Fire & Ice - Chapter 31: Chapter 31

After the game was over we had to stick around the arena for a little while to do some media before we could head back to the hotel. When we got there our families who came down for the weekend were all waiting for us just inside the lobby. I came in towards the back of the group and got to watch most of my friend run off towards their families. It was really nice to see and it put a smile on my face.
Just when I was about text my mom to see where they were, I saw a sign in towards the middle of the now crowded lobby that read Bertinelli, my number one. I followed the sign like a homing beacon and found Cassie standing with my mom, Alyssa and Travis, all waiting for me. I dropped my bag on the ground and took three giant steps and picked Cassie up and spun her around once. I could hear her laugh in my ear as she wrapped her arms around my neck to hold on. When I was done I put her down on the ground again and planted a big fat kiss on her lips.
"Hi baby" I said and nudged her nose a little with my own.
"Hi lover." Cassie said and gave me a kiss on the cheek before she broke away from me.
I could barely get in a breath before mom almost tackled me in a hug. I held her just as tight as Cassie and lifted her off the ground. When her feet were on the ground again we pulled apart and I smiled at her. Mom was teary eyed and she put her hands on my cheeks. It took another second but then mom feel apart. She was crying hard and I just pulled her in and held her tight. It only took a few more second before I felt my own tears starting to fall.
"I'm so sorry McKenna, I'm so so sorry." Mom said in my ear and I knew exactly what she was apologizing for. I pulled away from her shoulder to be able to look her eye in the eyes. I ran my thumbs under her eyes and tried to wiped away the tears she was sheading.
"It's all over now. We are here, safe, healthy and happy. You have to stop apologizing, mom please." I said wanting her to believe me. Mom didn't say anything but just nodded and pulled me into another hug. This one didn't last so long; it was just to get a last little bit of comfort. When we pulled away from each other we wiped away our tears and I turned to Alyssa. She looked kind of stoic like she didn't know what to do right now so I just pulled her into a hug. It softened her up a bit but I know her and mom will have a conversation about this later behind closed doors.
When we broke apart Travis came over all excited like a kid in a candy store and the tears I just shed were a distant memory. He pulled me into a tight hug and we got to celebrate together for a few moments before I pulled away. We did our hand shake and I almost started crying again because of how much I miss playing hockey with my best friend. When we were done, I took a look around the room and saw it was started to clear out. Most of the team was heading towards the ball room we have to get something to eat for dinner with their families in tow. So I took Cassie's hand in mine and nodded for the rest of my gang to follow behind us as we went and found a table in the ballroom.
Getting to have dinner together with them all was a nice treat after the win. When we were all done eating, coach gave us a reprieve from watching game tape tonight to let us have time with our families but we are going to be spending a lot of tomorrow watching tape. Once coach was out of our hair the ball room kind of turned into a big family mixer. I got to meet Becca's parents and Stacey's siblings along with Toni's whole family who came down to watch her final tournament before graduation.
As the night started to get later and later we all started to head up to our rooms. Travis went up to his room while Stacey took Cassie up to ours so I can get some time alone with my mom after what happened. Alyssa was quiet, she was watching more then saying but her hand was always attached to my mom somehow. If she would let go mom would reach out for her instead so I know that even after this conversation we are about to have, her and Alyssa are going to have their own later.
When we got up to the hotel room, mom started to pull off her Wisconsin jersey and changed into some sweats before joining me on the bed while Alyssa went to take a shower. I didn't say anything for another minute before I reached out and took her hand mine.
"I think that over the summer when I come home we should talk to someone, together, to clear the air about everything that happened with PJ." I said. Mom didn't say anything for a few moments but just nodded.
"Talking to doctor Ellis has really helped me and I think that talking to someone can really help you too mom." I added.
"I think I need to go alone as well." Mom said and wiped a tear from her eye.
"Okay, I can ask doctor Ellis to see if he knows anybody in Boston." I said and moved closer to her.
"I just want to say, Cassie is really wonderful. Getting to spend some more time with her and Travis at the game today with her as your girlfriend, I can really see what you love about her and I'm looking forward to getting to know her more." Mom said.
"We just clicked right away; the spark was there from the start once we got past our own trauma's. But in a way, they brought us both together and now I don't like sleeping without her next to me." I said.
"Well at least you can't get pregnant." Mom said and I couldn't help but gasp and push her shoulder.
"Mom!" I said in a high-pitched voice just as Alyssa got out of the shower.
"Do I need to separate you two?" Alyssa asked as she towel dried her hair.
"No you don't, I'm going to head back to my room now to join my girlfriend. Depending on how packed my schedule is tomorrow we could get dinner together." I said and got up off the bed.
"That sounds nice, we'll talk more tomorrow morning. Night McKenna." Mom said and got up with me. She gave me a hug and then I gave Alyssa a hug before leaving their room for the night.
As I walked back to my room, my heart felt a little lighter knowing that mom and I will get through this together. There is a lot of trauma to unpack with everything that happened to us from PJ and going to therapy together will help us over come that. I put my key card into the door and pushed it open to find Cassie standing in front of my bed looking through her suitcase. Her long blonde hair is dripping down her back while the hotel room towel wrapped around her body leaves little to the imagination.
"Hey" I said and looked around for Stacey and not finding her.
"Stacey is out with her siblings at the hotel bar. She probably will be back soon because they aren't drinking tonight." Cassie informed me as she pulled out the shorts she was looking for from her suit case and turned to look at me. I just nodded and sat down on the edge of my bed and watched as Cassie dropped her towel.
It took all the self restraint I had not to reach out and throw Cassie to the bed and have my with her. Cassie's eyes met mine and I could see the mischief in them. When she reached down to pull her underwear on she popped her but out and looked at me through the hair that fell across her face.
"That's not fair." I said and watched as she slid them up her long legs.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Cassie smirked and gave me a wink before pulling one of my old hockey camp shirts over her head.
"God if we were home right now I wouldn't have even let you get dressed." I said.
"Well take it down a notch hot stuff you know I have my period right now." Cassie said and pulled on a pair of basketball shorts.
"Fuck really?" I asked and looked at my phone to see the date.
"Yes, it comes the same week every month thanks to birth control." Cassie said and slipped into my bed while I sighed.
"And that means mine should be here next week, great." I said and got up off my bed to grab some pajama's to change into. I heard Cassie laugh at me as I went into the bathroom to clean myself up for bed. When I got back into the room Cassie was buried under a sea of blankets and I couldn't help but laugh as I got into bed next to her.
It took a few seconds but Cassie crawled over to me and I felt her basically roll her body on top of mine. I wrapped my arms around her and held her close.
"I'm really happy you're here." I said in her ear as I placed a kiss on her temple.
"So am I." Cassie said and put her had down in neck and left me a kiss. I started running my hand up and down her back for and it only took a few minutes but I heard her breathing even out. I knew Cassie was out for the count and it wasn't long before I followed after her.
When my alarm went off the next morning barely moved. I only flinched when Stacey threw a pillow from her bed and it hit me. My head snapped up and I saw Stacey was sitting up in bed rubbing her forehead.
"Turn that shit off." She grumbled as she stalked off to the bathroom. I reached around Cassie for my phone and managed to turn off the alarm for now. When the room was quiet again I looked down to find Cassie still basically on top of me. Her eyes popped open and blinked a few times to clear them of sleep before she moved off of my body.
"Good luck with practice today." Cassie said quietly before turning over and snuggling back into the blankets.
I sighed and waited until Stacey was out of the bathroom to get out of bed and get ready. Once I had everything I needed for the day, I gave Cassie a kiss on the forehead and left the room with Stacey. We got breakfast together and then went off to the arena for morning practice with the team. We didn't go so hard, wanting to keep everything loose and before I knew it we were already back in the locker room hitting the showers. After the team was cleaned up we got back onto the bus and made our way back to the hotel to start some game tape review.
We spent the next few hours going over tape from old Northeastern games trying to pick apart what we could be seeing in our game tomorrow. Coach had a game plan drawn up just around dinner time and we went over it a few times before he gave us times for tomorrow and then he released us.
After we were out of practice I went up to my room to take another shower and when I was done I went down to meet my mom and Alyssa in the lobby. Travis and Cassie met us a few minutes later and we all went out to dinner together. It was a nice night out all five of us. Something I didn't think I could ever have before this year. For most of dinner I stayed quiet and just watched all the people I love just be together. Mom tried to embarrass me with some stories from when I was little but they didn't go far when I told her that I could get her back with stories of my own. It was Travis who I had to be worried about because he was ready to start spilling stories from when we played away tournaments. But overall we all had a nice time before we went back to the hotel to get some sleep.
The next morning when I woke up it was game day and I knew I needed to get myself locked in. So I woke up a bit early and went down to the hotel gym to get a workout in before I ate breakfast. The rest of the team was pretty much all in the ballroom when I got inside and picked up my breakfast. After we were done eating coach ran some more tape for us and told us when we needed to be back down for the bus over to the arena.
When we were released I went back up to the room and took another shower before starting to get ready for the game. We are playing Northeastern today in the semi-final. If we win this game we are going on to the finals. I'm both excited and nervous as I started to get dressed in my suit for the game. After I was done in the bathroom I walked out and found Cassie sitting on my bed. She gave me a smile and pulled me into her. I didn't say anything and just let Cassie hold me for a minute and I felt some of my anxiety simmer down.
"You are going to do great today, I know it." Cassie said and gave me a kiss.
"Thank you babe." I said after I pulled away.
I double checked to make sure I had everything before I left the hotel room and met the team downstairs. Once everyone was accounted for we got onto the bus and left for the arena. As we pulled up to the arena I knew it was go time. We all got ready and there was a nervous energy in the locker room before this game compared to our game against Providence. Toni and Megan got on top of the bench in the locker and gave their pregame speech and it got us fired up a bit more before we headed out onto the ice for warmups.
After warm ups were over we all came back into the locker feeling a bit better about our chances this game. It took us seeing our competitors to settle us down. Northeastern's team was built much like our own but they have a lot more freshman then we do this season. All of that young blood could lead to some more mistakes then they want.
So we all took the bench as the game started and Coach threw out Megan's line to take the opening face off. He has been liking them going out there first to get possession off the opening face off then sending my line out there to follow up for the scoring chance. So once Megan won the face and pushed the puck into the zone we knew good things would be coming.
We changed lines right at a minute into the game but had to get the puck out of our own defensive end. Stacey chipped into our offensive zone taking the check from one of Northeastern's players as Toni raced into the zone unmanned behind her. She was going hard into the boards and I knew she was going to end up passing the puck back to us so I started to skate hard to try and time it right. Toni passed the puck back to me as I was fighting off a defender. I felt my skates get pulled out from under me but knew I was able to push the puck towards the net with my stick. As I slid into the board I heard screaming and the goal horn sound. When I looked up from under the defensive Northeastern player I saw the puck sitting in the back of the net.
Once I got to my feet I almost got tackled by Toni and Stacey but I held myself upright for the celly. I knew that one early goal wasn't going to mean much unless we added to it. The rest of the first went by without another goal though and I was a bit disappointed we didn't get to add to our lead when we had a few chances this period. The mood in the locker room was a bit lighter and I knew we were going to need that going into the second.
The second period started just like the first. I got the puck deep in the offensive zone and took it with me behind the goalies net because there were no options to drop it back before I went around. As I came around the side of the net I saw Toni streaking in and once again she was not picked up by the defense as they were all puck watching. I somehow managed to slip her the puck in between a few defensemen and she did the rest. The puck hit the back of the net and I jumped for joy.
We got to celebrate again and I felt a little bit better adding a second goal to our lead. As the period started to heat up we got another chance as Toni, Becca and I went three wide entering the zone. Toni took the puck into the zone on the right wing and past it forward to me. I made sure I was a step ahead of Toni so the goalie thought I was going to take the shot myself. That's when I took a split-second glance to my left and saw Becca was wide open. I waited to the last possible second and flipped her the puck. The puck didn't settle on her stick but Becca effortlessly pushed the bouncing puck top shelf and it went up and over the goalies outstretched right leg pad.
I barely had time to think as I heard the roar of the crowd and jumped over to Becca. Toni joined me a few second later and knew that this goal would have just sealed our win. It took us a few second to get ourselves together as we headed towards the bench for fist taps. Our good mood didn't last long though as Northeastern started to get feisty with our fourth line and the referees called both of our teams for penalties for roughing. And because our defender engaged in the fight, the faceoff took place inside our defensive zone. We watched from the bench as Northeastern won the face off and fired the puck towards the goal. Our goalie stopped the first shot but she left a big rebound and Northeastern didn't let our goalie cover up the puck before pushing it into the goal between her legs.
We had to watch Northeastern celebrate their goal and it put a damper on our spirits a bit. The rest of the second period went by without issue as we shored up our defense to stop Northeastern's advance. Going back into the locker room I was on edge. I knew that goal would give them some life going into this third period and it's something we can't let them have. I knew that they are going to really push us in this period and try to capitalize on a mistake.
The start of the third period went pretty well. Coach kept our lines together but he didn't give the third or fourth line that much ice time. Towards the middle of the period, my line was pretty gassed and needed the rest if we wanted to continue our dominance on the ice. When Megan talked to Coach about it, he started to even out some of the playing time so we could get some extra rest to be able to go the rest of the game when it happened. My forward line was in the middle of getting onto the ice when Northeastern pushed up ice and created an odd man rush.
They came across the blue line three wide with Stacey and Lilly backing up in our zone to try and get back into position but the damage was done. The middle player pushed up to far that both Stacey and Lilly were out of position so their left winger passed the puck across the ice to the right wing and she shot it towards the net. The middle player was able to tap it in and they scored making the score 3-2 with 12 minutes left in the game.
Coach was yelling behind us on the bench to try and get control of the game again. He called a time out and Coach Jackie spent the time to calm us down and give us some new plays to run to keep ahead of Northeastern's attack. We still had a one goal lead to protect and we didn't have much time left in the game to keep it up.
After the time out was over, Coach Decker went back to running the team evenly and it gave us a little bit of break. It helped though. We had enough rest between all of the lines to get us through the remaining time in the game. With three minutes left, Northeastern pulled their goalie to get the extra attacker on the ice. It caused some confusion on our team but that was when coach limited the third and fourth lines. He want just us and Megan's line to finish up this game.
With 30 second left in the game Megan's line pushed the puck out of our defensive zone and almost hit the empty net. Northeastern was back in their zone to pick up the loose puck but as they went to carry it out of their zone they turned it over to Megan and she made no mistake in this one. She took it all the way to the empty net and pushed it inside.
The last few second ran off the clock when Megan took the face off and then the goal horn sounded. We won the game and were off to the championship.