The Cabin in the Woods (Jonathan Toews)

And A Happy New Year

Jonny

After Christmas passes we take down the Christmas decorations and put them away. Nothing but the memories and gifts left over from another amazing holiday with my family. Allison and I decide to keep the tree up because it was in good shape and Missy finally realized that the tree wasn't a toy. But as soon as Christmas passes it was time for the New Years, so I buy some fireworks so we can set them of at midnight and bring in the new year correctly. Usually I go to a party or I'm getting ready for a winter classic, but this year I get to celebrate it how I want to.

So I set up in the backyard trying to make sure everything was set to go at midnight on the dot. I had to clear a spot in the grass to set off the fireworks and I just hope it doesn't start snowing again. 

After it was all set up I go back inside to warm up again. I find Allison in the spare looking at furniture for the new house on the computer. I had put down a payment and the house was as good as ours, it was just empty. And with Allison being the visionary she is it would be a disservice to not let her get the furniture and decorations. We haven't figure out what to do with the nursery yet, all we knew is that it was going to be the room next to ours. But once we get to the house I'm sure it'll all come together. We still had some time before we needed the room to be done anyway.

"How's it going in here" I ask as I walk over to her. I sit on her knee like a kid in the lap of Santa as I look at what she had so far.

"It's going good. I've gotten a lot figured out" she admits.

"Ooooh a rustic country home theme, I like it" I admit. I was a country man at heart, I don't hunt but I do like to fish and be out in nature so I very much like this design.

"I figured you would" she laughs. "And look. I even found a miniature version of our house to put in the back as a dog house for Missy. That way when we're gone we can put her out back and she can still feel at home" she cheers.

"You really love that dog, don't you" I ask.

"She's our fur baby before I have our actual baby. Gotta treat her right" she teases.

"Well I hope all this stuff comes in soon. Word is that there might be a agreement the league had come too and could be released within the next week or so" I tell her.

"Really? Even with the holidays" she asks.

"Yeah. And if it wasn't for them this thing wouldn't have made it to the holidays in the first place, it wouldn't have even started" I insist.

"Maybe this was a blessing in disguise" she says and I look at her weird. "Just think about it for a second. I mean, without the lockout I would have never ran into you again in the middle of town. In fact I would still be running, I probably would have been caught by now. I would have ended up back in that hell house and I wouldn't have ended up in your arms again. We wouldn't be making a home or having a kid together. We would have never been able to spend these amazing three plus months together in this cabin" she explains.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I just hate that I thought I was playing in such a great league, but it turns out I'm just a chess piece to be moved around whenever the hell they fell like it" I sigh.

"You're no chess piece Jonathan, there's no game in your life that you play that isn't your own. You're your own person and no matter where they move you you're not going to change. That's what makes you the incredible man you are today. Everyone respects the hell out of you and there's a reason for that. Respect is earned and you earned it. And no, you couldn't stop this lockout from happening or could have made it go quicker. But what you can do is take your team and come out of the gates swinging. Show them you can take man out of hockey but you can't take hockey out of the man. You're not just one of the greatest players in hockey right now, but one of the greatest people to ever play the game. I know that, you know that, and you have the power to show that to everyone else" she says.

"Can I just have you follow me around as a motivator because I'm ready to play now" I admit and she giggles.

"I'm gonna be there every step of the way. No holding back and no excuses. I'm there" she promises.

I grab her chin and pull her into a deep kiss. She returns my passion and I find myself truly thankful that I have her.

After we break apart we go back to looking at what she had picked out and ordering what we needed. There was appliances at the house, but we had to pick out the bedding and couches and dressers for ourselves. Or at least a bed.

"I'm impressed that you got all the furniture figured out so quickly, but I'm more impressed that I've been sitting on your lap this long and you haven't told me to move" I admit and she giggles.

"You're comfy" she claims as she wraps amber arms around my waist. I wrap my arms back around her and give her a good squeeze.

"Are you ready for some New Years festivities" I wonder.

"What's on tap" she questions.

"Well I have some sparkling grape juice for my beautiful pregnant girlfriend and I and some finger foods she prepared but since I took them out of the fridge I'm acting like I made them" I say as she laughs at me. "Then when the clock strikes midnight we will celebrate with the lighting of fireworks and a kiss. Then maybe more then a kiss."

"Mhmmm can we skip to the last part" she asks.

"And now I see how you got pregnant" I tease.

"Says the guy who doesn't have a single condom in this whole cabin" she shuns.

"Hey! I never brought girls back to the cabin. This cabin is my sanitary not some whore house" I defend.

"You always brought me here" she reminds me.

"You're different. You were always different" I claim and she smiles. I loved it when she smiled like that.

After we give up on shopping for the day we eat some finger foods and sip on our non-alcoholic drinks. We watch whatever performances that were on tv and sing along to what we knew. When the time comes we walk out to the back porch and light up the fireworks. Allison wraps us up in blankets as we watch the fireworks explode in the sky. She pulls me into her and I look down into her eyes. I watch the fireworks explode inside of them making it feel like they were exploding out of me.