God Bless The Broken Road (Jonathan Toews)

Trust Her

Jonathan

"Dude, your phones going off" Patrick laughs as we sit through a movie.

"It's probably just Maisie asking if we need anything for home. I'll answer it later" I assure him. That worked but then it goes off again and again and again.

"I think you should get that" he insists.

"It's probably nothing. I'll turn it off" I say and shut it off. Usually I'm crazy protective over Maisie but she insisted that I had fun today away from the house and I actually was, it was nice. Pat and I were watching Kick-Ass and it was honestly a funny movie despite the terrible name. After we finished the movie we met some guys for lunch and I take time to finally relax. The team was playing good. Maisie's birthday is tomorrow and I have a great day planned, life was good.

"Alright boys, this was fun and all but I have to pick up dinner" Hossa says.

"Yeah, I should head to pick up Jackson from school. It was nice hanging with you guys when you don't smell like shit. See you tomorrow" I joke before picking my things up and leaving.

I get to the school and hang with the parents until school got out. The bell rings and everyone finds their kid except me. I go into his classroom and see his jacket is still there but his book bag was gone. I go to the front desk and find someone sitting there and decide to see what she knew.

"Hello. I'm Jonathan, I'm here to pick up Jackson Brown. Is he here" I ask the lady. She looks at me questionably but answers me anyway.

"He left with Maisie about six hours ago. There was a couple here requesting to take him and I called you but it you were busy so I called her after that. She rushed over and started arguing with the couple before taking off with him" she tells me and my heart drops to the floor. I run my hands down my face as my thoughts consume me. Her parents were here? How did they know he was here? What did they want from Jackson? Then I remembered the newspaper and articles going around and piece it together.

"Is there anything Maisie said" I whisper.

"I didn't hear much. The older woman said she couldn't run from her problems and she said 'watch me', that's all I heard" she claims. I run my hands through my hair and let out a sigh. This is bad, like really bad. I grab Jacksons jacket before rushing home to see no one was there. It didn't look like she stoped by or anything. I go to the rink to see if Jackson and Maisie was at practice but they weren't there. By this time I'm losing it. I have no idea where my pregnant fiancé and our kid was or what actually happened. Her parents could have gotten them, she could be halfway across the world, who knows. I check my phone to see a miss call from the school and a bunch from Maisie. But only one voice mail.

"Hey Jon, it's me. I um... wow this is hard. I have Jackson and we're both fine. We're up in Minnesota right now and I'm not sure when we're coming home. It won't be long because I have absolutely nothing with me. I'm sure you're pissed I just ran away like this but trust me I had to. I can explain it to you but I'd rather not do that over the phone. Just... um... I love you. So much. I'm sorry for everything. Bye."

I cover my mouth as a tear slips from my eyes. I feel my chest tighten and I fall back into my car. What the hell is going on? Why did she run? And why there? I drive home and try calling her back but her phone was now by off.

It was getting late and I was pacing the floor trying to figure out what to do. Do I go chase after her? No she would be mad. Do I tell anyone? No I already made that mistake before. Looks like the only thing I could do was wait. I go up to the babies room and look at the wall. The tree was already covered with pictures of us waiting for her to get here. There was one of Jackson kissing Maisie's belly and another of me kissing her with Jackson jumping up between us. I didn't want anything to change either. I just wish she was here.

The next morning I woke up and rolled over in bed looking for Maisie and she still wasn't there. Dagger jumps up and lays in her spot and I give him a little smile. I pet his little head and he curls up before going back to sleep. I groan into my pillow before getting up and taking a shower. I drive over to practice and don't say a word to anyone. I wasn't sure what to do but I know I can't do something I'm going to regret.

I change into my practice pads and jersey before sitting silently in my stall staring at the floor. Patrick sits next to me as I continue to stare at the floor just praying that I don't cry right now. Usually I wanted to be at the rink but right now I want to be wherever Maisie was.

"I don't know what's wrong with you and I'm scared to ask, so I won't. But Emma, Henry and I made Maisie a present for her birthday today" he says handing me a bag. I look up to him with tears in my eyes and his face drops.

"Hey guys, can Jon and I have a minute" he asks the room and everyone leaves. He gets off the bench and squats in front of me so I have to look at him.

"What's going on" he asks and I break down.

"I don't know. I went to pick up Jackson yesterday but he was gone. Him and Maisie are... gone. Her parents tried to take him and she went to confront them. They got in a huge fight and she ran away with him. They're in Minnesota and everyone is okay but that's all I know" I sigh.

"Why don't you just go after her" he asks.

"She's not like that. She doesn't want me involved because she thinks her life would bring me down, that's why she ran instead of coming to me. That's why she doesn't want to tell anyone about her past because it keeps coming back to bite her in the ass and she doesn't want me to be a part of it. She thinks she's protecting me but quite frankly I don't care anymore. I just want them here.

She's scared right now and there is nothing I can do about it. Her parents have such leverage over here that their mere presence took her away. I can't unabuse her, can't go back and give her food so she wouldn't starve or keep her from being depressed. Everything she knows is pain and the thought of it happening to me or Jackson sends her packing. She doesn't want me doing things for her but she can't do this on her own either. Plus she would be pissed if I left the team for her" I explain.

"Wow, this is a shitty situation" he says and I nod.

"I don't know what to do. I'm so mad she didn't come to me first or gave me more information. I mean I'm happy they're all okay, but for how long? I can't protect them if they're over six hours away from me. I don't know when she's coming back, how much money she has with her. There's so much that could go wrong" I say crying once again.

"You got to trust her dude. She's strong as hell, she's been through way worse than what's happening right now. She's just scared and confused. It makes you do crazy things. You just got to trust her" he says.

"I trust her. I just know it doesn't have to be this way and I hate that it is."

"I get it. I do. But this ones out of your hands big man" he replies patting my knee and getting up. I shake my head of all my negative thoughts and go to practice. Once we were done I tried calling her again but to no avail so I leave a message.

"Hey baby. Just wanted to say happy birthday. The guys got you some stuff and I won't lie I looked through them. Um... I hope you and the baby and Jackson are okay. I would really like it if you came home soon. I miss you and Dagger is going crazy without Jackson here. I can't wait to hold you in my arms again. I hope you find everything you're looking for. Love you. Bye."