The Tales of a Professional Hockey Player

Chapter 45: Mansion and Tuition

~Ben~

"The house next to ours is for sale," Tracy says, more to her husband than to Eleanor and me. Tonight's game is the last one before the break for the holidays, so we decided, and by "we" I mean Eleanor and Tracy, to have lunch together after Nathan and I's practice. We are at the same restaurant as last time in the VIP section of the arena. Eleanor brought Ophelia and I am glad. I have been away for a few days, so I am happy to spend as much time as possible with my family. I sat Ophelia in my lap instead of in the highchair and I have been feeding her the carrot and sweet potato soup Eleanor ordered her. Tracy, however, left her boys with their nanny, pretexting that they were too old to be brought to an "adult lunch."

"The one with the three-door garage and the guest house in the backyard?" Nathan asks as he puts one big bite of his quinoa salad in his mouth.

Tracy nods, taking her phone out of her purse to show Eleanor and I some pictures she got from the realtor's website. It really is a nice house. The realtor even qualifies it of "mansion" in the description. Listed at 2,5 million dollars, it's exactly the kind of house I saw myself living in after making it to the NHL. It has seven bedrooms, five bathrooms, 10 000 square feet of living space on a lot of over 1 acre. But most of all, it has a huge backyard with an in-ground pool in which I can imagine Ophelia play for hours, an office whose walls are bookshelves that would be perfect for Eleanor, and a huge basement with a training room, meaning that I wouldn't have to go to the gym for my morning trainings. The more I see of this house, the more excited I get.

"Maybe we should go check it out?" Eleanor looks at me as if I had lost my mind, and maybe I did. I suddenly want to buy this house even if it goes against every rational fiber of my body. It's the kind of house I pictured Eleanor and I living in when we moved in our apartment in Windsor. It's the kind of house I see Ophelia growing up in. It's the lifestyle I want to give her, the kind of life where she won't have to worry about money at an age where she shouldn't even know what money is. The life I wish I had as a child.

"Are you crazy, Ben? You can't buy a two-million-dollar house! You don't even know where you'll play once your contract is over. And we already have a house."

"That I am renting. We would own this house." My excitement doesn't reach her, no matter what I say, so I drop the subject. We'll talk about this again, though. It's too important for me to just forget about it.

We part after our lunch at around one-thirty. Tracy almost begged Eleanor to go shopping with her for some new clothes. At first, I saw the hesitation in Eleanor's eyes. I know she had planned to try and write her epilogue after dropping off Ophelia at daycare for the afternoon, but, at one point, something switched in her eyes and she agreed. I added this to the list of things we need to discuss and moved on. Nathan and I went back on to the training room. There was something I wanted to show him, a new technique I needed his input on. We have only started for twenty minutes before I feel my phone buzz in my pocket. After Ophelia's allergic reaction, I decided to carry my phone everywhere in case of an emergency. I decide to take the call when I see Megan's name on the screen. I haven't talked to my sister since I visited my parents for Will's wedding in August. Something must have happened for my sister to call me. I give Nathan a sign and he nods, pulling out his own phone from his pocket.

"Hey Meg, what's going on?" I try not to sound worried, but I cannot hide the anxiety in my voice.

"I have a problem. I need your help, Ben." Given the seriousness of the words she uses, I would expect her to sound more nervous, but she doesn't. I don't relax when I hear the tone she uses. Megan is one of those people that doesn't stress about anything. I remember when she was still in elementary school and she had this big project to hand in. At the same time, I was waiting to see if I would level up in hockey from Pee Wee AA to Pee Wee AAA. I was a nervous wreck even if it didn't matter much if I leveled up or not. I would still get to play hockey. Megan, on the other hand, was as calm as on any other night. Her project was worth half her grade but presenting it to her class didn't stress her at all. I thought back to the time when I had to do the same project. I didn't sleep at all the night before my presentation, but Megan fell asleep in front of the TV show she was watching with our mom. Megan has always been too chill about things.