonight. And you can't hit something you can't catch" I say and everyone nods. "How long do you think she will stay on the team" someone asks. "At least until Patrick gets back. Hopefully longer" I nod. They ask a few more questions and I answer them. When I get done I see how Mary Kate was doing with her interviews. She still had her lockets on and that made me smile. She starts doing crazy hand motions and I can only imagine what she was saying but the media was eating it up. It's hard for them to say too many bad things because she was a genuinely great person. She eventually gets down and make her way over to me. "Well that was fun" she says kissing my cheek. "Told you you could do it" I say nudging her. "Yeah yeah you were right" she laughs rolling her eyes. Her hair was in a pony tail but it still made it all the way down to her waist. Her eyes sparkled and she smelled good like she always did. It reminded me how lucky that she is in my life.

"Congratulations" my parents yell as we exit the locker room causing Mary Kate to jump up and down eventually running over to hug them. "Thanks so much for coming, it means the world" she says hugging them. "You looked amazing out there. We're so proud of you" my dad says and she pauses. Her bright eyes become smokey and she just stares at my dad. "I'm sorry, you just really sounded like my dad for a second. It's been a long time since I could look up into the stands and see someone who means so much to me cheer for me" she admits choking up a little. "We love you like our own, we would fly anywhere to watch you achieve your dreams" my mom say pulling her into another hug. We find a place to sit down and eat before we all went home. In the middle of eating a little girl comes up and taps Mary Kate's leg. "Excuse me, can I have a autograph" she asks shyly before her parents come up behind her. "I'm so sorry if she's bothering you, she wandered off and woah... you're Jonathan Toews and Mary Fletcher" the older man who I presume is the dad says. "It's not a problem at all. What's your name sweetie" Mary Kate asks getting out of her chair to see eye to eye with the little girl. "Alyssa" she says quietly handing her a Hawks jersey. I had her a pen and she happily signs it. "I am so sorry to interrupt your dinner" he apologizes again. "It's nothing really. Glad to see we have fans out here" I say. "Well you guys are fun to cheer for" he admits. We sign a few things for them before they leave. "I feel like none of this is real" she says as we get back to the hotel. "Believe it" I say and she kisses my lips. "I love you" she reminds me and I kiss her again. "I love you too".