{Abigail}
"Patrick, love, could you zip me up?" I ask, holding the back of my dress together as best as I can.
"Yeah, hold on!" I hear him call, from the other side of the room.
I giggle, smiling down at the ground.
It's Saturday, December 31, about 6:00 in the evening.
Tonight, Patrick and I are having a pretty big New Year's Eve party, at the apartment.
We have invited all the Blackhawks players that didn't already have plans with their own families for the evening, both Patrick's sisters, and Chris.
From what I know, the list of guests include, Patrick and Abby Sharp, Brandon Saad and Alyssa, Shawzy and Chaunette, Jonathan, Natalie, Erica, Jessica, Jackie, and my brother, Chris.
Erica, Jessica, and Jackie have been in Chicago pretty much the entire Christmas break, but have been staying with Patrick's parents at a nearby hotel.
None of them want to "intrude" on us, apparently.
Patrick and I insisted that they stay with us, but they had other plans.
Patrick and I did invite our parents to the party tonight as well, but they all felt like they wouldn't belong at a "young people" party.
They decided that they are all going out for dinner tonight in Downtown, while the party is happening.
So, neither Patrick's nor my parents are coming tonight.
I hear Patrick make his way across the bedroom, until I can feel his presence right behind me.
Gently, he grabs the zipper at the back of my dress, and pulls it upwards, his fingers gently brushing against my back as he does so.
He pulls it up, and then steps aside.
I look up, at the mirror in front of us, and notice him standing beside me, a small smile on his face.
He takes my hand, spinning me around.
I twirl under his arm, giggling as he wraps me up closer to his chest.
"You look beautiful, Abby." He says, smiling down at me.
I kiss him on the cheek gently.
"Thank-you, Patrick. You look incredibly handsome." I say, smiling up at him.
He smiles, kissing the top of my head.
He's wearing a purple dress-shirt, and trousers.
Pat and I didn't plan this party to be fancy, but we told everyone to dress up a little bit.
My dress is navy, and falls to just below my knees.
It's a halter dress, and it's beautiful.
My hair falls in loose curls, and my makeup is fairly light.
I look back up at Pat, and he smiles down at me, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
"It's not going to be long before those dresses aren't going to fit you anymore." He winks, biting his lip.
My jaw drops, and then I start laughing.
"Asshole." I laugh, shaking my head.
He bites his lip, smirking down at me.
"I'm just kidding," He says, smiling.
I shake my head.
"I know." I roll my eyes, moving my hand to my stomach.
At this point, I'm obviously still extremely early.
I don't have a baby bump at all, whatsoever, and no one could tell that I'm pregnant.
But since I know that I'm pregnant, everything just feels different.
Patrick and I are ecstatic about the pregnancy.
I did the pregnancy test while he was at practice, a few days ago.
I remember reading the positive sign on the test, and immediately crying with tears of joy.
I couldn't control myself.
And telling Patrick was amazing.
His reaction was priceless.
It's adorable, how much he talks about the pregnancy.
He brings it up a lot, and his eyes glimmer with a passion I've never seen in him before, as he talks about it.
It's beautiful.
This is definitely one of the most amazing feelings I've ever experienced.
I'm carrying Patrick's baby.
And that thought still comes as a shock to me.
"What time is everyone supposed to be here again?" Pat asks, as he fixes his hair in the mirror.
"6:15," I reply quickly.
"Can you help me with this?" I laugh, holding up the small diamond necklace in my hands.
He nods, smiling.
He takes the necklace, and I lift up my hair as he clips the necklace on.
His hands are gentle, but strong.
He clips the necklace, kissing me on the cheek, when he finishes.
I smile at the ground, biting my lip.
I can feel myself blushing.
"Alright, well I'm heading downstairs. Are you ready?" Pat asks, as he walks across our bedroom.
I nod, smiling as I look out the floor-to-ceiling window at the end of the room.
The city lights are especially vivid tonight, and it's completely dark out.
The New Year's Eve fireworks are supposed to go off at midnight tonight, and I'm extremely excited.
Fireworks from up here at the apartment are always incredible.
With that, I follow Patrick out of our bedroom, down the hall, and down the stairs onto the main floor.
The main floor has been set up already, with multiple bottles of champagne in the kitchen, glasses, appetizers, and the lighting set to the perfect setting.
The lighting is dimmed ever so slightly, creating terrific ambience.
Light music is being played from the stereo system in the apartment, something that I'm sure will get turned up later tonight.
Right then, I hear a knock on the door.
"I got it," I say, as I walk across the dark hardwood of the apartment.
I reach the apartment door, and open it, revealing both Patrick and my's siblings.
Erica, Jessica, Jackie, and Chris stand in front of me, and they all look wonderful.
"Hey guys!" I say, stepping aside for them to come in.
"Hey girl!" Jessica laughs, hugging me tightly.
I hug her back, and then hug Erica and Jackie as they greet me as well.
"Hey Abbers," Chris says, hugging me.
"Hi Chris." I laugh, hugging his tall, large figure back.
After a few minutes, the girls and Chris have all settled in, and Patrick and I talk and laugh with them for a while.
Erica, Jessica, and Jackie all look extremely beautiful tonight.
They have all curled their hair, and are wearing nice skirts with beautiful tops.
Chris looks wonderful as well, with his dress shirt and trousers.
Within ten minutes, all of the guests have arrived, and the noise level of the apartment increases as everyone is conversing with one another, and having a good time.
The atmosphere here tonight is amazing.
Right now, I'm sitting with Chaunette, Natalie, and Alyssa at the glass dinner table, all talking about what we did on Christmas.
"It was so nice to be back in Belleville." Chaunette explains, running a hand through her straightened blonde hair.
She looks adorable tonight, as always.
"Oh I bet. Were you guys there for three days?" I ask, looking over to Chaunette.
The Chicago skyline sits just behind her, through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and my eyes are constantly wandering to it.
No matter how hard I try to keep my focus on Chaunette, the beauty of the skyline is almost gravitational.
"Yeah." Chaunette nods, smiling.
"Well that's good. Brandon and I were in Pittsburgh." Alyssa says, nodding.
"Oh, how fun!" Chaunette laughs.
Alyssa nods, smiling.
"Yeah. It was nice to be home." Alyssa says, nodding.
"Well, do you ladies want to grab something to drink?" Chaunette asks.
"Yeah sure!" Alyssa says, smiling.
"I'm not going to have anything, but I'll come with you guys." I say, smiling.
Chaunette's eyes look over to me, and they narrow slightly.
She then shrugs, and returns her face to her normal expression.
"Are you sure?" Alyssa asks, tiling her head slightly.
I nod, swallowing.
"Yeah." I say.
"Okay." She shrugs, laughing.
With that, Chaunette, Alyssa, and I make our way through the busy crowd of the apartment, towards the kitchen.
We reach the kitchen, and I notice Sharpie and Saader talking, each with a glass of champagne in their hands.
"Hey Abby!" Sharpie smiles, as he notices me.
"Hey Sharpie! Hey Saader!" I laugh, waving.
"Thanks for having the party here tonight. It's pretty sweet." Brandon laughs.
"Yeah, of course!" I say, nodding.
They thank me once again, before I grab the champagne bottle in the kitchen.
I pour two glasses out, one for Chaun, and one for Alyssa.
I hand them each the glasses, and they thank me, before taking their first sips.
"This is good champagne." Chaunette says, laughing.
"Yeah, it is. You should have some, Abby!" Alyssa laughs, taking another sip.
"I'm good, really." I say, smiling.
"Okay." Alyssa laughs, shrugging.
"Whatever you say." Chaunette winks, as she takes another sip.
I laugh, and with that, the three of us make our way back to the dinner table.
We talk for about another half an hour, before we each go our separate ways.
I move through the crowd, greeting everyone, and stopping to chat with a few people, including Abby and Patrick Sharp.
I always laugh at that because her name is Abby and his name is Patrick, just like Pat and I.
Sometimes, it gets confusing, but if Abby and I are together, people call me Abigail, and her Abby.
As for the Patrick's?
Sharpie and Kaner.
After talking with Sharpie and Abby, I move through the crowd, and find myself bumping into someone.
"Sorry!" I laugh, as I look at whom I have bumped into.
"Abby! I was looking for you!" Natalie laughs, hugging me.
"Oh my God, hey Nat!" I laugh, hugging her back.
We part, and I look down, admiring her outfit.
She's wearing a black halter dress, and her dark hair has been curled.
She's wearing a light layer of makeup, and she looks beautiful.
"You look amazing." I laugh, shaking my head.
"So do you, Abby." She compliments, smiling.
"Let's go sit down, and we can catch up!" I say, as we make our way through the crowd, towards the kitchen.
We each sit down at one of the barstools at the counter in the kitchen, and we rest our arms on the countertop.
"So how have you been?" Natalie asks, taking a sip of her champagne.
"I've been amazing. How have you been?" I ask, smiling over at her.
It's been so long since I've last seen Natalie.
I've missed her dearly, and it's so nice to see her again.
"Pretty good." She nods, smiling.
"How was your Christmas?" I ask.
"It was amazing. I had dinner with my entire family, and it was great." She laughs, running a hand through her hair.
I nod, smiling.
She asks about what Pat and I did for Christmas, and I tell her all about our dinner at my family home.
We talk about a few other things, laughing as we do so.
"You're not having anything to drink?" Natalie asks, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Nah," I say, shaking my head.
She shrugs, smiling.
I look back over at her, and she looks over to me, but her eyes are fixed on something past me.
I turn my head over my shoulder, and my eyes fall upon exactly what Natalie is watching.
Jonathan.
I bite my lip, unsure of what to say.
Jonathan stands with one hand shoved in his trouser pockets, and the other holding a glass of champagne.
He's laughing and talking with Pat, Shawzy, Chris, and Jessica.
I look back at her, and she has a small smile on her face, her bright green eyes still locked on his figure.
"Have you talked to him much?" I ask, looking over to her.
Her eyes move back to me, and they possess a certain kind of panic, that I can't place.
Her facial expression is calm, though.
"This is the first time I've even seen him in a long time." She says, shaking her head.
"Drifting?" I ask, biting my lip.
She nods.
"I don't even think he knows I'm here." She laughs.
"Natalie, I'm sure he does. He just hasn't come over to talk to you yet or-" I start, but she cuts me off.
"How did we go from knowing each other so well to strangers, in a matter of weeks? Does that even happen?" She asks, shaking her head.
I nod.
"Yeah. Yeah, it does. But that doesn't mean that's what happened to you guys, Natalie." I say, looking over at her.
She shrugs.
"I don't know. I'm trying to move on, but a part of me won't let him go." She says, shaking her head.
I nod.
"Natalie, that's a difficult situation." I say.
"I know." She laughs, raising her eyebrows.
"I feel for him, you know?" She says, narrowing her eyes.
I nod.
"I feel his hurt. I feel I'm hurting when I see him hurting. And I know I should not be that attached to him, but I can't convince myself to let go." She says, swallowing.
I nod, my eyes looking down at my lap.
"I just need to suck it up. I've been doing a lot better with it, to be honest. I think not seeing him in so long has been good for me, but now that I see him again, I can't keep my eyes off of him." She laughs.
I laugh, shaking my head.
"He's pretty hard to miss. You know, with that great ass and all." I wink, biting my lip.
Natalie's jaw drops, and then she laughs.
"Oh my God, Abigail!" She laughs, widening her eyes.
I giggle, biting my lip.
"Don't tell Patrick I said that, please." I giggle.
She takes a sip of her champagne, laughing.
"I swear I won't." She says, shaking her head.
Natalie and I talk for another twenty minutes or so, when a loud voice calls over the crowd.
I swing my head over to where the noise is coming from, and I see Patrick standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows at the back of the room, raising his champagne glass.
He's calling to make a toast.
"If you'd all excuse me, I'd like to make a toast!" Pat laughs, raising his glass.
Within a few seconds, the crowd has fallen to a hush.
I watch Pat with careful eyes, a small smile on his face.
"Firstly, I want to thank all of you guys for coming out tonight. It's been an amazing evening, and I'm sure it's going to get even better," Pat says, laughing.
Everyone cheers.
"I want to make a toast to a very important person in my life. Abigail, darling, this is for you." Pat says, raising his glass.
I blush, as his eyes meet mine from across the room.
"Thank-you for all that you have done for me, love. Happy New Year's." Pat says, smiling at me.
His dimples are prominent, and his curls are perfectly styled.
He watches me with careful eyes, and a small smile sits on his face.
The look his eyes possess is as if he is just now seeing me for the first time in his life, the excitement and longing prominent within his irises.
Even after being together for all these years, he watches me with the kind of fascination and passion you experience when you see someone for the very first time.
His outfit fits his toned body beautifully, and he looks absolutely amazing.
I raise my water glass towards him.
"Thank-you, Patrick." I say, blushing.
He nods, smiling.
Everyone cheers, laughing.
"And I would also like to invite all the couples here tonight to come down for a slow dance." Pat calls.
With that, the center of the apartment is made clear of, for a dance floor.
I notice Shawzy and Chaunette holding hands, and making their way to the "dance floor".
Alyssa already has her arms around the back of Brandon's neck, and he has his hands on her sides as they sway slowly together.
I bite my lip, as I watch Jackie and my brother Chris move towards the dance floor together.
That's so sweet.
My baby brother, and Patrick's baby sister.
I giggle, as I watch them sway together.
"Abigail, darling, may I have this dance?" Pat asks, looking down at me.
He reaches his hand out.
I look up at him from the barstool, biting my lip.
I take his hand, intertwining our fingers.
"Of course." I say, getting up, and walking with him towards the center of the apartment, where all the couples are.
I've never been one for dancing.
But Patrick knows that I would never turn down a dance with him.
Never.
He places his hands on my waist, and I wrap my arms around his neck, my hands resting on the back of his warm neck.
"Having a good evening?" I ask, looking up at him.
"Definitely. You?" He asks, laughing.
I nod, smiling.
"Oh yeah." I say.
"Your toast was beautiful, Patrick." I say, looking up at him.
His eyes that possess the beauty of a night sky and an ocean all together, flutter down to meet mine.
"Well, I wanted to say that the toast was for you and the little guy inside of you, but we aren't telling anyone yet, so I refrained from it." He winks.
I giggle, reaching up and kissing him on the lips gently.
"This love is ours." I say, absentmindedly.
"This love is ours." Patrick replies, quickly.
I then look over at Chris and Jackie.
The two of them laugh, as they sway gently to the song Drive My Soul, by Lights.
This is definitely one of my all time favorite songs.
"Chris and Jackie, eh?" I ask, looking up at Patrick.
He glances over at the two of them, smiling.
I watch him as he looks over at them, his jawline accentuated.
"That's my littlest sister. He better be careful with her." Pat laughs, biting his lip.
I laugh, shaking my head.
"They've been flirting for years, Patrick." I giggle.
"I know. I'm just teasing," He shrugs.
"But seriously, though." Pat says, smiling.
I giggle.
Patrick is extremely protective over his sisters.
Especially, Jackie.
She's the baby of the family!
He loves her so much, and it's truly adorable.
Despite the fact that Chris and Jackie aren't together (yet), I still think Chris has already passed the BAT.
"Has he passed the test?" I ask, smirking up at Pat.
Patrick laughs, his hands large and gentle against my sides.
"They aren't together, but if they ever were to be, yes, he has." Pat laughs, nodding.
I laugh, shaking my head.
"Good." I say, smiling.
I look around at the couples dancing around me, and through a few people, I notice Natalie sitting on a barstool at the counter, her champagne glass in hand.
Jonathan, sits beside her.
The two of them are talking about something, both with a small smile on their face.
So I guess Jonathan did decide to talk to her tonight.
That's good.
The two of them aren't slow dancing with each other, but they are talking.
And I know that even that will mean the world to Natalie.
It's almost cruel, to be honest.
Here Natalie is, so desperately trying to let go of the boy beside her, and he decides to start up a conversation with her.
It's hard to describe.
There is a line in one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs of all time, All Too Well, that describes this situation perfectly.
And that is: so casually cruel in the name of being honest.
That is exactly what this is.
"Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?" Pat asks, bluntly.
My thoughts are interrupted by Patrick.
I look up at him, a small smile on my face.
I can feel myself blushing.
They say that this far into a relationship, it's rare or odd to still have your partner give you butterflies and make you blush like crazy.
They say this is rare because life happens.
Holding hands and dinner dates and romantic evenings turns into grocery shopping, laundry, raising families, and working.
And eventually, that delicate beginning rush of love you once felt, slowly wears out.
That is not to say that you no longer love your partner.
You do love them, but you no longer experience the rush of new love.
Patrick and I have been together for a long time now.
We're married, and I'm now pregnant.
Despite this, Patrick never fails to make me blush or give me butterflies.
He still enchants me.
And to be honest, I don't think that will ever change.
Sure, we aren't in the same stage of our relationship as we were when we first started seeing each other, but our love has only grown stronger.
Stronger, in a different, beautiful way.
In a way, I guess you could say that the depth of our love has increased.
"Thank-you, Patrick." I say, smiling up at him.
"You're the mother of my child, Abigail. Good God, thinking about that gives me chills." Pat says, quietly.
We continue slow dancing with each other, amongst the many couples.
I swallow, my hand stroking the back of his hair.
I move closer to him, and rest my head against his strong peck.
I press my cheek over his beating heart, and I can't help but think that it is the most beautiful sound I have ever heard.
Patrick and I, as well as all the couples dancing, finish our slow dance, and all head off to continue socializing and conversing with one another.
By now, it is almost midnight, and everyone is trying to position themselves near the windows at the end of the apartment, to get a good view of the fireworks that will be going off in just a few minutes.
Patrick takes my hand, and leads me to a spot right in front of the windows.
Everyone is laughing and talking excitedly, waiting for the fireworks.
After a few minutes, the clock strikes midnight, and the city seems to light up as it does so.
Immediately, fireworks light up the skies.
They shoot out from down below, and into the dark sky.
They explode through the night, and the loud booms of the fireworks can be heard through the window.
Everyone at the party starts cheering and laughing as they watch the fireworks.
The fireworks explode, creating shimmers of light amongst the dark sky.
The moon and the stars live in harmony with the beauty of the fireworks through this crisp, cool night.
Patrick's grip on my hand tightens, and then he pulls me in closer to him.
He tilts me backwards slightly, and I giggle, knowing exactly what he is doing.
I wrap my arms around the back of his neck, as he supports me by wrapping his arms around my back.
Without thinking, he reaches down and presses his lips against mine.
I run a hand through his curls, as I kiss him back.
I feel a smile on his lips as he kisses me, and I rest my hand against his cheek.
I can hear the fireworks exploding in the background, and as we part, I can see them through the window.
And despite how beautiful they are, I'm far more fascinated by Patrick.
He smiles down at me, and I smile back up at him.
The sparks of light coming from the fireworks are stunning.
Everyone watches in awe as the new year begins, and orbs of light dance through the night, celebrating.
Patrick then pulls me back up, and wraps his arms around me.
I do the same to him, my ear pressed over his beating heart.
The sound of his heartbeat is familiar to me, and brings me back home, every single time I hear it.
Patrick moves his hands down to my stomach, and rests both of them there.
No one notices, because no one is watching us.
And even if they saw us, they wouldn't know why he's doing that.
But, I do.
We do.
And right then, Patrick speaks.
"I'm on top of the world, darling," Pat says quietly, holding me tightly.
I look up at him, as he watches the fireworks through the window, a small smile on his face.
He looks back down at me, before speaking again.
"I'm on top of the world with you, Abigail Kane, and there is not one other person in this entire world, that I'd rather be here with."