"I can't believe the season's already over. It feels like it just started a month ago." I said as Jamie and I finished packing up everything that we would want to take home with us over the summer.
"Hey don't be making fun of my team for not making the playoffs." Jamie said.
"I wasn't making fun of you guys at all!" I exclaimed. He likes to pull that card to make me feel bad whenever he can, he finds it hilarious, which only makes me smile since he's happy.
"I know, baby, I know." He said, walking over to me and wrapping his arms around my waist from behind.
"Jerk." I mumbled.
"What did you just say?" He asked, his voice getting more amused.
"Nothing at all." I shrugged, a sly smile playing on my lips. He turned me around in his arms to face him and started peppering kisses all over my face.
"Ready to go home, baby?" Jamie asked. I nodded and rested my head against his chest. We grabbed everything out of the room and brought it downstairs, Trevor said he'd drive us to the airport so he helped bring everything out to his car.
"Have a good flight, have fun at home guys." Trevor said as we got out of the car. Jamie and I both gave him a hug.
"Thanks, bud, have fun back home." Jamie said.
"No surprises this year, okay?" I asked him.
"I've got nothing up my sleeve this year, Sky, don't worry." Trevor said as I wrapped him in a hug. We said our goodbyes and entered into the airport, ready for a stressful day getting through everything. It was always a pain in the ass at both airports. We eventually got onto the plane and took the four and a half hour flight back to Toronto, just taking an Uber back to Jamie's parents house.
"Welcome home, guys." Tina greeted as we got into the house.
"Hi mom." Jamie said, giving her a tight hug.
"Hi Tina, how are you?" I asked her.
"I'm good, thank you, how are you guys?" She asked as I came to her for a hug too.
"We're good, ready for the off-season." Jamie responded as he started bringing out bags up the stairs.
"How's engaged life?" Gary asked as he came into the room. I brought my hand up and wiggled my fingers.
"It's great, we've done a big of wedding planning. I think we're touring I think 5 or 6 places in the next couple weeks. Hopefully have somewhere booked and have a date pretty soon." I responded.
"Oh nice which places are you looking at?" Tina asked.
"The Old Mill Toronto, The Guild Inn Estate, Deer Creek Golf, Cambium Farms, Bellamere Winery and there's one more that I can't remember." Jamie said as he came back into the room.
"I think it was Millennium Gardens." I added.
"I think by the pictures we liked the last two the most, right?" Jamie asked, I nodded as he wrapped an arm around my waist. I leaned my head into his chest, wrapping my arm around his back and pulling him into as much of a hug as I could muster.
"That sounds nice guys." Gary said.
"Yeah, we have to run out, sorry for the quick in and out." Jamie said.
"We do?" I asked him.
"We do, let's go get changed and head out." He said and grabbed my arm, pulling me upstairs. There was an outfit laying on our bed.
"Is this for me to put on?" I asked.
"Yeah, as fast as you can, we're going to be late." Jamie responded. I sighed and got changed into the shorts and cute pink blouse on the bed. "Ready?" He asked and I nodded, following him out to the car.
"Where are we going?" I asked him.
"You'll find out." He responded. We ended up at a fancy restaurant in Mississauga.
"Jamie what are we doing here I just wanna sit and watch a movie with you." I whined as I got out of the car and followed him inside.
"You'll like it, just wait." He said with a devilish smile.
"Surprise!" Yelled, if I had to guess, 50 something voices.
"What is happening?" I asked.
"Your official and late engagement party!" Paige, Ryan Getzlaf's wife said, grabbing my hand and pulling me into the main area.
"You're here?" I asked her.
"Girl, I planned it. We're all here." She responded laughing a little bit.
"You knew about this?" I asked Jamie who was smiling up to his eyes.
"I'm getting good at keeping secrets from you." He said proudly.
"Yeah, I don't know if I love that." I said, letting go of Paige and wrapping my arms around Jamie's shoulders.
"It just makes surprises so much fun." He stated quietly, his lips only an inch away from mine before he closed the gap and kissed me ever so passionately. "I'm so happy to be marrying you."
"I'm so happy to be marrying you." I repeated back to him, kissing him again. He dipped me down into the kiss, making me laugh against his lips.
"Come on kids let's get this party started!" Max said as he grabbed one of each of hour hands and pulled us over to the bar. Everyone was here, all of our families, the entire Ducks team and all of their significant others, and all of our friends. The place was completely packed with people, drinking, talking and just having fun.
"How did you get here before us?" I asked Trevor as I saw him with a couple of the other guys.
"I was on the same flight as you, I'm shocked you didn't see me to be honest." He said, laughing a little bit.
"But you went home?" I asked him, still not understanding.
"No, I went and parked the car, Sky, and then came in a few minutes after you guys. Plus I took business class so I wouldn't be near you." He said.
"So that's why Jamie insisted harshly on first class for a four hour flight." I said, nodding my head a little bit.
"No, he's just used to the private plane now so he needs luxury." Trevor said.
"Hey, I don't need luxury, I just wanted to treat my girl to something fancy." Jamie said as he joined the conversation.
"That's a good excuse if you wanna get laid." Trevor said, as he started walking away.
"For the record, I'm not just trying to get laid." Jamie said as he turned to look at me. I laughed at him.
"Sure you're not. I'll remember that when you try it later tonight." I said, putting a hand on his chest and lightly pushing past him.
"You look so good walking away!" Jamie called. I laughed at him and shook my head as I went to find my friends. I was immediately engulfed into a big hug by Callie, Oakley and Claire all at once.
"Well hello to you too." I laughed a little bit as they let go.
"We've missed you so much. How's season number two in Anaheim?" Callie asked.
"It's so much fun. I'm assistant manager of game operations now, which is super exciting. How's everything going here now?" I asked.
"I'm floor director for the Rangers." Callie replied.
"I'm scouting for them now." Oakley added.
"I'm running community events for Calgary Sports and Entertainment." Claire said.
"Woah, when did that promotion come?" I asked her.
"About a week ago, just as the season ended." She responded. I put my arms around her and gave her a big hug.
"I'm so proud of you, that's incredible!" I exclaimed happily. She laughed a little bit in response before saying a quick thank you. "I've gotta go talk to some more people, I'll see you ladies in a bit?" They all nodded and I walked away towards the washroom. I wasn't prepared for this amount of social interaction today, I just needed a minute for myself away from people. I stood in front of the mirror and breathed in and out deeply, leaning my hands on the sink.
"Yo Drysdale? Where's your fiancé?" I heard someone yell from outside the washroom.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing here?" Someone else asked. I immediately took one last deep breath and opened the door to the washroom.
"Nope, back in there." Emerson said, shoving me back into the washroom.
"Why? What's happening?" I asked her. Eliza, Alice and Nadine all came in to the washroom too, looking behind them and locking the door. "Will someone please tell me what's going on?"
"Just drama that you don't need to deal with today." Alice responded.
"If Jamie's out there dealing with it then I wanna be out there dealing with it too." I said, trying to push past them and towards the door.
"He's not out there, he was also shoved into the washroom." Nadine said.
"Okay what the fuck then? What is happening out there that neither of us can deal with it?" I asked.
"Should we tell her?" Alice asked the other girls.
"If we say a name will it tell you?" Eliza asked.
"Depends on the name." I said.
"Charlie." Nadine said, after a moment of silence where the four girls were just looking back and forth between each other.
"Drysdale? Like my future brother in law? Is Julia here is that what's happening?" I asked.
"Not that Charlie, dumbass." Eliza said. I stood there staring at them, trying to think about what other Charlie there was that would start something like what they were insinuating.
"What the fuck is he doing here? I need to get Jamie. I want Jamie." I said, the memories coming back.
"Nope, you're not going out there. We promised Jessa we'd keep you in here." Emerson said.
"Jessa's here?" I asked. I hadn't seen her yet, frankly, other than the Ducks the only one of Jamie's friends I had seen so far was Max.
"She is. So is everyone else that was there that weekend, they're dealing with it." Eliza said. It was eerily quiet outside, so I definitely knew that Jamie wasn't around.
"Please, let me see Jamie." I said, my voice now going soft and cracking a little bit. "Or my mom." The girls looked at each other and nodded, Nadine left the washroom and Alice locked the door immediately again. I moved towards the door and leaned my head against it so I could try to hear whatever was going on outside.
"Oh come on guys, I just want to say congrats to the happy couple. They're engaged! Isn't that great? I don't know why I wasn't invited, last I checked I was Jamie's best friend." I heard Charlie say.
"Charlie, you need to leave. You're drunk and you know exactly why you weren't invited, after what you did to Skyler at the cottage? No way in hell." Max said.
"Brother, you know I didn't mean any harm. It was a funny joke."
"No one laughed, Charlie." Ryan said.
"It's time for you to leave, son, you can leave normally by yourself or we'll take you out." I heard another voice say. It was familiar, but I couldn't quite tell who it was, which in itself told me it was one of the guys on the team.
"I will not leave until I get to congratulate them." Charlie said. I reached my hand up and unlocked the bathroom door, opening it and walking out.
"Skyler!" Emerson exclaimed. I didn't want Charlie to see me, I just wanted Jamie. That's all I wanted.
"There's the lady of the night!" Charlie yelled as he glanced over to see me trying to slyly make my way to the mens washroom.
"Skyler, get back in there." Kevin said, he was clearly the one who lightly threatened Charlie.
"Too late, I see her now. Come here Sky, come say hello." Charlie said as he started moving towards me. I heard a door slam open and Jamie came out of the other washroom, walking over to me and moving me behind him.
"Be careful what you say next, Charlie." Jamie said. I could tell he was mad, more than mad, he was pissed right off. His fists were clenched at his sides, and without even looking at him I could hear the words come through a clenched jaw.
"Boys, this does not need to go sideways, this is supposed to be a fun night to celebrate your engagement, this is not how this needs to be dealt." Gary said, coming over to everyone.
"No, this might be exactly how it needs to be dealt, dad. When you're supposed to be my best friend and decide it's a good idea to touch my girlfriend, and then apparently show up to our engagement party, it's not going to go over well." Jamie said.
"He did what now?" My dad yelled, walking over. My dad is a very friendly person, but I would not ever want to be on the other end of his anger. I have been, and he threw his lunch bag at the oven (we needed a new oven).
"Dad, stop, please don't make this a bigger deal than it needs to be." I said, moving past Jamie and going over to my dad.
"Oh I won't, but I will deal with this." He said. My dad walked over to Charlie and grabbed him by the collar, dragging him out of the restaurant, pushing him out even further. He stood out there and watched him leave the property. I walked back over to Jamie and slid my arms around his torso, burying my head into his chest. He hugged me back almost immediately, rubbing my back instinctively.
"It's okay, it'll be okay." Jamie whispered in my ear. "I love you, forever and always."
"I love you most, forever and always, baby." I whispered back. The noise level was really low, especially looking at how many people were in the room. This just made me even more overwhelmed, I didn't even plan the party, I had no idea it was happening but I felt so bad that it was completely ruined. Jamie and I pulled apart from each other and I walked over to Paige and Kevin.
"I'm so sorry, Paige." I said to her.
"Oh sweetie, there is nothing for you to be sorry for, you did nothing." She said and pulled me into a hug as well.
"I feel bad, this seems like it's my fault."
"How?" She asked.
"I'm not sure, because it was over me. If it wasn't for me this wouldn't have happened."
"Sweetie, if it wasn't for you none of us would be here, you would not be here. You were meant to be here and be the guest of honour at this party." Kevin said, putting a hand on my shoulder. Jamie came over at this point.
"Baby, it's okay. Do you want to take a minute? We can go outside and breathe if you need?" He suggested, resting a hand on the small of my back. I nodded, without even realizing I was holding my breath. He lead me out the front doors and I let out a deep and shaky breath.
"Jamie, I'm sorry that happened." I repeated to him.
"Baby, please don't ever say sorry for someone else's actions, it's not your fault, it's Charlie's. I'm sorry that I didn't see that coming and he just came in here with a mission." He wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly, knowing that was truly all I needed in this moment.
"Are you okay?" I asked him.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Everything ending with him hurts, but it's not too bad, especially compared to what I can't imagine you're feeling. What he did to you and all." I didn't respond. I wasn't sure how to put what I was feeling into words, it all seemed wrong.
"I know you will, but I need to hear it again. Promise me you'll love me forever?" I asked him.
"I promise you that I will love you forever. Til death do us part. Forever and always." He kissed the top of my head. "You will never, ever have to worry about me not loving you, that is one thing you can always be sure of in this life." He said, leaving another kiss on the top of my forehead. I pulled my head away from his chest and looked up at him, stepping on my tip toes and kissing him with all my love. Everything that I could, I poured into that kiss. "Jump." He said, his voice weightless. I did as he said and jumped, he caught me around my legs and wrapped them around his torso, pulling me into a full body hug.
"I love you more than anyone has ever loved anything in this entire universe."
"Liar, I love you more than that." He said, a bright smile on his face, making me shake my head laughing as I leaned down and kissed his lips. "Ready to go back in?" He asked after a couple minutes. I nodded against his neck and he just started to walk through the doors with me still wrapped around him.
"Well ain't that the cutest thing ever?" I heard Callie asking the girls. The two girl friend groups has been talking to each other since we went outside.
"I know, I love how in love they are." Eliza responded to her. Immediately they were all gushing to one another, which definitely embarrassed me just a little bit.
"See, everyone knows how in love I am with you." Jamie whispered as he set me down.
"I love you." I told him. He dragged me over to his friends to say a proper hello to them.
"Thank you for dealing with that." Jamie said to Max and Ryan.
"Anything for you guys, you know that." Ryan responded. "Now come here give me some love future Mrs. Drysdale."
"I owe you one." I laughed out a little bit and went over to hug him tightly.
"I know we're the same age but you're still like a little sister to me that I would protect like no other." Ryan said. I smiled.
"Thank you, you're just like a brother to me too. Now I heard that Jessa is here, does anyone know where she is?" I asked.
"Last I saw she was with Justin and Jason over by the bar." Max said. I gave him a tap on the shoulder and a salute before walking over to the bar to find her exactly there. "Excuse me miss, I was wondering how you knew the couple and why you were here, I didn't see you on the list." I said as I tapped her on the shoulder.
"Hahaha, I'd know that voice anywhere, give me some love, peaches." Jessa said, turning around and immediately wrapping her arms around me. I hugged her extremely tightly. We haven't seen each other since right before we left for Anaheim last year, but we text all the time and make sure to call each other once every couple weeks. The family that I've gained from just being with Jamie has been genuinely magical. I've found where I belong.
"I've missed you so much." I said into the hug.
"I've missed you more miss NHL." She said as we swayed back and forth. We stood, blocking part of the bar, talking for about 10 minutes before the music got louder and people started dancing in the middle of the room.
"Sorry to butt in on what I imagine is the greatest conversation known to woman kind, but may I have this dance future Mrs. Drysdale?" Jamie said from behind me as a slow song called She Don't Know by Jade Eagleson started playing.
"You may, Mr. Drysdale." I said, and I could feel my cheeks heating up as he took my hand to drag me onto the dance floor.
"You know I can't dance very well, right?" He asked, keeping one of my hands in his at shoulder height, and resting the other one on my hip as my free hand went to his shoulder and we started swaying back and forth to the music.
"I know, but that's okay, you don't have to be, neither am I." I laughed out a little bit.
"You're a better dancer than me, I haven't seen you trip over yourself once yet today." He laughed.
"Well, for one, you've been drinking a little more than me, and two this is the first dance I've participated in today, not to mention the fact that I almost died when we were in the airport." I said.
"Oh shit, I forgot about that. That was so funny, baby. You tripped over air."
"I did not trip over air, I tripped over my own feet thank you, it's very different."
"You're still just clumsy." Jamie said as he laughed out even more. "I'm surprised you haven't fallen down the stairs at home yet. You bruise like a peach I can tell every time you bump into something."
"What about the times I wake up with bruises on my shins because you kick me in your sleep?" I asked him, trying not to laugh as best as I could.
"I do not kick you in our sleep, don't spread lies." He tried to defend himself.
"You do too! Every time you fall asleep before me you're already kicking. Once you turned over and literally slapped me in the face." I finally laughed out. It was always fun to try and bug him with this, he truly thinks that he sleeps like an angel.
"That never happened, baby." He said. He took his hand off my waist and twirled me around, resting his hand back down once I made a loop.
"It happened last night, my love." I said, smiling up at him.
"I love you, but you're a liar." My eyes grew wide.
"I am not!" I laughed.
"Are too!" We couldn't stop laughing, between the alcohol and the fun of the night, I was already distracted with what had happened earlier.
"I hope people don't have too high hopes for the wedding after this engagement party. I can't plan events for shit." I said as Jamie and I took a seat at a table after our dance.
"Baby, do you realize what you just said?" He asked, taking a sip of his beer.
"Yeah?"
"Planning events and game days is literally you're job."
"That's different, that's hockey. We have to plan this entire thing from scratch." I said, taking a sip of water.
"Fair, but still. This is going to be a great wedding just because it's ours. People will be so jealous. Plus, we'll work together on it so it'll be a little bit easier." Jamie said, putting a hand on my thigh and giving it a reassuring squeeze. I gave him a soft smile in return.
"I just feel like there's going to be so much pressure on us. What if we just elope?"
"We're not eloping." He said with a straight face.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because I know you, you're going to regret not having a wedding, plus I want a nice wedding, and I've talked to your mom, she knows that you've wanted a big beautiful wedding since you were a kid. So, suck it up, we're going to plan it and have a great time. It'll be a great time. I promise. You know I keep my promises." He said, leaning over and kissing my cheek.
"Alright, Sky, I'm so sorry but this is my song and I'm stealing your man." Trevor said as he came over and put both hands on Jamie shoulder's, dragging him out of the chair within seconds onto the dance floor. The two boys were dancing horribly, like it looked terrible. But, I couldn't stop laughing. Jamie looked so happy and peaceful. The guys from the team, and his hometown friends soon joined them on the dance floor, all dancing terribly to Before He Cheats by Carrie Underwood, which just made it all that much better. We spent a few more hours dancing and partying before all I wanted was to go to bed. I walked up to Jamie who was talking with Trevor and Mason, and put my arms around his shoulders from behind.
"Uh oh, it's the shoulder hanging clingy stage, someone wants to go to bed." Mason said as soon as he saw me.
"Soon the over tired tears are going to come out." Trevor added.
"You boys know me so well." I said, laughing a little bit.
"Ready to go home my love?" Jamie asked, turning around. I nodded and smiled at him. The room was starting to thin out with guests leaving for the night.
"I'm ready for bed." I said quietly, my voice slightly cracking as it was laced with sleepiness.
"Alright, let's get your pretty face to bed." He said, kissing the top of my head and wrapping an arm around my torso, partially carrying some of my tired weight. We said a quick goodbye to everyone that was still around and grabbed my bag from the coat check as Jamie got me into the car and drove home. In the car on the way home I fell in the in-between sleep and awake, and I could feel it as Jamie took me upstairs and put me in bed for the night. I really hope he was okay with going home as early as we did. I mean, not like 1am is that early, but for a party for us, it seemed a little early.
"I love you, pretty girl, I hope you have a great sleep and I'll see you in the morning." I just barely heard from Jamie before I groaned as a response and was out into a deep sleep for the night.