Thin Ice (Corey Crawford)

Picture Perfect

Samantha

After learning more about my situation and how to carry this baby and keep myself healthy all the same we continue on with our lives. With less than three months left before the baby gets here and before life gets too crazy Corey decides to schedule the maternity shoot earlier than most. We can always get more taken later on but we wanted to have something for now to get up through the rest of this final trimester. So I pick out some outfits to put on and we head to the park. We meet the photographer there and he explains where he wanted us to be and the poses we should be in.

"If I'm doing this you're doing it with me" I say as I grab Corey's hand.

"What? No, I want pictures of you" he insists.

"These can be family pictures instead of maternity ones" I assure him.

"But you're the one that's pregnant, not me" he argues.

"It takes two baby" I remind him.

"I hate taking picture" he pouts.

"So do I" I remind him.

"Wait a minute, you gave me a lecture about how much you love pictures" he remembers.

"Taking selfies on my phone and having some one watching me try to act normal when I am the farthest thing from it is totally different. It's the memories I want to capture, not me trying to act like this pregnancy isn't completely draining" I laugh.

"But you're beautiful, pictures should be expected with someone who's as pretty as you. My parents want pictures of you and the Blackhawks want some for social media too" he argues.

"And you're a part of this family. Without you there is no family and therefore you need to be in these pictures" I put my foot down.

"You're not going to let me go until I take the pictures with you, are you" he questions.

"Nope" I smile.

He lets out a long sigh before I pull him with me. I tell the photographer our plans and he adds Corey to the set up. We take a picture of a bunch of pictures at the bean and in the garden and all the nice stuff we could find at the park. The photographer shows us what we have so far and I have to admit, we looked really good.

I suddenlyfeel a tug on my dress and I look in the direction of the pulling. I see a sweet little girl looking up at me with the widest eyes. She was the cutest thing I've ever seen and it made my heart melt.

So I bend down the best I can in a dress and my stomach poking out before smiling at her.

"Hey there. What's your name" I wonder.

"I'm Mia" she claims and I smile big.

"Mia, that's a beautiful name" I admit. My favorite if I do say so myself.

"Are you Sammy Miller" she asks me and my eyes get big. It still shocks me that people know who I am and can recognize me. But after gatorade and Nike asked me to sponsor them I shouldn't be that big of a surprised anymore.

"I am. You know of me" I ask.

"I do" she smiles. "I play hockey like you. My dad brought me to a few Blackhawks practices and I saw you coaching" she explains.

"Well next time you're arouund come say hi. I would love to be able to see you again" I assure her.

It was at this point the little girls mother realized they lost someone kind of important and come over to retrieve her.

"Mia darling, don't bother the nice lady" her mom begs. Her mom stops when she realizes who I was and she gasps. "Oh my. You're Samantha aren't you" she whispers.

"That's me" I smile as I stand up. I reach my hand out for her to shake it which she happily does.

"It's a honor to meet you. My daughter and husband and I, well were really big fans of yours. We all have your jersey and everything" she claims.

"Well thank you for believing in me. It's because of people like you I do what I do" I assure her.

"I'm sorry if my daughter has been bothering you. She probably spotted you across the park and wanted to see if it was really you" the woman defends.

"It's not a problem at all. I'm here to get maternity pictures for my daughter who's name just so happens to be named Mia also" I explain.

"Like me" the little girl gasps.

"Just like you" I smirk.

I take some pictures with the girl and her mom because I always had time for fans. They really are the only reason I get to do what I do and actually enjoy it. I even face time the girls dad and tell him hi. He was at work it the mom insisted if he missed out on this and she didn't try to get ahold of him she would never hear the end of it. After a while they get going and I get back to the task at hand.

"I thought you said you hate having your pictures taken" Corey teases.

"Of just me, yes. But when I'm with fans or with you I love them. Because I see myself through what my fans or you see me as and that's better than anything I could ever be" I insist.

"So you're still not letting me get individual pictures of you" he pouts.

I let out a very over dramatic sigh as I cross my arms over my chest. "I guess I could do you this one favor" I tease and he smiles so big.

He grabs my arms before pulling me into his chest and pressing a kiss to my forehead. "Thank you baby" he tries.

"Mhmm" I mumble.

So we spend about another hour taking pictures both individual and with Corey in there. Finally we were done and the photographer was going to take them home to do a little bit of editing before sending them over.

Since we were done kinda early we decide to grab some ice cream and go for a walk. I still want to be active and while conditioning and weight training and running wasn't really in my agenda I loved to go for walks. And it was a beautiful day here in Chicago, I wouldn't want to waste it.

So Corey buys us ice cream and we walk around the city hand in hand. I smile to myself because life isn't picture perfect right now. But I was blessed to be building a family with a man that treats me way better than any girl deserved and I had motivation to keep trying to be this amazing person because people were counting on me. People like Mia and her family who want to see me do good. Who look up to me as someone who their daughter should be like. And it's a lot of pressure, to be so many things to so many different people. But my dad always told me I will mean more to this life than hockey, and now I do.