The Presidents Daughter

Family Skate

Patrick

After a incredible Christmas at home with Aaliyah and my family we come out to her turf for the winter classic. We were going to play the Caps in the Nationals ball park in front of tens of thousands of fans like nature intended us to. It was nice to get back to the roots of playing hockey in my friends back yard under the sun. I was excited to be here and be a part of something so incredible. These things are always special and to be here with Aaliyah was so awesome considering her history with this place.

But before the game happens we have a family skate on New Year's Eve which I was really excited about. Aaliyah can break in her new skates and I can show her off to all the cameras. Brag that the presidents daughter is back in her home town because she's with me and not here as a Caps fan. I thought that was pretty cool.

So we get changed into our skates and we warm up a few laps since she hadn't been out here in a while. She breaks in her new skates and takes a million pictures of them on her feet. She couldn't keep the smile off her face as she watched her bright red skates move across the ice.

"I just can't get over these skates. They are so incredible" she boasts.

"Well I'm glad you like them. I think you look amazing in them" I admit.

"Thanks. They make my butt look really good" she teases making me smile. I reach over and grab her butt making her skate closer to me. She looks up at me with one of those "you better not start something you can't finish" looks and I know that means only good things for me.

"Watch it mister. My family is coming to this thing" she reminds me. How could I say no to the president and his family?

"Well I don't see them" I claim as I turn to them.

"That's because they're behind you" she says and I retract my hands. I turn around and see a bunch of cameras and security by the entrance of the rink. I start to blush as Leah just laughs at me. She finally grabs my hand and pulls me over to her family.

"Glad you guys can make it" I start.

"Happy to be out of the house" Barrak says.

"You mean the White House" Aaliyah jokes. If she wasn't going to say it I was.

"Hey! I'm the one who tells bad jokes around here" her dad teases making her laugh.

"Mine are bad. Yours are just awful" she claims.

"You got me there" he admits.

Once we were all laced up and his security guards take their places we skate around. Aaliyah and I help her family learn how to skate and after a few close calls they all got the hang of it. They were all pretty athletic so it didn't take too long. Her mom was a natural and her dad is getting into hockey so he didn't have much issues. Thankfully for me because if he gets hurt out here it's my ass on a platter. But luckily for me he caught on pretty quickly.

"This is so cool, you guys get to play out here" Sasha asks me.

"Yup! Later on tomorrow this place will be filled with fans and we get to play hockey in a baseball stadium" I explain.

"That's insane" she admits.

"Hockey allows us to do stuff like this. No other sport can merge with another like this and be able to fill stadiums. We've already done this back at Wrigley and it was awesome. To have it snow and to win in those throwback uniforms. I was so much fun to be a part of. I can't wait to do it again" I insist.

"Do you ever get cold playing on ice" Malia asks and I start to laugh.

"Seriously Mal? You have the best active American born player at your disposal and you ask him if he gets cold playing on ice" Aaliyah shuns making me nearly fall over from laughing.

"Come on! They're playing outside in January on ice. It doesn't get much colder than that" she defends.

"It's defiantly chilly but we make up for it when we play. Plus the trainers take great care of us making sure our body's don't shut down when we're on the bench and that our face is covered" I explain.

"See. It wasn't that stupid" Malia claims as she sticks her tongue out at her sister. They go back and fourth until their mom steps in and makes them stop.

After a while the girls go get hot chocolate so it was just me, Aaliyah and her dad. I don't say much because he still makes me nervous. Not like he did before but I still mess up a lot and he was the president of the United States after all. I didn't want to mess up in front of him.

"You did a good job with the skates Patrick, they look great" he says looking at Aaliyah's feet. I smile because I was pretty proud of myself for this one. I know she's loves them and if she could she would wear them everywhere.

"Thanks. I'm glad I could find something that captures your daughter so well" I admit.

"They're pretty great. Who do I need to talk to get me a pair of skates like that" he wonders and I raise my eyebrows.

"You skate" I gasp.

"I would if I had a nice pair of skates" he claims and I smirk.

"Alright. I can help you out with something. I can hook you up and get you some personalized skates" I assure him.

"I can't wait" he smiles.

Eventually the family skates concludes and we leave the ice. Getting Aaliyah to leave was like getting me off the ice as a kid. It was impossible. But I finally push her off and we get changed. We decide to take her family out for lunch and eat some good food. We sit around the table and enjoy our time together. I'm happy Aaliyah got to spend Christmas with us but I still felt bad for taking her from her family. Time wasn't on their side and I know it was hard enough for them all to be together. But Michelle insists Aaliyah needed to grow and do things on her own. I'm just hope she does them on her own with me.