Emerson Rousseau was going to be the second woman to play in the NHL since the 90's. After her four required years in the NCAA's.. it's time for her to be brought up with the team that drafted her when she was eighteen, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
//20...
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BEING MID February, snow blanketed the ground outside with absolutely no green anywhere. White flurries made their way from the dark gray clouds. The wind blew through the night making the trees sway in a scary fashion. It was cold and unforgiving at this time, especially with the sun starting to set at the early hour. Nevertheless, it was warm inside; the fireplace crackled with bright orange flames. Lights were dimmed low and the television was on as background noise. The smell of cooked chicken was becoming faint as dinner was long forgotten as two women sat together.
Emerson sat in the Fleury's living room. Veronique had asked the young girl to come over; as Marc had taken the girls out for a few hours for dinner and ice cream. It was nice to have some girl time seeing as she was always surrounded by testosterone. And Vero loved the younger girls company, she was mature and really "got life". Female friendships were important and it was something Emerson lacked a bit of, Veronique wanted to change that; she wanted her to feel like she was part of the family.
Surely, Emerson did feel she needed this time with a woman. She was growing tired of trying to complain to Pete something he didn't fully understand. And telling Sidney about her insecurities? She couldn't bring herself to do that quite yet. Vero would surely understand her though, with two kids—three if you counted Marc— she understood things no one Emerson's age could.
The young goalie was sitting on the couch and Veronique was only a few inches from her. They had just finished a nice home cooked meal and slowly their time would be coming to a close, as two young girls could come parading in at any second.
"You seem to be holding up really well." Vero smiled at Emerson as she took a sip of her wine, "Marc praised you the other day, the season's long and still has so much left. So.. I guess I wanna know: are you really holding up well?"
"I mean I'm not doing horrible. It's definitely much more than I've ever had thrown my way.. but I love being here." How many people got to wake up to their dream job? Emerson got to play hockey for a living and she wouldn't change anything about it; even the late nights, sore muscles, and losses. Pittsburgh was a perfect fit for her she was sure.
"That's good to hear!" however, Vero could easily tell there was something more on her mind. Call it a mother's intuition, but she knew, "you know you can tell me anything. Is it about Sid?"
"Oh no no." Emerson chuckled, not surprised she found a way to bring up her boyfriend, "I think he's helping keep me from losing my mind."
"Okay good." she smiled.
"Having everyone look out for me this well as a rookie is great, I had that in Boston so I know in a few years it'll be great."
"It's awesome you can see yourself staying here."
"Oh definitely. There's just times I still miss Boston, and then some nights I just.. I feel like I'm drowning sometimes. I try to ignore media and focus, but how I play matters so much more now and I don't want to let anyone down. There's more pressure, not that I can't handle it, but some nights..." Emerson knew she was struggling. She had been since coming into the NHL but even with how accustomed she was now... it was hard.
