Trip to Your Heart - A Hockey Fanfiction

Good Morning Philadelphia

I looked up from my book to see Claude stumble into the kitchen. He gave me a once over with a smirk and shook his head, his copper curls bouncing as he did so. I cocked my eyebrow, "Something funny, Giroux?"

"I'm just wondering how you could get up so early after we were up so late," he drawled, grabbing himself a cup of coffee.

I pushed the creamer and sugar over to him as he sat down, and shrugged, "I guess I have more energy than you do."

"More energy? I'm the professional athlete, shouldn't I have more energy than you?"

I snorted, "You wish." I sipped my coffee and flipped the page in my book.

A dark chuckle emanated from Claude's throat. He slipped his arm around my waist and slid his hand up under the hem of my, well, his shirt. "How about round four, eh, Stella?" He whispered huskily in my ear.

"Shove off, G, you have to go to practice and I have to go to work," I pushed my chair back and walked away from him, my hips swinging as I tossed my long dark hair over my shoulder.

"My boxers look nice on you," he called after me and I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"I know they do," I called back, a smile playing on my own lips. He could've easily followed me if he wanted to go again, but we both knew he wouldn't be able to handle that and the morning skate, so I climbed the stairs to our room and began getting ready for work. I took a hot shower, blew my hair dry, and put on my makeup. My mismatched eyes stared back at me as I got dressed, one blue and one green.

"Claude! If you don't get dressed soon, we're gonna be late and I'm not messing up my spotless record for you," I shouted as I walked into the bedroom.

Claude grabbed my waist and pulled me into him, kissing me quiet and taking my breath away. "I know better than to make us late," he laughed when we broke apart. I giggled; Claude always had that effect on me. He slid his hand into mine and we headed out to the car. "Are you driving or should I?"

"I'll drive," I said, taking the keys. We drove in a comfortable silence through the streets until we got to the Wells Fargo Center. Claude got out and grabbed his hockey bag from the trunk and kissed me on the cheek, "Have a good day, babe."

"You, too. Be careful, Giroux, I don't want to see you in my office," I slapped him on the butt.

He jumped a little then gave me a suggestive look, "What if my ego is bruised? Can you fix that?"

"That one is up to you," I laughed as we walked into the staff entrance.

"So, no social calls?" He raised a ginger eyebrow.

"Eww, G, why you gotta say that in front of me?" Brayden Schenn said, pushing past his captain. "Hey, Stellar Stella," he said to me.

"Watch yourself, Bray, I'll kick your ass out there!" Claude warned.

"If you can catch him," I muttered.

"I'm not that tired," Claude shot back.

"That's not what you said this morning," I replied before turning into my office.

"Oh, G, I bet that stings!" Brayden yelled.

I heard them running down the hallway and I laughed, "There's a game tonight, boys! Don't break anything prematurely."

I prepped my supplies, everything from tape to gauze to crutches and a stretcher. This team wasn't as klutzy as my previous team, but they were a bunch of goons and they got hurt from time to time. Then I went to the locker room to make sure no one needed anything before the morning skate.

"What's up, Stell?" Simmonds asked as I walked in and we did our little bro handshake.

"Not much, Wayne. What's up with you?"

"Ah, just ready to kick some Nashville ass!"

"Good, I'm looking forward to it," I grinned and turned to Mason, "Yo, Mase, how's the wrist?"

"Bruised, but not busted," he flexed it easily and I nodded.

"Be careful, boys, I don't want to see any of you in the office," I said.

"What if we are on The Office?" Chris VandeVelde asked.

I rolled my eyes, "Okay, whatever, I'll stop worrying about your wellbeing." Claude laughed and met my gaze. I smiled back and shook my head. That got a couple "ooh's" from the guys.

"Keep it in your pants, Giroux," Voracek chirped.

"Aww, are you guys jealous?" I teased.

"Well, yeah, we all know you liked your old team better than you like us," Michael Raffl muttered.

"Not this again," I said, exasperated, "Guys, it's been five years!"

"Yeah, but you interned with them and spent your first year over there!" Matt Read exclaimed.

"So? I'm here now!" I looked over at Claude; he was frowning. He didn't like it when we talked about them, and frankly, I didn't enjoy it either. I missed them, a lot, and my new team didn't like when I talked to them, but I couldn't just abandon my friends.

"You still like them better," Read muttered. 

"Alright, let's get on the ice," Claude stood, "Coach is probably waiting."

The guys filed out of the locker room and I exited out of the other door and made my way to my office.

I sat in the office organizing the supplies and going over the paperwork of our players' medical histories. As I worked, I played Christina Aguilera in the background. My door opened and a particular man with a Canadian accent spoke, "Some things don't change."

"James!" I cried and whipped around to give the tall left wing a hug.  

"Hey, Stell, how are you?"

"I'm good, Nealer, how have you been?" I asked.

"I've been pretty good," he nodded.

"How's the knee?"

"It hasn't bothered me since last season, so I think I'm good. And we have a perfectly capable trainer in Nashville, though he's not you," James said, still shamelessly flirting.

I laughed, "You're right, Neal, some things don't change."

He shrugged and gave me a soft smile, "Is Giroux being good to you? You know if he isn't you can tell me and I'll take care of it."

"James!" I scolded, "You know I don't like it when you talk about hurting each other."

"Okay, Mom," he joked. I closed my mouth and turned back to the papers on my desk; he shouldn't have said that, especially since he knew how I felt about parenthood. "Hey, Stell," he said softly, placing his hand on my shoulder and turning me around, "I'm sorry. I didn't realize that was still a sensitive topic."

"Well, it is," I replied, not looking at him.

James crushed me in a hug, "I'm sorry, Stell," he let me go, "I'll let you get back to your work. See you around."

"Bye, James."

He kissed my cheek and exited my office, leaving me alone with my thoughts and several stacks of paper. I had thought I was over the whole 'Mom' thing, but I guess not. I sighed and shook my head to clear it out. I stacked the papers and tucked them into a file cabinet. I grabbed my jacket and my purse and headed back to the locker room to see if Claude was ready to go home for lunch  and his pregame nap.

Author's Note

Hey, hey, hockey fans! This is the first installment of my newest story, Trip to Your Heart. Please vote and comment to let me know what you thought. For those of you who've read The Road to the Cup and Wicked, Young Thing, this is totally separate but will feature many of the same players. For those of you who are new, please enjoy! I'll have a new update out soon :)