God Bless The Broken Road (Jonathan Toews)

Loveable Losers

Jonathan

The home opener was today and I was excited to say the least. Rumor has it that the stadium would be filled and I'm actually very happy about that. We lost the first two regular season games but we're just trying to find out who we are right now. There's a lot of hype around guys like me and Kaner and I didn't want to let them down. I was the youngest active captain in the NHL and had a lot to prove. So far it's been pretty rough.

I had Jackson in my arm and Maisie's hand in mine as we stand in front of the locker room doors. I look down at her and I can tell she's nervous. She was always nervous when it came to Jackson and new things, I don't know why but it must me a good reason to make someone as strong willed as her shake in her shoes like this. I kiss her forehead and I hear her let out a long breath.

"We're going to be okay" I assure her squeezing her hand she nods. We make our way in and I sit at my locker. The guys continue getting ready for the game and I set Jackson on my knee. Most of them won't even notice we were here. Jackson clings onto my shirt as his eyes search the room for a sense of familiarity. It was going to take some time to get him to warm up but he's a great kid, he'll warm up. Patrick comes and sits next to me to talk to Jack. Having him around was going to help too.

"Hey big guy, what's up" he asks putting his hand up for a high five and Jack smacks it as hard as he can.

"Owww" Patrick fake whimpers causing Jackson to laugh. His laughter was adorable.

"Wow buddy, you must be really strong! What's your name" Seabs asks. Jackson moves closer to me but turns to talk to him. I call that progress.

"I'm Jackson" he says quietly and Maisie smiles at him. She's been working with him on talking to grown men and it seems to be working.

"Hey Jackson! Do you know who I am" he asks.

"Yeah, you're Seabook" he says with a childlike innocence and I felt my heart skip. I knew he would be okay. As time passes he gets comfortable and eventually roams the room on his own. He ends up going off with Steeger, Soupy, and Patrick giving me time to get ready.

"This is so cool" Maisie says looking around. Her eyes taking in every detail as she searches the room.

"Have you always been a Blackhawks fan" I wonder.

"Yup. I grew up watching Tony Amonte and Eric Daze" she boasts. That's pretty cool. I get changed and after she is introduced to everyone in the room she grabs Jackson and goes to find her seat. 

"Damn Jonny, you didn't tell us baby momma was fine" Duncs says.

"It's complicated. And please don't call her that" I beg. I don't know where the Canadian boy was picking up this slang, but he needs to leave it there. It's creepy.

"Fine. But seriously, she's hot" he says and I roll my eyes. We take the ice for warm ups and I look out into the stands, there was already more people here than this time last year. But this time when I see people wearing my jersey there's a C on the front. That's pretty cool. Being the third youngest captain meant I was ready for the pressure. I'll take responsibility for my team even if I am only twenty. I will take none of the credit and all of the blame, I was ready. I look out and see Jackson up against the glass watching everyone warm up. He looks up to Maisie with the happiest expression on his face making me feel warm inside. I go over and toss him a puck as his eyes go wide. Maisie easily catches it and hand it to him as he jumps in her arms. That kid was special, more respect in his almost four year old body that most adults. He doesn't expect much from me, he just thinks I'm a cool guy and wants to be around me. I don't know. Those two just got my heart I guess.

We end up losing the game in over-time which sucked because my first three games as captain have been some type of losses. There's talks that a coaching change is coming but that's no excuse to this poor start. I take my pads off frustratedly and take a shower before changing and storming out of the locker room. I was in no mood for confrontation from reporters or my teammates.

"Jonny" a little voice sounds and I look up from the ground to see a smiling Jackson and Maisie in front of me.

"Were you guys waiting for me" I ask snaking my arm around Maisie.

"Yeah, Jackson insisted you could use some ice cream and we were wondering if you wanted to tag along" she says happily. It's kind of hard to be upset right now. Usually after losses I went home and self destructed, but ice cream sounds a lot better than that.

"Ice cream sounds great" I reply and Jackson cheers. We meet at a ice cream parlor down town and sit at the window stools watching life pass us by. The stars shine bright in the Chicago sky as the buildings stood tall. What a beautiful night.

"You did great" Maisie starts and I laugh dryly.

"Maybe, but we still lost" I scoff.

"I know you don't see it like that. You're probably already thinking of a hundred different way to get better and improve. What to fix each shift and as a team. Even if you would have won you would still feel like you need to get better" she mentions and I look at her.

"And how would you know that" I ask.

"Because we have the same personality type. I see the wheels turning in your head. How your eyes never left the game and you talk to yourself making sure you don't miss a thing. Even if you would have won you would be doing the same exact thing" she claims.

"You... are not wrong" I admit and she laughs. After getting most of the ice cream out of Jacksons jersey I drop them off at her apartment. He was half asleep as he trudged down the hallway.

"Thanks for coming tonight. Next time I'll get a win for you" I chuckle.

"I dont need any thing else as long as I got you" she smirks wrapping her arms around my neck. I raise a eyebrow and she laughs at my confusion. I press my lips to hers and feel everything in me jolt, I will never get used to that.