BEING MID February, snow blanketed the ground outside with absolutely no green anywhere. White flurries made their way from the dark gray clouds. The wind blew through the night making the trees sway in a scary fashion. It was cold and unforgiving at this time, especially with the sun starting to set at the early hour. Nevertheless, it was warm inside; the fireplace crackled with bright orange flames. Lights were dimmed low and the television was on as background noise. The smell of cooked chicken was becoming faint as dinner was long forgotten as two women sat together.
Emerson sat in the Fleury's living room. Veronique had asked the young girl to come over; as Marc had taken the girls out for a few hours for dinner and ice cream. It was nice to have some girl time seeing as she was always surrounded by testosterone. And Vero loved the younger girls company, she was mature and really "got life". Female friendships were important and it was something Emerson lacked a bit of, Veronique wanted to change that; she wanted her to feel like she was part of the family.
Surely, Emerson did feel she needed this time with a woman. She was growing tired of trying to complain to Pete something he didn't fully understand. And telling Sidney about her insecurities? She couldn't bring herself to do that quite yet. Vero would surely understand her though, with two kids—three if you counted Marc— she understood things no one Emerson's age could.
The young goalie was sitting on the couch and Veronique was only a few inches from her. They had just finished a nice home cooked meal and slowly their time would be coming to a close, as two young girls could come parading in at any second.
"You seem to be holding up really well." Vero smiled at Emerson as she took a sip of her wine, "Marc praised you the other day, the season's long and still has so much left. So.. I guess I wanna know: are you really holding up well?"
"I mean I'm not doing horrible. It's definitely much more than I've ever had thrown my way.. but I love being here." How many people got to wake up to their dream job? Emerson got to play hockey for a living and she wouldn't change anything about it; even the late nights, sore muscles, and losses. Pittsburgh was a perfect fit for her she was sure.
"That's good to hear!" however, Vero could easily tell there was something more on her mind. Call it a mother's intuition, but she knew, "you know you can tell me anything. Is it about Sid?"
"Oh no no." Emerson chuckled, not surprised she found a way to bring up her boyfriend, "I think he's helping keep me from losing my mind."
"Okay good." she smiled.
"Having everyone look out for me this well as a rookie is great, I had that in Boston so I know in a few years it'll be great."
"It's awesome you can see yourself staying here."
"Oh definitely. There's just times I still miss Boston, and then some nights I just.. I feel like I'm drowning sometimes. I try to ignore media and focus, but how I play matters so much more now and I don't want to let anyone down. There's more pressure, not that I can't handle it, but some nights..." Emerson knew she was struggling. She had been since coming into the NHL but even with how accustomed she was now... it was hard.
"I feel like.. you're still holding onto college? How things used to be? The NHL is a lot and you can definitely handle it. Keep reminding yourself that you're much stronger than you think. Ems you have plenty of us to come to so just remember that whenever you need anything."
"Thank you Vero. That means a lot."
"Of course. And maybe you should say something to Sid? I know you know this but he's an awesome person to talk to."
"Oh I do."
"And you know, you two are pretty different."
"Oh that I know." Emerson chuckled.
"And I'm not saying it's bad. Just sort of.. funny?" Mrs. Fleury grabbed the bottle of wine and stared to pour herself some more.
"We have our differences. But I think it works because we get each other really well."
"You two are my favorites, for sure."
Normally Emerson could take a compliment, but when it came to her relationship she felt like a hot mess. Her cheeks were tinted pink and she could hardly mutter out a 'thank you'.
"I don't think I'll ever be able to get over you two not telling us right off the bat you're dating."
"You're never gonna let that go are you?"
"Nope."
Emerson chuckled as she remembered the night her and Sid made the relationship official to their teammate's wives...
//"Hold up Ems," Kris Letang jogged towards the young goalie as she was getting into her car, "come over tonight around 7! Catherine and I are having some of the guys and their girls over tonight and well- since you and Sid are together figured I'd ask."
"Yeah sure, that'd be cool."
"Okay just.. don't mention it to Jake, Olli or any of the single people.. don't want them to feel too bad. Which is why I was hoping I could catch you before you left."
"I totally get it, thanks I guess. But uh," Kris was getting ready to walk away but he halted in his tracks, "do like.. most of your guys wives know?"
"About you and Sid? Yeah? At least Vero and Catherine are assuming so. It's not that hard to tell, and that's coming from me- a guy." the defenseman rubbed the top of Emerson's head messing her hair up, "see yah later kid. Also, didn't really tell anyone asides from Catherine I was inviting you two, so it's gonna be interesting."
Emerson sat in her car contemplating if tonight was a good idea. Granted she knew all the wags but it was just the fact she'd be going with Sidney.. as her boyfriend. She felt a strange sort of pressure in this situation.\\
And that was how Emerson found herself hand in hand with Sidney, approaching the Letang's front door. This was probably going to go really well, or really bad. It was chilly outside and they were both ready to get in from the wind. Standing on the front porch after ringing the door bell was feeling like an eternity.
"Try not to worry too much. You know all the ladies-"
"Yeah but- they're so gonna destroy us for keeping this a secret. They'll never let it go!"
"Oh well then." Sidney just shrugged it off. Personally, he didn't care what anyone thought; however, Emerson did have a point. These women may just give them hell for it.
The front door flung open revealing Kris, "glad you guys could make it. Food's basically done."
"Who's here?" Emerson clearly heard Geno say, and loudly too.
"I thought everyone was here?"
Kris sent a look at Sid and Ems. It clearly was him saying 'good luck.' Obviously the guys knew about their captain and goalie, but didn't realize they'd be making an appearance.
As Emerson and Sidney walked into the dining room, all the ladies mouth dropped. Sid had his hand on the low of his girlfriends back, and he forced a smile towards the eyes on their forms.
"Oh my gosh."
"You're kidding me."
Emerson would never be able to forget the bombardment they received the entire night. And of course Sidney being Sidney, he was able to answer all those questions coolly and without missing a beat. It reminded Emerson of just how much she adored him and how good he was in different situations. He was a confident man, and somehow was able to stay that, when she knew she'd be struggling. His hand had hardly left hers that night and it had been a good night out.
"That was definitely an interesting dinner for sure. I don't even think our interviews get that intense."
"Catherine was actually surprised you two came apparently."
"Why?"
"I guess we just weren't sure if you two were going to stay private for awhile. Not that knew you two were dating.. it was a solid guess." Veronique remembered how much she asked Marc about the couple. She begged and even tried making threats; but he remained unwavering in his answer of 'I don't know', "I knew Marc was just being shady about it."
"I'm actually surprised he was able to keep his lips sealed about it. He was excited."
"And I heard he made some baseless threats at Sid."
"Yes he sure did, it was entertaining."
Soon the front door opened and two small girls came running in. They were bundled up in cute winter clothes. Marc came in soon after with a huge grin plastered on his face. Both Veronique and Emerson greeted the three with hugs. The Fleury daughters were by far the most precious beings there were. Their bright smiles and laughs reminded Emerson very much so of their dad. That moment made Emerson take a step back and look at what she was surrounded by. Pure love and happiness was her life in Pittsburgh and she hoped that it wouldn't change.
•••
AN// sorry about the lack of updates and that it's sorta short (and a filler).. just figured i should also throw it out there that this still takes place during the 2016-2017 season just bc **reminder basically